Video Camera who uses one?

[Summernight]

I'm obviously doing something wrong here - I can't seem to upload my clips to YouTube - they have been converted in Cineform from the camera into .avi format, which is apparently a supported format of YouTube. But every time I try uploading it doesn't work. Do I have to reduce the size of the clip (currently it is 130MB)? If so, how do I do that?

[Boognoss]

I have both a Hero3 Black and Hero3 White (got the Black in Dec and the White last week). I actually intend to put together a clip to compare for a mate of mine who wants to know if the Black is worth paying extra given that 1080p/30fps would be sufficient for him which both models can do.

What was your reasoning for going with the white? I saw some video shot at 720 and a high fps. Look good in slo mo which I gather the higher fps comes into play. Sound right?

Andrew

I bought the White as a rear-facing/helmet-mounted option (haven't decided which yet) for commuting. From playing with the Black I found that 1080p/30fps is fine for that sort of work for me. The better low light of the Black is good but not enough for me to justify a 2nd Black. On paper there wasn't enough to justify another $100 or so from the White to Silver. 5MP vs 11MP is irrelevant since I won't be using the cams for stills.

[Boognoss]

I'm obviously doing something wrong here - I can't seem to upload my clips to YouTube - they have been converted in Cineform from the camera into .avi format, which is apparently a supported format of YouTube. But every time I try uploading it doesn't work. Do I have to reduce the size of the clip (currently it is 130MB)? If so, how do I do that?

I live on the Mac side of things but haven't had problems (other than having to leave videos uploading overnight) with larger files of 150MB+. I don't bother with Cineform since I can open and edit video straight out of the camera using iMovie.

I have tried using a Windows program to compress video and all it did was make it look terrible when bringing the filesize down a lot.

I would try uploading a short video (5-10MB) first to see if Youtube is objecting to the filesize for some reason or the format that Cineform outputs.

[Aushiker]

I bought the White as a rear-facing/helmet-mounted option (haven't decided which yet) for commuting. From playing with the Black I found that 1080p/30fps is fine for that sort of work for me. The better low light of the Black is good but not enough for me to justify a 2nd Black. On paper there wasn't enough to justify another $100 or so from the White to Silver. 5MP vs 11MP is irrelevant since I won't be using the cams for stills.

Thanks. Do you have an idea on battery life? I thinking I will need 2 hours minimum and 2.5 hours would be nice. I am assuming that the battery BacPac will double the standard battery life and it fits in the waterproof housing or adapts it.

Also IIRC you got a wall charger of eBay; is that correct?

Have you tried shooting at 720? Just wondering if that will improve battery life.

Final question I gather Class 10 cards a minium or are people using a lower class?

Thanks
Andrew

[Summernight]

Battery life on my Black without the Bacpac is around 80 minutes tops using 720. The Bacpac adapts the waterproof housing (you get a new backdoor with the Battery Bacpac).

With the Bacpac on, the camera says it has 3 hrs and 22 minutes but I haven't tested that limit.

For YouTube I used a Mac to upload the first time and today I used Windows - same deal. It looks to be a problem with Youtube not liking Cineform clips as I tried uploading a .29 second clip and it has failed same as the others. Guess I'll try in iMovie.

[AUbicycles]

Have you tried shooting at 720? Just wondering if that will improve battery life.

Also interested in this. Does the batter life correspond with the film resolution size (higher the resolution, shorter the battery life) and is there a max lifespan - for example shooting the lowest resolution would give you eg. 20 hours recording time though battery life is max 4 hours.

On the GoPro Freezing, this youtube video made me chuckle. It is a little older though as I understand there is no definite solution apart from getting a replacement.

[Summernight]

Also interested in this. Does the batter life correspond with the film resolution size (higher the resolution, shorter the battery life) and is there a max lifespan - for example shooting the lowest resolution would give you eg. 20 hours recording time though battery life is max 4 hours.

On the GoPro Freezing, this youtube video made me chuckle. It is a little older though as I understand there is no definite solution apart from getting a replacement.

