# oh oh, impulse purchase..gopro hero3...



## Northstar (Oct 24, 2012)

Is anybody else as impressed as i am with the specs and capabilities of this tiny camera for $400?
Anyway, i decided i have to try it out. 

http://m.cnet.com/news/tiny-gopro-hero-3-black-edition-captures-4k-video/57533878?ds=1


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## Vossie (Oct 24, 2012)

It's certainly on my wish list. I was planning to go for a Hero 2, but with the announcement of the Hero 3, the 3 Black Edition seems to be the one for me!


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## Northstar (Oct 25, 2012)

Vossie said:


> It's certainly on my wish list. I was planning to go for a Hero 2, but with the announcement of the Hero 3, the 3 Black Edition seems to be the one for me!



Yeah, i ordered the black one bcause i thought the wireless remote and better low light might come in handy. I really cant wait to try out ths camera, it has so many features and capabilities for $400. Underwater and time lapse in places where i dont want to risk my 5d3 and L glass.


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## westr70 (Jul 30, 2014)

Hey Northstar, how do you like your gopro black 3 so far? 
I wanted one (3+) until I heard about the focusing issue and have decided to wait for the new one (assuming there is one).


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## gjones5252 (Jul 30, 2014)

I can recommend this camera. I have multiple of them in both the 3black and the 3+ black. They work great. They are good for being able to fit just about anywhere and i would say always shoot in 2.5k if you dont need slow motion stuff. 
As for photos i find it really is only good for timelapse. Just as a straight single photo i have never been impressed. It works but i would much rather use a dslr. 

Make sure you dig down into the menus and get all the pro options turned on. Makes a big difference especially on the 3+


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## Don Haines (Jul 30, 2014)

Northstar said:


> Vossie said:
> 
> 
> > It's certainly on my wish list. I was planning to go for a Hero 2, but with the announcement of the Hero 3, the 3 Black Edition seems to be the one for me!
> ...


Yeah.... my friend would not let me put her 5D2 and 24-70 on my stunt kite 

I have been playing around a lot lately with time lapse photography on it... it is quite the toy!


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## Northstar (Jul 30, 2014)

westr70 said:


> Hey Northstar, how do you like your gopro black 3 so far?
> I wanted one (3+) until I heard about the focusing issue and have decided to wait for the new one (assuming there is one).



West...I like mine! I don't use it a lot but when I do, I find that I get some interesting video and time lapse stuff.


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## Vossie (Jul 30, 2014)

Northstar said:


> westr70 said:
> 
> 
> > Hey Northstar, how do you like your gopro black 3 so far?
> ...



Same here; I do not use it a lot, but when I do, I am generally happy with the results. Especially using it in the water gives some nice pictures that otherwise could not have been taken (within this price range). Battery life is quite poor (especially when using the LCD bacpac or wifi), so I recommend to get a few spare batteries.

Since it's so small, it's never a burden to take a long. I have also used in on a handlebar mount with my kids learning to ride a bicycle. Quite funny to see their facial expressions


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## drolo61 (Jul 30, 2014)

Got one just a couple of weeks ago, still on the low end of the learning curve, but great fun.
Used it on a family beach & biking holiday - low volume to pack and funny new view points to try.
Battery is dead after about 90 minutes, try not to use wifi (only for setting up the menue options) and have at least one spare. Otherwise great toy


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## Hector1970 (Jul 30, 2014)

I'm on my second version the Hero 3+ Black.
Video quality is excellent (wide angle - you won't be zooming in)
You can do great slow motion work.
It's hard to avoid not to buy accessories. A tripod mount is a necessity.
It does great time lapse . Photos are so so, like a camera phone. It can do 10fps.
Menu system is a pain. I still get it wrong.
You can now pair you phone to the 3+ which makes it easier but drains the battery.
Battery life is the downside. Goes suddenly. The battery indicators not great. Switching batteries means opening the case. The battery cover isn't hinged.
I think it's brilliant for what it's for ie: Action video
Handling and Ergnomics could be much better.
Getting rid of the dive housing and making a waterproof camera in itself would help a lot.
Still the videos you get make great memories.


