Tuesday, August 17, 2010

GoPro Helmet Camera

For those of you who are interested in getting an "EXTREME" HD video/still camera, this is highly recommended. I got it about a month ago and love it - it takes amazing video and stills. Underwater it is just as good. I have taken it surfing, fishing, camping, to the pool, on my daughter's bike helmet, my inline hockey games, basically everywhere. Things works great.


GoPro Helmet HD Camera

My buddy here at work just bought one and took the below video of his drive into work on his motorcycle - this looks cool! Great video taken at 60 fps in 720p. Battery lasts 2.5 hours.

2009 Suzuki V-Strom DL1000 from Tim K. on Vimeo.

8 comments:

R.K. said...

Got one - compact, indestructable (which is good for me) and actually takes some great footage.

Brandon said...

You are the guy that fishes Cheesman a lot - right? Do you use the GoPro? Then just take snapshots within the video for still pics? I thought your stills were part of your larger videos.

What setting do you use it on? 1080p? 960? 720?

The quality of your video isn't great, is that because of a lower recording setting or because it is compressed when you put it on the web?

R.K. said...

I use 1080 - but regardless, in low-light conditions, video degradation is going to happen without the ability to adjust settings.

I only use the Go-Pro for the underwater shots (thus the low-light)- strictly video and then pull frames from that.

The degradation is from the codecs that YouTube uses to compress their files.

I've yet to get any info from YouTube on their compression schemes - so a while back, I started loading raw video. It takes a LOT longer to push 4-8 gig files, but it's helped improve the quality some on the final vids.

Prior to that, I would package up my vids on my end, and they'd get butchered when up-loaded and re-compressed.

I've been looking Vimeo as a possible host, since they've been great about providing me their specs...and the quality of loaded videos is great.

Brandon said...

I was going to suggest Vimeo - although I don't think the video looks much better there. I have a video further down my blog that I put on Vimeo and I hate the quality. It looks amazing on my computer and TV though.

R.K. said...

I know - I watch this stuff on my computer, and the quality is great (true HD), but once all of the codecs are applied when uploading, the quality goes south in a hurry.

The other option that I've been mulling is simply hosting on my own server at MediaTemple. That way I can control the parameters of compression on my end.

But back tot he GoPro - for it's size and price, it's a sweet a little camera.

Did you order the strap for your cap, or is that something that you threw together?

Brandon said...

email me at brandon722@yahoo.com

I bought the helmet package - it has a bunch of helmet and baseball cap style straps. I love this thing.

I will have to check out MediaTemple. I also need to get some decent video editting software - I haven't slapped video clips together and added music or anything like that yet - but I want to.

I did buy the 1/4" attachment that allows you to connect it to any standard camera tripod. Also, I am thinking about getting an extension arm so I can film underwater shots of my buddies landing fish, or use it to see what is under the water or if a fish is within arms length get a good underater shot of it without spooking it.

I have also seen guys leave the camera in small creeks and film fish just doing their thing. I want to do that - so I need to find a way to weight the camera so it doesn't get washed down the creek.

Feather Chucker said...

Fishing vids should be a lot better, Honestly that motorcycle video kind of sucks. The vibrations are causing the camera to try to constantly focus making small hesitations in the frames. I had the same probably trying to take video when riding my 4wheeler in the desert. It should be a great cam for getting some cool fishing footage. You'll have to always remember where your head is looking.

Brandon said...

Actually the motorcycle video is pretty damn good on his computer, yes it is a bit shaky, but unbelievable detail and footage in 1080 HD. We was going at a good clip on a frontage road, so the road is pretty bumpy.

Yeah, I have had some struggles with using the camera on my head with a baseball hat on. If you point it too far down you will see the top of the bill of your cap. If you do it straight ahead you will be about 6 inches higher than your normal POV.