GoPro HD Surf Hero

GOPro Motorsorts Hero HD - Wow... who would have thought such a little camera could be so cool? I got the Hero HD for a few uses... mainly on my boat for recording fishing trips for friends and family, but also for other fun activities like an upcoming vacation with lots of scuba diving planned. The first tests were pretty impressive. The main reason I got the camera was for the ultra wide angle lens, since I've tried other cameras and the close quarters on the rear deck of the boat made it hard to record everything. With the Hero HD's ability to record either at 127 degrees wide angle (1080p mode) or at 170 degrees(!) (720 or 960p) I can now record the entire rear deck without losing anything. The video quality is impressive to say the least. Everything seems to be spot on - color, brightness, and so on. Granted, I'm not a videophile, but rather just an average user - but either way the quality is very much to my liking. The 720 and 960 modes have some serious curvature due to the extreme wide angle, but in the 1080p mode it is not very noticeable, even though it's 127 degrees.The sound captured with this camera actually surprised me. There is a second door option included for the waterproof housing - one for being waterproof (solid) and a second you can put on in pace of the waterproof door that is NOT waterproof, as it has openings in it. This allows for better sound capture, and it works. Voices are clear, even if 10-15ft away, and the quality is good. We were trolling for salmon and had a sea otter slide by us and you can hear the chatter it made, even at 25ft away and with normal boat noise, water splashing and our voices.Setting up the camera is a little clumsy the first few times you do it... it is not the easiest thing. Once you change settings a few times it gets easier. The waterproof housing (go to 170ft!) is tight and feels strong - I'll be testing the waterproof feature this winter in Hawaii. Plus I have some ideas for the boat next summer as well...Be sure to check compatibility of the SDHC card... user forums report a number of issues with cards that do not function in the Hero HD. I'm using a Patriot Class4 32GB card with no problems at all. One thing I learned on the forums was to format the card IN THE CAMERA before use.My biggest gripe with the camera has to do with the suction cup mount. I bought the motorsports version as that was the mount I needed. Sadly, the mount is limited. If you want to shoot directly forward of the mount, there is no problem. However, the mount has no rotational ability! There are extra pieces to turn it 90 degrees, but if you need to angle it a few degrees from center then you are out of luck. Instead, I would suggest something like this  Delkin Devices DDMOUNT-SUCTION Fat Gecko Double Knuckle Dual Suction Cup Camera Mount . I had one of these and I'm glad I did - I just got the tripod adapter for the GoPro ( GoPro Tripod Mount for HERO Cameras )and now I have full 360 degree movement. Had I known, I would have gotten JUST the camera, and no mounting options, and saved a few dollars.Another drawback is there is no LCD viewfinder. Not surprising since the camera is designed for helmet cam use and so on. It's not designed to be hand held as much. However, there is a LCD addon backpak type unit for it coming out this fall (2010) that I'm looking forward to trying. Also a extra battery packpak too.Videos are recorded in MP4 format and so far I've encountered no problems with editing, in both Windows Movie Maker and more recently I started using Sony's Movie Studio HD.Overall I am VERY happy with my purchase... it will provide a lot more fun videos of friends and family on my boat, as well as vacation stuff.***UPDATE!I was sorely disappointed in this camera for underwater filming **UNTIL** I foundout about a fix. The original housing will NOT take good underwater photos. Google "GoPro Flat Lens Fix" and you'll find posts about how the lens does not focus correctly underwater. The very first day of our vacation in Hawaii, I ran straight out of the condo to the beach with the camera and jumped in to go snorkeling. When I returned to the condo, and plugged in the footage I was like "WTF?!?" why is this so crappy. I'm used to the sharp, colorful, in focus video this thing normally did. So I hopped on Google, and lo and behold there I found the problem. The lens is not setup for the difference the water makes to the focal length. I found a few sites that detailed how to make your own 'flat lens fix' to correct everything (Look on YouTube and you'll see a bunch of videos showing the before and after fix videos). But I was in Hawaii. Poipu Beach. I had a dives set up starting in 2 days!!! I had no idea where to grab stuff, I needed some specific items, and had no idea where to get them as I had just got on the island. Grrrrr!!! BUT...I ran across one site, eyeofmine.com, and they actually sold a corrected GoPro housing. They took the original housing and made the flat lens fix onto them, and then pressure test them to 100 or 200ft depending on which one you want. I was able to get ahold of them on a SUNDAY, and had a housing sent to me next day air to my condo. And I can tell you, it WORKS. GO to my YouTube page and see for yourself - [...]Granted, I'm a little PO'd I had to spend more $$$ on a housing that should have been working right in the first place. But... now I have a housing for diving and another for running on my boat.

