We all know what GoPro cameras represent and what they offer us. It can be utilized in almost all action sports ranging from snowboarding, to track racing to scuba diving, GoPro’s are the staple when it comes to capturing the moment. But if you’ve ever wondered to yourself if it can do other tasks that aren’t sport related then you could be killing two birds with one stone. Activities such as Vlogging or filming time lapses are great for GoPro’s. Spending a lot of time in the car has made you wonder if you can use the device as a GoPro dash cam.
- 4K resolution at 60 FPS. 1080p @ 240 FPS for slow motion shots.
- 1.5 – 2 hour battery life.
- 1080p Live Streaming to Social Media such as Facebook or YouTube.
We’ll explore all the reasons why you should and shouldn’t use a GoPro as a dash cam. There are tons of factors that you want to contemplate before making the decision. There might be some nuances in using it as a dash cam that don’t matter, while there are some that is a deal breaker.
The short answer is yes, you absolutely can use a GoPro as a dash cam, and we’ll show you how to easily set up, mount, power and operate it to mimic a dash cam as much as possible.
Is a GoPro good to use as a Dash Cam?
Using a GoPro isn’t the most effective or ideal setup for a dash cam, but it certainly is possible in a pinch.
GoPro was created in 2002 and has always been marketed as an action camera to be used to capture close, high quality action footage.
At that time, there were no practical solutions for amateur photographers to get close to subjects they were trying to film.
GoPro cameras have tons of features and settings that are variable and can be manipulated to work as a dash cam. But, as I mentioned it isn’t the most ideal setup. Dash cams nowadays are very inexpensive with the progression of technology. But if there’s a case where you need a temporary dash cam, or don’t have the time to obtain a proper dash cam then a GoPro can do the job.
3 Reasons why you should use your GoPro
Ease of use
If you already have a GoPro then why not use it? There was a time where we were headed out on a road trip to the mountains to go sight seeing. We rented a vehicle and knew we wouldn’t have access to a dash cam, but did have the GoPro handy. With a few modifications, we were able to setup the GoPro and we used it to not only film our journey, but also as a safety precaution.
Using a GoPro in a pinch is a great idea if the alternative is nothing at all. Being able to capture the road is so important for safety and legal reasons. You can easily reference footage of an incident to law enforcement, insurance or car rental companies. If you’ve ever wished that someone objective could be there to retell how an accident happened you need to have the ability to record the road. And the great thing about it is that its portable so it is easily removable while traditional dash cams can be harder to remove depending on the setup.
Image Quality
GoPro is known for filming high quality video. This translates directly to a dash cam where one needs great image quality to help read license plates and review incidents easier. The GoPro Hero8 Black can record from 1080p to 4K and at a multitude of frame rates ranging from 240 fps to 24 fps. This blows any dash cam out of the water when it comes to resolution options.
These sport cameras are also known to have a very wide angle field of view, which is great to have in a dash cam as you want to record as much of the road as possible and not just one part. It is very frustrating when an accident happens out of the framing of the camera.
Live Streaming
An underrated feature of GoPro’s is that they have the ability to live stream video footage to social media. Many dash cameras don’t have that ability. While not important to some, it may be useful if you want to connect with social media followers or friends from your vehicle.
6 Reasons you should consider NOT using a GoPro
Theft
The biggest caveat to using a GoPro as a dashcam is that leaving it as a permanent solution will result in your car being more prone to theft. Everyone knows what a GoPro looks like and understands how expensive it is. If they see this on mounted on your windshield, it increases the probability they’ll want to break into your car to steal it. In order to mitigate this risk, you’ll need to remember to take down the GoPro when not in use or hide it in your glove compartment.
The point of the dash cam is to be an inexpensive solution to protecting you and your car. Unfortunately, a GoPro could be having the opposite effect!
Powering on and off
Typical dash cams will turn on when your turn on your car and immediately start recording. A GoPro does not do this. If you are using the GoPro as a temporary solution, every time you enter the car you will have re-mount it, ensure it has proper power and click record. Depending on your level of comfort, this may get annoying quick. The charm of having a dash cam is you forget about it as it does its job as you drive and you don’t have to constantly worry about it.
Battery life
GoPro’s battery life when it is recording lasts a few hours if you are lucky. Unless you are perfectly fine carrying extra batteries for the duration of your road trip or don’t mind constantly charging and monitoring the GoPro, you’ll need an external source of power. One easy way of getting around this is how most other dash cams operate.
Open the side slot and power the GoPro with the USB-C cord and your vehicle’s accessory power adapter. This does expose more ports to dust and other elements, but it is easy and simple to do.
Otherwise, you can route that power cable to an external USB battery pack and depend on that for sufficient power.
Loop Recording
Most dash cams have the loop recording feature where the dash cam will overwrite old files in favor of new recorded footage. The GoPro looping mode is slightly different as it will only create one file at a certain interval (5, 20, 60, 120 minutes) and overwrite it once a new interval occurs. This is perfect if you want to capture a specific moment and not worry about the other footage. This is different from a dash cam where you can still reference much older footage.
TIP: Turn off the Protune feature as it cannot be enabled for this setting.
