Buying a Go Pro

[sailingval]

Thinking about a Go Pro for next season in West Coast of Scotland. Has anyone experience of using one from their yacht.

Are there any pitfalls in buying a second hand one and which model and accessories do I need.
As you can see I know nothing about Go Pros.

 

[wallacebob]

Youtube is probably your best and worst guide, lots of conflicting opinions to work through.

is one example. If I remember correctly ALDI had a cheap version for sale last summer? As a trial run it may be worth a shot. I got very bored videoing my sailing, and other people got even more bored watching! The novelty wore off very quickly, quicker than the novelty of a drone (yawn) If you are a better camera man than Dylan, then go for it; if not, just enjoy sailing.

 

[RupertW]

I bought one 4 years ago - found the software between it and phone to use it very easy and between GoPro and PC to edit or use it far too hard to bother. So after a couple of tries and one nice little fast forwarded film of the boat going up and down Venice waterways (note to self for next time - the Grand Canal has bridges and gondoliers can swear in English), I haven’t touched it in 3 years.

 

[trevbouy]

I thought of buying one, but as a tester I spent £19.99 at Home Bargains for a cheap clone.
Must say results weren't too bad. It did highlight however the failing of a GoPro in that is fixed lens at fairly wide angle.

I've since bought off Facebook a Sony digital camcorder that records to an SD card. It has 50x zoom and lcd screen viewfinder.
Results with that are far far better. Not any more weildy than a GoPro with hand mount. One drawback though it's not waterproof.

 

[duncan99210]

Cheapest GoPro available is fine. I’ve used them for filming sailing using both a rail mount and wearing one on a headband. Produces good quality footage but whilst it’s fun to watch once, it’s a hassle to edit it into something watchable and footage just tends to lurk with all the other photos.
However, where it scores is for underwater photos. I use it most as a still camera when diving on a wrist band. The standard housing is waterproof to 40m and produces good results, at least as good as the results I used to get from a dedicated camera and housing costing several hundred quid.
And as a truly mind boggling boring thing to watch, I film gig crews training from a rail mount. Then sit with the club coach looking at rowers to work out how to improve individual rowers and the crew as a whole.....
No idea about any of the clones or alternatives. If I were doing it over again, I might look more closely at the cheaper alternatives.

 

[Ammonite]

If you are worried about getting bored have a look at Akaso. Fantastic value for money and way better than the really cheap options. My son has done some amazing stuff with it. We bought the V50 pro. £100 on Amazon

 

[TernVI]

I thought of buying one, but as a tester I spent £19.99 at Home Bargains for a cheap clone.
Must say results weren't too bad. It did highlight however the failing of a GoPro in that is fixed lens at fairly wide angle.

I've since bought off Facebook a Sony digital camcorder that records to an SD card. It has 50x zoom and lcd screen viewfinder.
Results with that are far far better. Not any more weildy than a GoPro with hand mount. One drawback though it's not waterproof.

Proper cam corder is way more versatile.
GpPro footage is usually desperately dull to watch, unless it's something like onboard view of gybing the kite or something.
If you want to record the things you sail past, a camcorder is more useful unless you're getting very close!

 

[V1701]

For less than £100 you can get good quality action cams now with genuine image stabilisation (not just electronic image stabilisation), e.g. Campark V30 and Akaso as already mentioned. Have a look on Youtube, most if not all of them come with a good range of mounting options in the box. I've just got one (Campark V30, less than £50) to play with instead of using either the very cheap one I bought a few years ago now or my phone. A lot of them don't support the use of an external microphone so if you might want to use it with an external mic (inside a motorbike helmet, e.g.) look for one that does support that...

 

[Neeves]

I don't watch Sia;ing vids, most are desperately boring - unless the editing is good. Halcyon and Dylan did or do some good videos - but they are doing is for commercial reasons and the editing is good. Editing soft ware seems to be counterintuitive - you need to invest a lot of time to get it right.

I have made a vid that I use at lectures, it works OKish - but I cut out most of the background noice and I talk over the video.

I was offered a clone from China only 2 days ago - US$1. I assume plus delivery. I have been using a clone, cost about stg35, no recognisable brand, it seems to work well, have not touched it for a couple of years. I have digital on my Canon, which I've used once. I use my Canon frequently, for stills.

The question to ask yourself - who is going to watch the footage you take and then edit - who is your target audience. Take note that having read the thread - its a passing fad.

But don't let me and other discourage you. Investment is really peanuts, you may find a new hobby that fascinates you (how to turn everyday sailing into something we actually would like to watch). Good luck.

