Go-Pro

[powerslave]

Not sure where to put this topic,so here it is.
Just wondered if has anyone bought one of these and use them with no problems.
Am thinking of getting one,but have heard of a few software problems.

Also what about havin a forum for using camcorders,video and the like.
Really started getting into this now rather than photography after taking photos for 20 odd years.

ian

[The Meat]

My son has a Go-Pro for motor, the images are amazing but I do find the software fiddly and time consuming, I think it is due to the compression used.
I to would appreciate any video tips.

[POL]

I've hired one in the past and didn't have any issues with it. Not sure why/how you'd use one as a replacement for aircraft photography though.

Been looking for a while to fix a couple of them to the car to record some of the interesting driving you see at rush-hour!

[Jonay]

I've got one, (Hero2) but I've had no problems.

The free software for editing videos is fantastic considering it's free.

What specifically are you wanting to know?

[downes0106]

I've used one without problem. Only thing to note is that if used underwater it will produce a slightly out of focus image unless an additional filter is added in front of the housing lens.

[powerslave]

Hello Jonay
Its just i,ve read a few reviews of amazon about the hero 3 locking up and firmware issues.
I've seen loads being used on tv lately,so i don't think it can't be all that bad,can it?
I was looking at the hero 3 white or silver edition.

Ian

[Zymurgy661]

problem is you are more likely to find people complaining about the issues online than the majority of people who do use without issue. I know two people who own them and have no problems at all.

A sub-forum for aviation videos is something we could look at if there was enough call for it

[powerslave]

I would be all for a video section.Been taking photos for 20 odd years and have become a little bored off it.
Now with all the HD cameras,camcorders around and big HD tv's to watch them on it would be a good idea.
And with all the editing software there is around like imovie,sony vegas and the like i think its well worth a section.
I think your right has well about the complaining issue.

Ian

[apgphoto]

I have a GoPro, GoPro 2 and GoPro 3.

I use the original GoPro for timelapse and it works really well easily get 3.5 hours out of it.

GoPro 2 even with the batterypac will only manage two hours at the highest quality setting, generally works well although some times has a mind of its own.

GoPro 3 will last for two hours with wifi off at the highest quality setting. I find the 3 is the most "troublesome" randomly will stop filming and sometimes randomly shuts down, but the quality is outstanding.

GoPro software is easy to use

[Rory]

couple things to add about the GoPro.. plus i need some help!!!

I got a Gopro Hero 3 PLUS in December. Took it to South Africa and it was amazing! easy to use and footage was awesome. While in SA i would use the Wifi to transfer the photos to my iPhone, then upload them to facebook or email them etc. worked a treat for 3 weeks. Awesome piece of kit!

Problem came a few days ago when I got home. (computer/technology geeks feel free to help me out here).

I plugged my GoPro into the the computer (first time its been plugged in as i bought the camera the day before i went on holiday) and my Mac struggled to open the files. The GoPro has a Kingston 64gb high speed micro sd card. I was able to view the files, but not able to view the photos or copy/transfer them onto my computer, it just kept loading. I then tried again and again and now I cant even view the files. I tried removing the sd card from the GoPro and using an sd reader instead. same sort of thing happened, my computer didnt like it, and the card kept disappearing.

Then I tried it on a windows laptop, was able to get a little further. managed to download a few photos, but then it would crash, and disappear here and there. strange behaviour. I have no idea if its because of the files a GoPro creates, or if my mac has messed something up on the card trying to access the card. Reading lots online, but as said above, you only here the bad stories. Apparently formatting the sd card before use is a good idea. who knows

lastly, this might give someone a clue to the problem, I then stuck the micro SD back into the GoPro so that I could transfer files to my iPhone... GoPro isn't able to recognise the card and now displays "NO SD". So in my view, my mac has changed something on the card which has made it very difficult to read.

GoPro now freezes and has some strange behaviour with the sd card in it.

So this is my story of my first month with a GoPro. help is much appreciated! Got shark diving, cliff jumping, surfing and lots more cool footage on the card.. you can understand how I feel!

cheers

[Sparts99]

I'm working on the post production of a few documentaries that make a lot of use of GoPro. Fantastic pictures considering the size of the camera and it's cost, but the price is the difficulty of transcoding the files into an editable format. All our edit suites are mac based, unless you have something strange set on your mac I doubt it's causing the problem, and I'd be more inclined to suspect the card itself. You haven't said what mac and pc you're using, if the mac is more than a few years old it could struggle. I don't have any experience of using it in imovie etc but once you've worked through the problems it's a brilliant camera and well worth persevering with, although sound quality is pretty poor. There seem to be plenty of forums on the web, your answers will be there somewhere or join one and ask.

I do this most days

http://gopro.com/daily-giveaway

a daily draw to win one of everything gopro make, world wide draw but I reckon better odds than the lottery.

