Go Pro Hero HD Review

[Glancing Aft]

So after much debating between the Contour HD and the Go Pro Hero I picked up a Go Pro to replace my aging Viosport.

This weekend I am headed to the eye of the snow storm in the Catskills for some powder skiing and hope to get some great footage with it as well as give my full review. In the mean time though, here's a little short (very rough edited) video I made this evening with it.

[diggingtrail]

Oh, so just b/c I said I was going to get one too, you had to go and get yours first. I should have mine w/in the next month.

What are you planning on using for editing? iMovie? FCE?

Make sure that you put in the little rubber piece. I can't stand the plastic jiggly sound that are in some vids. http://pointofviewcameras.com/blog/pov/ ... doohickey/

Looking forward to more HD videos.

[Glancing Aft]

Oh, so just b/c I said I was going to get one too, you had to go and get yours first. I should have mine w/in the next month.

What are you planning on using for editing? iMovie? FCE?

Make sure that you put in the little rubber piece. I can't stand the plastic jiggly sound that are in some vids. http://pointofviewcameras.com/blog/pov/ ... doohickey/

Looking forward to more HD videos.

Hey, I was planning on getting it long before you mentioned it on Sunday

I'm not sure what I'm going to be using to edit it yet. One thing is certain, my computer was showing it's age last night. My iMac is going on 4 years old and is a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz with 2 Gigs of ram and it was coming to a screeching hault with processing the video. And this was with only 15 min of video, I can't imagine what it will be like with several hours worth. I was using the newest iMovie, which in many respects I hate, I also feel like it's very graphic intensive with all it's thumbnails, so I might try next with the older version of iMovie, which I think it a far superior product minus the stabilization settings. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll take a crack at learning FCE... and if that doesn't work, I might be saving my pennies.

Thanks for the heads up on the rubber piece! I couldn't figure out what it was for last night!

[knobbysideup]

Cool. That's the exact unit I have been looking into!!

The one thing it doesn't seem to have, however, is a viewport or LCD for normal shooting? Is this the case? It'd be nice to have that for instant review of films, or to be able to shoot while not attached to the helmet more easily.

That's the only thing that is holding me back from pulling the trigger on getting one of these.

[knobbysideup]

I'm not sure what I'm going to be using to edit it yet. One thing is certain, my computer was showing it's age last night. My iMac is going on 4 years old and is a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz with 2 Gigs of ram and it was coming to a screeching hault with processing the video. And this was with only 15 min of video, I can't imagine what it will be like with several hours worth. I was using the newest iMovie, which in many respects I hate, I also feel like it's very graphic intensive with all it's thumbnails, so I might try next with the older version of iMovie, which I think it a far superior product minus the stabilization settings. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll take a crack at learning FCE... and if that doesn't work, I might be saving my pennies.

Time to start using a more efficient Operating System, or at least embrace some tools that don't start with 'i'

If only I could use the new 24-core 3GHz per core, 64GB ram system here at work for such endeavors

[diggingtrail]

Cool. That's the exact unit I have been looking into!!

The one thing it doesn't seem to have, however, is a viewport or LCD for normal shooting? Is this the case? It'd be nice to have that for instant review of films, or to be able to shoot while not attached to the helmet more easily.

That's the only thing that is holding me back from pulling the trigger on getting one of these.

No lcd or viewfinder at this time. There is supposed to be an add on lcd coming out in the summer, but at this point in time it is vaporware.

[diggingtrail]

I was using the newest iMovie, which in many respects I hate, I also feel like it's very graphic intensive with all it's thumbnails, so I might try next with the older version of iMovie, which I think it a far superior product minus the stabilization settings. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll take a crack at learning FCE... and if that doesn't work, I might be saving my pennies.

What versions of iMovie do you have? I have a .dmg of iMovieHD6, which is what most people like the best for it's combo of speed, features, and editing ability. Apple made it available as a download after the uproar over iMovie08 being so stripped down. If you need it/want it let me know. Apple doesn't offer it anymore. Also if you haven't installed Perian do it. Since most Apple vid programs use quicktime as a backend, this may help.

One thing is certain, my computer was showing it's age last night. My iMac is going on 4 years old and is a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz with 2 Gigs of ram and it was coming to a screeching hault with processing the video. And this was with only 15 min of video, I can't imagine what it will be like with several hours worth.

You think that is old. My main computer is a dual 2.3 G5. G5's don't like modern video editing. It was screaming fast when I bought it, but the new Intel chips just blow it out of the water. Your cheapest bet would be more RAM. Buy 2 2GB sticks and pop them in there. It will speed things up alot. Or you could get This.

[Glancing Aft]

No lcd or viewfinder at this time. There is supposed to be an add on lcd coming out in the summer, but at this point in time it is vaporware.

I really hope the LCD doesn't become vaporware. It'd be nice to have, however the good thing is the lens on this camera is stupid wide angle. Depending on what settings you're in it's a claimed 170 degrees. So you can get fairly accurate shots just holding it in your hands and pointing it in the right direction.

What versions of iMovie do you have?

I have both the old version iMovie HD '06 and iMovie '08. The clip above I made with '08, I'll try my next one with '06. I'll also look in to Perian.

Where I'm going to this weekend is now up to 65" of snow over the past 3 days, so should make for some epic skiing and great video shots!

[Glancing Aft]

Time to start using a more efficient Operating System, or at least embrace some tools that don't start with 'i'

Considering winblows can't properly process H.264 encoded video without severely degregating it, I'd beg to differ...

