UKC

I like to try new ways of recording my ventures into the hills and have been thinking about a GoPro so that I can film "on the move"

Anyone got any views (no pun intended) on them? Are they good value? Good resolution? Best buy?

Thamks.

In reply to mypyrex:

They are generally regarded as excellent. See the recent Danny McCaskill film, for what you can do with them. youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_IQS3VKjA&

Only problem is when people don't have adequate editing skills, so your film of your "venture into the hills" might have great resolution, and stunning picture quality but be boring as hell to watch without a good edit job. I'm not having a go here, just outlining the reasons I haven't bought one.

In reply to ablackett:

Have you seen my:
youtube.com/watch?v=LbLgLcENvEc&

Please feel free to cast a critical eye over it.

I'm not saying this out of any sort of conceit but I did spend a hell of a long time editing.
Edit: BTW Thanks for comment.

In reply to mypyrex:

I'd say they are great. But use them for you, your friends and family, not for the whole world.

Im very fond of mine - great picture quality, easy to get lots of angles with lots of sports and theyre very flexible with regards to filming modes. I like procrastinating with the editing software too.

However, theyre not cheap, battery life is short even with additional battery pack. If you dont have an iphone you have to either guess where its pointing or pay for a lcd back screen. If you want to record sound with it youll need a special case. The list goes on.

But I like mine and use it a lot.

In reply to mypyrex:

I'd say that you need to either have multiple cameras to give multiple views of a particular sequence or you do the same sequence multiple times whilst filming from different viewpoints so that you can edit and splice them together.

I've not done a full comparison of all the models but this http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras/digital-camcorders/digital-camcorders/... is £99 so you could get a couple of them for not much more than the cost of a single Hero 3

The single wide angle focal length can alter perception of what you are doing - typically it flattens trails when you are mountain biking for instance.

When you look at the "behind the scenes" add-ons to programmes you see a lot of Go-pros so they are obviously good enough to be considered for broadcast though I suspect that their consumer rather than professional cost has something to do with it.

In reply to mypyrex:

I read the big concern about editing and I am sure that this is correct,but I am also considering one at the moment,even though I hardly have time to look at my still photographs.

I suppose that I have this idea of being able to edit video material in the future when either my work life is less involved or all encompassing or when I retire.(Or will it end up being never or in the afterlife?)

I see that there is now a version 4 out and wonder if there is more to be gained in reduced cost of the old version, or is it best to pay more and get the latest model?

Rob

In reply to mypyrex:

I love mine and have recorded some great moments on it. It worked well in the Alps for recording summits and mountain bike descents and you can take stills from the video so you don't have to be fumbling around with a camera all the time. They work brilliantly in and under water too with the right case.

Like Bob says, if you want to make a specific event into exciting viewing, you may want to film from different angles or at least play with the editing - this is quite easy if you use GoPro's editing programme - I'll post you some bouldering videos I made using it if you like, to give an idea. For long walks into the hills etc you could edit to play fast forward and pause at particularly good scenes.

A fair point from Minneconjou also, Gopro videos are more for yourself than photos which are easier to share- I have lost a lot of friends by making them sit through multipitch climbs saying "hang on, this is the crux coming up, watch what I had to do with my foot..." etc.

All in all a good fun toy - get one!

In reply to mypyrex:

check out my vids all made on the go pro hero 2 ! Brilliant bits of kit which can take a battering ..and soaking!
https://vimeo.com/user12338475/videos

In reply to mypyrex:

You could try some alternatives to the gopro, such as the Möbius and SJ4000.
http://www.techmoan.com/blog/category/action-cameras

In reply to mypyrex:

You might want to check out the Polaroid Cube as an alternative as well. Only £99 and getting rave reviews.

In reply to mypyrex:

Apart from making videos, I have started to use mine for making time lapses. Great for outdoors use, as they are weatherproof. The only problem is the short battery life (around) 2hrs. Here is a link to a time lapse I made of the sunrise over Cwm Eigiau: youtube.com/watch?v=Gsb9mcleTiQ&

In reply to Bob:


Agree there!

GoPro battery life is also terrible.

In reply to ablackett:

Great video, some pretty sweet drone footage too!

If you're just after a cheap camera then the Mobius is excellent for the money - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mobius-1080P-Action-Camera-Recorder/dp/B00FQFO1O0

The only downside to the Mobius is the GoPro has so many accessories available.

In reply to mypyrex:

What I've seen of them (borrowing and editing others' footage) says that its a brilliant bit of kit. TV companies use them regularly. They do have some limitations (lack of screen, battery life issues, slightly clunky to attach to helmets compared with others) but are the class leader for good reason.

Depending on your computer's capabilities, you may need to upgrade to make editing a reasonable process. My own fairly basic, but not that old, laptop struggles with decent quality video editing to such an extent that I gave up bothering. At some point I will buy a GoPro, but only when I can also afford to budget for a decent computer...

In reply to mypyrex:

Like any bit of tech or camera equipment they are a compromise.

which model were you thinking of getting (the line up has just been updated)

there's a new basic model which will be about £120 apparently

the gopro is popular becase the market well and their cameras are generally quite good (they've had some firmware issues in the past, but they seem to be on top of that now) they pay attention to the mounting options (i suspect that's where they make most of their money actually)

you need spare batteries and decent memory card (the cheap and cheerful cards may not work, but you can quite safely use none std batteries) and you may need to spend a bit more for different attachments (the handlebar mount for example can be attached to your walking pole and used as an extender pole)

there's a great forum for gopro users here

http://goprouser.freeforums.org/

oh and if you have a smart phone (apple or android) you can control most of their modern cameras from the phone. i used mine recently at a wedding as wide view fo the church and being able to control it from across the room from my phone was invaluable)

In reply to mypyrex:

i use 2 and a contour for when iam paragliding need more than 1 view as has been pointed out check my latest offering
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bME4IYRDJlg&list=UUp-LxE9PcAobrV-Y1YR_JT...

there are others but gopro seems to have the mounts

In reply to koolkat:
nice video... can i offer an editing tip?

when you change from a video to a still it "jars" a bit

try experimenting with zooming / panning across the still image to give it some movement, like this... the ken burns effect

for example in sony vegas... youtube.com/watch?v=MMIxb7udqD4&

BTW i love that top down look, and the "face cam" really adds to the viewer involvment in your flight. great angles sir!

In reply to rallymania:

notes taken for next edit thanks, glad you liked ,the filming is the easy part music and editing is where it gets difficult
I have more on you tube but that was the latest , my own admission a bit of a lazy end to it :-/