I just ordered one. not a bad deal; $79. for the back, plus 4 different rear case panels. I expect it'll be a week or so before it arrives, however I'll stick up some impressions on it when I get it

$79 but posting one to the uk is ...... $75!

No UK dealers have them in stock yet. Damn!

Ordered mine today as well. Will be a great addition. Can't wait.

-gb-

$79 but posting one to the uk is ...... $75!

No UK dealers have them in stock yet. Damn!

Paul,
It may be worthwhile to have someone in the US pick one up for you and ship it that way. I live in Canada, and I called GoPro to see if they would ship some other way than FedEx ( I do NOT like dealing with those people), and they will not, regrettably. I normally would use USPS/Canada Post to avoid the brokerage fees they charge.

I'm sure someone in the US could get it to you far cheaper by registered mail...it can't possibly be that big a package

Wow -- this should make using the GoPro a lot easier... now if only B&H had 'em in stock!

90 euro in Greece, available in 7-9 days

Wow -- this should make using the GoPro a lot easier... now if only B&H had 'em in stock!

They ship from Half Moon Bay. You'll get it a lot quicker if you order direct.

Wow -- this should make using the GoPro a lot easier... now if only B&H had 'em in stock!

I just ordered it directly from Go Pro on their website.

Daniel Weber

Got mine today. Nice having a screen on the GoPro - easy to use button commands once you get used to it, and a fairly decent LCD. It's cheap - don't expect crazy wide viewing angles or a super-insane-o-bright LCD, but it gets the job done and gives you in-camera framing and playback of videos w/ sound, and images. The included housing backs are a plus, and work nicely. Backs for standard and wrist-mount housings are included for both waterproof and non-waterproof configurations.

Here are a few quick iPhone snaps of one of my GoPros with the LCD BacPac

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoProBacPac/photo%201-18.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoProBacPac/photo%202-19.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoProBacPac/photo%203-17.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoProBacPac/photo%204-16.JPG

SWEET!

I was going to make some comment about your having considerable pull to get your hands on one that quickly...then noticed you just down the road from them...

I'm hoping to see my copy early next week. Looking forward to it

Thumbs up to GoPro on shipping. I ordered the new LCD BacPac yesterday afternoon. They are in Half Moon Bay, which is about 500 miles north of where I am and it showed up this morning! Jeez, that is so fast!

Looks sweet, gotta try it this weekend.

Dan

Ordered mine today, got email it's on it's way. Too bad my gopro is on location, in the virgin islands. Some friends are working on a project down there and asked if I'd send it down to them. I just received 600 gigs worth of footage (on a hard drive), from 4 different cameras (gopro included). In the sunshine of the day, I have to say the gopro holds it's own against the $6000 jvc their using as their main camera.

mine arrived on Tuesday. Its actually a better image than I was expecting for the price...plus the 4 additional backs for the housing make it a heck of a good deal. I've only had time to fool with it a little bit, but I think it's going to make the gopro MUCH more functional in a bigger variety of situations

Got mine a couple pf days ago -- and while I haven't used it seriously yet, yes, it makes a big difference to the usability of the main GoPro unit. I can actually see what it might be seeing as it's seeing it, rather than hours later back in the studio. Of course, the image is tiny, but it's a hell of a lot better than no image at all, and is fine for framing (the only thing you really need with the GoPro) -- one less thing to have to hook up to the DP6...

I ordered mine yesterday. I also decided to get another GoPro while I was at it. They come in mighty handy on many shoots.

It's supposed to ship next week. It'll be nice to not have to take my field monitor everywhere.

for those of you waiting :)

GoPro HD camera LCD Screen unboxing / review on Vimeo

The icing on the cake would be if there was a short lead which would allow the LCD screen to be mounted separately from the camera as a remote monitor facing back towards the subject or just simply in a better viewing position. An owner-pilot of a single-seat sports aircraft I know would be in pig-heaven if this was an option.

just get one of the many small LCD's monitors that are out there and use the camera;s composite or component V out connectors.

$79 but posting one to the uk is ...... $75!

No UK dealers have them in stock yet. Damn!

Just been chatting to them at BVE. Two weeks for UK stock they told me....

