Request for a short review of the GoPro POV Camera

Posted: 04 February 2011 12:56 PM

Hello Rich is it possible to post a short review of the GoPro Camera.

What I also would like to know is, how doe it feel when you mount the GoPro on your helmet?
Do you notice the camera when you move your head?

And thanx again for this very informative site. I have already learned a lot by just reading posts and replies.

Yesterday I also ordered a Salomon Answer 156. I have a Salomon Sick Stick 156 (2009/2010) and liked it very much when riding it in Austria the last week of January 1011 :0). The Sick Stick performs very well on the slopes although it is designed to ride powder. Luckily we had 2 days of snow which added 1 meter of snow in the Fieberbrunn area.

Posted: 04 February 2011 06:18 PM

The Salomon Answer is an awsome board, it’s definitely high up there on my to-test list this season.

Sure I can do a quick review on the GoPro:

1) Quality - This is the aspect of the camera I am most impressed about. I’ve ridden it in overcast and bright conditions. The camera’s white balance adjusts well to the different light and the quality is absolutely fantastic, we also own a £600 Samsung HMX20 HD camera and the footage is arguably better. Usually I shoot on 720 HD and I can get around 2hrs on an 8GB SD card. I use a SD SunDisc Extreme which has a fast enough bit rate.

2) Battery Life - It’ll last a good two hours and it’s easy to turn on and turn off so you can turn it off when you are on the lift line.

3) Mounting - This one of the Camera’s best and worst qualities. I really can’t but help feel like a tool when I ride with this thing on my head… especially when you get down to the lift and there are three other tools waiting at the bottom with the cameras strapped to their heads. I haven’t used the adhesive helmet mount, but the stick on mount is solid and as long as your helmet fits your head well, you shouldn’t have any issues with movement. I use a ski pole mount which I fixed with Duck Tape… it works fine, and I use the head mount system that looks like a miners tourch. I didn’t have any issues with that when I was riding deep powder and doing some big drops, but I didn’t ragdoll… I can imagine it would be the first thing you loose. Howvere it did feel secure to my head and didn’t move, even with a beanie underneath. I think the best thing about the mounting options is having somebody follow you with the camera on the end of the pole, the wide angle lens means the filmer can’t miss you, and you can get some great angles.

4) Casing - Waterproof to 200m I think and as solid as a rock… this thing can take a pounding. What other camera would you mount to the end of a stick?

5) Compatibility - The camera records in MP4, most video editing software runs MP4 but a lot of older computers don’t have the power or the codecs to decompress the footage. I use a Samsung R590 laptop with an i5 processor and NVida Geforce graphics card with Power Director 8 editing suite… it makes mincemeat of HD MP4… as long as your computer isn’t too old you shouldn’t have a problem. I had a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop before the Samsung and it died when I tried to play back MP4.

6) Accessories - If you buy the GoPro Hero set, you get mounts for your helmet, board, wrist, head… pretty much if you can thing of a place to mount your new GoPro, there is a mount for it. It also comes with the USB lead so you can charge the camera off your computer and extract the files of footage.

All in, it’s a great bit of kit at a fantastic price. The only problem being that POV footage is a bit overdone now, it’s best to think of the GoPro as a HD wide angle camera with great optical stability and great colour contrast and try and get creative with it.

Hope that helps

Rich

Posted: 15 October 2011 04:37 PM

Thanks Rich! it helped, just ordered my Go Pro HD (Helmet + LCD).

Super clear review , as always.

Heidi