About to buy a GoPro HD Hero 2

[Chris Harding]

Hi Peter

For long Church services the Sony limit of 1 hour might be an issue....I did a LONG ceremony on Saturday with the Hero on the balcony of the Church and it's stunning!!! A 32GB card in the Hero will still give you 4 hours recording with ProTune off.

I simply love all the extras with GoPro ...my tiny cam actually resides in a big aluminium case surrounded by accessories!!

I also think the form factor of the Hero is much nicer unless you are helmet mount person...Most of our TV production teams here still use Heros rather than Contours or Sony's ....I'm sticking with my kit !!

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Wow Chris I'm really torn - have just looked at some side by side comparisons and the Sony does seem to be a sharper image and better low light performer - so many Hero users swear by them though!

Also I can use the Sony wifi straight away but the Hero3 doesn't have an app for Android yet - I don't really want to get the LCD BacPac as viewing it on my phone will probably be a better option as most of the time it'll be up high on a light stand

Pete

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Yes, stabilization can be turned off.

I read in the Hero Pro threads that the firmware with Pro Tune has problems.

"so many Hero users swear by them though!"

Of course, for a long while they were the only game in town. And now they have made big investments in accessories...

[Chris Harding]

Hi Peter

I have an easy answer..Buy one of each!! Yes Mark is right there..I have a huge case of bits and pieces and that is something I do like about the Hero 2 ...lots of fun gadgets. My Sunday wedding was in a beautiful Church and the GoPro worked it's magic AND I shoot with Protune off....I would say rather check which camera will match your existing main cams...maybe the Sony would match better with Sony main cameras ?? I shooting on Panasonic HMC's and the colour matching is absolutely seamless!!! Then again it might not be the same with a different brand.

Mine is on a ball head on an 6' light stand with a WiFi back and remote..I shoot at medium angle and seriously you don't need to frame...it's still wide enough to just eyeball the framing ...If you get a Hero DON'T buy the LCD back!! It's so tiny you cannot see much ..I used to put a loupe on mine to help!
Also bear in mind you cannot have the WiFi and the LCD together...I just eyeball from the balcony and then use the remote at my main camera position up front at the second pew and start the GoPro from there.

On the GoPro a far more practical solution for me is a 4" LCD monitor and battery (car reversing LCD...$20 on eBay!!) and I clamp mine to the bottom of the stand tube and plug it into the Hero up top..I mainly only use the LCD if I am working with the Hero at outdoor weddings and it's close to my main cam but 8' up in the air..NO photog can walk in front of or block the Hero..saved my bacon quite a few times too!!

It's much like buying a car ....a lot all around the same price and you have to choose one!! Good luck!!

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Thanks guys - I'm convinced - The GoPro it is - I'm going to get the new Hero 3 and have some fun!!!

Pete

[Renton Maclachlan]

It seems like a few people are having issues with the Hero 3 seizing...

Chris...how do you connect up this LCD car backing screen?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Guys

I really do find that despite the big hype on ProTune, the image quality is good enough with the Hero 2 with Protune off...improvement is mainly with high speed action so unless I have a skydiving bride then I really don't need it ..it also drops your card capacity by 75%!!!

Renton? I bought a 4.3" car reversing LCD on eBay and strap it to a Li-Ion 12v battery pack so I have an all-in-one module that I can either clip to my stand or just hold in my hand to check framing for critical shots. You can buy the GoPro TV cable that has the RCA cables on one end and a 2.5mm quad jack plug on the other...I made my own cable ....it's a tad neater as I only need the single cable for video feed.

Chris

[Peter Riding]

The official Android App is now available for the Hero 2 on google Play via GoPro's site.

Seems to work fine :- ) It also does a fullscreen preview in landscape mode - which the excellent 3rd party RemoteGo app for Android cannot do at this moment in time.

Latency seems a tad shorter than with the official Ipad App.

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Hi Peter

Awesome! It works fine on my Android phone too!! Yeah it is rather slow and pathetic but it's plenty good enough for framing so I don't have to use my LCD monitor when setting up. (It's also used on my main camera on the cold shoe so I can glance at the main cam to make sure that the framing on that hasn't changed.

Thanks for the heads up!!

Chris

[Renton Maclachlan]

I get told the App won't work on my phone Android 2.1

[Chris Harding]

Hi Renton

They say the minimum is 2.2 but talk about most Android systems with the 3.1 upwards to 4.0 system.

Now, this is a perfect excuse to buy a new phone for yourself??? My Huawei was only $69.00 for a prepaid phone and works great..you could probably get one even less than that!!

My only issue now is that I have a new Remote that I won't use..darn!!!

Chris

[Renton Maclachlan]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Renton

They say the minimum is 2.2 but talk about most Android systems with the 3.1 upwards to 4.0 system.

Now, this is a perfect excuse to buy a new phone for yourself??? My Huawei was only $69.00 for a prepaid phone and works great..you could probably get one even less than that!!

My only issue now is that I have a new Remote that I won't use..darn!!!

Chris

I'm not a big user of my phone, and it has GPS native to it which is handy - don't need to be connected for the gps so I never use it roaming, only sometimes through my wifi at home...not planning on getting a new phone...looks like I'm out of luck...No upgrades above 2.1 for it...

[Buba Kastorski]

advantages of GoPro cameras come down to size and underwater shooting ability, as for the image quality and low light performance, any point and shoot with 1080p will beat it hands down, will you be comfortable to shoot wedding professionally with the camera that guests attending the wedding have in their pockets - that's another question.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Buba

I have firstly never seen a GoPro at a wedding carried by a guest. A few might have Handicams but most have still cameras and phones. Comfortable??? Darn right!! I still use my pro cameras to shoot the wedding and the Hero is normally up on the balcony doing a semi-aerial shot of the ceremony..My brides love the wide angle look and the fact they can see the entire wedding in action...It simply adds another FOV to the footage but I do use it sparingly. Then again when the MOB's ample backside gets shoved against your lens hood or a photog ducks under your camera not realising that their flash is above their head THEN the footage saves your bacon...In a crowed ceremony I can cut to the Hero footage when readers walk down and back to their seats and the main cam footage is just too close ..with the Hero footage I can capture the entire walk back without anything being blocked.

I did say I use it sparingly and sometimes not at all, but I actually had a bride who loved the Hero footage so much she asked if I could do her a special edit using all the wide footage and then just add closeups of the couple doing vows! They are certainly worth taking along to any wedding!!!

Chris

[Daniel Latimer]

I wonder if the GoPro Hero 3 will have better image quality. The specs and the video they put out looks awesome.