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## Don Haines (Jul 30, 2014)

you can get decent stills from it. I recently shot a time lapse driving through Labrador and caught a few good stills....


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## Don Haines (Jul 30, 2014)

and the time lapse.... a drive from Goose bay down to the Labrador coast at the strait of Bell Isle...

https://vimeo.com/102139645

it was about 48Mbytes of GoPro images...


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 31, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> and the time lapse.... a drive from Goose bay down to the Labrador coast at the strait of Bell Isle...
> 
> https://vimeo.com/102139645
> 
> it was about 48Mbytes of GoPro images...



That makes me remember the good old days when we'd force our guests to watch our super 8 films, and they stayed only out of politeness.


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## Omni Images (Jul 31, 2014)

I bought the black3 last year a week later the black3+ came out, was a pissed about that ... reason now why I am not going to buy a 400F5.6, as after years a new one has to be coming soon.
Great for video ... very poor for stills, unless you just want them for the computer @72ppi, very poor images to print.
Love the remote feature, I got some pretty good video of a small Azure Kingfisher not long ago. I was watching what branches he was landing on, I set up the camera on the branches about a foot away and crept back watching and waiting for him to fly up the creek, started the video and watched on my smart phone as he sat a foot away doing his stuff.
The Gopro video package is easy to use also, but I still tend to use Prem Pro to edit.
Sound is also very poor, so an external mike is a must out of water.


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## drolo61 (Jul 31, 2014)

And if you stay through it gives you motion sickness for free...;-)
It is an intersting little toy to capture either memories for yourself and those close to you or to do stuff you - at least at this modest level of investment - could not do with normal gear.
You even can switch off all sound and blinking light to do really stealthy remote setups.
No one will notice when you switsch on the little thing
Only limitation is wifi reach and unfortunately the short battery life.



Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Don Haines said:
> 
> 
> > and the time lapse.... a drive from Goose bay down to the Labrador coast at the strait of Bell Isle...
> ...


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## Don Haines (Jul 31, 2014)

drolo61 said:


> And if you stay through it gives you motion sickness for free...;-)



I should post the video of it on a stunt kite..... now that was a nausea inducing unwatchable video! 

They are a great toy and you can have lots of fun with them. I have a friend who tried mounting one on the head of a sled dog and ended up with a video of another dog eating the camera..... be creative... go out there and do stupid things


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## drolo61 (Jul 31, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> drolo61 said:
> 
> 
> > And if you stay through it gives you motion sickness for free...;-)
> ...



Don, this is the best description for the intended use ;-)
And you can dare to explore extremely unusual visual perspectives (have you recovered the eaten GoPro?)
I still have playing kids inshallow water in mind, from a shark's perspective ;-))
And yes, the stunt kite video would be cool - how did you mount it?
Thanks for sharing
Olaf


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## Don Haines (Jul 31, 2014)

drolo61 said:


> Don Haines said:
> 
> 
> > drolo61 said:
> ...



The eaten gopro was fine, but the case was not.... they are not husky-proof.

The stunt kite mount was done by using an adhesive mount onto a very thin plastic cutting board that has the rubbery non-slip backing. The board was deeply scored across the middle and folded in two and used to sandwich the leading edge of the kite. A bunch of rare earth magnets were duct taped to the back edges of the cutting board and that held it closed in place. I figure that since I managed to use both duct tape and magnets, that it had to be a good idea. surprisingly, it worked


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## tolusina (Jul 31, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> ......I should post the video of it on a stunt kite.......


Yeah, sure. 
Pics or it never happened.

Seriously, I think stunt kite footage just might be entertaining, I would love to see some. Probably not a whole lot too much you know though.


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