Some little videos from my new GoPro Camera

[sheeny]

I lashed out on a new GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition camera for the bike - a bit of a step up from my previous bike cam, and much more convenient to use.

I'm very impressed with the picture quality and the way it works, and love the wifi remote:thumbsup:. Shame they look so boxy, but hey... it does what its supposed to do very well. The frames are very sharp even at 100kph and contain very little noise.

I haven't played with it for timelapses yet.

Here's a couple of videos that I shot on the maiden voyage yesterday. These have been rendered back to 720p for the web so select 720p HD for best viewing. The raw 1080p files are spectacular (IMHO) for image quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI68OQX3610
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YlOJ45W8_o

:)

Al.

[hotspur]

Great work,these cams are a lot of fun,once I get over my fetish for trail cameras I want to get into these.Where did you buy it from Al ?

[sheeny]

I bought the camera online from Shopping Square of all places. They had a deal of $360 for the black edition, but of course, when you add on the freight and the "remote area delivery surcharge" they tacked on at the last minute:mad2: it worked out about $440. Probably get the same sort of price from somewhere like Bing Lee... I bought a few extras from Bing Lee (like the battery bacpac, etc.

Al.

[Deeno]

Looks like you've some great roads to go touring on the GS with. Throw in a few stand up wheelies and a police chase and the vid will go viral!

Been thinking about building a quad copter with the intension of some airborne photography and video....

[moonunit]

Slow for a motorbike, what gear were you in 2nd?

[sheeny]

Hmmm... some macro shots of the Police chase with Matchbox Police cars and a bit of fancy editing... do you think it would cut it? It's about all my budget could afford.:P A police chase on a double demerit weekend doesn't take my fancy.

The GoPro would no doubt go quite well on a quad copter. Wifi control, adjustable field of view...;)



Yep (slow, not 2nd gear;)). 30 years ago it wouldn't have been.;) Since then I have learned to dislike the smell of Dettol, hospitals, scrubbing brushes, kangaroos and wallabies (when I'm on the bike) and unnecessary expense (i.e. repairs, and fines - double demerit weekend, too). I like slow...

:)

Al.

[astronobob]

Cool ridin Al, Cruisin music, nice country :thumbsup: Vid quality at 720 looks great !

[Ric]

A nice bit of footage Al.

It looked a good day for a ride. I have a "Fire Cam 1080" which is designed for attaching to my firefighting helmet but I'm looking to work out a way to attach it to my bike as well.

[sheeny]

Thanks Bob.



If you can attach it to your helmet it might be better IMHO. A lot of people struggle to find a steady enough spot to mount a camera on a bike for steady images. I have a camera mount on the crash bar of the GS for my ATC9K but there's just enough high frequency vibration to make the image "swim".

Al.

[sheeny]

Here's a couple more I've put up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQnoNGmxZic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkObhDlOa58

These actually have a bike in front of me for something else to watch:P.

Al.

[PCH]

Hey Al,

cool vids for sure. Anyone care to share how one selects different resolutions, like 720p. I'm sure I've done it before but I can't seem to remember now :P

[sheeny]

Under the video panel is a tool bar. 5th icon from the right looks like a gear - select that and choose 720p.

:)

Al.

[PCH]

Cool, thanks Al ;)

[Ric]

Thanks for the info Al.

My camera uses what is called a "Black Jack" holder to mount on my firefighting helmet so it's not really designed for a motorbike helmet. I'll have to look into some type of holder.

Cheers

[sheeny]

I got the trials bike out for a run yesterday. First time in a while so I was a bit rusty and didn't try anything too outrageous, but gave the GoPro its first run on that. Billy (our staffy) likes to run with the bike;).

Recorded in 1080p on wide FOV, but downsized to 720p for the web, so select HD to watch:thumbsup:.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjrkDICUHAg

Al.

[Deeno]

What fun!
You've some great toys there Al. Don't 'spose you have an old moto-crosser secreted away somewhere......?

