The all GoPro models discussion thread
Discussion
Ive bought myself a GPHB3+ and been having a play with it. Few observation Ive made are:
The battery is fairly poor for what I need.
Sound quality is OK but Id prefer better. With fully waterproof case is almost soundproof.
It chews up memory like nothing else -Ive a 64GB Sandisk Extreme.
I'll mostly be using it in my car for a trip coming up soon and also for my motorbike when weathers right.
1. I need to charge the camera whilst in use.
2. I'd like to improve sound quality - and try to illuminate case / mounting sounds (creaks, rattles etc). Mic will be internal to car cabin.
3. From what I can understand the charger and external mic will use the mini USB. Is there a way to charge and record external mic at the same time?
4. Compatible batteries as an alternative / backup?
5. Recommended settings for Optimum footage quality / memory usage. Im not making an HD film however I don't want grainy low quality.
The battery is fairly poor for what I need.
Sound quality is OK but Id prefer better. With fully waterproof case is almost soundproof.
It chews up memory like nothing else -Ive a 64GB Sandisk Extreme.
I'll mostly be using it in my car for a trip coming up soon and also for my motorbike when weathers right.
1. I need to charge the camera whilst in use.
2. I'd like to improve sound quality - and try to illuminate case / mounting sounds (creaks, rattles etc). Mic will be internal to car cabin.
3. From what I can understand the charger and external mic will use the mini USB. Is there a way to charge and record external mic at the same time?
4. Compatible batteries as an alternative / backup?
5. Recommended settings for Optimum footage quality / memory usage. Im not making an HD film however I don't want grainy low quality.
petrolheed said:
Ive bought myself a GPHB3+ and been having a play with it. Few observation Ive made are:
The battery is fairly poor for what I need.
Sound quality is OK but Id prefer better. With fully waterproof case is almost soundproof.
It chews up memory like nothing else -Ive a 64GB Sandisk Extreme.
I'll mostly be using it in my car for a trip coming up soon and also for my motorbike when weathers right.
1. I need to charge the camera whilst in use.
2. I'd like to improve sound quality - and try to illuminate case / mounting sounds (creaks, rattles etc). Mic will be internal to car cabin.
3. From what I can understand the charger and external mic will use the mini USB. Is there a way to charge and record external mic at the same time?
4. Compatible batteries as an alternative / backup?
5. Recommended settings for Optimum footage quality / memory usage. Im not making an HD film however I don't want grainy low quality.
Take a look at The Frame...The battery is fairly poor for what I need.
Sound quality is OK but Id prefer better. With fully waterproof case is almost soundproof.
It chews up memory like nothing else -Ive a 64GB Sandisk Extreme.
I'll mostly be using it in my car for a trip coming up soon and also for my motorbike when weathers right.
1. I need to charge the camera whilst in use.
2. I'd like to improve sound quality - and try to illuminate case / mounting sounds (creaks, rattles etc). Mic will be internal to car cabin.
3. From what I can understand the charger and external mic will use the mini USB. Is there a way to charge and record external mic at the same time?
4. Compatible batteries as an alternative / backup?
5. Recommended settings for Optimum footage quality / memory usage. Im not making an HD film however I don't want grainy low quality.
You'll get better sound and less of the creaking with better cooling too or if you want to use the Housing, look at the Skeleton Housing.
The Frame version 2.0
Skeleton Housing
I'm not sure if you can charge and record audio at the same time. In theory, you could add the additional battery bacpac which has it's own USB power input port, but I don't know whether that would keep the GoPro charged while in use. I don't have a mic here or I could test the theory.
Good quality compatible batteries can be a cheaper alternative to OEM ones. Roughly half the price.
You should get about 6-7 hours of 1080/30 on a 64GB card at a guess.
Edited by Boro on Monday 11th August 13:32
Boro said:
Take a look at The Frame...
The trouble with The Frame is that it's ridiculously overpriced for what it is. Fortunately, given how simple it is, it looks like it's been pretty easy to copy so non-official versions are readily available. It looks like one of the few cheap knock-offs that looks as if it might be as good as the real thing (although I confess I don't have direct experience of this and it's pure conjecture on my part)
JonRB said:
The trouble with The Frame is that it's ridiculously overpriced for what it is.
Fortunately, given how simple it is, it looks like it's been pretty easy to copy so non-official versions are readily available. It looks like one of the few cheap knock-offs that looks as if it might be as good as the real thing (although I confess I don't have direct experience of this and it's pure conjecture on my part)
Hey Jon, you're right, kind of. The older version 1.0 Frame was copied by the Chinese a long time ago and to be fair you can't really go wrong at the prices they were.Fortunately, given how simple it is, it looks like it's been pretty easy to copy so non-official versions are readily available. It looks like one of the few cheap knock-offs that looks as if it might be as good as the real thing (although I confess I don't have direct experience of this and it's pure conjecture on my part)
The newer v2 Frame is a much better design and so far not copied, give it 3 months though lol.
Boro said:
JonRB said:
The trouble with The Frame is that it's ridiculously overpriced for what it is.
