GoPro *Is it worth it?*

[stose85]

Hey guys since myself and the Mrs are going to be at NAFO and we absolutely love the Colorado scenery I was thinking of picking up a GoPro Hero4 Silver to record some of our rides. It looks after all is said and done it will run approximately $500 for all the batteries, accessories, and memory cards. For all you guys that have one, what do you like and dislike about the GoPro setup? Is it worth the price? Do you use it as much as you thought you would when you bought it?

The last time we were in the area was during our honeymoon almost 4 years ago, and I wish we had video of a couple of hikes we did. Mostly for the hilarity factor of a couple of Okie's gasping for breath at 11,000 feet. Also the horseback ride of death that scared the Jesus out of me would have been pretty cool to get a video of.

We finally made it to the top alive, but barely able to breath...

 

[blassoff]

That's funny right there....I have an older Go Pro 3 that I used at NAFO 2010. I'm so glad I have video of me running the Tail of the Dragon, and screaming "oh ****" when I almost lost it in a turn (i was watching something other than the road and just crossed the yellow line).

I think any decent video camera is worth the price, cause some memories are priceless. All the stuff you get to look back on. I'd have liked to upgrade past my 640 x 480 camera but couldn't justify the prices they're getting today.

Sorry I cannot advise you on the GP4 Silver. Me, I'd wanna spend something less than $500. Hell, everybody's got video cameras these days. Go Pro, Garmin, Sena....and that's just the motorcycle specific vendors. I dunno, go to the biggest camera store near you and shop around. Find something you like and get an edumacation in the process.

 

[stose85]

That's funny right there....I have an older Go Pro 3 that I used at NAFO 2010. I'm so glad I have video of me running the Tail of the Dragon, and screaming "oh ****" when I almost lost it in a turn (i was watching something other than the road and just crossed the yellow line).
I think any decent video camera is worth the price, cause some memories are priceless. All the stuff you get to look back on. I'd have liked to upgrade past my 640 x 480 camera but couldn't justify the prices they're getting today.

Sorry I cannot advise you on the GP4 Silver. Me, I'd wanna spend something less than $500. Hell, everybody's got video cameras these days. Go Pro, Garmin, Sena....and that's just the motorcycle specific vendors. I dunno, go to the biggest camera store near you and shop around. Find something you like and get an edumacation in the process.

Thank you for the laugh!

The "oh ****" moment happened a lot on that dang horse who kept looking back at me. The guide was the only other person there and we were on the first ride of the year. She asked me if I was worried because even the horse looked scared. My wife is a natural on a horse. I'd rather stick to flat prairie than potential death drops in the rockies. It was a very memorable moment for both of us though.

I was really looking hard at the GoPro because of the super view and the 1080p at 60 frames per second. I'm kind of a geek when it comes to computers and resolutions so this is really near the top of the quality list. My wife and I have Sena headsets and like them very much. If the camera attachment came with a wide angle lens and true high def recording I'd get that in a heartbeat.

 

[gixxerjasen]

See if you can find a used one. I'm still using an old GoPro HD and I like it. I'd like to upgrade but the cost is too much. I bought this one when the 2 came out for $100 as a pretty good deal.

Is it worth it? It all depends on what you are recording. If it's you going down some random road that you are never going to do anything with because the video never looks as impressive as when you rode it, probably not. That said, I have video of my son the first time he lifted his feet and cruised on his glide bike that is priceless. I've got others too.

Also know, you aren't going to be turning out videos like you see on the GoPro site without three things.

1. Good editing setup, hardware and software.

2. Good editing skills.

3. A buttload of patience and spare time.

Seriously, shooting the videos is easy, but making something that is watchable by more people than just your mom requires time and skill.

 

[seicofjr]

Just my $0.02, but I gave away [literally] my GP 3, and after fiddling around with a couple alternatives [to include a full-size digital SLR}, I have pretty much settled on using a Fuji Finepix XP80 in conjunction with in conjunction with a Ram quick disconnect camera mount. 16 MP, interval still photos {as close as 15 seconds], 1080p video, multi-mode autofocus and effects. Plus, it is waterproof to 15m, shock proof to 1.75m fall impact, dust proof, and accepts at least up to 64GB full-size SD cards. It has fairly decent battery life, and extra batteries are not going to break the bank, for quick changes on the road. It also has zoom capability from a relative wide angle to medium tele (guessing close 25 to 100 mm on an old 35mm film camera).

In addition to tthinking the GP battery and sd card changes awkward at best, I found (and find) the constant fisheye distortion in images much less than satisfactory, not to mention seemingly short battery life and overheating problems, unless using the skeleton housing, at which time, no longer water resistant/proof.

Some of the older finepix "XP" models with close to the same features, can be found at much lower [reasonable] prices.

YMMV, of course

 

[JustinNck1]

I use a Hero 3+ Silver. You can still find these, at decent prices. From what I have learned, the audio is gonna suck on any built in camera mic.

 

[puppychow]

I don't use the GP for video, but I use it for still pictures. I like it..although the super wide-angle does skew the perspective. Things which loom ominously in front of you look much diminished in the pictures.