[sheeny]

No, no old motocrosser, but Jarita's boyfriend Graham has a YZF250;), and we have a motocross track on the farm courtesy of the previous owners.

I have to resist the urge to get on and show him how its done... I must remember that I'm old now and don't recover so easily, and nearly 15 years out of practice!:lol: Must... keep... testosterone... under... control...

Al.

[Hagar]

Hi All The little Gopro cameras do a magnificent job. Here is one I took with a Hero2 last week but with a slightly different means of transport.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUadVrsWdIc

[sheeny]

Looks good, Doug. Looks like a pretty reasonable range. Sounds like a quad copter, is it?

Do you have any remote view of where the camera's pointing, or is it just a matter of watching the attitude of the copter? The framing was very good if you are doing it without a remote view I thought.

Al.

[Hagar]

Yes Al it's a quad copter and after a bit of a scary test the other day with the FPV set up temporary it has a range in excess of 1.5KM although at that range it it is always iffy as to responsiveness. Thank God for a failsafe setup and failsafe/ return to home switch and GPS.

[acropolite]

Nice work Al, especailly the Monty bits, makes me want one (both GoPro and bike!).

The images are very stable, does the GoPro have any kind of image stabilisation or is it just a conseqence of the wide lens and fast shutter.?

[sheeny]

No stabilisation, Phil. Just a wide angle lens and fast CCD I think.

Go on... you know you want one!;)

Al.

[acropolite]

You're right there. I've been eyeing them off for a while now, would be great out in the boat and on the Mountain bike.:cool:

They do a good job mounted on the headsock of a guitar as well Al, we've all heard about your playing, how about an Al the rockstar clip....:P

[sheeny]

Yes. Yes.

I know you want a trials bike too!;):lol:

Al.

[acropolite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEHx0Ro5OEU

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsJqSII7vvI

There you go Al, try that technique, actually it's worth downloading the clip, there are a few others as well of Josh Gooch, Ped Band, Alex Hutchings etc Jamming, quite good quality and very listenable.

[sheeny]

That's pretty cool, thanks Phil. I'll have to practice a bit before I stick any guitar solos on Youtube;).

Thanks for the links to the wing cams Steve. Interesting...

Al.

[sheeny]

This is from Sunday. Just another easy ride, feeling my way back on the bike after a long break.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMCtGh5rbfE

Al.

[Ric]

Hi Al

I've just invested in a GoPro Hero3 as well, what an awesome piece of gear.

At the moment I'm just working out the settings to use.

When you film in 1080 resolution what frame rate do you use?

I currently have mine defaulted as per the manual at 50fps and wide angle.

Cheers

[sheeny]

G'Day Ric,

I usually use 25 FPS. It lets me save more video on the card;). If I was going to do any slo-mo stuff a higher FPS is the go.

Just a word of warning, Ric. Be really, really careful with your camera. GoPro do not repair them. If its a warranty job, they just replace it. The lens on my camera is damaged:mad2:. The damage occurred between the second last time I used and the last time. I do know what happened but I would guess that either the camera was knocked over face down on the lens, or something hard was put on top of the camera resting on the lens, while it was charging. The mark is not very noticeable on the lens (I have to look really hard and get it in the right light to see it) but it shows up as a "cloud" right in the centre of the FOV. Very disappointing!

Since GoPro won't touch it, I have a $28 replacement lens coming from China and I've been studying the procedure on Youtube to pull the whole camera apart to replace it.:rolleyes:

I've also bought a second one;) since I was considering a second one, maybe a white or silver, but decided to go black. I haven't got it yet. It'll be my main camera and the old one will be the secondary one depending on image quality from the replacement lens.

I think the medium FOV is the pick unless you need the full wide FOV. There's a lot of barrel distortion in wide FOV, but its acceptably flat in medium.;)

Al.

[Ric]

Hi Al

Thanks for the tips I'll default my camera to that for starters and then play around later.

