GoPro Style camera

AdamZ

AdamZ

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Messages
14,869
Location
Montgomery County PA
Display Name
Display name:
Adam Zucker
So I have the possibility of getting a GoPro type camera for my Birthday but I need to educate the potential purchaser about what to get. I think there are different types and different makes so any info on brand and model and accessories would be appreciated.

Primary use would be in the plane and probably some skiing perhaps some things yet to be discovered.
 
GoPro Hero4 Silver (it has a small LCD touch screen on the back) is the one I have. Pretty impressed.

I also have a Garmin Virb elite. With the Garmin software, you can add speed and altitude to the video (It has onboard GPS). I like it more than the GoPro. I got the camera w/pilot pack on Amazon.
 
depends a little on budget, if you think you need Wi-Fi/remote, do you ever plan on doing slo-mo vids, do you have a preference of fps, and can you tell the difference between a full 1080p vid and a 720 vid? (edit on that, looks like the higher end new models have up to 4k, yowsa!) if you don't need the higher fps and can't tell the difference in hd quality, go with any cheaper model. also, if you're really not going to be taking still photos with it, only video, go with a cheaper model. I have taken plenty of vids in 1080 and 720 and I find for basic flying vids, 720 is more than enough (will also take up less storage). of course, I'm sure the videophiles will rip me a new one, and I'm not claiming I know squat about the finer details of videography. if u gots the money to spend, just get the high end model.
 
I have the $200 version (I forget exactly what gopro calls it) and it is great for flying and all sorts of other stuff. It has 1080 and 720 and wifi built in for sharing with the gopro app remotely. I also recommend the nflightcam audio cable for recording atc and cabin audio in your videos.
 
I've been using several GoPro cameras lately, and have been enjoying the Hero4 Black quite a bit. While it's the most expensive, it met all the needs I had without needing any accessories, other than mounting contraptions. Having said that, my GoPro2 with the Wifi backpack is still going strong and making great video, inside and outside the airplane. During our cable development we tested out all the Heros, Virbs, Contours, Exel, and many others but the GoPro just has too many advantages to all the rest, in our findings.

oregonboy109 said:
I also recommend the nflightcam audio cable for recording atc and cabin audio in your videos.
Click to expand...

Do not get the audio recording & charging cable from anyone but us. That's not a sales pitch, I'm saving your camera. Unfortunately they tried to copy my design and failed miserably at it. Grrr :mad:
 
Last edited:
I have a crop of action cams. GoPros are my least fav. Virbs aren't much better. The best bang for the buck is a Drift HD. All it lacks is Bluetooth but frankly whether GoPro or Virb Elite the Bluetooth feature sucks. Contour is back in business and that's the best form factor of all of them, it just doesn't offer an on-board screen. That's not a big deal in my opinion. I haven't tried the Sony offering but have heard good things about them. Different cams have different strengths. Wearing one at bicycle speeds is different than strapping one on the strut of a 150mph airplane. Your primary use should weigh in to your decision.
 
Subsea said:
GoPro Hero4 Silver (it has a small LCD touch screen on the back) is the one I have. Pretty impressed.

I also have a Garmin Virb elite. With the Garmin software, you can add speed and altitude to the video (It has onboard GPS). I like it more than the GoPro. I got the camera w/pilot pack on Amazon.
Click to expand...

Virb edit software is free and can add that data to any video. Keep wanting to play with a heart rate monitor and scary stuff.
 
Archammer said:
I've been using several GoPro cameras lately, and have been enjoying the Hero4 Black quite a bit. While it's the most expensive, it met all the needs I had without needing any accessories, other than mounting contraptions. Having said that, my GoPro2 with the Wifi backpack is still going strong and making great video, inside and outside the airplane. During our cable development we tested out all the Heros, Virbs, Contours, Exel, and many others but the GoPro just has too many advantages to all the rest, in our findings.



Do not get the audio recording & charging cable from anyone but us. That's not a sales pitch, I'm saving your camera. Unfortunately they tried to copy my design and failed miserably at it. Grrr :mad:
Click to expand...

