I notice two major GoPro dealers (at least) are having $50-off sales. Over the years I've come to associate such sales with the need to clear out old stock. Has anyone heard what might be going on? Or what's about to come on the scene?

They still have some promises to keep for their Hero 2 customers (ProTune, Smartphone app. Buggy 3D system)

The price drop might just be due to increased competition. Especially now that JVC and Sony want a piece of the pie. Who knows?

I hope it means something cool is coming.

If you buy make sure is from an approved dealer, many cameras are being sold by non approved dealers with the camera serial number sticker removed. No warrantee from GoPro.

B&H has dropped the price by $50 until September 3. The camera is a real bargain at the new price IMHO.

Prices in NZ have been very consistent across the board, except one place that was offering it at about $30 less than the others...

What if...during this final week of August both the Hero 3 and the GH3 are announced????

I think I've figured it out! GoPro must have known that Sony was about to release their ActionCam. It's amazing what happens when the little guys step aside and let the big boys take over.

The more I research the Sony Action Cam the more I'm impressed! I think GoPro realizes they've finally met their match. The ProTune will only give them a slight edge from here on out but only from a data rate standpoint.

I wanted to like this camera but the compression rates do not impress.

Compression & Media - Sony Action Cam HDR-AS15 Review (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-Action-Cam-HDR-AS15-Review/Compression-And-Media.htm)

I was impressed by the video Sony has posted. (Granted, it's shot by professionals who know the camera's limitations. Just like the GPro promo video, I suppose.)
Who's to say it can't be hacked? If it's already offering 24mb/s slow mo, seems like that could be within reach of its HQ settings.
I think this will be BIG.
Keep in mind too, as the one report said, this is the first POV with a quality sensor and a quality lens. That could make up for some yardage seemingly lost because of lesser data rates.

I don't have the Sony or the Gopro but intend to get one for an upcoming project to use for some partially underwater shots. Time will tell but I am leaning towards the Gopro because of the soon to be introduced 35mbs codec. I think that will get me closer to matching my HPX170 after some work in post.

I don't have the Sony or the Gopro but intend to get one for an upcoming project to use for some partially underwater shots. Time will tell but I am leaning towards the Gopro because of the soon to be introduced 35mbs codec. I think that will get me closer to matching my HPX170 after some work in post.

The Sony waterproof housing has a dome lens so is blurry underwater just like the GoPro was before the new housing was released., However there is mention of a flat lens replacement accessory available at a later date from Sony.

I've see actual underwater footage from the Sony and it is burry.

You know, if Sony tried to release a product with a preamp as noisy as Go Pro's audio is, they would
1-be run out of town
2-forced to recall the product
3-their stock would take a hit
4-their CEO would probably commit suicide or at least issue a public apology.

Such is the privileged life of a small, independent, upstart business accountable to no one such as GoPro!

Hardly - these are helmet cams, crash cams, etc. The priorities start with size and build quality/ruggedness first, then image quality, frame rate, data rate, battery life, interface/functionality, etc - with sound coming in somewhere near the bottom of the list of important features. When the entire camera takes up little more space than some XLR connectors expecting quality sound hardware is absurd - anyone who is serious about getting good audio will use something else to record with. If people complain about the preamps in Sony's helmet camera I'm sure they'd be glad to suggest one of their many other fine audio/video products as a suitable alternative.

I disagree. My point (or theory really), perhaps lost in my sarcasm, is that crash cams originated in someone's garage. Or perhaps in the kitchen of an extreme sport person. But clearly not a filmmaker. If it were the latter, sound would have been more of a priority and not an afterthought.
Sony has the video background so I'm betting (who knows for sure?) their audio on this Action Cam will be clean, not filled with hiss and static.

Okay, so flying down a hill is only going to give you a dull roar of wind.
But maybe tunneling through a wave would give you a totally freaky sort of echo-sound (worth recording).
So might biking up a hill (the grunts and gear clanging).
Or the schussing of snow off a ski on a quiet interval.

When you start to look at extreme sports this way, a perceptive (some would say innovative) filmmaker would have to conclude, "Gee, maybe sound is important to record under these extreme conditions. Maybe we've been missing out on something by sticking the mic out of the way, behind plastic walls, with low sensitivity and cheap preamps and counting on rock music to cover over everything."

Hi Lynne

That's an awful lot to ask for the price you pay for a Hero! DSLR's like the Canon 5DII which cost over $3K for just the body also have terrible preamps on the audio channels and despite the price they don't apologise.

GoPro make awesome little cameras at a very small price and excellent value for money...to expect XLR audio quality for that cost is a little much surely?? As already said, if you don't like the audio then use a DVR .... most DSLR users who spend money in bucket-loads on their video gear STILL will go out and buy voice recorders rather than use the cameras audio channel.

Chris

Pretty tough to protect a camera from deep immersion and still maintain good audio. It's generally an either-or choice due to the thick-walled housings necessary to provide a watertight space under pressure.

Getting good audio is a whole art in itself, requiring well-placed mics which can cost more than a GoPro. In my situation I just want audio that's decent enough to enable decent sync in post production. The talent is already wearing wireless mics and that's the production audio.

I did come up with a solution for the GoPro that works OK as far as reference audio is concerned.

I used a skeletal housing and covered the big ports in the side packing tape, sealed with gaskets made of 3M's VHB tape. The result is a housing with very thin sidewalls that are waterproof.

It's completely splash proof. Can't immerse it. But the thin sidewalls now allow sound to pass through relatively freely.

When you start to look at extreme sports this way, a perceptive (some would say innovative) filmmaker would have to conclude, "Gee, maybe sound is important to record under these extreme conditions. Maybe we've been missing out on something by sticking the mic out of the way, behind plastic walls, with low sensitivity and cheap preamps and counting on rock music to cover over everything."

I actually agree that there's plenty of missed potential there - I just don't feel like it has much to do with the onboard preamps, and I disagree that anyone would take Sony to task for using low quality preamps on the camera. If you want to get some really unique, innovative, and also clean, high-quality audio in an extreme sports situation you're going to need more and better equipment than you'll ever find built into a helmet cam, regardless of the manufacturer.