[jqp]

bside123 do you still have your 2?

I bought a used Gopro Hero 3. Not the 3+ because the focus on the 3+ is about 4 feet whereas the 3 has closer to infinity focus. I want to be able to see things further out in decent focus...it will do 4K and 2K video, so theoretically it should make sense to have that feature. I don't want a selfie video of myself driving something, I want to film where I am going, or what is out there.

I also saved over $100

Anyway I am testing it today because I want to make sure it is AOK as a used item.  The original owner sold it via Amazon to me, and I know he had some kind of paintball accident (he left a few videos on his micro SDHC card     with it, one where he says I think I shot my GoPro...) and he broke the 2 clips on the basic mounting buckle.

So far I am having movies cut off after 8-12 seconds. I am thinking the card is too slow to support the higher res videos I am testing. This card is only a class 4 and I think I would need a 10, which is on order...but I can't test that till Thursday  Meanwhile I will start at the lowest res and work my way up.

I did get over 3000 .5 second elapsed time images while parked and driving around to another destination. 4000x3000, 4MB each for about 45 minutes, so that works.

The remote seems to work once I figure out what sequences to press on the camera and remote.

If I take out the battery, do I have to re-pair the bluetooth?

What should I check?

[jtwrace]

http://gomount.myshopify.com/

[jqp]

http://gomount.myshopify.com/

Yeah I saw that - so those ends are simply GoPro adaptors? I need a clamp but not really a bendy extender. I actally have one of those Joby tripods I will use with a Gopro tripod mount to do time lapse on a local birds nest.

So jtwrace do YOU have a GoPro? What do I need to check for whe buying a used one??

[jqp]

OK my GoPro original battery was definitely defective! It was overheating very quickly, yet was not shutting off the camera as the GoPro tech support said it was supposed to do. I would only record less than a minute, then stop. Then I could restart it immediately, repeat...so a bunch of very short video captures.

I take back everything I was saying about GoPro, the seller, action camera technology, and class 4 micro SD cards...

I ordered new batteries and got them today.

BEFORE: could only record up to 1 minute of video, even though I could capture thousands of 1/2 second time lapse photos.
AFTER: I can now record as expected, 20+ minutes so far.

I am loving the timelapse feature when driving - a 30 minute drive becomes a 1 minute video when you convert all the images to a video.

I will continue to test this with all my new accessories. I will use it in my convertible and to film the 4 baby birds on my front porch (awww!).

[bside123]

Sorry, I'm late to the party here.

Well... my GoPro experience pretty much turned out to be a dud. I bought the camera after watching the in-store display, reading online and talking to a kayak enthusiast. The idea seemed charming at first... and only speaking for me... the camera seems to be pretty much a gimmick with few real world applications which might be: bungie jumping, hang gliding, high platform diving, free jumping, white river rafting, high-speed motorcycle chases, dashboard mount for cops & robbers and storm chasers, mountain climbers, surfers... etc. None of which I do... except for a rare dream or two and a couple of daytime James Bond fantasies.

I took the camera on a trip to Jamaica. The underwater stuff was completely unusable. The batteries go fast, and at that time the grip selection was slim - awkward. Above the water, using it as a wide-angle P&S was mediocre. I certainly had other cameras to use. As well, I didn't need to attach the GoPro to a surf board or high-action bong, since I wasn't making that scene. When I got back, I handed the camera over to one of our Youth Group Coordinators, who not only works with kids on fun outdoor stuff, he's a great photographer and videographer/film maker and teaches at the University. He tried using the GoPro a couple of times and lost interest.

Too much to mess with for too little results. Sorry for the sour grapes, and I hate to be a hatter, but this camera wasn't for me... to many little details and issues dick with for amusing results... and I never use it. 

Of course, YMMV, and I really hope it does. I would love to see some really good stuff done by guys like us in real world situations. Not just adrenalin rushing PR ads. If you could direct me to any of your images, videos or links, I would like to be made wrong, so I could take another GoPro at it. I do have videos and photos I could post here for anybody interesting in a blurry look at snorkeling in Jamaica.

How's that for a positive review!? Love ya guys.

 

[jqp]

Thanks for the feedback bside!

GoPro is definitely not 'instant gratification', as they make it seem, which is a little disappointing because they make it look so amazing in the marketing. The camera is so one-dimensional that it is gimmicky if you aren't doing that one-dimensional use. A "cheap" Canon or Nikon point and shoot with a "gorilla pod" would be better for many uses and multidimensional.

I can definitely relate to 'too much to mess with for too little results'. In the end for me it will be a dash cam with a few other uses. At least as a dashcam I can power it via the cars USB or lighter adapter.

The battery life on the camera and the remote are too short (about an hour for the camera, maybe 2 or 3 hours for the remote). To really use it in the field you will need to switch batteries,  or do a recharge for a few hours. If you have a small, slower micro SD card, that may even be your limiting factor, but we are talking an hour of use per battery. Also you will need to get a 64GB class 10 card for about $50. Things should be twice as nice if you do that.

Another negative about the GoPro is the tiny LCD screen which must often be angled in the light just to read it. Initially the settings can be cryptic and cumbersome. I am used to DSLRs menus which can be a pain but less painful that using this menu. When you are trying to get set up in a hurry for some event, the menu is not your friend. Better to do all that in the comfort of an indoor well lit area if you can.

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UPDATE on my issue: The camera is cutting off after 20-55 seconds again. So the battery was not the issue. I thought it might be some kind of bluetooth or wifi interference in my car. When I called GoPro a diiferent tech support agent thought it was my class 4 card. I had initially considered this, and also I forgot that class 4 in a micro SD is slower than class 4 for SDHC cards. He said the Gopro 3 requires a class 10. I realized that when troubleshooting with the first agent, I was just filming the ceiling! If you know video, you know that filming or shooting a stationary wall takes much less data than filming motion and variation of light. So the class 4 card was handling just filming the ceiling, but when I got in my car filming again, it was crappnig out. Nowhere did I see warnings about this symptom, but Im sure it is in some forum. Tomorrow my class 10 card arrives...

[jqp]

WIth the class 10 card everything is working as it should