Jonathan

Here we go:


This came up in an alert on Alibaba:

Paul Xiao
-----------------------
Email: Sales04@6mai.com.cn

They were selling samples at US$7 but when I expressed vague interest they offered at US$1! I have no idea at all if the units are any good, nor if the $1 is real.

Just mention you are interested in their action video camera

J

On consideration some might want to search out the website, which I don't have, but the company is:

Shenzhen Six Pulse Technology Co., Ltd.

Good Luck

 

[Ammonite]

Battery life on the really cheap Chinese variety (single digit $ type) is about 2 minutes! Image quality is also lousy. Steer well clear. Would work well as a cracker filler though

 

[scruff]

To run counter the the above, I film our sailing trips and really enjoy it. It's not made for anyone else but my wife & I and that's perfectly fine. Think of it as a slide show of your holiday. Whittle all the footage down to <5 mins total video length, accompany with the favourite song of that particular trip and you have a nice memory box.

I'm a long way from being the next Delos and making millions, but that's OK. It's something which will be able to be watched and enjoyed for many years to come.

I had a SJ4000 action cam and this year I upgraded to a SJ8 Pro. Biggest improvement though was spending £100 on a gimbal for the camera. I find shaky footage quite off putting. If I were looking for a new camera just now I'd probably get an Osmo pocket - action cam with inbuilt gimbal.

 

[Gixer]

This video was shot by my kids on a £100 second hand gopro session.

My mother spend £100 on a gopro knockoff and its nowhere near as good.

 

[matt1]

I personally don't like my Go Pro (7?) I've had it crash a few times and have even ended up having to reinstall the app on a few occasions....not what you want for an "action" camera! Part of my issue may be the way I use it (eg deck mounted and controlled from the app - rather than directly pressing "record" on the camera). I've also had numerous incidents of recording long clips of my feet! Obviously user error on my part, but may be illustrative that the record activation either isn't intuitive enough or sufficiently consistent / positive? The reason I use the app is to get over the small display on the camera which I can not read on a moving boat! Having said that I am very happy with the footage, plus it is doubles as a tool to inspect the prop and other underwater objects (albeit you can't view "live" so have to aim and hope). I use mine with a cheap Chinese gimbal (which claims to be splash resistant) - the combination of having nice smooth footage and a level horizon is great IMHO.

That said, if I had my time again, I'd buy an x360. There is some footage a few of us posted on another thread here about invisible selfie sticks and for me these are a "game changer" allowing a different perspective altogether

 

[matt1]

Don't judge, because this was literally me just putting every clip I took during the season into one place, so not "edited" ;-) but if you fwd to 6 mins in, you will some footage of a tack taken on the go pro mounted on the gimbal which was fixed to a stanchion. I can then activate the go pro on the app from wherever on the boat. You will see the horizon remains level throughout

 

[dunedin]

Proper cam corder is way more versatile.
GpPro footage is usually desperately dull to watch, unless it's something like onboard view of gybing the kite or something.
If you want to record the things you sail past, a camcorder is more useful unless you're getting very close!

It’s up to the OP, but I tend to agree. For the West Coast of Scotland I tend to prefer
1) a good phone camera, with panoramic options - a phone in the hand gets the best shots when away from the boat
2) a reasonable compact camera with 30x Optical Zoom plus decent video - again needs to be small enough to have in pocket when row ashore and climb the island high point,
And just added for next year
3) DJI Mavic Mini drone for aerial shots of the remote anchorages (though expect this may go for a swim off the boat before next year is out)

 

[Fantasie 19]

Chaps who's blog I follow is a bit of a gadget fiend, and recently posted this.. might be worth a read??

First impressions of the GoPro Hero 9

 

[dansaskip]

Its one of those things - you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap you might well get cheap results and a product that doesn't last long. Advantage with Go Pro is its robust and waterproof. You can change the digital lens between super wide, wide, linear & narrow for example and there are all other sorts of refinements built in like zoom, time lapse. I don't know but I doubt the cheapo versions have the refinements that a Go Pro has.

 

[Aurai]

I will try and help!! I started with going for a Go Pro and looked up and down the scale with similar kit trying to decide which may or may not be best. Go Pro does have some pragmatic super high points that may outweigh every other factor. Stabilisation and accessories, I, though, came up against picture quality questions. Moved on to camcorders and maybe Ebay. Trouble was, best kit sold at decent prices so may as well buy new. Got carried away and bought a Sony HD semi-pro video camera. Zoom, capability and picture quality being key for me. Partly deciding lockdown I would learn to use it and learn to edit. That is me though.