GoPro Video Camera

[LMITOUT]

Anybody have one of these? How do you like it? Was thinking of rigging one up for pheasant hunting looking down the barrel somehow. I see they have the Hero2 now but they are $300 plus you'll need to fork over more cash on top of that to buy a decent sized SD card.

[Dave S]

Instead of buying one, I could let you borrow one. I have the non-hd model. Used on the Concours a few times. The shutter speed is a little slow for things such as traveling at highway speeds but a pheasant hunt might be ok.

[rundrave]

works great for all the people I know that have them when we ride/race atv's

[LMITOUT]

Thanks for the comments so far. Everything I've seen about them is that they work as advertised. Not real excited about the 2.5hr battery life, though. At least it's chargeable via USB so I could bump charge in the truck between walks.

LEP- that is a generous offer but I'm heading out early tomorrow for my hunting trip. I had this idea before the last trip I took and then forgot about it until today when coworker mentioned someone mounted one to a bow when hunting deer and that's when I remembered about doing this for pheasants. Kind of a last minute deal again.

I have a O/U shotgun so I was thinking that if there was a way to mount it to the foregrip ahead of my hand it would have that look of following the bird and then the shot. A head mount is included in the package (kind of like a headlamp set-up) and that would probably work better as then I could video the dog working for birds and is mostly what I'm looking to do anyway.

[MuleShack]

I have one and have also filmed a hunt using the head band mount.

You will want to set it to the full HD setting (#5) other wise it gets grainy when a bird flushes out a ways. They are made for closer up video and a bird flushing at 40 yards is barely visible.

I can get you the you tube video of mine if you want to see it.

My master plan was to engineer a set up to mount the camera to the dog to see the point and flush, but haven't been able to come up with anything yet.

[LMITOUT]

I found a youtube video where a guy used the chest mount/harness and put it on his dog. Worked pretty good. Dog ran around and it didn't shift. The camera must have been above the front shoulder area of the dog on its back so you could see the top of the dog's head.

I ended up going out and getting one. I messed around with the video settings a little bit trying to find a good balance between quality and memory space but don't really care for the "wide" angle. Too fish-bowl looking. Decided to set it at 1080 with the "medium" lens angle and see how it goes. 1080 is the only setting where there are options for different lens angles.

[Shack]

I know this topic has pasted its prime, but last summer Menards had security cams that were wireless, seem to work well in the store and are smaller than a Ping-Pong ball. I have seen the receiver and camera on clearance for as low as $15-$20, but regularly they are around $35.00. Downside is they are analog and not digital. If you could find one of those bigger cameras with the analog to digital wireless receiver (SD card slot) setups on clearance, I think very cheap though would be maybe for $60, and a mini-cam on clearance, you could switch up the channels so the mini-cam goes digital converting receiver's SD card. I forget the brand but they are not the best. When comparing prices by scanning the bar codes Menards clearance blew away anything the scan came up.

I also noticed the other week that the Wal-Marts up this way moved their security cameras out of the photo area and into the home improvement area and they are some new brand. I do not know what they entail, but the one I had seen was wireless, small and cheap. You figure unless you are cornering a niche, how many times are you going to be using it? The cheap junk can be rigged so you are no having to backpack a VCR and 12v Converter but then you think about it, cell phones and smart phones do all this. Maybe hesitant to harness up a dog with mine, but securing it to a bow or gun would be approached.

[Dbl]

I've used Go Pro with Radio control work. Quality is great but you likely would be better off shooting in 720. I also have a couple of Key Fob spy cameras that I use in RC flying. Run about $15 and shoot in the same format as 720. They have HD versions out now as well that are around $30 bucks. The quality is very good on these.

I do competition pistol shooting and mounted one of the key fob cam's on my shooting glasses to give a "first person" shooters view moving through the course. As you found out the wide angle on most of these cameras make them useless for any distance work. I have shot quite a few hours with these cams and would not be without one!

Oh, and a friend of mine that lives in the country was trying to figure out where his dog wandered off to for a period of time so he mounted one to him and traced his steps. That was hilarious. I use 4gig micro SD's and end up with about 45 minutes of record time. They charge with a micro USB on a LiPo battery. For the money you can't go wrong. Shoot me a PM if you want more info.

[DTro]

I like the concept, but hate the fish eye look.

[IamZombie]

Wonder if one of these could be used as a underwater camera.