I too went to their stand at BVE on Wednesday and someone there told me they didn't know when the LCD would be available in the UK and that I should email them in a couple of weeks to see.

Question:
right now how doesi the battery last with the monitor attached?
thx

I haven't done a serious timed test yet, but it seems to me that the battery life is reduced by around 25%

I bought one right away and then used the camera and the new LCD back on a forklift. I'm producing a series of training videos and one is dedicated to this company's shipping department. The new back really made the experience of getting the camera mounted and recording quick and easy.

When you have a client hungry to get in the middle of the action and get their hands in the way because of the immediate need to capture the footage, this configuration really helped me out. He was able to look at the LCD and understand what the camera was going to see before we recorded any video.

The one thing that I need to practice on is putting the camera's mounting configurations together so that when I have a situation, I can quickly arrive to a solution on how to mount it.

I had to put my camera on the cage of the Forklift, but the cage had this big square tubing. I took a maffer clamp and stuck a mount onto one flat area of the clamp. It worked out really well. This way I didn't feel like I wasted one of those stick mounts to the forklift.

G. Wilkins

I have a couple of Manfrotto nano clamps that I attached a GoPro mount to one, and the other I use the tripod mount on a Manfrotto coupler.
It's a nice, flexible clamping system that goes on and comes off really quickly, holds the camera very securely to just about anything you want to clamp it to. I agree, the LCD back makes it MUCH more useable in many situations

The LCD screen is 4:3 - fine for the GoPro in its stills mode. So is the image letterboxed when in movie mode - or is it horizintally compressed or worse truncated?

it letterboxes any 16:9 HD signal for the correct aspect ratio, 960mode is full frame.. hint : your lcd vf loupe can come in handy

Next week my cousing is going in FLoridda, would he find the lcdbackpacon the stores or should him order online?

I'd order online to be safe. I heard they should start showing up in retail locations late this month, but...

I had a chance to test it out this weekend. With the vented back and 90 degree sunny weather the screen overheated after 20 minutes and shut off. When I turned it on again it said "lcd overheated, turning off in 5 seconds" then it would turn off.

Not that happy with it's performance and it has zero usefulness in any sort of light, but it is useful as a quick review screen.

Matt - you say the screen has 'zero usefulness in any sort of light'. You mean sunlight washes out the image? ANY sort of light?

I much prefer an external monitor if i need to frame with the Gopro.

I'm not into this BacPac thing at all, the only thing i see it useful for is to frame up a shot, remove it and don't even use the extended housing at all.

It just adds weight, size, sucks power, increases heat (the GoPro with BacPak we measured at 45C) and has the potential to shut your camera down at any time during recording.

I prefer to use this if i need to frame, it has av in, av out, it's own battery and charger, records 480p to a 16Gb mini SD and comes with a tiny button camera for surveillance use. The screen brightness is as good as an LCD on a Canon HD camcorder. All for $100.

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/4222/egale.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7885/egale1.jpg

Tom, the screen is washed out with bright sunlight, even when shaded with a hand I was unable to see it. Nevermind that it gets so hot and shuts itself off anyways.

Here's the awesome bright image from this little monitor. One photo take with a very bright light shining on it the other with the light down low.

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/6175/mon1w.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/3415/mon2z.jpg

Is anybody having trouble getting the lcd to come on? I think I downloaded the latest firmware. How do you tell if you have the firmware upgrade?

Dan

Is anybody having trouble getting the lcd to come on? I think I downloaded the latest firmware. How do you tell if you have the firmware upgrade?

Dan

Before I downloaded the correct update, if I plugged the LCD backpack in, and tried to turn on the camera, all I would get was a clicking sound, coming from the tiny speaker. Camera wouldn't turn on, and light on front would kind of blink funny, like a little bulb that was starting to turn out. Once the proper firmware update was installed, the LCD screen fired right up, no problems.

Jeff

What is the correct firmware? I downloaded v01.01.54.zip What firmware do you have?

Dan

Is anybody having trouble getting the lcd to come on? I think I downloaded the latest firmware. How do you tell if you have the firmware upgrade?

Dan

You can identify the FW by taking a photo and reading the EXIF data in any decent photo editor, or if you have windows 7 just right click and go to details.

