GoPro camera question...

The video does not stop after 17 minutes. I did a 59 minute Scuba dive and it filmed the whole thing.

Also, the iPhone app also pretty fantastic. You can fully control the device from your phone and have a preview of what the camera is pointed at.
 
JamesTXSD":3pqx5cgz said:
Hi Robert,

Which model did you go with? Any particular accessories? I'm still in the consideration stage. I'm thinking it would be interesting to put it on shoot-every-few seconds on a trip and not have to deal with it... but, not so sure about that extreme wide angle view.

Best wishes,
Jim
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Hi Jim,

We purchased the Black version. The Black version comes with the wifi remote and there is also an app available to control the camera. I wanted to put the Gopro on the exterior of the motorhome and like you said - shoot every few seconds. We have it setup to shoot every 60 seconds and I can adjust that from my XOOM if we are in an area that has more to look at.

We purchased the battery BacPac. The main reason was to have the USB slot on the side of the camera so that we could run a USB cable to the camera while on our roadtrips. We also purchased the head strap that we used as we rode the Citibike (bike rental in NYC) in NYC.

Still learning how we want to use it. I don't want (and don't have the skill set) to take hours editing the video - so setting it up with minimal input is desirable. We downloaded Microsoft Movie Maker and that seems to work easy and fast.
 
we got the black for the remote that came with it, as its about 80$ to purchase. also cabelas was offering 50$ gift card with purchase and if put on cabelas visa 15% cash back so it was almost a push for the silver.

we also took a 45 min video this weekend. have not loaded it yet to see how it turned out. planning on doing that tonight. I am interested in hard wiring a usb to the mount we have on the rocket launcher of boat. originally I figured just have spare batteries for it. but it was a pain to take it down to swap batteries out a couple times over the coarse of the day.
 
Jake B":1qdusufo said:
but it was a pain to take it down to swap batteries out a couple times over the coarse of the day.
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Yeah, I agree. We sometimes travel many hours on the View, so I wanted a way to hook the USB directly into the camera while we traveled. The Battery BacPac has an USB connection on the side and comes with the skeleton back cover. This allows me to connect the USB cable from the View to the Gopro outside (until it starts raining, then I'll run off battery). Not sure what I'll do on the CD22, but should be fun.
 
Thought I'd share this video that my 15 yr old son made yesterday seeing that it was because of c-brats that I purchased the GoPro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--0Nj380yZ8

Looking forward to documenting our trip to Vancouver / Gulf Islands in a few weeks. Looking forward to leaving our CD22 in Blaine, WA for a few years to really explore the Pacific Northwest. But most of all looking forward to seeing my 20 year old that I haven't seen for a year since dropping him off at college!

Looking forward to the long 30+ hour drive out West (Love to be on the road/water) - trailer has new tires, new bearings, boat has solar panel installed, just need to hook it to the truck, flip on the GoPro and head out.
 
Update on the GoPro, since I started this thread... I bought the GoPro Hero 3 Black a couple weeks ago. It arrived DOA right out of the box. Calling for support, I was told I needed a different micro SD card. It took a week for that to arrive (can't buy one on San Juan Island), and it made absolutely no difference.

GoPro was decent about replacing the camera, but their "we'll get a new one right out to you" process has been a lot slower than I thought it would be. It is supposed to show up some time this week.

So, I'll see how the camera functions when it shows up. At this point, I'm a bit less enthralled with the whole idea of it, but I'm up to my armpits in other GoPro stuff.

Hope this next one works. :roll:
 
Be sure to do the updates before you start using it. I think you will have a better experience if you do.

Good luck.
 
jkidd":3tmcbs18 said:
Be sure to do the updates before you start using it. I think you will have a better experience if you do.

Good luck.
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Yep. I tried the updates with the DOA camera, with a GoPro tech support guy on the phone. The GoPro no go. :roll: He said, "This is very unusual."

Not according to many of the reviews I've read. :wink:

The first one would turn on and then lock up... I'm hoping the replacement will turn on and off (I had to remove the battery to turn the camera off)... maybe even take some photos (never got a single image with it)... or some video. Yeah, that would be nice.