Their site says it can go up to 60 meters under.

It doesn't appear they have any means of doing a live feed to a display.

[LMITOUT]

Yes, they have a waterproof case and there are videos on youtube showing people using them underwater.

A wi-fi "BacPac" is supposed to be available soon that you can buy and attach to the camera for live streaming (HD Hero2 cam only) and control via a remote control or PC/smartphone app.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

I've used Go Pro with

Dbl, how would you rate the Go-Pro's video quality and other features with our Kodak PlaySports we have?

Obviously the Go-Pro is going to have better mounting capabilities then the PlaySport. Although I have been pretty succesful rigging something up with the Playsport when needed. I just shot some in/on car RC 1/5 scale car footage that turmed out pretty good.

[Dbl]

Hard to compare really, I usually shoot in 720 with the Playsport. The 1080 out of the GoPro is pretty impressive, except in low light when both cameras suffer. Really the GoPro is broadcast quality and the Playsport is more amateur quality. The GoPro is used by many, many shows because they give the high quality HD for the fraction of the cost of broadcast video cameras. They are really disposable, which is how they get some really cool footage and wreck a lot of GoPro's. That being said I love the results I get from the Playsport with its waterproof capability with no case and even the cheap KeyFob cameras. But I likely will have a GoPro2 in the near future, they each have their place.

[PierBridge]

Thanks Dbl....

Like I was telling you guys in the other thread....they were using the Playsport mounted on ram mounts for the in-car footage on Mike Iaconelli's City Limits fishing show .... so it "playsport" ain't all that amateurish ..

Quote:

GoPro is broadcast quality and the Playsport is more amateur quality.

[Dbl]

I was trying to come up with a good description but just could not! You are right it is not amateur, but it is not the same broadcast quality you get with GoPro. Of course it also cost 3 times as much! By broadcast I mean it fits the standards that are required by the BBC, Deadliest Catch, etc....

[Chad Peterson]

I have to say that this has been great information. The first time I saw one, I said I have to get one. They are a nice camera and the underwater feature is unbelievable.

Thanks again for the information.

Sniffer

[LMITOUT]

I've been doing some "filming" while pheasant hunting this week and I think it has turned out pretty darn good. The files are huge and the sound is lacking when inside the waterproof case, but the PQ is excellent. I set it to 1080p with the medium angle lens to eliminate most of the fish-eye appearance and it seems to be about perfect.

The HD Hero2 has a much better processor and lens than the previous Hero which really helps in low-light conditions. There are videos on YouTube showing the difference between the the Hero and Hero2 in low light and you can really tell that the Hero2 is a step up.

Also as I said in my last post regarding wi-fi, the older model (Hero) won't do streaming via wi-fi when the wi-fi BacPac comes out while the new Hero2 will. Something you may want to consider if shopping for one of these cameras.

I'm kicking myself for not having it on today when I smoked a skunk with my .223 and then later a porcupine that met its fate thanks to the 16 gauge.

[muc33]

I watched a Go Pro video a friend shot strapped to a A post of a Modified race car on a dirt track and it impressed me.

[IamZombie]

Really the GoPro is broadcast quality and the Playsport is more amateur quality. The GoPro is used by many, many shows because they give the high quality HD for the fraction of the cost of broadcast video cameras. They are really disposable, which is how they get some really cool footage and wreck a lot of GoPro's.

I think Mythbusters uses these cameras a lot.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

I set it to 1080p

Have you tried 720P or 720P 60fps? For some reason and I think Dbl would agree we get better results shooting in 720 versus 1080 with our Kodak PlaySports.

[LMITOUT]

In 720 mode you only have the wide angle lens, whereas in 1080 you can select between wide, medium, and narrow which helps eliminate that fish eye look. 1080 looks pretty impressive so not sure how 720 would help much. What were you seeing that made 720 look better on your camera?

[LMITOUT]

By broadcast I mean it fits the standards that are required by the BBC, Deadliest Catch, etc....

Saw one in the background on Gold Rush on Discovery last week.

[PierBridge]

SCORE!!!!!!!!....

[LMITOUT]

Nice! Have fun!

[Bryce]

Forgot about this post. Scored one also from Santa. Maybe play around a bit with it up on Winnie this weekend. If the fish don't cooperate, can get some good shots of Sioux dominating the rodents again on the big screen

Next project will be figuring out how to transfer data to here from gopro while afield?