[powerslave]

Hello
havent got a gopro yet,but am seriously thinking off getting one,and have been reading up about them.
With the hero 3,i think you have to make sure it is upto date first thing via the website.
Ive heard it's best to get a 32gb card rather than a 64gb one for some reason,also download the card via a card reader always.
Heard it does'nt alwys work if you hook it up straight to a mac or a pc,but then the new mac does'nt have a micro sd slot so a card reader is a must.
After downloading always clear the card before putting it back into the hero.
I think you may have a faulty card,which make is it.
There is other ways to get files off a card,its happened to me once loads of footage from Coningsby which i ended up deleting,i manged to get most of the files bk after taking it in to a shop.
I probably will go for the hero 3 silver,or possibly the black,with the price difference between the two i will be able to get a spare battery a suction mount and a memory card,and i really don't think theres a massive differnce in quality from what ive seen on the net.
Let us know how you go on.

Ian

[paulh]

couple things to add about the GoPro.. plus i need some help!!!

I plugged my GoPro into the the computer (first time its been plugged in as i bought the camera the day before i went on holiday) and my Mac struggled to open the files. The GoPro has a Kingston 64gb high speed micro sd card. I was able to view the files, but not able to view the photos or copy/transfer them onto my computer, it just kept loading. I then tried again and again and now I cant even view the files. I tried removing the sd card from the GoPro and using an sd reader instead. same sort of thing happened, my computer didnt like it, and the card kept disappearing.
Then I tried it on a windows laptop, was able to get a little further. managed to download a few photos, but then it would crash, and disappear here and there. strange behaviour. I have no idea if its because of the files a GoPro creates, or if my mac has messed something up on the card trying to access the card. Reading lots online, but as said above, you only here the bad stories. Apparently formatting the sd card before use is a good idea. who knows
lastly, this might give someone a clue to the problem, I then stuck the micro SD back into the GoPro so that I could transfer files to my iPhone... GoPro isn't able to recognise the card and now displays "NO SD". So in my view, my mac has changed something on the card which has made it very difficult to read.
GoPro now freezes and has some strange behaviour with the sd card in it.
So this is my story of my first month with a GoPro. help is much appreciated! Got shark diving, cliff jumping, surfing and lots more cool footage on the card.. you can understand how I feel!
cheers

Hi Rory
Had a slightly similar issue to yours last week with my recently purchased Hero3+ Silver.
I used my camera for the first time as an in-car camera in our Rally Car at Croft 2 weeks ago. I knew the camera was working ok as I could view the footage via my Iphone5 (over the wi-fi) after every stage using the GoPro App.
However the following night I could not get the files off the SD Card to my PC. I tried the card in my card reader and the card left in the camera plugged in via the USB Port - but every time the pc saw the card it said the card required formatting!! After 2 very stressfull evenings I came across this very useful lesson on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dTyxSQZPro
It does take a rather long time to transfer large files - but believe me it does work. It saved me a lot of embarassment - saying to my driver I had got some excellent footage of us .

Afterwards talking to a friend at work who uses a GoPro on a regular basis he recommends formatting the card in the camera 3 times , then using the camera as normal. Why I don't know, but it solved the problems he was having at the time.

Quality wise the footage I got was superb, especially after burning the footage onto a Blu-Ray at 1080p.

Hope the above may come in useful to someone, Cheers Paul.
If anyone is interested I have put one of our stages on Youtube at 720p and that is still good quality - see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSNPYCqCdKI

[Rory]

thanks for your reply Paul.

My problem now is that my GoPro reads "NO SD" when I insert the sd card. So I would be very suprised if it would be able to transfer the files through the wifi.

Had a go anyway.. and I cant type in 10.5.5.9:8080 with my safari automatically adding "www." at the start, which brings it to a dud page.

God I hate technology! £1500 mac, £400 GoPro and a £60 sd card, and still cant do the simplest of jobs lol!

cheers for the help. Will let you know how I get on with this problem. It's been 2 weeks now and I still haven't seen my South Africa photos

[paulh]

Hi Rory

First time I entered 10.5.5.9:8080 it worked straight away no problem. Next evening I had to restart the laptop several times, switch the wifi on and off at the camera and the PC - overall
it took me an hour to connect the camera!!
The youtube clip makes it look easy - it was the first night, but not the 2nd.
Another option is Recovery software - I use the one that came with my Sandisk Card for recovery of photos.
I did try this for my lost video footage as mentioned in my first post but I think the files were too large - being at least 20 minutes long.
There is plenty of free recovery software on the net if you're stuck.

Might be worth a try

Cheers Paul.

[Sparts99]

Lack of vibration on your clips is impressive Paul.

[paulh]

Lack of vibration on your clips is impressive Paul.

We had a U - shaped ally bracket jubilee clipped onto thin rubber on the main rollcage hoop. We then pulled the bracket backwards (at the bottom end) so it touched the diagonal rollcage bar (covered in rollcage padding)
and ty-rapped it together. Think this last bit prevented the vibration .
If that makes sense

Cheers Paul.

[C24]

I've hired one in the past and didn't have any issues with it. Not sure why/how you'd use one as a replacement for aircraft photography though.

Been looking for a while to fix a couple of them to the car to record some of the interesting driving you see at rush-hour!

...and not just rush-hour Ben. (Mind you, I'm not quite perfect, yet). Well worth investigating though.