Ordered this as a "C"angle camera for a trekking shoot in Nepal. It's small but sturdy.You will definitely need to read the instructions to learn the ins and outs. You wont be able to pull it out the box and begin using it. It's fairly easy to use once you learn your way around the menu.Good stuff: good quality image. wide angle option. above average audio quality when not using a case. sturdy construction. With the accompanying cases, its waterproof. This camera is perfect for any kind of action sport.keep this in mind: The lens fogs up easily when used with the waterproof case and the camera will heat up and cause it to shut down. You can purchase the high dollar antifog" inserts or just put a piece of chamis or a small bandaid inside the case. All will absorb the moisture.You can also buy the skeleton case which has openings on the sides for cables. The camera won't fog in this case, but again, the camera is not waterproof.Make sure your finger does not cover the small on the camera. You will muffle out the audio if you do that.If you program it for wide angle, keep those fingers on the body of the camera behind the lens otherwise you fingers will be captured in the framing.CONS:footage can be shaky even if you are just standing still. Static shooting is not what this camera is for. If you are looking to use it for beautiful wide screen landscapes, forget it. It's best for action shots. Monopod or makeshift steady cams will reduce the shaky cam look a little.No external audio input. Only an on board audio mic. (The new HD HERO 2 has an input for an external mic)The on board mic is senstitive, so it will pick up every noise... breathing, heartbeats etc... (even in the case but muffled)In some conditions, the camera will heat up and shut down.If you use the LCD, plan on extra batteries. LCD is great, it will suck the life out of the camera.Go Pro has a variety of pkgs, but you might as well purchase the naked and the accessory kit that has everything-mounts, cases, extra screws and adapters.If you have the funds, I would recommend purchasing the following.Extra batteries!! You will lose a battery if you are shooting in rugged conditions. Battery life is not 2.5 hours. it's more like and 1-1.5replacement lens kit-lens on the case gets easily scratchedHarness-all of them, chest and helmet. warning about the chest harness. unless you have the LCD to frame your shots, you might want to make sure you lock the camera in place with an up angle. You will end up with torso shots (or change your view to 960).UPDATE: Go to this website-they have all the tips, tricks and Go PRo workarounds you need. [...]If audio is necessary in chest harness shots, keep in mind the camera will pick up the heartbeat and breathing of your photographer.monopod- this is fantastic to use.Get one with a ball mount so you can use the monopod as an extender arm. Keep in mind the monopods do not have the correct mount for the go pro case. You will have to purchase the adapter from GO Pro for $8. I did and it did not come with a bolt or nut. I went to Home Depot and got a set and it works great.LCD goes without saying.back up memory cards. class 4 and higher at least 16GB.external hard drive-dump your footage onto the ext hard drive. Once you lose it, it's lost forever. The files size is huge which is a good reason not to store it on your computer.BTW this codec works fine with mac. never have had problems importing.UPDATE: If you are using FCP software, save yourself the headache of rendering every single time. Dump the video files into compressor and convert to pro-ress. This will save you a ton of time and memory.I created a droplet so all I have to do is drag the file to the droplet. It processes in the background so you can do other things while its converting.