Care to elaborate on the nflightcam cable issues? I don't think the one I have even charges the camera and I've never had any issues with it...
 
I have the original Go Pro. Upgrades a few times and just sold them and went back.

I use my go pro in a very rugged environment - on the race track where it gets pelted and beat on by rocks, mud, and sometimes pieces if metal that fly off the other cars.

It takes it all and just looks great.

Everything since has such a short battery life it isn't worth the upgrade.

Here is an example of my camera getting beat up and still working:
[Ythd]00yFNL0sg7Y[/MEDIA]
 
Stewartb said:
I have a crop of action cams. GoPros are my least fav. Virbs aren't much better. The best bang for the buck is a Drift HD. All it lacks is Bluetooth but frankly whether GoPro or Virb Elite the Bluetooth feature sucks. Contour is back in business and that's the best form factor of all of them, it just doesn't offer an on-board screen. That's not a big deal in my opinion. I haven't tried the Sony offering but have heard good things about them. Different cams have different strengths. Wearing one at bicycle speeds is different than strapping one on the strut of a 150mph airplane. Your primary use should weigh in to your decision.
Click to expand...

I have three of the second generation Contours. They don't have the super-fast frame rates of the newest gopros but they meet my needs. IMO, they have a much better form factor, and they take standard camera mounts in addition to the proprietary mounts, which are very low profile. The Contour +2 has gps and Bluetooth built in. You can use your phone as a remote viewfinder and to start/stop recording.
 
oregonboy109 said:
Care to elaborate on the nflightcam cable issues? I don't think the one I have even charges the camera and I've never had any issues with it...
Click to expand...

I'm also interetsed in the response. Never had an issue with my nflightcam cable (audio+usb charging). What's different?
 
For those that mention "form factor" what is that? I'm very new to this stuff.
 
GoPro originally adopted a small conventional camera form. It's not aerodynamic and that leads to vibration and if mounted on a helmet for high speed action stuff? It'll give your neck a workout. The Contour is the smallest camera of the popular ones and has the smallest frontal section. Drift is about the same but the early ones were longer than the Contour. The newer ones are shorter. The lighter and smaller the frontal section the easier it is to get a steady shot. In fact my favorite wearable camera is a VIO POV-1 that has a recorder that I keep in my pocket and a little lipstick camera that attached to my helmet. But that camera is tethered by a comm cable so it isn't practical for external mounting on a plane. The big benefit of GoPro's latest models and the Virb cameras is they have adjustable field of view. Most action cams use wide angle lenses with up to 170* FOV. That's too wide for most airplane video but it works well for bicycles, snowmachines, etc. I don't know about other guys but I use the smallest FOV I can on the GoPro and Virb for airplane stuff. The Contour and Drifts that I have don't allow me to select FOV for the application. One other thing to consider is availability of ND filter add-ons. The Virb has a factory accessory. NFlight makes one for the GoPros. Contour has an accessory adaptor for using small camera filters. The Drift's only option is from Rage Cams. It's a piece of heat shrink tube formed for the camera with an ND filter shoved in. It works but it isn't high quality and can scratch the camera lens. ND filters are used to reduce prop artifacts, that pesky prop interference that digital video cams pick up.
 
Last edited:
form factor is basically size and shape. For action cams, that might also include mounting options, and/or case options.
 
ybitz said:
I'm also interetsed in the response. Never had an issue with my nflightcam cable (audio+usb charging). What's different?
Click to expand...

oregonboy109 said:
Care to elaborate on the nflightcam cable issues? I don't think the one I have even charges the camera and I've never had any issues with it...
Click to expand...

I won't go into the details for proprietary reasons, but basically they didn't do the research, just like any forger, and missed 2 key engineering steps when they tried to copy ours. Just remember I gave you the heads up when your camera tanks and you can't figure out why. Again, this is not a pitch. There is a very important reason why we have exclusivity and they will learn soon enough. Hell I even tried to warn Patricia, and he decided to play dumb... Oh well.