That's a bugger with your lens, it sound like a royal pain to replace, hope it all goes well.

At the moment I'm trying to work out the best place for the camera mount on the handlebars of my bike. Being a BMW Cruiser it has hi-rise bars so I have plenty of space to work with, Just don't want it to hang way out into space though. I would probably be more prone to vibrations.

Cheers

[acropolite]

I had a job at DSE the other day and while I waited for the manager I watched the GoPro promo footage.

Oh how I wish they had been around 20 years ago, Windsurfing, diving, Motocross, trials, crazy 4wd stuff, skiing so many memories I could have had, sadly missed. I have to have one, bolted on the front of the boat and mountain bike methinks, despite my bad back, I'm dusting off the windsurfer for one last fling..... :face:

[sheeny]

On your helmet is the most stable place to put it:thumbsup:.

The GoPro mounts are not up to the task and allow the camera to vibrate a lot (the image goes "swimmy" with high frequency vibrations). I'm told that the RAM mounts are much better, and I have mine set up on my crash bar of the GS and the handlebars of the trials bike. I've only tried it on the trials bike though - and on the bars of the trials bike is nearly enough to make you motion sick!:lol:... but there's very little vibration effect.

Al.

[sheeny]

I know what you mean, Phil. 20 years ago I was full on into canyoning, caving, vertical rescue (training in some wicked places!)... oh, well. I have albums full of stills!;)

Al.

[acropolite]

You're a bad influence Al, just picked up a 3+ black kit, looking forward to trying it out, any tips or shortcuts I should know?

[sheeny]

Yeah - buy a lens cap for it and be annoying fastidious about using it when the camera is not in use. I ruined the lens in my 3 while it was being charged... either got bumped face down on the desk or had something hard placed on top. I have since put a $28 lens from china in it, but the jury is still out on whether it is as sharp as the original.

I have also bought a 3+ but most of the difference is hype. The superview is just the full 4/3 sensor stretched to fill a 13/9 format:rolleyes: so the distorted almost fisheye view is more so. And the water proof housing that comes with the 3+ isn't the same as the one that comes with the 3, so you have to get the 3's housing to run a battery bacpac.:rolleyes:

A battery bacpac or 2 is a good idea. Luckily the battery bacpac now comes with the 60m waterproof housing that the 3 had as standard, so I'm just waiting for them to come back into stock to get another one for the 3+.

Get a good 64GB class 10 card or 2.

Get a lens cap for it. Why ANYONE would sell a lens or a camera without lens caps is beyond me.

The new "jaw" mount is good. It's pretty robust and great for temporary mounts like we needed for the wedding timelapses. We didn't have it. It was released the week after the wedding. I have one now though:thumbsup:.

If you are going to mount it on a motorbike, buy a RAM mount. The GoPro ones aren't robust enough to beat the vibration - probably OK on a pushy though.

Did I mention the lens cap? Get one...

:)

Al.

[Ric]

Hi Al

What is the RAM mount?

Could you post a link to it

Cheers

[sheeny]

Southern Insight are the aussie distributors for Ram Mounts:

http://www.ram-mount.com.au/

I just had a look, and I couldn't find the Go Pro mount on their site:shrug:. I'm sure I bought one of my gopro ram mounts from them.

But if you search eBay for "GoPro Ram Mount" you'll find all sorts of options from just the GoPro to Ram ball up to full systems. The GoPro Ram Ball is about $8-10 if you already have a ram mount, or the whole setup will cost about the $50 mark.

Al.

[Ric]

Thanks for the link Al. :thumbsup:

I'll have a bit of look around.

Cheers. :)

[leosoul]

Nice work. I got my Sony sports camera few months ago and they are so much fun. Have been using them with kids in the pool.

