GoPro in a Church -- First Attempt

[Katie Fasel]

OK, so we've had the GoPro (2) for a while now, and just have not put it to good use....so for our first wedding of the season, this past weekend, we decided to give it a go. Either we did something wrong, although I am not quite sure how, as the menu/settings are pretty straight forward...or my expectations were just too high.

Now I know they do not perform well in low light...however, I feel like this chapel was very well-lit...big, wide open spaces, light cream colored walls,and lots of sunlight coming in (albeit through stained glass windows, but still a lot of light!) And the attached screen grab is what we received. Super disappointing, considering it was just dropped off to the side in hopes of getting a good shot, and turns out we DID get a good shot!

Now I'm not relying on this for anything...we shot with two other cameras, like i said this was just our first time trying it out. Is this "noise" what I should expect to see because I'm shooting indoors? To me it almost looks pixelated, and not like noise...

We shot in 1080 / 30p, and this grab is from the MP4 file. I did convert it to Apple Pro Res for use in Final Cut, and that looks maybe a TAD better, and it seems like Neat Video can clean it up a little bit too...but i doubt I will get anything useful out of this one.

I guess I just wanted to see if you all thought this was normal? Or if there might be something wrong? Just have seen a lot of great video, and heard soooo much good stuff, this was NOT what we were expecting.

[Rob Cantwell]

pretty bad result ok!
I was going to get a GoPro 3 but instead spent a few more euros and got a 2 prosumer cams that just blow the GoPros out of the water as far as IQ is concerned, as far as i can see, all they have going for them are as adventure outdoor cams, they just don't seem to do too good indoors, I did read somewhere that some people were having some luck with taking the protective lens and that off, dont know how true it is tho!

[Katie Fasel]

Rob, this was shot with just the camera...no case or protective gear on it...so no extra "layer" to see through!

[Terry Wall]

Hey, Rob, I'd be curious to know what prosumer camera(s) you purchased. I'm looking for 1 or 2 modestly priced cams that I could discretely place in the wedding venue and just let them run. Like you, I was sad to hear Katie's report about the GoPro indoors. It would be really cool to stash 4 or 5 of them around the venue, though editing all that multi-cam footage would present challenges of its own!! ;-)

Thx! ~TRW

[Colin Rowe]

Why not try something like an LX7. Small, complete manual control in video mode, amazing 1.4 Leica Summilux lens, stunning video quality. And it costs less than a GoPro. I used mine at Saturdays wedding, I will be using it a lot more in the future, it takes truly stunning photos as well

[Rob Cantwell]

hmmm maybe the GoPro 3 is better?? That footage is disappointing, what a shame!

My initial plan was to have my main cam, a Sony NX5 and a B cam a smaller Sony that my partner would use and then something small like the GoPro maybe two or more of them static. However i found it difficult to see many examples of indoor footage, especially in low light conditions.
Also at the time i was researching them there was just way too many complaints which put me off them.

So what i have now (and yes at a good deal higher price!!) a Sony CX 410 like what they have here
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/909738-REG/Sony_hdr_cx430v_b_HDR_CX430V_HD_Handycam_Camcorder.htmland a Sony PJ760E http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/858085-REG/Sony_HDR_PJ760E_96_GB_HDR_PJ760E_Flash.htmlCouldn't get one without a projector!!! I do have a Canon G11 but i dont actually know if theres a time limit for video on it? Is there a limit on the Lumix? That might present a problem if you wanted them to run unattended.
Even though they are pretty small the PJ 760 is reasonably specced camcorder and could in an emergency act as the main cam. I'm sort of paranoid when doing events so usually will have a Canon 5D Mk III on hand too - just in case!
I'm happy with the low light capabilities of these small cams, not as good as the 5D! but these do fine on full auto with face detection, scene selection, spot metering/focus even has peaking and zebra

[Nigel Barker]

It looks like chroma noise to me & Neat Video or Red Giant Denoiser will remove it. You have little or no control over the GoPro settings as it's just auto-everything. Using the ProTune option gives much more control in post for adjusting WB etc

The beauty of the GoPro is that it's about the size of a box of matches & you just press one button & it's recording. Consumer camcorders are much larger. This shot from a GoPro clipped up in the Chuppah at a Jewish wedding in Finchley Synagogue would not have been possible with a consumer camcorder.

[Katie Fasel]

Nigel...I am going to try and clean it up with Neat Video...so far I only did a quick test with the demo, but have been meaning to buy the Neat Video plug-in for a while now.

Curious, what format were you shooting in for in that shot?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Katie

My GoPro does a good job for me but you do need to keep it away from seeing any windows so I normally have my as a semi-aerial view camera. Just remember it exposes to what it sees and in your sample it "sees" a bright window in the back there. A really handy tool is a cheap tablet and the free GoPro app so you have a visual idea of the footage...Smart Phones work too but something like a 9" tablet gives you a nice big image to adjust the camera with.

Dunno about Nigel but I get better results with ProTune off as amongst other things PT also disables the noise reduction software in the camera...I shoot everything at 1080 25P and use the medium POV angle.

