Thinking about buying a go pro camera.
 

So I have been thinking about buying a go pro camera for a while now. Think it could be fun for boating, snowboarding, jet skiing, etc videos. They have the regular one for $150 and the HD version for $300. Is it worth the extra money? I found one on ebay that is a new HD model with a case and a 16gig card for $329. Also, is this something that they are going to come out with a new model in a couple months and it would be worth it to wait for?

Thanks guys,
Josh

The HD model is pretty new, although the one a friend of mine just got is different from the one I bought in May. If you're going to watch the videos on and older TV, a laptop or your phone, the HD is probably not needed. If you're watching on a mid-size or larger HD TV, go for it.

I have an HD version. W/o a doubt, I'd buy the same again. I did a little searching and found mine a little cheaper.

The only complains I have about mine are as follows (same issues with both)...
Lack of a display screen can make setup hit and miss. Menu/navigation is very crude, but it works and it's often setup and left as is. You almost have to keep the owners manual (and I use that term very loosely!) with the camera should you want/need to change settings. The mounts, knobs, hinges, etc are pretty cheap, but they work and are probably what should be expected at this this price range.

With that said, the HD takes some amazing footage for a tiny $300 camera and is well worth the coin IMO.

I have 2hd's that I have been expiermenting with, they are pretty cool and some great footage for the price.

I got the HP one. The only issue I have found is the Go Pro records in MP4 format and all the free editors are setup for MP3 so I have not been able to cut and splice any of the video. Can't email out 20mg video files and I have not been able to convert to edit these as of yet.

The little case it comes in is certainly waterproof and strong not to mention it kills all that annoying wind noise.

Did not get the suction cup mount as I feared it would blow off at high speeds, but friends say they are strong.

I am going to get a second one this week so I can film two things at once. Go Pro must have sold out as they are advertising like mad online and selling them in Costco, Sams, and everywhere. They have certainly hit it big time :D

Their the new rage at LOTO now, seems most guys are getting regs over the HD, I'm starting to look at them now too, for next Spring.

We have the HD in stock ready to ship, PM me for a great price!

I love mine! Bought it here for $228.00

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GOPRO...Q5fMerchandise

I'm finding them in surf shops down here now. I use the suction cup mount on my jetski and as long as you put it on dry, it will stay on. I still tie it off as I do a lot of wave jumping with mine.

Editing hints: http://www.squared5.com/

Get MPEG streamclip. It's a free converter. You can easily trim off heads and tails, but it will allow you convert to something like a .mov file, which is editor friendly.

Get the HD version if you want your postage stamp size to look good you have to start out with a lot of data to start with.

As well if you want t full screen image you want at least 720P capability.

You can always step the image down in size software but you can never make the picture you shot better.

The suction cup mount held up fine in ocean haul- Azz moderately choppy conditions for me.



We start getting to it at about 1:50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiCEK570stY


Uncle Dave

There is a thread on MWBP right now on this very topic. It's been going for a couple of days now. Pretty good info in that thread about it too.

This product has caught my eye and will likely be in my arsenal within a week or so if I get my way.

Someone commented about the integrity of the suction cup mount. I have no personal experience with it myself, but the video posted on MWBP was used with this mount on the transom of the boat for some of the vid while the boat was being run on LOTO. The owner said if you follow the directions carefully you will not have to worry about it coming loose.

Someone also mentioned that inability to view a screen or see what you are recording. I noticed on their site they had a screen that one could put on the back of the camera to remedy this issue or it was a bother. I realize there is added expense involved, but the overall cost was still reasonable IMO.

I will be purchasing the HD version when my order is placed. Just have to call the warehouse tomorrow and work out a pricing discount for the product line and I'll be set up!!

I look forward to using it for ATVing, boating, and hunting. Looks like a very cost effective option to me.

Buck

Rik I have used the following program to convert digital film format for a good while transfers from pretty much any format to another. Even formats for iPhones or ipads which are different than mp4. I think I had paid $35 to register it but found that it was well worth it.

http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Video-Converter.aspx

I have the following cameras;
Gopro HD
Contour 720hd
Contour 1080hd

I have found that the quality of all of them are very similar. They are very susceptible to lighting. I up to now have used them inside the cockpit of my MTI, which is challenging on lighting, sun comes in the windows and the camera does not get all outside and inside views with good lights. After a while I also figured that the best resolution to memory space ratio is to film in 720hd / 30fps. This gives enough resolution and time of recording on SD chips. 16MB cards last 8 hours at that ratio... Long enough too last till the boat breaks!!!!!

I just set up mounts on top of the snout looking forward and backwards on DOI and will more than likely go out today with them. After test

This was shot with the Contour 1080hd a couple days ago at 720hd30fps. Looks better on computer with raw file as You tube dumbs it down a little.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0exFXyCtno[/YOUTUBE]

Actually the best place to publish for quality video is here;

http://vimeo.com/7018240

This was shot last year with the Contour 720hd at 720hd30fps.

The reason I recently got the GoPro is because cowisl sent me this videos of his hydro they recorded with a GoPro and I couldn't believe the quality.

Once I did some static testing inside and outside the cockpit I figured the image with both cams where pretty good but my problem for quality in the cockpit was more related to lighting and vibration when both mills are running and we're getting our cage rattled running above triple digits all the time...

I hope this helps..... In confusing you even more.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zalkTr8AgX8[/YOUTUBE]

If the weather is nice today I will go out and have two cams on top of the snout facing front and back and will try the GoPro inside the cockpit.

