GoPro 3+ Silver - advice/opinions?

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi guys

Thinking about getting a GoPro 3+ silver for my birthday.

I know quite a few here have them, so interested in your thoughts.
Accessories?
Quality?

Worth getting or just a gimmick?

My 6D does video and no doubt would be better quality, but not so easily strapped to my head or chest or taken underwater

[sheeny (Al)]

You're right there... a 6D strapped to your chest to go snorkelling and you won't need a weight belt.

The video quality should be fine, Mike. The GoPro is the camera of choice for a lot of TV and film crews. Have a think about the black though, it would give more scope to be creative like capture at a higher frame rate for slo-mo or use a wider FOV and crop a panning shot in Vegas (thinking timelapses here).

Firstly, make sure you get some lens caps! See my other GoPro thread. http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ighlight=GoPro

Secondly, get a battery bacpac and a spare. The in camera battery is pretty limited especially for timelapses.

If you are going to take it in the water get the antifogging patches to put inside the housing.

The grip mount is good for timelapse shots. You can clip it onto all sorts of stuff. Great for IISAC! I haven't tried it on a moving vehicle to know whether its up to that task but I'd suspect its not flash for that.

For riding a bike, the chest mount will probably work better than the head mount. It'll give a steadier shot, not moving where you look.

Are you allowed to wear one of these in karate? It would make in interesting POV.

Al.

[nebulosity. (Jo)]

Before getting a GoPro I'd check out some comparisons of it with the Sony action camera, my brother recently bought the Sony camera and is very impressed. As well as being 11.8 MP (I think?) the Sony has much better low light sensitivity and dynamic range.

Cheers
Jo

[acropolite (Phil)]

+1 for Al's advice. Black 3+ is the go, from memory the black 3+ will also do 4K video. Also there's something inconspicuous about black cameras....

Al mentioned the BackPac, make sure you get the Backpac Limited Edition from the online store that way you get the large housing needed for that option (basically for free), the retail stores don't have the Limited Edition option, which means you need to buy an additional housing. It only takes a few days for stuff to come from the online store. The floaty back door is a good idea if you're venturing in to the water as your new gadget will sink if you happen to drop it or whatever you have it mounted on lets go. While you're ordering at the online store it's worth getting the tripod mount kit. You'll need a couple of memory cards as well, the online store has those as well.

I bought a carry case to store everything mine is an SP POV large case (still quite small) and houses everything nicely, they're available at Hardly Normal for around $90. I notice that Deal Extreme seem to have a clone of that case, http://dx.com/p/telesin-protective-e...2-black-259982 at $28 US it would probably be worth the gamble getting the DE one.

Once you have the camera download the app for your smartphone, beats the remote hands down.

[Satchmo]

Hi Mike

I got a GoPro Silver 3+ for filming my gliding escapades. It will do 1080P at 60 fps ( bluray quality ) and 720p at 120 fps which I decided was good enough for my needs . The 4K res in the black edition ( which isn't actually black ) is only 17 fps or something so I couldn't see the point .

The black has a remote but I use the GOPRO App on my phone for any remote control and it has on screen monitor of the view too , plus the ability to play back footage straight from the camera - been playing around with time lapse too- good fun. Its one of the luxury accessories that will end up in the case again for a while after initial novelty wears off , but will slowly integrate into your life as you find new creative uses for it.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.
Sounds good.

I've noticed it's a bit cheaper off ebay, typical grey import stuff I guess.

$429 for the silver RRP, but as low as like $360-$370 off ebay. Any other places to look out for or be wary of?

[Satchmo]

If you buy in store JB do discount off the RRP - by comparing prices with Dick Smith I bargained them down to $450 incuding a 32gb Class 10 micros SD which gives about 4 hr video at highest res and frame rate - but you can get such cards on Ebay of course .

[scagman (John)]

Hi Mike, Kogan have the black hero 3+ for $439.00
http://www.kogan.com/au/shop/cameras/?brand=gopro.

Sometimes they have them on sale for $370 I think I paid for mine last year.

Cheers

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Any other places to look out for or be wary of?

Be very wary of www.xtremegopro.com.au or variants of it like xtremetoys, etc.

I very nearly got caught! I thought the price looked too good to be true (about $340 for a black from memory), but the web site looked legit. I had correspondence with them over about a 2 week period then bought. A week later when it didn't arrive, their website was gone, phone disconnected, etc. Completely vanished. Fortunately my credit union were able to recover the money. Caviat emptor...

Al.

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

any idea if the GoPro / Sonys' would be cheaper in Japan?
am doing a snowboarding trip there and am also considering getting a vid cam.

cheers

[Ric]

Hi Mike

I have the Hero 3 "Black edition". I am very impressed with it's overall performance and capabilities. Overall it's an amazing piece of technology.

I use it everyday when travelling to work on the bike as well as having it set up on my RFS helmet when on duty.

[Harb]

We have quiet a number of HD3+ Gopro's we use at work......

I have dropped them from great heights , submerged them, and done some awful things to them lol.....they take it well
I highly recommend them, they have great colour gamut , and excellent latitude even when shooting into the sun.....

I would def go for the Black edition so you get Pal frame rates and 4k

In a word, awesome for what they are, and they are on their own in the market.....we have compared many different brands and models at a technical level and they win hands down