GO Pro Camera

[fairpilot]

Anyone have one? if so can you tell me the best way to produce videos, I guess Im asking how do you edit your video

 

[octavio3311]

I've been seriously considering getting a GoPro Hero 3 myself. I saw the Hero 3 White at Costco's for $199. The low price immediately caught my attention. But I've heard there was/is a lens clarity issue with the White's? With Costco's return policy, I might just get it anyways.
Any recommendations?

 

[Bruce]

@Backwash has some experience here.

 

[OperationROL]

I recently bought a Hero 3+ and cannot wait to finally use it. I know @007 , @jcampbell and @sx210owner all have these cameras and have all edited its contents before, so I will lean on them for help. Hopefully they are all members by now and will chime in.

 

[Magic]

We have the first Gen Go Pro and quit frankly don't see a need to replace it! Windows Movie maker software which came with the computer works well enough although my cousin uses Final Cut Pro on her Mac

 

[maboat]

i have one and love it. Cant comment on editing software though. It takes excellent videos on its own. I just use them as is!

Also, @octavio3311 be careful on the costco return. They are great but they have a separate return policy for cameras and camcorders that is more limited than their normal return policy

 

[maboat]

I remember some years ago, somebody on YJB got a group buy on GoPro cameras. At the time I didn't know what a "GoPro"was and I didn't jump on it. After I seen how great they are I kicked myself for missing that buy.

Anybody remember who that was?

 

[007]

Only had the chance to use it a little bit! Upgrading my computer to handle the bigger video files. Super easy to use! These are lo res shots I save on my iPad from a recent trip. 12mp w/CY filter from snake river and no post processing

 

[Ronnie]

I have had a gen 2 and now have a gen 3 white + edition. Mine is getting a lot of use so far this year. I don't see any clarity issues with mine but expectations differ so you'll have have to judge for yourself.

Maboat is right, Costco has a great general return policy but they the one for cameras and pcs is a lot more restrictive. After having a bad experience (actually no customer experience on the gro pro 2 when it suddenly died), I bought the 3 white edition at best buy for $200 plus another $100 for a limited cycle exchange policy. I ended up exchanging it 3 times, once because I broke the case when I had it mounted to an rc helicopter that crashed (another story) and again when I forgot the wifi password for it. I don't remember why I returned it the third time but that is when I ended up with the + version (smaller) of the 3 w since that is all they had. I also had the option to upgrade for the difference in cost and I wish I would have. The black edition comes with a remote and records at up to twice the speed (60 v 30 fps) but its $200 more. As you'd expect the silver edition is a good compromise with specs in the middle of the black and white versions.

Here are some videos shot on my gopro 3 white + .

If you get into editing instead of just posting raw video the better editing software you buy the better your experience is going to be. There is free ware out there (I'm a relative newb so that's what I use) but the products that cost money tend to be easier to use and have a lot more features and community as well as company support.

 

[justason]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a go-pro hero3+ silver. a common editing software I've seen is IMOVIE.

I found this tutorial the other day that clinched it for me for an interface:

for those that have a go-pro: here's a site for affordable accessories: http://dx.com/s/gopro ( dealextreme.com )

My co-worker just bought a CONTOUR. nice camera, nice form factor, and you can rotate the lens on the fly....but it has a cable interface (hello!) the top model contour is bigger $$ that the gopro black....

 

[Bruce]

I got my wife a 3+ Black for Valentines day and she was really excited. Just tell your wives that you are joining us for Bimini 2014 and they will let you spend whatever you want on toys for the trip!

 

[trace]

We bought a hero 3 black for Christmas, GoPro offers their Studio software for free. I edited one clip with it so far, it was easy to use and has a ton of options.

 

[Ronnie]

Gopros free ware is nice but one limitation I noticed is that it doesn't handle footage from non-gopros cameras very well, at all actually. So if you want to mix footage from different brands of cameras you have to use other editing software.

As for the ability to control the camera with and preview what you are shooting on a smart phone or tablet, that is a nice feature and may keep people from upgrading to he black edition for its included remote as well as keep people from buying the LCD add on and / or the separate remote. However, two big drawbacks are that there is about a 3 to 4 second delay between seeing what the camera sees and seeing it on screen (that is a lot of lag so you can't / should'nt rely on the LCD to take action shots at just the right time) and the range on this feature is between 10 and 15 feet, which is not a big deal for most people but it still sucks to not have it when you need or want it.

 

[BoaterGuy]

I've been seriously considering getting a GoPro Hero 3 myself. I saw the Hero 3 White at Costco's for $199. The low price immediately caught my attention. But I've heard there was/is a lens clarity issue with the White's? With Costco's return policy, I might just get it anyways.
Any recommendations?

@octavio3311 I think BJ's has the 3+ Silver for $229. I am also planning on getting one for the Bimini trip. I've been waiting to come across a killer deal on a 3+ Black. Still waiting though.

 

[farrelltravis]

I don't really have a use for a Go Pro - but man - the videos you guys post with them are AWESOME!!!!

 

[TechRider]

I am going with GP3 + Black for the additional options. My friends is awesome and love the quality.
- Better video quality
- Better camera
- Included wi-fi remote

 

[Backwash]

I'm going gopro crazy lately. Doing a 2014 life of Jim video. Got duck hunting, duck boat racing, mountain bike riding, 1/2 marathon finish, teaching daughter to ride bike with no training wheels, crappie fishing, dock cookout footage and just general silliness since January 1st. Won't really get cool till it's strapped on my surf board and hanging on back of tower at skinny dip cove dancing with the booty shakers I've got the 3 Black, 30 store bought and about 50 hade made mounts ready to roll!!! Come on summer!!!!

 

[Ronnie]

I'm looking forward to the show Backwash. All that since January? Cool.

Here is a link to some go pro footage I took in February that many if not most members have already seen. Edited with GoPro's freeware I added the free music through youtube's video enhancement/management app .

Now that I think of it that night I completed a 5K "Neon" run that night as well.

 

[Suchawittygal]

@Ronnie, where are you snowboarding in your video?? That's mainly what I want to get one for is snowboarding footage. That would be awesome. We're going to Mammoth in a couple weeks, can't wait!

 

[Ronnie]

Boreal (mountain resort). It's about 45 west of Reno. I doubt you would want to come this far to go snowboarding its a relatively small place. Squaw valley is only 30 miles further east. There has been a lot more snow hitting the ground in the last month so at least the base is good or should be good everywhere. Squaw and heavenly are supposed to have the best artificial snow making systems near Lake Tahoe but lift tickets are around $100. Boreal is around $60. I like it because it is not only cheap but it's also the closest to my home. Here is the link.

http://www.rideboreal.com/winter/mountain_info/snow-report

Incidentally my sister lives in scal and proposed that we meet up at mammoth this or next month.