I used this camera properly for the first time on a skiing trip recently and the results are excellent. It takes some getting used to the fact that you can't just watch your footage back straight away (not without extra kit), and it also takes a while to get the hang of the fixings and menu options.I also could not find any reference to the amount of memory a video would take so had to play safe on the quality, in order to avoid maxing out the SD card on Day 1.From a functionality point of view, the menus are fiddly and not intuitive, but they have sacrificed this for the sake of a really good camera. Even through the protective cover, the quality is excellent, the colours are rich and the focus is really good.The sound quality is questionable, particularly through the waterproof housing, but if you are filming in a location where you might get wet, then the sound is less of an issue.Considering that the newer version has just come our, this is a great time to buy a really good camera for not very much money. This pack comes with the suction cup and fixings to go on a car. I don't really need these, but it was still cheaper to buy this version than any other.

I bought this model of the GoPro bacause I simply needed a camera that would allow me to film on the beach inside the water, either simply with friends diving or surfing with freedom of angle, and until now the results met my expectations. I never tried the GoPro 2, but for the price and footage that I neeed this is right on the spot.I combined it with a headstrap accessory and it really is a good solution: if there's a bigger swell you can take it outside inside the wetsuit and capture footage outside, or if its softer or if you have more confidence use it while you surf the wave and while your friends pass by surfing, its great and the image of the GoPro is awesome!I also bought it thinking on capturing aditional footage in specific "environments", so that I wouldn't damage my other camera, and have been using it when I ride my mountain bike with good results.And for example based on other reviews, I can use it on my snowboard helmet or in my case lend it to a friend that made a 100km marathon and used it to capture footage, without any worries about damaging the camera!For me the GoPro 1 is the best simple solution for my purposes with a very nice price. The menu may be not as intuitive as GP2 but you dont have to be a genious to figure it out after a while, image quality on the daylight is very good (I use it sometimes mixed in footage with my DMC-GH2), and would highly recomend it, high quality product. ;)PS: In the daylight you can take great and fun still pictures

After much deliberation I decided to give the Hero a try. Overall the whole kit is great and, with the exception of a memory card, gives you everything you need to securely mount the camera and get shooting. The housing is robust and the fittings all seem strong.The footage is noticeably 'fisheye' so isn't going to suit everyone's needs but I find it fine. The audio quality is variable depending on which housing back you use. An open and waterproof housing back are supplied, sound is fine with the open back but a little muffled with the waterproof one.The menus on the camera are okay. The main functions (switching between stills, multiple stills, video and adjusting quality) are reasonably intuitive but the more detailed settings will have you reaching for the instructions. Thankfully, most of the detailed settings are a case of set and forget (NTSC/PAL selection, for example).Worth considering the Hero 2 now that it's out.  GoPro Motorsports Hero 2 Action CameraGoPro Motorsports Hero 2 Action Camera

I indulged myself by buying what could be seen as an extravigant one trick piece of technology. It has turned out to be one of the most fun to use, more versitile than any other video camera I have ever owned. I use it more often than I expected. I primeraly use it on mountain bike rides but haved used it in a hardcore metal mosh pit by gaffa taping it to someone and sending them into the pit and getting great action shots of the pit going wild for a music video I made.There are some annoyances though the front screen can only display three letters which makes scrolling through the options very difficult and means carrying the instructions to inerprit the three letters. I'm told the LCD backscreen shows the options in more detail. Also don't skimp on a memory card as a 16GB card only takes about 30 to 40 minutes of video at 720p 60fps.Well worth the money and used more often than most extravigant technology.

I bought this camera to record my many trips on my motorbike, I was amazed at how good the quality was even in poor light, the suction mount is fantastic and I mounted mine straight to the side fairing, guessed the position and away i went, the footage is clear, stable and even at HIGH speeds there was no movement in the mounting, even though it was literally just stuck to a piece of plastic, sound quality is ok, even with the enclosed back plate on.Play back is simple through the leads supplied however it can be a nightmare trying to find an HD editing suite that you are happy with.So I have only mounted it in one place so far but the results are impressive, I am looking forward to playing about with it more when the biking season starts, Highly recommend. GoPro HD Motorsports HEROGoPro HD Motorsports HERO