GoPro help

[yamaha fj rider]

I have been looking at buying a GoPro camera and need some advise. Hero 3, Hero 4 or black. Other brands? Please give any advise or thoughts you may have on this. Thank you all.

Kurt

[FJmonkey]

Skymasters (Mike) runs a GoPro, maybe he can chime in. His friend Nate has a different camera and seems to like it as well. Maybe Mike can get Nate into the discussion as well.

[ribbert]

I have been looking at buying a GoPro camera and need some advise. Hero 3, Hero 4 or black. Other brands? Please give any advise or thoughts you may have on this. Thank you all.

Kurt

In this particular case the top model is not necessarily the best. IMO the features the 4 has over the 3 are beyond the average user and require computing power (shooting in 4K at 30fps) most of us don't have or need. It is aimed more at professionals.
The 4 IMO is overkill for the average user and does not offer better performance for regular video.

As for brand, plenty of to choose from but Gopro owns the market, has the biggest range of accessories (and knock offs) and is proven. I am yet to read of any competitor making a serious challenger.

Noel

[Troyskie]

I just bought a 3. It has more features than I'll use.
Early results are great. Got some awesome helmet footage on a scooter in Vietnam recently.
I've not downloaded any apps yet, just used the lappy to download and view so far.
It seems the various mounts can be expensive though.
From a cost perspective, the 3 is half the price of the 4

[ribbert]

It seems the various mounts can be expensive though.

Troy, that is another good reason to stick with GoPro, there are plenty of cheap knock off accessories for them.

Noel

[Bones]

I've got the first model Gopro Hero plus a Hero 2, both produce good quality video, so if your not a professional and only want one to make basic videos, then you might be able to pick up an early version very cheap.

[yamaha fj rider]

Looking online tonight I found a great deal on the Hero 4 silver. Black Friday in July. It's on the way. I will let you know what how it worked after Washington. Thanks again to everyone for the advise. Any tips for using it will also be welcomed.

Kurt

[movenon]

All I can add is on the FJ,  vibration is as struggle but I haven't had time to really get into the problem.  I have seen some good video from helmet mounted units.  I plan on making a helmet/chin mount in the future (my future might not be until winter)   .  Get an extra couple of batteries. If you want to get a suction mount then get the Go Pro one not the off brand ones from e bay.  
George

[krusty]

I'd strongly advise against fitting anything like a camera to a helmet. In case of a get off you'll be hoping for 100% performance from the helmet design. Imagine the comments of a coroner looking at the imprint of a camera base in your skull.

[NorwayFredrik]

I have been looking at buying a GoPro camera and need some advise. Hero 3, Hero 4 or black. Other brands? Please give any advise or thoughts you may have on this. Thank you all.

Kurt

I am very happy with my Hero3 videos in 1080p 60fps 

if you can find the hero4 to a reasonable price i would go for it, because why not

some points about mounting;
my current setup is on top of my helmet, and even in high speed high wind situations i can only slightly feel it.
used a wrist-wrap mount on the chin of my helmet for some good results also

you can't go wrong with the gopro, lots of stuff on ebay and takes great pictures too

[bajabreeze]

We just bought a Go Pro 4 Silver. It was reasonably priced, but they are getting harder to find. Someone earlier suggested not to go with the black, I agree, the computing power needed to edit etc is pretty heavy, possible but resource heavy.

Our 4 Silver shoots in wide mode and captures far more than the standard view. My first trip on the bike, I mounted it via a suction cup at the bottom of the windscreen and it gave a great perspective. I just finished 2000km road trip on my Goldwing and mounted it the same way, it never budged during the whole trip and I was able to see the camera turn on / off using my cell phone (mounted on left handlebar with Ram mount X grip, which allowed me to turn the camera off/on as needed. But using the Wifi does eat the battery on the Go Pro if you're on a long ride or touring, even if in standby mode, so bring a spare.

I have another friend that also has a Go Pro and he has it mounted on the top of his helmet, the advantage is you can get side view video of other perspectives. In a crash, the thing would break off and away even with the most minor hit.

Note that if you run a Sena intercom you can get the optional Go Pro backpack to transpose the audio from all connected riders to the Go Pro as well. Haven't tried mine out yet, but plan to shortly.

[ZOA NOM]

I bought an old GoPro 2 just to have the external mic input, and mounted it on my chin.

Here's a clip from the last WCR. 720p in 60fps is mmore than sufficient resolution. No need to spend a week uploading to YouTube.

https://youtu.be/JU_PGCgraLc

[ribbert]

Someone earlier suggested not to go with the black, I agree, the computing power needed to edit etc is pretty heavy, possible but resource heavy.

That was me and I mistakenly referred to the 3 vs the 4, I should have said Black vs Silver.

The 4 Silver is the one to have, as stated above.

Noel

[racerman_27410]

I recently bought one of these for my trail riding ( hint i am NOT spending 400 bucks for something i will probably smash)

http://www.gearbest.com/action-cameras/pp_153557.html

did the research and this camera actually uses the same Sony internal bits as the go pro silver 3.

advantage over the go pro is removeable battery and of course much lower cost

phone app works well also.

Used the camera for the first time with the chest mount this past weekend and am very pleased with the results...... youtube cuts the resolution but the vids right off the card are way better than this shows.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1biMCFZFiRgVjl1VXR2djNpTVk/view?usp=sharing

well worth the money IMO

KOokaloo!

[markmartin]

I just saw that Sena is making a camera that is part of their side mounted  helmet mount unit.  I'd be interested to see the results from this camera.  I've used the GoPro for a few years with pretty good results.  It makes for great videos, but up loading them up to YouTube has been disappointing.  I've been using the 1080-30fps and it gets real jerky when uploaded to YouTube, yet the results when creating a home video is fine.   I'm going to try the 45 or 60fps setting on my next trip. 720/60 I think--I'd have to look.
I mount mine to the top of my helmet.  It's gives a great view of what's all going on, and you can look around while keeping your eyes on the road making for some good memories to view at a later date that would have been missed otherwise. The only thing I hate about the GoPro mounted to the top of my helmet is that's it's awfully dorky looking.  The Sena would blend in better although, when I used the side mount on the GoPro, I get part of the helmet at the edge of the video which I really do not care for.  I would be interested if the Sena somehow has overcome this obstacle.

Oh, and check and clean your lens every time you stop or you may get 2 hours of a bug splattered all over your scenery.

I've used the GoPro in the trails and it works fine, just watch out for those low hanging branches!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrKZeU7Nl_U