If you need to revert to an older firmware,the download link is listed and identified below.

31/08/2010 V02.05.11 (http://download.goprocamera.com/GoProHDHERO_firmware.zip) (One Button Video, Upside Down, PAL 25/50, etc)
30/01/2011 V01.01.46 (http://download.goprocamera.com/GoProHDHERO_firmware_v01.01.46.zip) (LCD BacPac)
01/03/2011 V01.01.50 (http://download.goprocamera.com/GoProHDHERO_firmware_v01.01.50.zip) (Battery BacPac)
04/04/2011 V01.01.54 (http://download.goprocamera.com/GoProHDHERO_firmware_v01.01.54.zip) (3D)

Ian

I downloaded the one for the 3d camera. so all I have to do is download 30/01/2011 V01.01.46 (LCD BacPac)
Does it replace the other firmware? I really appreciate the help, I have the balloon fest shoot starting Friday.

Dan

well i think it is the LCD and not the camera. I tried three different firmwares and none worked. If you have any suggestions let me know. thanks

Dan

Dan,
If you have any other version on the SD card except version 01.01.46 ( that's the one to enable the LCD backpack), plug the card into your computer, and delete them. Once you've updated the software from the card, you are supposed to delete the BIN file from the card if it doesn't disappear on it's own.
The first time I tried to update my gopro, I neglected to eliminate the BIN file from the SD card, and it hung the camera. ( I believe it was trying to read two firmware versions at once)

Wayne,

I did it exactly like you said with no prevail. I really think there is something wrong with the LCD.

Thanks,
Dan

Sounds like it must be. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful....that's about the limt of my troubleshooting skills I'm afraid!

Dan
Does the camera boot up with the lcd attached? If it doesn't I would check to see if the firmware is actually updating. When I first tried my lcd I got nothing to work. No blips, clicks or flashes on anything. Loaded V01.01.50 and away it went.

Gordon

After installing the update, did you switch off the camera, unplug any USB lead, then press and keep holding down the top button until it switches on, then press the lower button three times until it cycles through the settings (keeping top button pushed in throughout)?
That's the way to actually activate the firmware update - in case you weren't sure ;-)
Did it last night and LCD works like a dream...

Wayne,

I did it exactly like you said with no prevail. I really think there is something wrong with the LCD.

Thanks,
Dan

Dan, do you have LCO/LCF in the settings menu?? If not then the FW upgrade did not install.

Here is what is working for most people having issues.
Use the latest version of the FW above (or any of the FW from V46 >)

1. Delete everything on the SD card via a FAT32 format in windows. (use a card reader not the supplied USB cable)
2. Then place the card in the camera and format in-camera by using the delete ALL menu (this will place the correctly structured folders on your card)
3. Put the card back into your card reader and drop the extracted BIN file onto the root of the card (NOT in any folder)
4. Follow the FW upgrade procedure http://gopro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/HD_HERO_FW_UpdateInstructions1.1.46.pdf (Remember, it needs the red LED charging indicator to blink at least 5 seconds.........then it is a proper firmware uploading. After that check LCO or LCF menu is available)
5. Finally remove the FW from the card by formating in windows and then Delete ALL again in - camera.

Just to update. I contacted GoPro and he went threw some setting and said there is a major problem. I have to send them the LCD and the camera together.RRRRR Any way I really appreciate all the help. By the way I did all the above to try to get it to work but to no prevail.

Dan

Yes there have been some hardware failure reported, some problems have been with the camera/port but without having a BacPac to test, you never knew they existed. But most are just FW user procedure error.

R

Hi Ian,

I'm interested in the screen that you are using with the Gopro. Where can I find more info on this? and where would one purchase this.

Cheers

Simon,

I got mine at Amazon Amazon.com: GoPro LCD Bacpac: Camera & Photo

Dan

Hi Ian,

I'm interested in the screen that you are using with the Gopro. Where can I find more info on this? and where would one purchase this.

Cheers

I believe you are referring to the external screen i posted??

720*480pixels Mini Button Spy Camcorder Cam Camera DVR - eBay (item 140424124152 end time May-01-11 10:01:19 PDT) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140424124152&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123)