[knobbysideup]

Time to start using a more efficient Operating System, or at least embrace some tools that don't start with 'i'

Considering winblows can't properly process H.264 encoded video without severely degregating it, I'd beg to differ...

Who said anything about windoze? I said "OS" not "Thing to run games on occasionally, and hope it doesn't lock hard, crash, or immediately join a botnet" The only place that mess gets to run on any of my boxes is in a strictly firewalled Virtual Box session. I think I've used it once since install, in order to dump firmware to my xlink bluetooth gateway, since a windoze executable is the only method those guys provide

[Jody]

Will,
I seen some of those videos you`ve put (attached) on this Yamba website and especially liked the Raystown
video, I have no knowledge has to how to use or make those films.
I tryed to find a dvd that had mountain biking (helmet cam type) video to use when riding my trainer (mountain bike)
in the basement, specially with the weather we`re having right now. Would make riding a trainer more fun. I was surprised that there`s none out there (on the market) like that.
If you ever think of doing something like that and put it on a dvd, I`d buy one. It would be cool to have
a dvd (helmet cam) of the county parks trails.

Jody.

[Glancing Aft]

You think that is old. My main computer is a dual 2.3 G5. G5's don't like modern video editing. It was screaming fast when I bought it, but the new Intel chips just blow it out of the water.

Just an FYI, I was looking through the GoPro manual, and my computer is the minimum requirements they recommend for using with the camera....

[Glancing Aft]

Will,
I seen some of those videos you`ve put (attached) on this Yamba website and especially liked the Raystown
video, I have no knowledge has to how to use or make those films.
I tryed to find a dvd that had mountain biking (helmet cam type) video to use when riding my trainer (mountain bike)
in the basement, specially with the weather we`re having right now. Would make riding a trainer more fun. I was surprised that there`s none out there (on the market) like that.
If you ever think of doing something like that and put it on a dvd, I`d buy one. It would be cool to have
a dvd (helmet cam) of the county parks trails.

Jody.

Jody,
Glad you've enjoyed some of my videos! And this year I actually want to record a lot of my races to use for training purposes next winter! So if you want some DVDs of it next fall, let me know, don't worry I wont charge you for it. Although making some training videos would be an interesting hobby/business....

As far as for this year with training I can't speak highly enough of the Sufferfest videos. They incorporate some helmet camera footage into them,
http://www.thesufferfest.com/ I definitely like the downward spiral better, and for $10 you cant beat the price!

Also for road bike first person training videos these are both good (but expensive),
http://www.cyclingvideosonline.com/
http://www.epicplanet.tv/catalog/

[Glancing Aft]

much more and a review to come, but a teaser,

[Glancing Aft]

So after 2 or so weeks with the camera I can say I'm extremly happy with it and I'd give it 5 beers out of a 6pack.
On a sunny bluebird day the camera simply takes some beautiful shots, with great lighting and video quality. It is small and light enough that you can mount and forget about it. But there are some problems.

Pros:
- Great shots on well lit days
- Descent sound quality even at speed
- The waterproof case is bomb proof (already taken some good crashes with it)
- Small and light
- lots of fun mounting options with all the clamps

Cons:
- Some grainy shots on gray days
- Difficult to align the camera at the right angle, especially with no LCD to review your shots
- Memory Hog. It'll eat through SD cards like no tomorrow
- Difficult to tell if it's recording. If you're starting and stopping it a lot it can be a pain...

Here's some of the best footage I have captured with it yet, out at White Tail Ski Area.

[rmichels]

Wow, nice video! And I know who *not* to hit the slopes with, out of my league.

[diggingtrail]

So I got a GoPro two weeks ago. Pretty much echo Will's comments on pro's and cons. One additional thing I found is that the vented helmet mount will not work for Rocky Ridge. The extra weight of the camera on top of the helmet shakes it violently, no matter how tight the helmet is cinched down. So I ordered the chesty mount. Much more stable for mountain biking. However it is still hard to get it to aim correctly. It seems like it is aimed to high but when going down hill you are still capturing mostly shots of your stem. Grrrrr. Another con is that the supplied height and angle adapters slip. I solved this by sanding the smooth plastic w/ some 100 grit sandpaper. No slippage now.

Also as Will said, editing is a beast. These files are huge! It takes a fast computer to work with these. My less than two minute video took over two hours to render. My faster computer right now is and Apple blackbookl, 2.4 core2 duo w/ 2gigs ram. More and faster cores and at least double the ram is needed to make the editing time more palatable.

It took a few days and playing w/ mounts and compression to get this. However now that I have the mounts worked out and the computer workflow down I should be able to get better videos completed quicker. Now about that faster computer....

The Lakes - GoPro Test

[ls1der]

Cool ! I enjoyed that. The second part of that is my favorite section of trail in York County. Excellent music choice too.

[diggingtrail]

Cool ! I enjoyed that. The second part of that is my favorite section of trail in York County. Excellent music choice too.

Thanks. Yeah that trail 4 downhill is a blast to rip. I'd like to do a chase cam shot down that trail.

[Glancing Aft]

What video settings did you have the camera set at when you recorded that video? I haven't used it yet MTBing yet but the quality is a bit lower than I was hoping for As you mentioned it might just be a vibration thing...

and speaking of editing when I was in Utah last week I recorded 31GB of movies... I don't even want to think how long it's going to take me to get through it all.