Fortunately, given how simple it is, it looks like it's been pretty easy to copy so non-official versions are readily available. It looks like one of the few cheap knock-offs that looks as if it might be as good as the real thing (although I confess I don't have direct experience of this and it's pure conjecture on my part)
Hey Jon, you're right, kind of. The older version 1.0 Frame was copied by the Chinese a long time ago and to be fair you can't really go wrong at the prices they were.Fortunately, given how simple it is, it looks like it's been pretty easy to copy so non-official versions are readily available. It looks like one of the few cheap knock-offs that looks as if it might be as good as the real thing (although I confess I don't have direct experience of this and it's pure conjecture on my part)
The newer v2 Frame is a much better design and so far not copied, give it 3 months though lol.
The skeleton housing with cut outs for mic inputs can be had for £15 on eBay, just shows how overpriced gopro stuff is
Are those housings with mic cut-outs easy to find on eBay? I've never really looked, but I bought a mic and a cable adapter a few months ago then decided drilling the case wasn't what I wanted to do so I sold them again. I want to keep my original case intact as I need the waterproofing for using on the bike, but I do want to try external mics and stuff to let me take sound from the back of the bike (out of the wind and beside the pipes) but have the camera mounted on the front.
Are the aftermarket cases half-decent quality? Chances are I'd only use it occasionally compared to the standard case so it wouldn't be racking up a lot of use.
Are the aftermarket cases half-decent quality? Chances are I'd only use it occasionally compared to the standard case so it wouldn't be racking up a lot of use.
r1flyguy1 said:
Also, a problem with the 'Frame' is its inability to fit the extra battery pac to it which is a bit poor
Both the version 1 and version 2 Frames hold the Battery or LCD BacPac.The version 1 comes with two frames, one small (for the camera) and one large (for the camera with BacPac).
The version 2 comes with one frame with a pop out clasp which will hold the BacPac when needed.
andyp79 said:
Are those housings with mic cut-outs easy to find on eBay? I've never really looked, but I bought a mic and a cable adapter a few months ago then decided drilling the case wasn't what I wanted to do so I sold them again. I want to keep my original case intact as I need the waterproofing for using on the bike, but I do want to try external mics and stuff to let me take sound from the back of the bike (out of the wind and beside the pipes) but have the camera mounted on the front.
Are the aftermarket cases half-decent quality? Chances are I'd only use it occasionally compared to the standard case so it wouldn't be racking up a lot of use.
Some of the Chinese copies are ok. I wouldn't risk using a Chinese Housing if you needed it to be waterproof to 40mtrs/60mtrs but with the Skeleton Housing you're not going to be needing any kind of waterproofness so a cheap copy "should" be ok for more things.Are the aftermarket cases half-decent quality? Chances are I'd only use it occasionally compared to the standard case so it wouldn't be racking up a lot of use.
Thanks.
I had a quick look on eBay earlier and found a few of those. This is exactly my thinking - I didn't drill the standard case as I want it to be waterproof, although just to tolerate rain on the bike... but underwater may be cool at some point - not on the bike though!
The copy case won't be waterproof anyway so it's not a problem that way, just wondered if they failed or anything silly that would result in my camera bouncing down the road or being bashed about inside the case.
If I'd realised I would've got one back when I bought the cables but too late now. I'll see how much I use it the rest of the year before either going for this or upgrading to a Hero 3+ or 4 Black edition.
Cheers.
I had a quick look on eBay earlier and found a few of those. This is exactly my thinking - I didn't drill the standard case as I want it to be waterproof, although just to tolerate rain on the bike... but underwater may be cool at some point - not on the bike though!
The copy case won't be waterproof anyway so it's not a problem that way, just wondered if they failed or anything silly that would result in my camera bouncing down the road or being bashed about inside the case.If I'd realised I would've got one back when I bought the cables but too late now. I'll see how much I use it the rest of the year before either going for this or upgrading to a Hero 3+ or 4 Black edition.
Cheers.
Boro said:
r1flyguy1 said:
Also, a problem with the 'Frame' is its inability to fit the extra battery pac to it which is a bit poor
Both the version 1 and version 2 Frames hold the Battery or LCD BacPac.The version 1 comes with two frames, one small (for the camera) and one large (for the camera with BacPac).
The version 2 comes with one frame with a pop out clasp which will hold the BacPac when needed.
andyp79 said:
I didn't drill the standard case as I want it to be waterproof, although just to tolerate rain on the bike...
I drilled one of my cases, just big enough to access the USB port for an external mic. Once the adaptor is inserted, I then pack it round with blu-tack. Although low-tech this does actually make it fully rainproof again. Obviously I wouldn't use that case underwater though. r1flyguy1 said:
Hmmmmmm, wonder what I'm doing wrong as mines genuine and the bacpac won't fit
I'm guessing you have the v1.Did you buy new and did it come in the box? If you did, the standard camera frame is visible through the clear box, the larger frame is hidden inside a cardboard box at the top of the package.
If you have the v2, pull out the metal tab which holds the bacpac in place.
That reminds me!
Trade secret: IKEA kitchen timer + blue tack (or a tripod bolt, if you're feeling classy) + gopro or tripod mount = inexpensive timelapse panning head you can use with most cameras!
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/3006672...
Trade secret: IKEA kitchen timer + blue tack (or a tripod bolt, if you're feeling classy) + gopro or tripod mount = inexpensive timelapse panning head you can use with most cameras!
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/3006672...
boxsternoob56 said:
I have the original frame (genuine) and have both the small and large ones so can bring in September if you want Gary?
Excellent sounds like a planJust had a look in dixons at the departures at LHR they are doing 3 for 2 on the gopro accessory range but didn't have the 'frame' in stock,
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff