Go Pro cameras

[Renton Maclachlan]

Chris, I note that you have a or several Go Pro cameras. Care to give me your thoughts on these. I'm thinking of get one to take on a ski holiday in a months time.

[John Knight]

Love my GoPro2!

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools - YouTube

[Chris Harding]

Hey Renton

John actually started me off on GoPros!!! They are truly amazing and at each and every wedding the first thing I do is put a GoPro on a stand either on the Church balcony or behind the guests at an outdoor wedding. In fact Philip Howells has 3 or 4 and actually clamps them on the side of his Sony EX1R's and they shoot together.

What can I say BUY ONE!!! Something I would like is some sort of grip for the camera ?? Maybe one exists but if you want to handhold it, it's awkward...I think a standard mount and a short strip of aluminium under the camera with a handle either side would be really useful on holiday... sorta like a still camera side flash bracket ... mine usually are mounted and ignored so I don't do any handheld!!

Very shortly the Hero2 is getting a firmware upgrade which makes it even better and it will shoot at 35mbps (same as the pro cams)

I always have one with me at least...there is no zoom of course and fixed focus on the basic unit but they are an essential in your kit!!

Chris

[Dan Tolbertson]

I have tried to love them and have bought a GoPro twice now and returned them both times. Bugs me that the underwater footage is blurry unless you buy a different lens attachment to fix the problem..

I wound up buying a underwater case for my Nex5N for a 1/3 of the price and my footage is now incredible! I think the form factor is great and you can clamp them to just about anything and the size is a big plus because you can really tuck those suckers into tight areas. Just really wanted better UW footage personally and had to go a different road. Not bashing, Just trying to give some food for thought if UW footage was your main goal.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Dan

All you really need is a second housing and fit a flat lens to it!! It's a pretty cheap mod...on normal "just under the water" footage the standard housing works fine but difraction once you go deeper does become a problem. My issue is that if a housing leaks/cracks or drops down a 500' an underwater cliff you have only lost a couple of hundred dollars ... it's not quite a disposable camera but due to the price you won't cry for weeks if it gets wrecked so we tend to take more risks and get better footage.

Renton..all you will need is the Outdoor version not the Motorsport one and that has a helmet strap..put it on your head and you will get some awesome skiing footage!!

Chris

[Peter Riding]

Chris, I've just ordered the GoPro Hero 2 - awaiting delivery.

In very many years I have never shot an underwater wedding so I'm not concerned about that :- )

But I have had trouble finding a reliable opinion on its performance in low light. I guess many mainstream GoPro users do not make the demands on their equipment that we do and many say it is good but - for example - Bloom says it is not much of an improvement on the original Hero.

What would your own opinion be?

I also wondered whether you use one of the clip on LCD viewing screens so that you can check your framing. Could be very useful when utilising the user adjustable field of view which is coming in a firmware update.

I also ordered a GoPro tripod mount. This will enable it to be attached to any of the usual brackets and other stabilisation devices.

I ordered the Motorsport version mainly because the suction cup attachment arm is something I would use quite a bit. If its anything like the Delkin Fat Gecko suction mount it will be pretty useful on windows and other smooth surfaces:

Fat Gecko Dual Suction Camera Mount

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Hey Pete

In my opinion the Hero2 is a HUGE improvement..the original had no selectable FOV angles and no 1080 either and the footage quality is really good..I can shoot inside a Church with no issues at all.

Yep I have the LCD but it's no use outdoors...I think you need a loupe and eyepiece stuck on the back to make it viewable...outdoors you cannot read it...what I did is make up a TV out cable and (as my Go pro is often up a pole) and just plug into a cheap car LCD monitor from eBay..it's cheaper.

I'll actually see if the hoodman loupe can be adapted easily..I have a couple spare.

Chris

[Renton Maclachlan]

Originally Posted by John Knight

Love my GoPro2!

Last time I was in the Hamner pools - couple of years ago - we had snow all around us on the ground. Fantastic. Mum and Dad had a holiday cottage there for a while...Scarbourgh Tce as I recall...

I've had an outfit quote me a good price - $671NZ - on the Outdoor Edition, plus LCD BacPac, tripod stand, suction cup mount. Have to decide tomorrow whether to go with it...

[Peter Riding]

Thanks Chris, thats very reassuring.