:photo
 
A year and a half later and now I'm starting to think about getting one. Jim, did you finally get up and going with one that worked? Right now I'm considering the Gopro 4 silver. Just wondering if it's really worth the money. Looks like 399.99 everywhere, but I'm understanding one needs a special sd card and one I saw recommended adds another 75 bucks to the price. Then there's the extra batteries and accessories.... Starting to think I might be better saving up for an auto pilot instead. :)
 
One thing to consider is if you will need a video screen on the camera. This is an add in for most GoPros but comes standard on the model you are interested in. I really like having a screen.

If this is not needed you may have as much fun with one of the older cheaper GoPro models that supports 1080@30 (Frames per second) or 720@ at 30/60. I personally prefer 720 for filming and editing as the quality is still good and the rendering is faster and file sizes much smaller.

A lot of times where these are used the filming will be outside with good light and the most important thing is the memory of it. My brother got everyone in the family these really cheap waterproof video cameras that have a tiny video screens and it has been a lot of fun to see the video from all sorts of trips, so if money is a factor in getting or not getting a video camera there are other options out.
 
colbysmith":2ki842x6 said:
A year and a half later and now I'm starting to think about getting one. Jim, did you finally get up and going with one that worked? Right now I'm considering the Gopro 4 silver. Just wondering if it's really worth the money. Looks like 399.99 everywhere, but I'm understanding one needs a special sd card and one I saw recommended adds another 75 bucks to the price. Then there's the extra batteries and accessories.... Starting to think I might be better saving up for an auto pilot instead. :)
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If it came down to a GoPro or an autopilot, I would be 100% in the autopilot camp.

After a year and a half with the GoPro 3 Black, I am underwhelmed. Yes, I am aware that there are lots of very cool extreme sport videos being done with the GoPro... or put one on a drone and get some very cool aerial photos, like those done at the Lake Powell gathering. :thup

I'm looking at "extreme" in the rear view mirror... takes too long to heal these days. :wink: For 32 years, I was a professional photographer; an early adopter of digital imaging technology. Only saying that to establish a basis - I know my way around a camera. From my perspective, the GoPro, due to the extreme wide angle, is a one-trick pony. I have tried it on the boat, on the kayaks, on the scooters... yawn. The small buttons and miniscule gray-screen means you have to "scroll and tap" to get at any particular function (video, stills, timed exposures, bursts, resolution, wifi, etc, etc)... I don't think there is a time I have used the camera where I didn't get at least one photo up my nose while scrolling through those screens. :roll:

"Well, sure, Jim, you're an old fart," you're thinking. That's not nice, considering I am handing out free advice here. :twisted: Remember the old flip phones? And what a pain it was to text with those? Imagine that with only 3 buttons instead of 12, and make the screen 1/10 the size... oh, and put each of those buttons on a different face of the camera.

I mostly shoot stills when I use the GoPro. You get wide angle and REALLY wide angle as your only options. The issue with no viewing screen isn't that big of a deal, due to the field of view. But seeing everything in that perspective gets old - give me a camera with some zoom, from wide angle to telephoto.

Imagine it on the dash of your boat. Pretty cool, huh? Now imagine that same view for 20 minutes... which, due to the extreme wide perspective, will be mostly the bow of the boat. See that whale? Unless it is about 10 feet from you, it will just be a dot in the video. Remember that conversation about getting too close to the whales? Yeah, at 200 yards, the whale won't even be a dot.

I used to do video editing back in the olden days - with actual video tape. It was tedious. It is certainly much easier with digital, but still tedious. I took a half hour of video on the scooter, cut it to a couple minutes... and it was still less than exciting for me to look at. Took me nearly an hour... for me, too much for too little.

I totally get how someone who is surfing, sky diving, or extreme mountain biking, or scuba diving with sharks could get some fun video. If they pushed the right buttons in the right series first. :lol:

I'm sure you will get other perspectives from people who love 'em.