OH and if you want a real ND filter, not the DIY filter ring technique they ripped off, from this great little old guy who makes these DIY vids, (which you can do yourself for about $8 btw. Check Youtube), go here for fantastic GoPro filters, attachments and other GoPro stuff: http://polarprofilters.com/ They actually make a real quality line of products. I think there's like 20+ filters alone and they don't suck all the color quality out of your video.
 
Last edited:
Stewartb said:
GoPro originally adopted a small conventional camera form. It's not aerodynamic and that leads to vibration and if mounted on a helmet for high speed action stuff? It'll give your neck a workout. The Contour is the smallest camera of the popular ones and has the smallest frontal section. Drift is about the same but the early ones were longer than the Contour. The newer ones are shorter. The lighter and smaller the frontal section the easier it is to get a steady shot. In fact my favorite wearable camera is a VIO POV-1 that has a recorder that I keep in my pocket and a little lipstick camera that attached to my helmet. But that camera is tethered by a comm cable so it isn't practical for external mounting on a plane. The big benefit of GoPro's latest models and the Virb cameras is they have adjustable field of view. Most action cams use wide angle lenses with up to 170* FOV. That's too wide for most airplane video but it works well for bicycles, snowmachines, etc. I don't know about other guys but I use the smallest FOV I can on the GoPro and Virb for airplane stuff. The Contour and Drifts that I have don't allow me to select FOV for the application. One other thing to consider is availability of ND filter add-ons. The Virb has a factory accessory. NFlight makes one for the GoPros. Contour has an accessory adaptor for using small camera filters. The Drift's only option is from Rage Cams. It's a piece of heat shrink tube formed for the camera with an ND filter shoved in. It works but it isn't high quality and can scratch the camera lens. ND filters are used to reduce prop artifacts, that pesky prop interference that digital video cams pick up.
Click to expand...

I have the POV VIO HD. I also have a Gopro I received as a gift. I would never spend money on a gopro. Compared to competitors products they have crap battery life and crap record time.

The POV however is fantastic and I do all of my recording with it as its incredibly versatile. Great for skiing because the batteries are kept warm in the main body which can be put near your own warm body. it's easy to keep out of the way while flying. It's light on your head for mountain biking. You have a screen you can view independent from the camera.

The ONLY thing going for Gopro is a good marketing department.

https://vio-pov.com/pov-hd
Also it uses 4 AA batteries rather than that crap you have to recharge, so if you're at Oshkosh or out in the middle of nowhere you can swap batteries very cheaply.
 
Last edited:
AdamZ said:
So I have the possibility of getting a GoPro type camera for my Birthday but I need to educate the potential purchaser about what to get. I think there are different types and different makes so any info on brand and model and accessories would be appreciated.

Primary use would be in the plane and probably some skiing perhaps some things yet to be discovered.
Click to expand...

I got an Ion because I preferred the tube form.
 
Archammer said:
I won't go into the details for proprietary reasons, but basically they didn't do the research, just like any forger, and missed 2 key engineering steps when they tried to copy ours. Just remember I gave you the heads up when your camera tanks and you can't figure out why. Again, this is not a pitch. There is a very important reason why we have exclusivity and they will learn soon enough. Hell I even tried to warn Patricia, and he decided to play dumb... Oh well.

OH and if you want a real ND filter, not the DIY filter ring technique they ripped off, from this great little old guy who makes these DIY vids, (which you can do yourself for about $8 btw. Check Youtube), go here for fantastic GoPro filters, attachments and other GoPro stuff: http://polarprofilters.com/ They actually make a real quality line of products. I think there's like 20+ filters alone and they don't suck all the color quality out of your video.
Click to expand...
Don't need the proprietary technical details, but to the end user, in terms of feature and bugs, what's different? Will it fry the camera? Does it have bad sound quality? Does it not charge? Will it fail earlier? Not trying to pick on you of anything, just wanted to educate myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top