Go Pro cameras

[George Kilroy]

Thank you Peter.

[Corey Graham]

I just bought a second Hero 2 because I'm so excited about the first one I bought. The possibilities boggle my mind now that I've been playing with them. Thank you all for helping to convert me from "not really interested" to "disturbingly obsessed."

[Renton Maclachlan]

Not sure how it could be used at a wedding but one of the ways of getting different shots is to put the GoPro on the end of a pole - the most interesting skiing/snowboarding shots use them to get the person filming in the shot, or stuck out in front looking back when on a chairlift...I need to get a telescoping one or a compact monopod to carry in a day pack, or perhaps modify something from a hardware shop. Rain-x on the glass certainly keeps water drops from distorting the image. The flat lens case looks good if you want sharp underwater shots transitioning to above water...more cost...sigh...

[Kyle Root]

I can think of a few uses for these at weddings. The first thing that comes to mind is having one up front, when you have a church that won't let a camera guy be up front. It could be discretely hidden just about anywhere. The other thing would be for some unique shots with it mounted to a monopod. It could be held up really high for some cool stuff maybe. Also, could be used as a safety shot mounted to a pew getting the wedding party coming into the church etc.

I'd like to get one, and see how well it works.Gotta get the cash first! lol

[Chris Harding]

Hi Corey

The more you use them the more you discover uses for them...What worries me is the big aluminium case I'm using, full of backs, cases and mounts. Despite their rather unprofessional look they soon become an essential part of your gear .... I think I need to also get another one..and yes it's easy to hide in a Church!! My mate Philip in the UK is trying to convince GoPro to loan him 15 units to shoot a wedding with the WiFi kits totally remotely....That could be interesting.??

Chris

[George Kilroy]

All this enthusiasm has persuaded me to give one a try it's on order and should be here in a couple of days.
At yesterday's wedding I could see so many opportunities and possibilities.

Just a couple of questions to those who use them. Is it possible to get a monitor output to assist with positioning/framing? If you can and do which monitor do you use? The clip-on LCD BacPac looks very small and impossible to see if set high or hard against a wall.

[John Knight]

Hi George - 2 options.

http://gopro.com/hd-hero-accessories/wi-fi-bacpac/ to send the image to your smartphone wirelessly.

Or:

http://gopro.com/camera-accessories/...leton-housing/ run a cable from the camera into a small monitor.

[George Kilroy]

Thanks John.

1 - I don't have a smart phone

2 - That housing looks a bit cumbersome and will draw attention. I was hoping for a more discrete way of maybe attaching a small HDMI monitor. It looks from the information on the site that there is a mini socket on the side. I only want to use it for initial set-up not leave it connected. I am wondering if something like this might work:
Lilliput UK · 668GL-70NP/H/Y · 7 inch field monitor with HDMI and internal battery

but I don't want to buy one unless I know that it will

[John Knight]

Yeah - that should work with the right cable - you'll still need the skeleton housing though to be able to access the output plug.

[Renton Maclachlan]

Because it is so wide angle, all you need to do is point it in the general direction (although maybe carefully) and you will get the scene...can't miss...

[George Kilroy]

Thanks again John. So the only way to monitor anything out from the basic camera is by using the skeleton housing, I won't be able to plug straight into the mini HDMI socket on the side of the camera, is that right?

Renton, I appreciate that it's got a superwide angle but I don't envisage using that setting as it's image is so strong that I could only use it once or twice, whereas the more natural view would give me more 'usable' footage, or at least footage I'd prefer. I guess that for the sort of work it is designed for the superwide is fabulous but in terms of a wedding video less is more.

My main intention is for easy discrete placing in otherwise inaccessible positions.

[Chris Harding]

Hi George

I'm a cheapskate so I made up a long cable (cos my Hero is usually up on a light stand) and plug it into a 7" LCD TFT monitor but a low res one!! I found a hi res one with HDMI in but they want an arm and a leg for them so I use the standard one that is used in the back of car headrests...All of $35.00 plus I use a spare 12v battery pack from my stedicam monitor ..the quality isn't much to look at but it's perfectly fine for framing. All you need for the interface is an RCA on one end of some screen cable and then a 4 pole 2.5mm mini jack plug to go into the camera ....going from plug body to tip the first two rings on the plug shaft are ground and video out ...the 3rd ring and tip are audio out but I don't bother with them.

Makes framing a piece of cake ...however as Renton says it's hard to miss even set to 127 degree FOV...I used to eyeball the camera. I have a LCD BacPak and it's virtually hopeless unless you are inside!!

Chris

[George Kilroy]

Thanks Chris. Using your method I will need the skeleton case though, in the illustrations that seems to make the camera look more bulky and noticeable, or have I got it wrong. I have a couple of similar 7" LCD monitors but they don't have a HDMI input. I'm not bothered about image quality (on the monitor) just want to be sure of the framing I thought if I could use a quick connection between camera and monitor to square up the framing, then pull it out of the camera and let it go.

[Simon Wood]

I find the LCD backPack to have been one of the best investments I have made.

Like others I simply bought a GoPro as an inexpensive specialized tool for 1 specific job (mounting to a motorbike for 1 project), but have found the GoPro comes with me on every shoot these days as it is so versatile.

The LCD backpack makes the camera more bulky (so its not as discrete), and heavier (which is not good for extreme sports stuff), and draws more battery power (though it can be turned off).

For 90% of the shots I can just look at the screen mounted to the GoPro and decide if the framing is good or not. Once I am happy with the framing I simply remove the LCD, and swap out the back panel (takes less than 30 seconds to do this). So long as you don't change the mounting then the shot stays the same.

For 10% of the shots I have to mount it on a canoe, or some place inaccessible. So all I do is set it up in the general direction, roll some video, stop it, take the camera out of the case and review it. Generally after 2 or 3 shots I'll get the shot I want and then set it up without the LCD.

All the above works well in situations where you have time to set up your shots.

Space and weight is premium to me; so I prefer the LCD screen over having to lug around an external monitor and its batteries.

[Chris Harding]

Hi George

The skeleton case is exactly the same size as the waterproof case..Only difference is it has cutouts on the back and on the sides..if you don't need the waterproof case you could just drill a big hole where the plug needs to go....the normal monitors use the video out plug (top of the camera side ..just a 2.5mm plug.

Of course I just plug in the monitor, frame it up, then un-plug it at weddings and use the same monitor during the ceremony on my A-Camera so I can watch framing while I'm shooting cutaways with the B-cam!! Quality isn't that good but at least I can see if the camera has been accidentally bumped and the framing is out...I probably use it on the GoPro for a minute, purely to adjust framing so the monitor has a dual purpose and on the A-Cam it saves me having to run back to the tripod and squint into the EVF (mine don't have LCD's as it's part of the EVF)... From maybe 10' away I can ascertain that all is well and continue using the B-Cam.

Chris