Jim
 
My take on the secrets of the "Go-Pro" appeal:

That extreme wide angle lens on the Go-Pros increases the apparent distances between objects in the field of view dramatically, such that it makes the motion of the camera (and/or the person wearing/handling it) move forward at a much greater speed than is really happening.

This makes the movement of the wearer look much more dramatic and daring, which is the enhancement that makes the "Go-Pro" work and sell itself to those that want to make themselves "Be a Hero".

~25mph looks like 65..... and 90 feet looks like 250......what's not to like? :smiled

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
We've used our GoPro Black 3 extensively during our travels in our View and CD22. It is very easy to use and the video quality is amazing - almost better than real life. Recently we purchased the screen to attach and have used it as our camera. You need to practice with the camera function as you really can't take photos of small objects in the distance.

We have the GoPro mounted on the dash of our View and we click it on every once in a while to share some cool locations. We also have the "stick/pole" that we take while hiking to show a cool view of the hike. Also, we have it attached to our MTB's on our rides. Attached to the bow of our CD22.

If you want an amazing fun camera/video - BUY IT. You need to experiment with it but there is no focusing no setup - and the videos look professionally shot.

Here is a link to many of our GoPro videos on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.ph...7:2305272732:69&set=vb.100006318766497&type=2
 
Thanks Jim for your take. Regarding your old comments. I didn't say that you did. Lol. I still own a flip phone, and the younger (and some older) crowd say it's painful to watch me text. (I just as soon not text anyway...) I too was partial to some old Minolta SLR's that I have since sold. I now own two small digital camera's, but neither water proof. I'm thinking I may let my thoughts on the GoPro die, and just keep wondering about an autopilot! :-) I have taken some decent video with my digital camera's, from the dash of a B757 and from the CD-22, so guess I was just toying with the thought of getting a new gadget. I'm not real happy with the still focus on my newest digital, but if I take enuf shots it usually figures it out. (Auto focus....) However, the focus seems to do better when I'm doing video with the camera. My older cheaper digital camera actually works better than my newer pricier one, for stills. And the older one is the one I got some nice departure and arrival video from the airliner cockpit. It was the newer one that I used taking video I uploaded earlier of Midnight Flyer on the sling in Anacortes last summer. Both of the cameras have enough resolution for me (and I usually take in low anyway to conserve file size...), so guess I'm pretty much talking myself out of wanting a GoPro.... I would have kept my last old Minolta SLR, but you can't even find film easily anymore.... Robert, thanks too for your comments. It was actually some of your video that got me to thinking about the GoPro! :-) But with more thought, I'm not sure I would gain anything (other than perhaps a better mounting method) over my current cameras, for my intended use. Colby
 
I thought about a Go Pro a couple times but never pulled the trigger. Any auto pilot; even the point and shoot variety that just keeps the boat on a given course like we have is really a nice way to cruise especially at low speeds. We use the wireless hand held remote to steer the boat and keep the boats icon on the route line shown on the laptop. For me it actually extends our cruising range as the auto pilot removes the hassle of fighting wind or waves especially coming off the front quarter and you can keep a better eye out and deal with the throttle. I'd probably spring for a AIS standalone unit before a Go Pro camera but that's just me. We have a half decent Cannon digital camera for still pictures and even video.
D.D.
 
I have a couple of Hero3+ black cameras.

You can choose to use a narrower field of view than the full wide angle. This reduces the distortion quite a bit.

You can use any WiFi enabled smartphone or tablet as a view finder and controller for the camera. However, each wifi device can only be connected to one camera at a time. Multiple cameras require multiple devices. But, if you have old smartphones you don't use anymore, they make handy camera controllers. You can set up the GoPro wifi remote to start and stop multiple cameras at once.

The battery life on the camera is not that great. You can add an extra battery back, but it replaces the LCD touchscreen (on the Hero3 line). It would be difficult to add and external power supply (or battery) and still maintain the waterproofing of the camera case.
 
Cool Video. Especially the underwater stuff. But alas, thinking about what my use would be and what I already have, the autopilot is still probably a better idea for me to think about. (Then easier to use both my hands to hold my current digital camera while a new AP steers the boat. :-)
 
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