Parking Mode
Another feature you lose is the ability to use the GoPro as a security camera when you are away from the car. Unlike other dash cams, a GoPro won’t record an incident if it detects a crash or motion. As mentioned above, we don’t recommend keeping the GoPro visible anyways.
Heat damage
Standard dash cams are built to be mounted on a windshield and is designed to mitigate heat and temperature. A GoPro is built for a variety of action sports but extreme heat can damage the internal components. Hot temperatures do not mix with the GoPro’s internal battery. Best case, is the hot weather will overheat the camera and not record. Worse case, the weather damages internal parts and renders the GoPro unusable.
You can get around this by using a skeleton housing, or a breathable housing that will help dissipate the heat.
- 4K resolution at 24 FPS. 150 degree wide angle
- Built-In WiFi and GPS for easy review and location data
- Parking Mode, Loop Recording and G-Sensor all included
How to use GoPro as a Dash Cam
Powering your camera
You will need to figure out a way to consistently charge your GoPro unless you plan on swapping out the batteries and start recording every few hours. There are a couple ways you can do this.
- Open up the battery cover and connect the USB-C cable to an accessory outlet like a cigarette lighter or a USB input.
- With the same USB-C cable, use that to connect to an external battery source like a USB portable power bank or a dash cam battery pack. This should extend your GoPro’s battery life dramatically.
Loop recording Settings
In order to setup loop recording you’ll need to turn off the Protune feature. Then you are allowed to use the GoPro looping mode. In terms of resolution, you may want to scale down the recording resolution from 4K to something like 1080P Superview. While 4K footage might be useful, it takes up a lot of space on your memory card and will drain your battery faster. You should also go into settings and change the looping interval to something like 20 minutes in order to capture the entire incident.
Alternatively, you don’t have to use the looping feature if you want to record the entire trip.
Preferred Mounts
You will most likely want to get a GoPro suction cup mount. If you want to use the GoPro as a dash camera, you will want to be mounting in your inside windshield. The great thing about these mounts is that you can use them in other applications like on the outside of your car or on a boat, for example.
Dissipate heat
An overheating GoPro is something you should consider when filming for long periods of time. One way to combat that is to use an open concept housing case, or a skeleton frame which allows air to circulate and cool off the hot components.
GoPro HERO8 Black
The GoPro HERO8 Black is a great choice for an action sports camera. You may be looking for a 2-in-1 deal to try to double as a dash camera. Let’s take a look into the specs to get a full understanding of the camera. For one, it films in 4K and can film in lower resolutions with higher FPS. The image stabilization makes it so you won’t have to worry about vibrations being picked up on camera on the road or during an important shoot.
The small form factor is what really sets this apart. A tiny camera allows you to get into tight spaces and be super portable when transporting it. Depending on your use, you can also live stream the GoPro footage to Facebook or YouTube in 1080p. The versatility sets this apart as you can take the camera underwater, or stick it on your car hood. GoPro cameras are extremely durable as its made to be rugged.
Rove R2-4K Dash Cam
The Rove R2-4k is a standard dash cam that comes packed with features that will protect your car. In an ideal situation, we wouldn’t be using the GoPro for long term use. The Rove R2 also films in 4K and has a 150 degree wide angle. It is mounted just like the GoPro with a suction cup mount. It does have a small screen in the rear so you can change settings, but this camera has WiFi capabilities so you can access the footage via a smartphone app. The GoPro has a similar feature.
The Rove sets itself apart as it includes a GPS unit that will accurately record your speed, location and pair that with Google Maps. This is great if you ever need to reference yourself at a place and time in the car.
Additional features aren’t apart of the GoPro such as G-Sensor, which will automatically detect when your car has been in an accident and will save footage to review at a later time. The loop recording is also a lot easier as it will fill the entire SD card before overwriting old footage. And finally, Parking Mode is a feature that you would want to use the Rove for and not the GoPro. Parking Mode will monitor your vehicle whenever you are away from the car and detect motion or any shock caused by an accident.
As you can see, at a reasonable price with Prime shipping, if you have time to get a proper dash cam before a trip, you should.
Can you use a GoPro as a Webcam?
Yes, you can use a GoPro as a Webcam for Mac and Window Users even though this functionality is relatively new. You must have a HERO8 or newer GoPro model for this to work. Official instructions are here.
Using your GoPro for Mac Users
- Download and install the GoPro Webcam Desktop Utility
- Connect your GoPro to your computer with the included USB cable.
- A GoPro icon in the status bar should display if the connection was successful. You can preview the camera by selecting ‘Show Preview’.
- In your Zoom, Google Meet or equivalent webcam program you can select the GoPro Camera.
Using your GoPro for Window Users (beta)
- Download and install the GoPro Webcam Desktop Utility by joining the Facebook group called GoPro Webcam Beta. At this time, GoPro is still testing out the software.
- Connect your GoPro to your computer with the included USB cable.
- A GoPro icon in the status bar should display if the connection was successful. You can preview the camera by selecting ‘Show Preview’.
- In your Zoom, Google Meet or equivalent webcam program you can select the GoPro Camera.