GoPro - What do you think?

[PeteTheDeliverySkipper]

I have personally always been a bit cynical. They are advertised in a very aspirational way for extreme sports such as snowboarding, skydiving, surfing etc... And yes, if you do need a light weight waterproof camera that you can take with you to the top of K2 for a base jump back down again then I am sure they are great!

I have dabbled for a while now with some filming and editing mainly around boats and with regard to the yacht deliveries we undertake.

I originally used a Xacti and now also have a Panasonic HC-X900. I have never considered a GoPro with any seriousness until recently one of our crew sent some footage over that he had taken during the delivery of a Jeanneau 43 from the UK to Greece. Amazing underwater shots!

I enjoyed editing this short film, although do feel quite envious!

Halcyon Yacht Delivery - Jeanneau 43 DS - UK to Greece - YouTube

So, should I ask Santa for a GoPro this year?

Pete

[ozskipper]

They are the bullet proof tough camera of today with so many options . Even gps self homing heli-drones to attach them to . and the whole thing can be controlled by your ipad.

FPV Paris La Défense Flight Homemade Ultralight Drone GoPro 3 Black - YouTube

ya cant to that with an eos

[ozskipper]

Or better yet. a sailing one..

RL24 40th National Championships 2013 - YouTube

[Johnathon123]

My young bloke looked at go pro's for his mountain biking, ended up buying a "imitation" from the local Kmart for less than 1/3rd of the price of the go pro. Really hard to tell the difference in the video output.

In OZ Kogan sells an imitation as well but I have no idea if they are any good

[JazzyO]

I like them but I do find the "wide-angle-only" to be very irritating. For the OP, for instance, at the end of your short video it really started to get to me that all the shots, including the shots of people on board and swimming were very wide angle. I think one cannot do without a more sophisticated camera to augment the GoPro stuff. But the GoPro (and competitors by the way, they are not the only ones out there) can do some fantastic stuff.

I really want to get a floating drone and a GoPro to shoot my boat sailing out in the ocean (you need to be able to pick it up when it runs out of range or juice). So far I've only found a prototype, haven't found a proper supplier yet. See the video on here:

Floating Waterproof Quadcopter by Aquacopters.com - YouTube

Onno

[Cruiser2B]

love it, super compact, great quality...loads of accessories and waterproof. worth money for documenting your sailing and land based adventures

[MBLittle]

Originally Posted by JazzyO

I like them but I do find the "wide-angle-only" to be very irritating.

Not sure the last model you played with as the newer Hero3 and Hero3+ have options for "regular" FOV framing. As well as framing however you want in editing.

For the OP, I absolutely love my Hero3 Black for everything from pictures at the beach to video while SCUBA diving. It's one of the best camera purchases I've ever made.

[tlgibson97]

I have the HERO3 Black also. I love the camera except for the battery life. The HERO 3+ is supposedly better but I've not seen one to compare. I like that the video can be displayed on my mobile device (although with about a 5 sec delay, also reportedly shortened with the 3+). New software allows me to dowload pics and video in a smaller format directly to my mobile device which is nice too since it is a little bit of work to knock the large HD files down to a smaller size.

[Livia]

We bought a used GoPro Hero 2 a couple of years ago and love it. We've hoisted it up on a halyard, used it on our boat hook, and the wide angle is really useful in our cockpit and the boat interior.



We find that the combination of the Lumix waterproof camera (for normal angle) and the GoPro has been very good for our cruising videos. The only thing that those two cameras miss is scuba diving. Our Lumix is only rated to 40feet and IMHO the GoPro wide angle isn't great for underwater videography for things that aren't super close up.

A video we made of our passage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOf4m...eeLZWeQKJzrAo4

[Tim R.]

I use mine for getting footage of sailing, mountain biking and skiing. I am still learning editing but getting better. Here are a few.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-nMPwhuIOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJKFa0jsBzw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5kMfnK6f9E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc-JkYqYnYE

[Khagan1227]

Originally Posted by Tim R.

I use mine for getting footage of sailing, mountain biking and skiing. I am still learning editing but getting better. Here are a few.

Love my Hero 3 Black too, I did find a needed a new computer for editing, the old one was WAY slow. Do a little research on video editing and the computer you need to use, it will solve a few headaches ahead.

Getting the right SD card is a must, not all SD cards are the same and WILL effect your film quality.

I have MANY attachment for mine and am looking for new ones to try, great camera, great price, great size. HOWEVER, if you are looking for all the cool stuff and EOS (or similar) can do, the Hero is a bit limited, but it's size more than makes up for its limitations.

I doubt anyone has dove off a 10M diving board wearing a EOS on their wrist.

[rebel heart]

I'd pick the contour over the gopro, but contour isn't making cameras anymore so gopro it is.

[MBLittle]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

Love my Hero 3 Black too, I did find a needed a new computer for editing, the old one was WAY slow. Do a little research on video editing and the computer you need to use, it will solve a few headaches ahead. Getting the right SD card is a must, not all SD cards are the same and WILL effect your film quality. I have MANY attachment for mine and am looking for new ones to try, great camera, great price, great size. HOWEVER, if you are looking for all the cool stuff and EOS (or similar) can do, the Hero is a bit limited, but it's size more than makes up for its limitations. I doubt anyone has dove off a 10M diving board wearing a EOS on their wrist.

The great thing about the black is the .lrv files. Those allow you to edit your videos on any old slow laptop and still create the HD vids in the end.

Check this out:
http://www.goprofanatics.com/editing...lrv-files.html

Although I still talked the wife into letting me get a new laptop anyways

[brianc]

I don't have one...yet. I've used a couple belonging to friends and have some great footage (one day I'll get around to editing it.)

In the mean time, this series of four vids are at the top of my favorite gopro videos list. I don't remember where I found them but they're great.

Segeln von Kiel nach Brest - YouTube

Atlantic sailing - Bay of Biscay to Canary Islands - YouTube

Atlantic Crossing - Las Palmas to Antigua - YouTube

Sailing Caribbean - Antigua and Sint Maarten - YouTube

[maytrix]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

I'd pick the contour over the gopro, but contour isn't making cameras anymore so gopro it is.

That's what I did years ago (probably before GoPro existed - or at least before anyone knew what it was). On my 2nd one now (first one is still fine, just wanted to upgrade).

You can still get them and at decent prices. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

Regardless of what camera is used though and as much as I like my contour, it is not a replacement for a good HD camcorder. For underwater shots, I use a Canon M30 with underwater housing. Much easier to get steady shots and zoom in and out. Contour/GoPro's are really best for action shots.