Hi All,
I have a chance to get a new GoPro Hero2 Outdoor Edition camera for about half price. I am thinking of doing so, as it is a good price and I could probably sell it and recover my money if it doesn't pan out. What I'm hoping for is some opinions from my esteemed Forum members, and from owners/users before I take the plunge.
Looking at the camera is occasioned by my desire to get better, more interesting tour videos. See:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3925.0 Someone has done something similar with one of these cameras here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohB_ugmGDu4&feature=related ...and with one of these...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1rlZWkF22Y&feature=related In truth, a loaded touring bike does not have as many camera mounting options as a bare bike (the load gets in the way), and I am a bit reluctant to mount one of my Leica-lensed video-still cameras at the end of a stick. For that matter, I have not yet figured how to secure the stick to a loaded Sherpa without causing possible paint or frame damage. It is not as easy as it first appears. That gets me pulled back to the GoPro, which is armored, light, and has a greater variety of mounting options.
The GoPro Hero 2 Outdoor Edition comes with a chest harness, head mount (strap), and helmet mount, with a few extra sticky pads to make something of your own. It is good there are so many included options, 'cos GoPro must surely make as much from selling mounts as it does cameras (the Dremel Moto-Tool business model...they could give-away the tool for what they make up in bit sales). There doesn't seem to be anything in the kit to attach the thing directly to a bicycle. That would require the handlebar/seatpost mount or the roll-cage mount at USD$23-33 extra. If I could get a tripod mount, I could fasten it to my swivel-ball head Rowi camera clamp and mini-tripod and be pretty well set. It will attach to the spacer at the front of my Thorn Low-Loader Mark V pannier racks.
The GoPro hero2 looks like a good supplement to my digital camera's HD video capability, with the bonus of being housed in a rugged, polycarbonate case. Ah, but therein lies the rub -- the very design has some problems:
1) The case is soft polycarbonate, and GoPro offer no carry case for the um, case. Yes, the camera is protected, but it is easy to acquire what amounts to a scratched lens if the case gets rubbed on something (the camera lens has to "see" through the case viewport). A new viewport is available separately at a reasonable cost, but still...it's going to stay "new" and clear only a comparatively short time, especially in windblown desert playa.
2) Unless I spend another USD$80, the thing has no way to see what I am taking or have taken: There is no LCD monitor unless I buy it separately and attach it. Without one, I have to wait till I get home to my computer to see what I got. Aiming depends on the forgiveness of the wide-angle lens and trying to aim the camera about 10 degrees down from horizontal to get a bit more road than sky.
3) Battery life looks pretty good (USB rechargeable!), and it can use up to a 32GB SD card...changing the batteries or card requires the case to be opened. Not a big deal if it is dry, but not so great if it is blowing dust or raining hard. Sounds like an in-tent operation if the weather is foul.
4) Some basic mounts -- like a tripod mount -- are available, but hard to come by. Here's a video of the chest mount in use on a bicycle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKvt2q5OzQE Kinda nausea-inducing when the rider stands to climb hills, not so bad otherwise. I'm of two minds wrt the elbows/arm framing the shot. It does identify and set a context, but it is also intrusive.
5) User reports criticize spotty sound. Apparently, there is an open-back or cage-like case available (extra cost!) that gives better sound quality at the cost of less camera protection. There is a reason why most outdoors videos have a music track and little native sound. The camera does accept an external mic, but that has to be powered and shielded from wind noise as well. If one uses a separate digital recorder, then you have to sync the sound and picture with a hand-clap or something, and that's going to scare any wildlife. No, I'm reconciled to having to go with the built-in sound and probably overlay a music sound track in editing.
6) The thing weighs about 5 ounces and is aerodynamic as a brick (shaped like one), compared to the competition (i.e. Contour, comparison test here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASESvnr18q0 A/B comparison here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXdI46EQQBo&feature=related), which include several that look like streamlined bike headlights and are built on the lipstick-camera design of a basic tube. Unfortunately, those also require separate purchase of a waterproof case, and they tend to have more cryptic menu selection than the current GPH2.
7) There is no true zoom capability, but apparently the new GPH2HD model has a selectable wide- or super-wide aspect; I think it may be done in the firmware rather than optically, and am still checking out the particulars. The new model does have plain-English menus rather than cryptic stand-ins to remember. Unfortunately, they put the control panel on the front so you can get nifty pictures of yourself setting it up to use...it is pretty likely to happen, 'cos the camera defaults to still mode when turned-off and has to be put into video mode deliberately. It seems to take pretty poor still shots, so no, I can't leave the still-cam home and just take the GoPro. There is also the whole can't-monitor-what-I-shoot-unless-I-buy-an-LCD-back issue.
The GoPro wouldn't appeal to me as a photographer except for being a ruggedized vidcam with a wide variety of available mounts and reasonable battery life/card usage, even at a full 1080 resolution. I also like the time-lapse feature, though that could soon grow old.
I'm seduced by the videos on YouTube and at GoPro that were shot with these things, but wonder how useful it would be for me in documenting my tours (beyond my current video capability in my digicam). In truth, much of what I travel through is kind of bleak countryside to portray on video unless I stop, get off the bike, and make a real effort to pan around, catching myself and the bike for interest and add narration. To leave the thing mounted on, say, the front rack or my helmet...maybe not so useful? It weighs about 5oz/ 141g, and I would think it could make a helmet uncomfortable after awhile, and could be a Bad Thing to land on in the event of a fall.
Has anyone on the Forum tried a GoPro, and especially the new GoPro2 model for touring? If so, what did/do you think of it? General thoughts? A bargain is a bargain only if it...is.
Thanks in advance,
Dan.
