gopro hero 3 vs. hero 3+ at weddings

[Noah Ruderman]

I'm considering adding a gopro to my arsenal as a part-time 3rd camera for unique angles/shots that arise at weddings (underwater/in cars/bikes/etc.) + to use as 3rd angle/backup during ceremonies (I use a 5diii & 6d for my main cameras.)

Wondering first if others have experiences using the gopro at weddings mixed with canon dslrs and if anyone has any thoughts on the hero 3 vs. the newly released hero 3+. The new version claims to have a sharper and wider lens with longer battery life. My main concern is I've also read that this new lens is sharper for close action but for longer wide action (say if you had the camera set far away in a ceremony) the images are more blurry than the hero 3.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks

[Dave Partington]

I'd like more info on this too please. I'm considering adding a 3+ Black for various work (not just weddings) but worry a little about some reports that the lens is pre-focused at around 4ft! Not to bad if that's it's hyper focal distance and everything from there to infinity is in focus, but it would be more comforting if some one who uses it for things other than skiing, diving, bike riding etc could chime in and let us know how it works for weddings etc :)

So, bump!

[Kyle Root]

I've used a GoPro 2 at weddings a couple times. It can work....

Something to consider is, they're really optimized for outdoor daylight use. Not low light indoors church kind of thing.

In my promo video, at the 14 or 15 second mark you can see an example of the Hero2 footage. I had it just sitting on top of the organ which was right by the unity candle. I used the $7 GoPro tripod mount to attach it to a spare Bogen 501 tripod plate for some extra stability on the organ.

[This was one of our larger weddings with some 30 people in the wedding party and the stage was pretty full so there was no other way to get a face-on unity candle shot.]

KR Productions - Custom Wedding Films; Decatur Alabama - FAQ AND WEDDING PACKAGE DETAILS PAGE

While that footage came out looking ok, because it was on a very bright sunny day with a church with a lot of windows, I've used it in 3 other churches this year with not as much light and the footage on each has been unusable due to noise.

Something else, I had it on wide setting, and actually zoomed in on the Premiere timeline to make it not quite so "off center" regarding the framing, because I didn't really know how the couple was going to be standing.

[Chris Harding]

I still use my Hero 2 at every wedding I shoot and it's quite often a live saver. Let's see the photog block a GoPro on a lighting stand 8' up in the air!! Also great for shots of people walking from their seats to the podium for readings. I find at Churches there is better light and exposure if you shoot from the upstairs balcony if the Church has one and footage is very usable 99% of the time!

At outdoor weddings (like the one I'm doing in a couple of hours, I put the Hero on a stand just to the right of my main aisle camera so I'm not in the shots and it gives a nice wide view of the bridal party.

Dave? At 8mm the lens will be in focus from around 4' all the way out to infinity...Dunno about the 3 or 3+ but I have never has focus issues on the Hero 2 ...everything is always sharp and amazingly enough brides seem to love the high up overall view ...one even asked me if you could have more footage of "your Number 3 camera" They probably like the overall wide view of the whole wedding.

Chris

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Dave? At 8mm the lens will be in focus from around 4' all the way out to infinity...Dunno about the 3 or 3+ but I have never has focus issues on the Hero 2 ...everything is always sharp and amazingly enough brides seem to love the high up overall view ...one even asked me if you could have more footage of "your Number 3 camera" They probably like the overall wide view of the whole wedding.

Chris

And therein lays the worry. I expected the wide angle of the GoPro to have more or less everything in focus. But, there are a few reports that the 3+ Black is having problems with distance focus. 4' is fine but then it tails off. That's why I'd like to hear from someone with a 3+ that we can see samples from. I don't want to sped £360 only to find it's useless.

[Noah Ruderman]

Thanks for the responses. I agree with Dave, that's my concern about the new 3+ as well. I haven't been able to find any good samples or reviews on that focus issue.

As far as using it during the ceremony, I work in Southern California so pretty much all my weddings are outdoors so I definitely feel I could make use of it.

[Roger Gunkel]

I've just returned from a family visit in the US and my son gave me a GoPro 3+silver. I'll be trying it at a wedding in a couple of weeks, but will be experimenting in the meantime with wide and medium angle shots at different distances.

I've never used a GoPro before, but am very surprised at the quality of the picture. Moderately low light such as fairly bright indoor lighting is also sharper than I expected, although I don't know how that would compare with older models. I'm also very impressed with the built in wifi facility, which was easily picked up by my iPad and Samsung smartphone. The latency of the transmitted image to the monitoring device, varies according to the device, so my iPad 2 had about 3-4 secs delay, whereas my Samsung galaxy s3 had about 1 sec. Being able to monitor the signal and stop and start recording from quite a few metres away is going to be very useful. Changing the settings by wireless is also useful, as it would be possible to set the camera to record a time lapse sequence, then change to conventional recording all from the phone. You can also change to wide/medium/narrow from the phone, providing you stop the recording each time. That could be useful to add variation to a view.

I have also bought an extendable lightweight monopod/support arm, a bit like a thick telescopic radio aerial with soft grip and screw mount. I've found that with the camera switched to inverted filming and the monopod held upside down between thumb and forefinger, the weight of the camera gives a very acceptable low level steadycam effect. I've also experimented with the camera attached to an adhesive mount on top of a toy car for an effective small scale slider effect on a table or shelf.

I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with it :-)

Roger

[Roger Gunkel]

I have received a cheap charger and 2x1300mah batteries for £12.95 from these people 2x Batteries + UK Mains Battery Charger & Car Adaptor for GoPro Hero 3 | eBay. Only took 2 days to arrive inspite of delivery estimated for next week.

I thought I would try a recording test, to find expected recording time. I left the wireless turned on to simulate what I would need in a church recording and put in one of the new batteries that was fully charged. The camera was left in continuous record until the battery ran out. It recorded 5 clips at 17mins 35secs and one at 14 mins 35 secs. They are presumably restricted by file size limitations, I was recording at 1080 25fps. The total recording time of about 1hr 40secs though is pretty good considering the wireless was on continuously.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Hi Roger

The split is perfectly normal! At around the 17 -20 mbps in AVCHD the camera will create a new file every time it reaches 2GB which is around 17 odd minutes. The audio and video are seamless though so you just put the files end to end in your NLE and the footage plays seamlessly

I'm doing a wedding today with my Hero2 in the background, I'd be interested to know how good the 3+ is too as if it freezes at all??

Chris