Which one?

[Kent Beeson]

Not sure which Hero 2 to buy - I'd like to be able to mount to a moving car, boat as well as bike, even hand-carried basket at grocery store...advice on which one to buy and accessories?

[Matt Sharp]

There's only one Hero 2, you just buy it with different bundled accessories roughly as follows:

Outdoor Edition: helmet strap, head strap ($30)

Motorsports Edition: suction cup mount ($30)

Surf Edition: 2 surfboard mounts, FCS plug mount, floaty back door. (Roughly $55)

Pick one that comes with the accessories you'll need.

[Lynne Whelden]

One of those Joby gorillapods are nice because you can bend the legs to attach to anything like the basket you're talking about.

[Chris Harding]

The accessories seem to be addictive!! I have a huge case my my GoPro only because of all the extras!!

I got an outdoor edition and you will or should have a 2nd battery!! The LCD back is nice but not essential as it's tough to see in daylight!! If you are clamping then you will need the "Handlebar Mount Kit" ..I clamp to a video light stand at weddings and the handlebar mount is great..

I took my baby underwater last Monday and 'BIG SIGH' I found out that you need to change the dome lens for a flat lens as the dome doesn't focus well underwater (due to refraction) so now I need another UW case with a flat lens!!

Chris

[Kent Beeson]

Thanks so much for very helpful answers - I now know what to buy and expect.

KB

[Chris Harding]

Hey Kent

It it were me I would get the Outdoor Edition and add just a handlebar kit and a suction kit..They give you a wrist strap which is useful and you can also remove the big strap on the head kit and just use the short piece in it's place for body mounting. In fact you can remove both straps and also strap it around your chest too!! The handle bar clamp can extend out to almost 1.5" so it usually fits on most pipe diameters..those are the fittings I use most.

Amazing and fun cameras ..you will be amazed at what they can deliver!!!

Chris

[Lynne Whelden]

Don't forget to check out the mods that Ragecam.com does too. That opens up a whole new vista, what with different types of lenses you can get installed for about a hundred bucks. Zoom lenses, night (IR) lenses, non-fisheye but very wide lenses.

The wrist housing was a separate purchase from any of the GP kits. It's a bit limited in its versatility as it flips up at an angle perpendicular to your arm. (In other words, it doesn't shoot down the length of your arm in the direction of your hand, which would be a useful angle, but rather it shoots in the direction away from your arm at 90 degrees.)

The LCD bacpak, I think, is essential if you want to even know if you got the shot. It's necessary if you get the lens mods because then you actually DO have to focus the lens.

[Ian Newland]

Love to know how you focus on a screen that tiny and poor resolution.

[Chris Harding]

Hey Ian

If one had to focus a GoPro then you would at least need something like a Hoodman Loupe to magnify the screen ..it still would be really tricky!! The beauty about the GoPro is the point and shoot capability ...rig it and push the button and let it run!!

I do have an LCD screen and underwater it's virtually invisible so on a bright sunny day you would see absolutely nothing... maybe a nice loupe dangling around one's neck that you can hold up against the back door just to frame the shot!! I still wouldn't like to try and focus on such a tiny screen!!

Chris

[Kent Beeson]

Lots of great and helpful info - especially thanks to Chris -

KB

[Ian Newland]

With 170 degree wide angle and a little practice, you don't need a viewfinder. It's damn hard to miss the shot. Gopro sent me 3 LCD's to test when they came out, never used one yet, they add too much mass for my usage. Even with the original 70 degree GoPro's back in 2006, i never mis-framed anything.

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hey Ian

If one had to focus a GoPro then you would at least need something like a Hoodman Loupe to magnify the screen ..it still would be really tricky!! The beauty about the GoPro is the point and shoot capability ...rig it and push the button and let it run!!

I do have an LCD screen and underwater it's virtually invisible so on a bright sunny day you would see absolutely nothing... maybe a nice loupe dangling around one's neck that you can hold up against the back door just to frame the shot!! I still wouldn't like to try and focus on such a tiny screen!!

Chris

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Ian

I really cannot see why someone would actually bring out a mod so a lens can be focussed on a GoPro??
As you say, just aim it in the general direction of what you want to shoot and it's virtually impossible to miss a subject with 170 degrees of view. I guess the LCD might be useful for checking what you shot later that day but again you really do need to be indoors to see it correctly!!!

What I WOULD like is some sort of "handle" to grip onto the camera when I'm snorkling ..maybe something just one handed like a camcorder hand strap as the GoPro doesn't really have anything to grip onto....maybe a mask mount of some sort???? but I'm not sure if the FOV would be right perched on top of my forehead....how do others hold their cameras underwater??

Chris

[Mike Wade]

The LCD is useful to check that you are not including something at the edge of the screen - for example a car's windscreen pillar or bonnet- which ruins the floaty effect which you may want to achieve. It also lets you know that you are actually recording when the timecode shows at the top of the screen.

[Lynne Whelden]

In this month's "Digital Video" magazine, Stefan Sargent has an interesting article about his using GoPro's Hero 2 for major productions. That's where I first learned about the Ragecam lens modifications.

I've been informed by people in the know that, indeed, one can use the GoPro LCD bacpak to focus. As with anything, it takes some practice and getting used to, especially in sunlight.

But lens mods will give you different fields of view (otherwise you'll just have to move closer to the subject to achieve the same thing, which obviously isn't possible at times) as well as night shots using infrared (IR). Plus the low light shots with the mods will be cleaner with less noise.

[Ian Newland]

The reason RageCams came out with the Mod Varizoom lens is to create a poor mans version of this cam. The tiny SI-2K Nano shoots 2K uncompressed RAW 4:4:4 cinema quality.