GoPro hero3+ black or something else

[borgasm]

Hey all,

Anyone used one of those goPro or similar cameras? Looking at getting one for Snow skiing, water skiing, car vids and possibly a jetski if I find a cheapish one I like. Looking at the goPro 3+ black due to the fact it does high def (2.7k & 4k) video, although the optics may not be up to scratch for true quality.

Wondering if anyone has used, heard about or researched them and has any opinions.

Borgs

[Saratoga]

A couple of my bike riding m8's have the goPro, here is one mounted on his helmet, no idea what settings or res was used -
Do a search thru his vids, covers good range of wet, dry, snow climates & smooth & rough conditions... even a vid of his m8 getting bowled over by a roo




They appear to get rave reviews, thats for sure.

[Gubben]

hey Borg, i have used them quite a bit for work, optics are surprisingly good and unless you are blowing up for cinema screen, image quality will be largely good enough for whatever you use it for...

[Kamikazee]

I have a GoPro Hero 3 Silver, works a charm - superb image quality in comparison to other high-res, high-FPS video cameras. I use it for Scuba Diving mostly.

[Gubben]

a colleague of mine swears by the Contour HD, i havent used them but trust his opinion. That said it can come down to personal preference re the way you work and shoot etc. Here's a comparison vid fyi:

[Saratoga]

Going by that vid Gubbs - IMO, my vid & monitor settings, the Contour HD appeared to have less colour balance & vibrancy. Auto brightness correct left many segments over exposed & haze covered. The goPro gave more of a lens glare spot at that time.

Im a nub but.... ide be happy with either

[pooGz]

Hey Kamikazee - how do you use/mount it for scuba diving?

[Gubben]

yeah Toga i agree, the Gopro has better colour rendition, thought there did seem to be a bit of "rolling" in the image and it didnt handle the highlights at times as well as the Contour, i think i would go for Gopro in the end...

[borgasm]

Thanks for the Vid Gubbs, Colours look more saturated on the go pro and its a bit hard to tell the video quality when it was only uploaded to Youtube as 480p, yet its meant to be showing 1080p recordings ...
I think that the gopro is the way to go with all the accesories you can get for it and the time its been on the market. Think its also the only one that does 4k recordings at the moment even if it is only 15fps. Ive seen some pretty decent looking vids including decent slowmotion off the go pros. just not sure if I like the fish eye type effect the gopro's seem to generate.

[SCUMBAG]

i use a go pro on my boat and bikes , very impressed with them
i have a epic faceplant on my son learning to wake board
ima try and post it !
236 meg...................... bit big !
but fuck its epic
i am going to send it to funiest home videos

[borgasm]

Just bought the GoPro Hero 3+ black from HardlyNormal. They have it on sale for as cheap as I can get it off a hong kong site and they will do a much better warranty (I hope)

[Gubben]

how much did you pay? its not really fish eye, but it is pretty wide. There is a new thing called Backbone Ribcage i think, a Canadian outfit who sell an interchangeable lens solution, they can either do it for you or send you a DIY kit but you would want to know what you are doing. It does open the camera up to more lens control giving production value ie focus pulling, zoom functions, using C-mount lenses and obviously better glass... only a couple hundred bucks... but it wont be press play and go any more, it will require "cinematographer' skills from there on in...

They are pretty sturdy though, the one we used when i was shooting the doco in Egypt came off our car on the highway and was run over by the truck behind us, it shattered the housing and the battery got bent, but it didnt fracture the lens and the battery still worked...

[borgasm]

Paid $446 for it. CHeapset I could find online was Kogan for $409 with $35 shipping. I noticed tonight that they were using them for recording in TopGear when they made the HoverVan. cant be that bad a picture I guess ...

[Gubben]

yeah picture quality is great, considering. When it comes to using it in professional contexts, even if it doesnt match the quality of the glass used with production cameras, the angles and action you get over-rides any image quality concerns one may have...