GoPro: Need Advice

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
01/17/2016 at 19:20 • Filed to: None

Greetings, Opponuts:

I am thinking very seriously about buying a GoPro. Two questi0ns:

1) Should I buy a brand new one, or would a used model be sufficient?

2) I want to record myself making a presentation next month. A GoPro on a tiny tripod placed on a table would be ideal. Would the GoPro work well for this?

* I won’t be jumping out of any airplanes (with or without a parachute), nor riding a motorcycle.

* I want to record myself making some presentations.

* I cannot imagine requiring a finished video greater than 720p.

* I’m reading that getting video off the GoPro and processing said video can be arduous. Comments?

Thanks.

DISCUSSION (11)

CB > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
01/17/2016 at 19:23

1) Check online for deals and see if the price difference is anything meaningful to you. Used ones should be fine.

2) Neh, not really. The lens on it would give it a bit of a fisheye effect, which might not be great.

Also, I can confirm that editing GoPro footage is annoying.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
01/17/2016 at 19:27

The newer versions (or a Hero2 with the wifi backpack) will connect to your phone/tablet and let you see what the gopro is running. That said I have an older Hero 2 and its nice for setting it up and letting it run and not really worrying about it, but its an expensive way to record a presentation.

When pulling the video off mine I mount it as an USB device and pull the files to be imported into your video editing software of choice as the gopro software isn’t very good (or wasn’t the last time I actually tried to use it).

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > CB
01/17/2016 at 19:32

Thanks. I’m thinking Hero+ LCD . It’s one of their entry level models.

As far as Number 2 is concerned, it doesn’t sound like a huge issue. I am mainly interested in reviewing what I do in the presentations, and having the versatility to capture other (more fun) things would be good.

Do you mind telling me what you find annoying about managing the GoPro footage?

daender > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
01/17/2016 at 19:35

1) Should I buy a brand new one, or would a used model be sufficient?

Used , unless you want the latest and greatest, go with a used model that’s been cared for.

2) I want to record myself making a presentation next month. A GoPro on a tiny tripod placed on a table would be ideal. Would the GoPro work well for this?

Given its application, you certainly won’t need the newest model, a used Hero2 will suffic e. However, a GoPro may not be the best for this role. I think using the video mode on a digital camera or smartphone might net you similar visual results with better audio quality . GoPro audio quality is really meh unless you have a filtered mic plugged in.

* I’m reading that getting video off the GoPro and processing said video can be arduous. Comments?

I disagree, it’s pretty easy to rip videos off of my Hero2 and put them on my laptop. It dumps all media into a SD card that’s simple to plug into my laptop.

The only irk I have is that I have to use Windows’s video editing software to achieve true 720p/60fps on my YouTube video uploads. My Hero2 records at only 59.94 fps , which is apparently not enough for YouTube to recognize if I upload the raw video file. It takes like 10 minutes for me to go through the processing to fix a 3 minute long video, which I don’t mind. Not so much when I want to upload a longer video than that.

CB > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
01/17/2016 at 19:47

The file type wouldn’t open in Sony Vegas and I was too lazy to find a file converter. So really, it’s more me being a lazy asshole.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > daender
01/17/2016 at 20:21

Thank you.

I was leaning toward the Hero+LCD.

* What do you mean by a “filtered mic?”

* What video editing software do you use?

daender > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
01/17/2016 at 20:29

I meant filtered as in like a mic sock or something to cut down on outside noises, especially wind noise. Heck, a separate mic hooked into it might record clearer noises than the built-in unit.

I used Windows Live Movie Maker for my videos. It’s mostly to trim off excess, provide half-decent transitions for sound and video, and sometimes bump my fps to exactly 60fps so YouTube can play nice with it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > daender
01/17/2016 at 20:36

Thanks. How does this CL listing grab you?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ele/540016…

daender > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
01/17/2016 at 20:43

Pretty good deal, certainly in NP range.

Pearson Hurst > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
01/17/2016 at 21:24

I love my GoPro, but for your application, I agree that a phone or cheap video camera (or digital camera in video mode) would probably be a better fit. The wide angle lens on a GoPro isn’t ideal for what you’re trying to accomplish, and, as mentioned, the sound quality for this particular application isn’t ideal either.

I don’t find dealing with video from my GoPro to be difficult at all. Plug in the camera, clips open in GoPro video editor, edit away.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Pearson Hurst
01/17/2016 at 21:56

Thanks for the feedback. My phone is a Nexus 5, which has adequate, fut far from stellar photo/video performance. As well, I need to record for an hour at a time. I’d be buying the GoPro to try doing GoPro kinds of things, and also to record a few presentations. My theory is that as far as my presentations go, I ought to be able to set it up pretty close to where I am working, and some fish-eyeing won’t matter. Sure, I could use my 7D to make the recording, but it’s a WHOLE lot more camera to drag around when I don’t need to make any nice stills.