I will set them all at full res and might try one at 720hd / 60 fps to see.

Mounting on the snout should resolve the tricky lighting issue but for my taste I am more concern on having a record of my instrumentation which is why up to now I have only used them inside the cockpit.

Some people might praise having full fledge multi lipstick camera with a fixed recorder but to me I like the portability of the small cams talked about here and besides. All that stuff would of stuck with the boat last March when I turned DOI in a submarine and I would not have saved footage of the whole ride!!! :eek:

I also found lighting to be challenging inside a closed cockpit, but there's not much you can do about it except try to limit the changes in lighting and keep direct sunlight off the camera.

All the HD settings look good, but I like the 720 / 60fps setting as it seems to look smoother and more natural during action.

I used the suction cup on a 120 mile run, no problems. Also used it on my quad with no problem.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="1280" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LzazILq37Gs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1"> </param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LzazILq37Gs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="1280" height="745"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

Cool BIG Daddy and thnx for the link:drink::drink::drink::drink:

I have a GoPro HD and have used it only 4-5 times so far. I really like it and am thinking of getting a second one for two views. It has limited features like no display and playback but for me the compact size, variuos mounts, waterproof housing, simplicity of use, and video quality outweigh the shortcomings. For the price, you can't have it all and I am happy with what it does have.

Now, all that being said the only small issue I have had is with an environment issue. I have problems with the housing fogging up right in front of the camera lense. I have lost some great footage from that. The last time I cleaned the case with dish soap, which helps with snorkel masks, and it was better. Anyone else had this problem and found a solution?

I've used and am quite happy with the http://www.tachyoninc.com/xc_2010.php with a suction cup mount. You can get up 8 hours of video on a 32 gig disk. The included remote makes it nice to turn on and off easy and for 129 bucks it's pretty reasonable. I'm thinking about getting their newer HD version to try but the regular model video is pretty good.

[YOUTUBE]Npmqr_UIuRY[/YOUTUBE]

I can't think of a more boating subject why has this been moved?????

How does the "general mount" that comes with it work? It's not a suction cup is it?

The HD one for $180 looks like it might be a decent deal!:drink:

from the weekend, the suction cup works great! I use a couple of zip ties just in case.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0MEjFpPADY

Love mine aswell. Holds on in the rough. Until........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN7n5FdwMGA

Thanks again Pete!

No I bought the suction cup mounts elsewhere. It's a vacuum suction cup mount. http://www.filmtools.com/succupmoun.html
They hold on like crazy!!!

well i'm sold! i think this will be really neat to have. after watching some of the videos on youtube and the stuff you guys posted, seems like it just takes awesome video!

Good move Pete I went out today and lost one of my Contours in the lake!!! Oupps!

I did use the new GoPro HD I got in the cockpit and it looks much better then the Contoursnso I willmreplace it with a gopro.

I had to go on a business trip so I did not have time to upload it but it is much better. So between the two go with GoPro..

Here's a couple of vids on my ski using various mounts including the suction cup. Even though it's on a safety line, it has yet to come off, even as hard as I run it. Also, when you shoot at 720p wide angle, it shoots at 60 frames per second. That means you can slow it down to 30 frames (normal speed) and get some smooth slow motion shots. The only downside is their sound and how any shaking can get amplified. I am an audio engineer for a living, so I am able to squeeze out my engine noise and enhance things in general. GoPro offers a bunch of options to their mounts and I hope to calm down the rattling through that.

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

Also, get the anti-fog strips! That's what's up with the first clip.

Slomotion

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

a good friend of mine got a new gopro and this is what we got the first time out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_csmVp3QhKU

The one C_Spray is referring to is mine, got it last week direct from GoPro, couldn't find any deals on E-bay, yahoo etc. I bought the GoPro Hero HD 960 for $175 but it doesn't come w/ the suction cup mount that C_Spray had which ended up being another $30. Works well, easy to use.

I should be clear that the only difference that I could determine between NASCAT's GoPro and mine was the markings. His came with updated firmware, but I was able to download the new version as well as an updated owners manual for free. The suction cup mount was part of the "Motorsports" kit that I bought. (It was good enough for a 127 mph run...)

Chuck what about the Upside down mode, did you determine yours had that too? Symbols UP for up & UPd for upsidedown videoing.

The suction cup holds extremely well. I've had mine on the side of my car at over 190 mph... too bad it wasn't turned on at the time. The only thing I'd worry about on a boat would be a significant wave hitting it... the mount is a little flimsy to withstand something like this.

Another mount I found to be really helpful is the roll bar mount. It's very secure and camps on to any round-ish bar less than 2" in or so in dia. I got the ebay seller to throw that in when I ordered mine.

I had the fogging issue too. What I now do when possible is to leave the camera and case (open) in the sun a little while to drive off as much moisture before use as possible before I seal it. Drastically helps...

Verdict is in go with the GoProHD much better optics...

Now I need another cam cause I lost the one on the snout in the lake yesterday!!! :eek:

In cockpit from yesterday.

Press "YouTube" icon bottom right of picture then in the new window press 720HD bottom right of picture where it says "360" and then "expand" right beside it.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HCfe-Xjc0[/YOUTUBE]

Question: the "crackling" noise you hear in a lot of the videos, what is that from?

It does now. That was part of of the free firmware update.

The microphone is the weak point. Even though it fits snug in its casing, any part of the mount systems that rattles will translate to the mic. (Sound travels much better through solids) That's my only gripe and I am trying to mellow down the shaking to minimize that.