Anybody here ride with a GoPro Camera?

[jerrykr]

These things fascinate the heck out of me.
As you probably know, photography is a big hobby of mine.
Video is getting to be more and more on my radar.

http://www.gopro.com

Its certain that the video on their site is professionally edited, but the quality out of camera is amazing IMHO.

aka locojoe, what do you shoot your rides with?

 

[Anonymous]

My bud Mike mounted one on his headrest on his white '67 Chevelle in Wildwood and we went on a H*!! Ride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHj2GdcjaQA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KskbGs-U ... re=related

Thats what WE do in Wildwood twice a year...

 

[aka_locojoe]

These things fascinate the heck out of me.
As you probably know, photography is a big hobby of mine.
Video is getting to be more and more on my radar.

http://www.gopro.com

Its certain that the video on their site is professionally edited, but the quality out of camera is amazing IMHO.

aka locojoe, what do you shoot your rides with?

I have 4 cameras that I use or have used. 2 still cameras, 1 video camera and a phone.
Older Canon Powershot S3 (SD).
Fujifilm Finepix (HD).
Cisco Flipcam (HD).
Iphone 3gs (SD).
So nothing fancy or high quality. Most of my recent videos have been on Flipcam.
No better than I am at shooting video and considering how rough I am on them, I don't think I need anything better.
I shoot everything hand held. I think in most cases mounting the camera on the bike or helmet only makes for interesting video if you're doing some extreme riding of some kind.

Those Gopros are cool though pricey.

It's ridiculous but I've been known to carry all 4 on a ride. I would like to find a small camera that fits in my pocket and takes good stills and video.

Notice the inner-tube holding my Flipcam together :lol:

 

[jerrykr]

MagicRat was that actually a GoPro? The quality, focus, etc. of that video really seems a lot less than what I have seen from GoPro. Also the GoPro is a very wide angle fixed lens, fixed focus camera, and I do not see wide angle here. Not saying, but asking, you understand.

aka loco, the $300-400 price tag for a GoPro is very attractive considering that you get all the mounts, waterproof case, etc. The wide angle lens and fixed focus are killer in this application. I have a little Sony W-350 that is almost credit card in size, that shoots 1080p video with anti-shake but it could not hold a candle to the GoPro in this application. It pretty much depends on having a photographer controlling it all the time. My Sony was about $150 tax title and padded case, and it does have a tripod mount which I suppose could be adapted to a bike helmet. 1/4 20 screw threads.

Most of the stuff I post here was taken with the little W-350. It is just easier than breaking out my DSLR, It is very sharp, easily focused even down to about 1 inch, and the video for a birthday party situation is fairly acceptable. The anti-shake feature is very necessary. A camera this size is very hard to hand hold without getting motion blur in all but the best of lighting conditions.

I very seldom jump off mountains, or free fall out of airplanes, or tear down mountains on my bike, so I'm not sure what I would do with a GoPro if I had it. The time lapse feature might be more appropriate to my age group!

 

[aka_locojoe]

I thought the Gopros were more expensive than that. I've only seen them at a display rack in a boutique outdoor store where they probably were more expensive.

 

[jerrykr]

they start at $200.00 - after that, the price goes up for accessories, but the camera is the same.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Jer...

Jimmy with the white Vette took those vids of Wildwood (wasent filmed with a GoPro)

Mike with the white '67 Chevelle posted them on Y/T.


Mikes GoPro picks up video pretty good but its bad at audio.

My pack of Newports is bigger than his GoPro

 

[clamdigger]

I have been considering this also. The hot setup was the GoPro Hero in the $300.00 range, which is too much for me. Now there is the GoPro Hero 2 with much better capability, so vendors are clearing out their old inventory at half price. There are good cheap mini-sd keychain cams being used by the BMX action riders.

 

[jerrykr]

All of the videos in this Park Tool rebuild stream were shot with Go Pro.
It is mentioned at various points in some of the videos.

http://www.parktool.com/blog/calvins-co ... lder-bikes

It looks like the guy had it on a head band and was shooting hands free.
Many times he apparently was not aiming the camera very well with his head,
but for the most part it looks pretty good.

Photographers, (even hobby photographers) consider these things extremely cheap for what they do.
DSLR lenses alone cost hundreds to thousands of $$$ say nothing of all the other equipment costs.

 

[hewey]

I've got a Canon S3 and a GoPro (non HD version). The Canon is the 'good' camera, and the GoPro I take when I'm short on room or likely to get wet :lol: :lol: I dont use the video function on the GoPro for the main reason I have an antiquated PC and I dont think it could handle videos :lol: I got my GoPro second hand off an Aussie bike forum for $80. I had to replace the lens cover but otherwise it works great.

I find the GoPro works great in full light, but in low light it really struggles and the pics come out grainy. The other thing is that it cant handle direct sunlight and you get a small black disk where the sun should be - easy to edit in photoshop if you like.

ALL of the pics below are from my Gopro. :mrgreen:

The wide angle lense is great for getting the whole 'scene'. The problem is the viewfinder is near useless and there is no digital display, so youve got to click away and hope they're good when you upload them!

Below you can see how the fish eye distorts the frame. The disadvantage of the fisheye is that you need to be really close to something to make it look close and not 20 feet away!

Some pics from my holiday in Vanuatu. VW dune buggy hire car, fish eye lens was great for these pics

Being waterproof is handy on a tropical island! :lol:

Underwater the Gopro struggled a bit more, it was harder to get sufficient light. This was a nice and sunny day on a shallow reef with crystal clear water

This was taken from a boat in about a metre of water when it was overcast, and the water wasnt so clear, and as you can see it struggles with clarity. Its a fighter plane from WWII by the way

Again the fish eye lens is awesome, but overcast days arent the best

But taking the buggy through some puddles with a waterproof camera was great :mrgreen:

And lastly one of my favourite photos - that barrel looks huge but is about a foot high!

 

[jerrykr]

Hewey, Thanks for posting those shots. They are better than you give them credit for.

I am very familiar with fisheye lens, and what you say is very true. $500 to $1000 fisheyes produce the same sort of results, but of course, because of the camera bodies that they are mounted on, are more capable of dealing with differing lighting situations.

To be able to shoot under water, or under mud as you demonstrate, and to be able to use the camera mounts that they come with, put them head and shoulders above any pocket camera or DSLR, without investing in a ton of assessories. There is no way I would be able to produce the images that you posted with my DSLR without destroying it by dropping it or flooding it in water. Every tool is relative and adaptive to the job at hand.

I know what you mean about older PCs. My Canon DSLR produces 1080p video, but my PC simply cannot handle it, so my next great investment will have to be a Core7 processor, lots of main memory and a really fast video card. Wonder if I could sell enough bikes?