[acropolite]

Thanks for the heads up on the Bacpac Al, got my Limited edition Bacpac and some other stuff today, the Bacpac came complete with full housing more back door options than you can poke a stick at and some mounting bits, has to be the best value going, the Bacpac Limited edition is cheaper than buying the housing alone and comes with so much extra stuff!!

Now to buy a case to keep all this stuff in....:confuse3:

[sheeny]

I had a spare aluminium case with adjustable padded dividers in it that is now not spare any more:lol:. I bought 2 of them while they were cheap at Bunnings... just as well now;).

Be wary about the perception of value Phil;)... I'm starting to. $30 here, $50 there... :P

Just for info, if anyone else damages their lens and decides to replace it... I found the other day that the focal position of the replacement lens I got is closer to the lens than the original genuine GoPro Lens. Its the same focal length but the focal plane is not in the same position. No biggie while its out of the housing, but in the housing at wide FOV I get a full circular vignette in photo mode and partial vignette each end of the frame on wide video.

All is OK at medium FOV though, it just means I can't make full use of the CCD when the camera is in the housing.:sadeyes: So make sure you get a lens cap and use it!:lol:

Al.

[acropolite]

I stopped counting $ after the first couple of add ons. :P

I do have the caps now thanks Al as well as a heap of other stuff I'll probably never use.

FWIW the Studio editing software that can be downloaded from GoPro works nicely on Win8.

A week or so ago, I did the W8.1 upgrade and that broke most of my video functionality (thanks Mr Gates and MS) including the Studio export to Mp4 feature. There will probably be an easy solution some time in the future but I couldn't find any solution that worked for my install so I reinstalled W8.0 from the recovery partition and now my GoPro is all Go again. I made a quick video on the mountain bike but unfortunately neglected to keep a copy when I re-imaged the HDD.

[sheeny]

I've just spent a day playing on the trials bikes with a mate, Phil. You would've enjoyed it!:D:P

I have heaps of footage to edit. That's the hard bit I find, cutting hours down to seconds.:rolleyes: We did some experimenting with mounts. I think the pick of the mounts and camera positions we played with today were of course the helmet mount, and the RAM handlebar mount upside down and looking back at the RHS of the bike and brake foot (and where you've been) and also the chest mount. The chest mount turns out not too bad. You can get a bit of a perspective on the bars and hand controls while seeing the obstacles, and it tends to follow the line of the bike rather than where you're looking.

All good fun. A great way to spend a cool to cold cloudy day.:)

Al.

[acropolite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn3NbS6TM8k I really like the way they did this one. The perspective that the wand out front gives is good. I haven't really got my head around using Sony Vegas yet but the GoPro editing software is a doddle to use, very intuitive and quite powerful.

The thing that worries me is that one really isn't enough, the more the better....:P

[Ric]

Hi all, put my first GoPro movie on Youtube. Had a lot of fun with the editing software putting on some backing music and titles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vma9wtC95PU

For some reason, unknown to me Youtube saw fit to bung an ad in the beginning and default the quality setting to 144p. Just set the quality to 720p for clearer viewing and just shut the ad down.

PS: I'm no Spielberg :D, so any comments or ideas are welcome.

[sheeny]

:lol: I liked the counterbalanced swivelling camera mount on the helmet, Phil. What could possibly go wrong?:lol: But it effective! The long fixed wand on the helmet also seemed pretty stable relative to the helmet. I guess you don't have the vibrations on the pushie that you get on a motorbike, but I expected it to flex more then it did on jumps and things.

Good first video Ric. You like your right hand corners I see:P. Just a little bit of vibration induce swimming in the images (the centreline of the road flicking near the bottom of the picture is the biggest give away) but if you go to a helmet mount that'll disappear. BTW I think the download speed is detected to suit your internet connection. Mine started at 144p then jumped up to 360p.

Al.

[Ric]

Hi Al

At the moment I'm just running a standard handle bar mount off the Hi-rise bars with some rubber for extra padding.

At the moment I think the better half is going to buy me the Ram mount for Christmas. ;)

Cheers