Chris

[Peter Riding]

That shot is not typical of my results with the GoPro 2 either. I agree with Chris you appear to have been affected by the bright light in the composition. The Gopro can do much better than that but you have to be careful with its placement. Perhaps in future try to find a composition requiring less dynamic range.

I've also been using Protune but I'm starting to think its more trouble than its worth for my requirements. It makes for big files that are even bigger when you convert them to AVI-medium in Cineform. Then you will need to apply sharpening and possibly noise reduction both of which may substantially increase render times. Since the Gopro footage is only ever a few seconds at a time for establishing shots etc in my coverage I think I'll live with the standard rather than the Protune output.

The Gopro also works well sitting on a cheap ebay friction arm attached to one of your tripods or such like for an alternative view. You don't necessarily need to stick it on its own lightstand.

For comparable wide angle coverage the Canon 15mm fisheye works extremely well. I guess similar offerings from Sigma would do so as well. You could use a cheap small dSLR like the 650D and probably increase the HD recording time with Magic Lantern (i think a 650D version is imminent).

I've tried the Gopro app with a 10" Ipad and a Galaxy S3 smartphone. I find the S3 preferable because the Ipad can be rather unwieldy when you're trying to do other stuff at the same time.

The Joby Griptight mount works very well with smartphones:

GripTight Smartphone Mount for iPhone, Android, and Windows

It actually does er grip tight :- )

And I use one with one of these Hama suction arms in my car. Much better than the usual fragile stuff:

Hama 00004371 Traveller Flex and Suction Pro Bendable: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo

 

Hama 00004371 Traveller Flex and Suction Pro Bendable: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo

The suction arm is good for a dashcam - so you can for example shoot a horse and carriage in transit.

Pete

[Clive McLaughlin]

I had heard all the chat about GoPro's for wedding backup footage and bought one once. i sold it again the next week I was so disappointed.

Instead I use a Nikon P310 which is a compact point and shoot camera that shoots HD video. I know it seems ridiculous to shoot video on a point and shoot camera, but I raerly ever use the footage from this camera.

I felt that this camera well out-performed the GoPro in anything less than full outdoor daylight.


Also, they come in at less than £200

[Nigel Barker]

I must confess that I have never used ProTune at a wedding. In my tests at home I can get a better image using ProTune then adjusting in post. As someone commented earlier you are only ever going to use a few seconds. I like it as a special effect 'Wow!' shot from an unexpected angle.

Sorry Katie but I can't recall what the settings would have been except 1080 25p. It looks like the medium wide rather than full wide.

[Chris Harding]

I must admit I seldom use the GoPro at ground level ...it's always at least 8' up in the air or up on the balcony at Churches. Sometimes I don't even use the footage if the other two cams give me enough but I always have it running! It has got me out of trouble a few times already with MOB's and photogs blocking my main camera view and for me it's brilliant at Church weddings to cover people walking up to the lectern and walking back, a shot that my other two cameras miss.

Brides, bless their hearts, love an occasional wide view of the wedding as it shows the entire setup which they seem to love... so that often is cut in too just to make them happy. If I'm just working around the ceremony then I have a lighting stand in the aisle next to my A-Cam and hoist the GoPro up into the air angled downwards and brides seem to love the semi-aerial shot. Let's face it they will never replace the main cams but they can get shots (like Nigel's) that nothing else could and I always say with my Hero 8' in the air, let the photog try and block that camera!!

Chris

[Dave Blackhurst]

@ Clive -

Not silly at all IMO to use a P&S if one chooses carefully! Main thing is there usually is a 29 minute limit on clip length, so you have to watch your free run time, and battery life can be a tad dicey with a small camera (speaking for the TX100's I've dound useful!). I was impressed enough with the 1080/60p output from the (now older) DSC TX100V that I collected a few when they could be picked up cheap (REALLY cheap in some cases). The TX100's match up well and look very good, as long as they are in close range to the "action". I've also been fiddling with the RX100, although it seems to have a very different "look", and I haven't had the time to try to dial it in.

The cost advantages of some of the P&S cameras out now, along with very light weight (so it's easy to "rig" or set them up without a lot of "support"), small size (think "discrete"), and quite often very acceptable image quality open up possibilities! Sure, they shouldn't be your main cam for MANY reasons, but for a "fill" or cutaway... just one more "idea" that's worth consideration!

[Chris DeVoe]

I'm going through my kit getting things ready for the upcoming concert season, and readying the GoPros for a hard life being clamped to mic stands shooting up between the tom-tom drums, or onto the end of a keyboard. I built power cables for the camera and Wi-Fi BacPac, and I'm leaving them in their cases because...you know...drummers.

I have yet to decide if I'm going to shoot them in standard or ProTune mode. Although with a 32 gig Class 10 card, both have plenty of space for a show, I want to fiddle with processing the video as little as possible, so even though ProTune can ultimately deliver better image quality, how much time do I want to spend processing it to achieve that? In my situation, folks will be overjoyed just to have the shot.