GoPro HD Hero Camera

I missed out on the Future shop deal. Apparently some guys were buying two! Of course as someone who is originally from around Regina I know that you need two to capture all that big sky....

Took my H3 out yesterday for it's first "real use". Battery is a real problem for sure. Mine also stopped recording video at one point, and for the rest of the day just wrote blank files to the card. I got home and still had 1.5G left on the card. And like 6 empty files. I have a class 10 card so I wouldn't expect this was caused by card not being fast enough, but I'm going to try another card anyway. At any rate, I missed a ton of great single track footage yesterday.

The video quality it great. It was overcast and we were in the trees all day yesterday, and the video is super clear and not grainy at all. Let's hope this update comes out quick. At this point, I'll probably be using the H3 for setup shots only since I can't count on it to just run for an entire ride/trail segment.

If I were you, and you didn't have an H3, I'd wait until this software update comes out. And since this is GoPro, it could take 6 months to get the update.

http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20046663&postcount=84

For the street the Hero3 White ed. works pretty good for me. Here is a link to a sample vid at dusk. 1080p 30fps

Question: I have the Hero HD and it takes amazingly clear video with excellent sound. When I put vids together using MovieMaker I can make parts slow-mo if I wish. I have no complaints with it.

Is there any reason to get a 2 or 3?

There are deals on the 2 out there, now that it's not the latest and greatest, but if you're happy with yours, why change?

Actually, the iPhone/Remote app is one reason. It's awesome for lining things up and making quick configuration changes, or updating the camera date and time, etc.

Luckily I don't have an iphone, so it's one less thing to worry about.

I was noticing a lot of clicking noises in my video recordings so I started looking into it and found that the mount itself is likely the problem. I recorded a quick video showing the looseness in the mount.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tqnJvxke1zY?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is the part I was using. It's got a slight rise which I like, but that play is a killer.

Try putting two pieces of electrical tape on the sticky mount. Kind of hard to describe so just take a look at the picture. Solved all of my clicky audio issues:

Thanks for the suggestion - that would fix it, but the other mount of its type has no play in it at all so if I tried to use the taped base, I would not be able to use the other mount.

I'll try the tape fix on the mount, instead of the base.

But it's too bad the part was not made right in the first place.

Bummer about the H3 issues. I was thinking about upgrading from my original HD version to the H3 but I guess I'll let the bugs get sorted out first.

Good thing it's cold and wet here right now and I'm not doing any riding worth capturing on video.

Jon...

I recently finished a couple days of testing the H3B, after using GPs recommended procedures (not listed in the manual) I was able to narrow it down to bad batterys, turns out 3 out of the 4 batterys shipped with the cam were bad. This goes along with many of the problem symptoms I've read about with the H3B (shutting down, corrupted files etc...) It's not a charge level issue, the batteys are misreporting the level of charge to the cam.

GPs customer service is replacing them as we speak.

Two key issues not mentioned in the documentation:
1) Always format the micro SD card with the camera prior to filming.
2) Use a wall plug USB charger, 1a rating is preferred. Do not rely on charging via a computer's usb port, it does not supply enough current for the GoPro.

Definately buy extra batterys if you go with the new GP, the average runtime is a little over an hour per battery @ 1080P/60FPS, Wifi will reduce that a little.

If they come out with a skeleton case for the H3s I'll probably run a 64G card and a remote battery pack (4 hrs of video) The H2's 2 hr recording time has spoiled me.

Thanks for the info Chris. Sounds like by the time I'm ready to upgrade (next riding season) it will all be sorted out.

Jon...

At the risk of inviting Apple insults, I would like to mention that the iPod wall wart power supply I have here lists 1A output. But the Wasabi Power charger I bought with my two spare GP2 batteries puts out 500ma.

Just for the record.

Got the hero 3 black edition the other day, made a chin mount for my AFX FX39 helmet. It gives a great first person point of view, you see some of the handlesbars/tank and the rest is the road all the while maintaining a good horizon. Excited to hit a trail with it to get some good footage. Pics...


GoPro Hero 3 Mount by Guerillah, on Flickr


GoPro Hero 3 Mount by Guerillah, on Flickr

Cheers

Good to know, thanks.

So all the problems are they only with the Black?? I was going to get a white edition, is anyone having issues with it?

Thanks

I'd wait a while, I had some serious bugs with my 3 Black. They seem mostly to be fixed with the latest (first) firmware upgrade, but I have yet to find the time to test out the wifi issues I was having. Who knows what else is lurking in there once I get over my initial disappointment (total disenchantment would be more like it) and really start using it.

I doubt I'll see the Android app any time soon given GoPro's consistently late delivery of software, manuals and upgrades. It took them several days after I got my Hero 3 Black to get the correct manual released (initially the Hero 2 was linked), and it took them two days to get the support site set up to handle calls about the new series.
The bugs that I and several others experienced with charging and the Battery BacPac HAD to have been seen in any form of real world testing, yet they released the camera anyway and took well over 3 weeks to resolve the issues.

But it's not all bad, they seem to be (slowly) getting on top of the issues.
Advantages of the 3 in general include include the smaller form factor, and if you do underwater video, the new housing negates the need for the older specialized housing, which was an optional extra.

For the Black edition specifically, supposedly low light performance is much better, but still no great shakes. I'm not using the high resolution video features, my first experiences gave me very choppy video on my laptop (which is a few years old highly specced T400 Thinkpad), and I'm not about to invest in a new one.

Several others have noted the same issue, now that I have the firmware update in place and a little time, I'll do some more experimenting.

I'd wait a while, I had some serious bugs with my 3 Black. They seem mostly to be fixed with the latest (first) firmware upgrade, but I have yet to find the time to test out the wifi issues I was having. Who knows what else is lurking in there once I get over my initial disappointment (total disenchantment would be more like it) and really start using it.

GoPro seems very slow to provide updates (3 weeks to get the charging and battery BacPac integration issues resolved, days to get the correct on the website and to allow for Hero 3 specific support calls to be placed), so I'm not holding my breath for the Android app that was promised for December, and which is a big feature for me.
And when it arrives, likely it won't run on my older Android chinaphone anyway.

But it's not all bad.
Advantages of the 3 in general include include the smaller form factor, and if you do underwater video, the new housing negates the need for the older specialized housing, which was an optional extra.

For the Black edition specifically, supposedly low light performance is much better, but still no great shakes. I'm not using the high resolution video features, my first experiences gave me very choppy video on my laptop (which is a few years old highly specced T400 Thinkpad), and I'm not about to invest in a new one.

Several others have noted the same issue, now that I have the firmware update in place and a little time, I'll do some more experimenting.

I'd like to thank all you early adopters of the GP 3 Black for your beta testing of the latest camera. Your pioneering spirit is what makes American what it is. Rest assured that your contribution will be rewarded by the community. God bless you and God bless America.

The President of GP Inc.

Seriously, I was going to get one of these new GP's to replace my aging VIO video, which works just fine, but that would just be crazy.

It is a little disappointing that a product "appears" to have been rushed to market for _______ <----- fill in the blank.

I do give GoPro the benefit of the doubt though which is the reason I said "appears". So I hope the issues were an oversight on their part and that they have not fallen into the same trap that so many have lately. Because in the end it's not only us, the consumer, but also the company that will suffer from rushing products to market.

On the plus side, since I'm holding off on upgrading I have more $$$ to spend on other toys

Jon...