GoPro 8 Black on external power

[gregb886]

I'm planning to replace my older GoPro 4 with the new 8 Black but I need to be abolutely sure I can use it in my car running from a USB power supply from the car or from a power bank.

Questions:

1.  Does the GoPro battery need to be in the camera while it is running from external power?  if it does, what keeps the battery in place while the battery cover is open?  Is it retained by clicking into place?

2.  Is the battery cover removable by unclipping it from the camera?

3.  If the camera is running on external power with the battery in, will Hypersmooth 2 work OK?

4.  If the camera is running on external power with NO battery in, will Hypersmooth 2 work OK?

5.  Does using the battery on external power disable any of the camera functions, resolutions, frame rates, menu options etc.?

[gregb886 · Accepted solution]

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@gregb886 wrote:

I'm planning to replace my older GoPro 4 with the new 8 Black but I need to be abolutely sure I can use it in my car running from a USB power supply from the car or from a power bank.

Questions:

1.  Does the GoPro battery need to be in the camera while it is running from external power?  if it does, what keeps the battery in place while the battery cover is open?  Is it retained by clicking into place?

2.  Is the battery cover removable by unclipping it from the camera?

3.  If the camera is running on external power with the battery in, will Hypersmooth 2 work OK?

4.  If the camera is running on external power with NO battery in, will Hypersmooth 2 work OK?

5.  Does using the battery on external power disable any of the camera functions, resolutions, frame rates, menu options etc.?

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Thank you everyone for the feedback.

I went ahead and bought an 8 & used it in my rally car running off power from the car through a USB socket.  It worked fine.

I used race tape & some small felt blocks to retain the battery.  I'll look into the Ulanzi battery door for the future now I know the camera works OK on external power.

[marmachine]

I am actually wondering the same thing, although i use my GoPro's on my motorbike while driving all day i don't want to about battery life, storage availability is allready anough to worry about. I cannot believe there isn't an out of the box solution for motorbikes and connected to exteral power sources. Where GoPro seems to target Marketing with a serious budget, this is one they seem to ignore!? Such a shame for such a beautifull and well developed product.

[fishycomics]

Ulanzi maes a battery door  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0813CXVV1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And excellent question if hte USb port charger is rated higher then 1.5A it should work fine.

[marmachine]

Seems like a nice solution, but...


Currently unavailable
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.

[fishycomics]

Ulanzi has their Site, that you can order from 

https://www.ulanzi.com/collections/frontpage/products/ulanzi-g8-7-gopro-8-chargeable-battery-lid

and that said Preorders. so the choice is up to you, mine is on the way

[robert1326]

just ordered....thank you Fish!

[fishycomics]

You are very welcomed.  Keep all posted how you like mine is in transit  hope to see next week.

[tj311]

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@gregb886 wrote:

I'm planning to replace my older GoPro 4 with the new 8 Black but I need to be abolutely sure I can use it in my car running from a USB power supply from the car or from a power bank.

Questions:

1.  Does the GoPro battery need to be in the camera while it is running from external power?  if it does, what keeps the battery in place while the battery cover is open?  Is it retained by clicking into place?

2.  Is the battery cover removable by unclipping it from the camera?

3.  If the camera is running on external power with the battery in, will Hypersmooth 2 work OK?

4.  If the camera is running on external power with NO battery in, will Hypersmooth 2 work OK?

5.  Does using the battery on external power disable any of the camera functions, resolutions, frame rates, menu options etc.?

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I can answer a few of these questions based on my own personal experience with external battery on the Hero 8 Black. I'm using this external battery: https://amzn.to/2OYqZeH

1. I had to remove the GoPro internal battery. The camera would not even power on while the internal battery was in place. The battery is not retained in place. It's only held there by friction. I used a piece of soft cloth to cover the battery compartment while I was plugged into external battery. NOT a good situation... but it'll have to work until the gopro mods case is released or until the Ulanzi battery doors are available.

2. Yes... The battery door is removable. You could just open it and leave it attached but it comes off VERY easily, so I remove it in order to keep from losing it. 

4. Hypersmooth 2 seemed to work just fine with battery removed while on external power. I did not try all of the different frame rate / modes.

I'm anxiously waiting on the GoPro "mod" to be released. This will be the ultimate solution for protecting the inside of the battery case while using external battery.