I generally have a Zacuto hood with me plus a spare Hoodman so I'll try those. I like the idea of the TV out and LCD monitor. Could be useful for other cams as well especially where they don't have rotating screens e.g. the 5DII's and the view is only needed for framing and the quality of the LCD doesn't matter.

I guess the helmet cam version could be interesting on the dancefloor :- )

Pete

EDIT: just found this interesting snippet regarding the upcoming WiFi pac:

In early 2012 GoPro hopes to launch its new Wi-Fi BacPac and Wi-Fi remote control - see photo opposite. Fit the Wifi BacPac to the original HD Hero and you can use the remote control to trigger the shutter. Fit the same Wifi BacPac to the new HD Hero 2 though and you'll alternatively be able to control it with a tablet or smartphone, and even use their screens to see what the camera's capturing.

So the rather limiting GoPro LCD accessory may no longer be necessary. I hope the app will work with Androids - I have the galaxy S3. I also have the Ipad3 but that could be a bit too big on location.

[Katie Fasel]

I'm curious about these cameras as well...mostly curious to see how the footage mixes with our other cameras. We shoot on HMC - 150s, but I would be curious to see if anyone has a short clip of mixed footage, no matter what other cameras you shoot with? (preferably wedding footage?)

[Pete Bauer]

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

But I have had trouble finding a reliable opinion on its performance in low light.

The Hero2 has a little better sensitivity than the original, but IMO GoPro cameras are suitable for well lit scenes and are not much good for low light / high contrast. Your only metering option is standard vs spot, which may or may not help depending on the particular scene.

As what I'd consider a failed experiment, I set up two original Hero and two Hero2 cameras recently at a symphony concert and found little difference in the images between the original and the "2". In this high-contrast environment, the footage from all four cameras was unusable due primarily to grossly blown out highlights. I couldn't possibly cut that footage in with properly exposed Canon XF images. Then again, the GoPros were only marginally worse than the footage from a consumer AVCHD palmcorder set to "auto everything" which also blew out the highlights pretty badly.

I didn't try spot metering on the GoPros but I'm doubtful it would have helped in this situation, since you can't really spot meter faces and white shirts in a group of people with this kind of camera.

So perhaps this was a long answer to a short question, but in summary I wouldn't count on GoPro footage for indoor events to be anything more than bonus footage -- if you get something useful, great, but likely it won't cut well.

I'm not knocking the GoPro. As I indicated above, I have 4 of them and they get good use -- especially in places I'd never take an XF! So to answer Renton's original post, a Hero2 (or two) will be ideal for a ski vacation; and for Peter, for indoor ceremonies, I'd think not so much.

[Peter Riding]

Thanks for your input Pete.

For the volume video work that I do - weddings - the technical quality does not have to be stratospherically high for clients to be gushingly delighted. For them the content is far more important than the absolute quality. I'm frequently surprised at the positive feedback I get in some very demanding shooting conditions both for visual and for sound.

So fingers crossed on the GoPro 2 :- )

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Hi Katie

I have mixed in without any correction with my Panasonic HMC82 footage and also with the newer AC-130's but with those the colour went crazy and un-natural (I have since dumped them!) With the HMC150 as long as you have reasonable light you will be quite amazed at the PQ!!! I shot a Church wedding last month and my IQ on the GoPro was just as sharp (if not sharper) than the AC-130 ...I actually had to colour correct the expensive camera as it decided the Church walls should be yellow..the GoPro was deadly accurate....absolutely amazing for the size and price and believe me, when the brides mother sticks her ample behind into the lens hood of your aisle camera you will appreciated the footage taken up on the balacony with the GoPro!!!

I definately think at least one in your gear is a worthwhile investment...if you were shooting on an HPX your P2 data card would cost more than the GoPro

Chris

[Art Varga]

I just started using at weddings and I can see how useful they can be, The cool thing is they'e so small you can stick them anywhere. I put one up high on a lightstand for this beach wedding and got some good safety footage. At 2:45 in the clip, I was moviing the light stand with the GoPro and saw the bride was about to throw her bouquet so I quickly hoisted the cam over head. Lucky shot but couldn't have got it without something like the GoPro.

Art

Nicole & Jon Wedding Highlights on Vimeo

[Katie Fasel]

Thanks for the clip Art, exactly what I was hoping to see...seems like for $300 bucks for some "safety" footage (which is exactly what I'm looking for) you can't really go wrong with these! I may have to look into adding one - or two - into our kit.