 

[Geezer]

I don't know anything about the newer GoPros, but I have the original one and I never use it because there is no way to start and stop the recording while riding. If I were shopping today I'd require a camera that I could control while riding with gloves on.

 

[stose85]

Thank you for the feedback guys. Puppychow your photos are the best!

 

[stose85]

I use a Hero 3+ Silver. You can still find these, at decent prices. From what I have learned, the audio is gonna suck on any built in camera mic.

I'd definitely invest in a different microphone i.e. inside my helmet. I've never thought of moto vlogging (pretty dangerous to take your mind of the road while you're busy talking so much)...

 

[SacramentoMike]

I have a GoPro 2, I think. I took a great trip about 3 years ago, flew to Munich and toured the Alps with Eidelweiss and a few forum and AZBeemers friends. I bought the camera pretty much just to document it--it was great, and I took some pretty good videos I also took hours and hours of scenic videos that I've pretty much never even seen, long segments of road (even if stunning) that just go on and on. I think Gixxerjasen is absolutely right about the difficulty of using a GoPro and getting the results into a watchable video. I suggest you not buy anything till you compare to other brands, too. Sony makes one, for example, and several others I think. Some MUST be simpler to use than the GP.

I think the GoPro is so far from intuitive to use it's ridiculous. "Two button operation" my butt! I think it's totally confusing navigating around with that tiny screen and so many options. I know the newest ones seem to offer better ways to tell what setting your cam is on and what it's doing, and maybe (still more expensive options!) remote operation. It always makes me nuts not knowing if the camera is even recording, especially if you have the cam on your helmet or mounted facing away from you, which is pretty much always.

Guess I'm not a fan. Too expensive, too hard to use, and too hard to edit (I have a stack of 32 Gig SD cards filled with the most lovely scenery of the Alps under a pile of dust somewhere). On the plus side, the pictures are pretty good when it's doing what you bought it for. Good luck. See you in Montrose, too!

p.s., that pic of you and your wife after your hike cracked me up.

 

[stose85]

p.s., that pic of you and your wife after your hike cracked me up.

I got the worst sunburn of my life while in Vail but I'd move there at the drop of a hat. The bad part is the "nice" season is only a few months. The rest of the time its mud and snow. It was pretty funny when we started getting passed by 90 year olds and we were stopping every 5 seconds to catch our breath. We stopped at one point and asked if Beaver Lake was close by (we were 2 miles away) the people just laughed and kept running up the mountain.

 

[mcatrophy]

Tomtom have brought out the Bandit, looks like a reasonable unit, their info https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/action-camera/action-camera/index.html#camera.

Available in the US from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_13?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tomtom+bandit+action+camera&sprefix=Tomtom+bandit%2Caps%2C214), probably from other suppliers.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Sac Mike, if you decide to pull a seicofjr and give yours away, let me know.

Yea, the older design isn't intuitive, but really it's kind of set it and forget it. How often are you changing from PAL to NTSC, or changing resolution, or orientation (ok, maybe that one if you are moving the mount around)? I use one of three modes that is pretty self evident by looking at the screen. Video, picture or picture every x seconds. Most times it's video.

As for is it recording? Nearly every video I take starts off with me staring into my mirror looking for the flashing red light.

Newer models will work via an app on your phone and also use a remote control.

Can't remember the competitor, they went temporarily out of business, but they had a slick deal, a fat slide switch. Switch is forward, it's recording, switch is back, it's not (or vice versa). Looked like a large lipstick cam and supposedly worked as well if not better than the GoPro. There is competition out there, but GoPro has the product placement and advertising. They sell a lot so that's a lot of money back into R&D. Is it for the better, I don't know, as I said, I'm still using a 5+ year old camera.

 

[stose85]

I just looked at the Sony AS200V and there were some good points, but mounting limitations are a big downside. I much prefer the color scheme of the Sony vs the GoPro. Being able to mount it to the front of my helmet is a +1 for GoPro though.

The Garmin Virb XE has a big button on it. I may look into this one.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Make sure you check your helmet before trying to mount it to the front. Works on mine but others have not been so successful.

 

[stose85]

Make sure you check your helmet before trying to mount it to the front. Works on mine but others have not been so successful.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[HotRodZilla]

The problem does not lie in getting good video. The problem lies in editing that video into something cool that people actually want to watch. The latter is a LOT of work. That's why I still have a decent video camera in a box in a drawer.

 

[Mudslide Miller]

I'm a huge fan of the GoPro and also spent the money for the editing side of it, because yes, without it, you really can't make anything meaningful with it. But in investing in both, you can have a great time playing with all the footage. So yes to all the above; it is expensive, it is time consuming, and it requires some knowledge on the editing side. I enjoy teaching myself how to use the editing software; I have Sony Vegas Pro 13 and it is awesome.

Here's a little taste of the Alps trip that Sacramento Mike mentioned; Click on the 720HD setting, it will clean it way up from YouTube's ****** 360P setting. I have a bunch of other GO PRO videos on my channel in you want to see others. So for me, the answer to your OP question is, YES, it is worth it.