An issue with Protune, that you can't fix by turning it off? Good to know. And GoPro Support didn't mention this possibility at all in their emails to me.

Thank you for posting that video! I now feel happily part of the Hero3 Freezing Club and have come to the sad realisation that I can't fix it myself and will have to send it back!

[Aushiker]

Battery life on my Black without the Bacpac is around 80 minutes tops using 720. The Bacpac adapts the waterproof housing (you get a new backdoor with the Battery Bacpac).

With the Bacpac on, the camera says it has 3 hrs and 22 minutes but I haven't tested that limit.

Thanks. Another thought I had was just swapping out the battery which I do with my Contour. Would this be a possibility?

Andrew

[Aushiker]

An issue with Protune, that you can't fix by turning it off? Good to know. And GoPro Support didn't mention this possibility at all in their emails to me.

Thank you for posting that video! I now feel happily part of the Hero3 Freezing Club and have come to the sad realisation that I can't fix it myself and will have to send it back!

The dude on the video did suggest installing pre-Protune firmware. Don't know if that is easy or not but. There is also a support note on the issue at http://gopro.com/support/articles/camera-freezes-up

BTW GoPro are on Twitter at @GoPro and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gopro . You can ask them via those channels ... makes it harder for them to ignore you.

Andrew

[darkelf921]

My camera is the silver. I use 720 instead of 1080. I have tested both and there is a large difference in battery usage between the two. Yet the difference between resolution does not warrant it. My Hero 3 Silver has a HD Hero Original Battery Bacpac. Using 720, I record for for 2.5hrs and still have 2/3 battery available.

[VRE]

I'm obviously doing something wrong here - I can't seem to upload my clips to YouTube - they have been converted in Cineform from the camera into .avi format, which is apparently a supported format of YouTube. But every time I try uploading it doesn't work. Do I have to reduce the size of the clip (currently it is 130MB)? If so, how do I do that?

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=71673
After I'd uploaded a certain number (can't recall how many) to YouTube, I got a message on my YouTube home page saying that my limit had increased, and that I was now able to upload videos longer than 15 minutes. In other words, your default limit (initially) is 15 minutes. Since then, I've uploaded videos longer than 15 minutes, and the video file has been as much as 1GB (takes a while to upload, though). I upload in MP4 format, normally, but haven't tried any other format so far.

[Boognoss]

I bought the White as a rear-facing/helmet-mounted option (haven't decided which yet) for commuting. From playing with the Black I found that 1080p/30fps is fine for that sort of work for me. The better low light of the Black is good but not enough for me to justify a 2nd Black. On paper there wasn't enough to justify another $100 or so from the White to Silver. 5MP vs 11MP is irrelevant since I won't be using the cams for stills.

Thanks. Do you have an idea on battery life? I thinking I will need 2 hours minimum and 2.5 hours would be nice. I am assuming that the battery BacPac will double the standard battery life and it fits in the waterproof housing or adapts it.

Also IIRC you got a wall charger of eBay; is that correct?

Have you tried shooting at 720? Just wondering if that will improve battery life.

Final question I gather Class 10 cards a minium or are people using a lower class?

Thanks
Andrew

Ok, here we go ....

I have had almost 3 hrs with the Black at 1080p/30fps with the battery bacpac. That was a long ride where I let it go until it died in one continuous run. The bacpac comes with a larger rear door (both waterproof and skeleton) that you swap out from the usual one, it makes the unit a bit thicker. I haven't done a test with the White and the bacpac yet. I'm guessing and hoping for 4 hrs plus based on the internal battery level after my hourish commute. Will test that at some stage even if I just leave it running in a room and analyse the video length after the fact and report back.

I have a separate charger (and a second one on order with three extra non-branded batteries) that I use exclusively for recharging. I don't recharge the batteries in the cameras.

I haven't tried 720p yet actually but I will try it with each model next ride. Prob next week at this stage.

My Black came with a Sandisk class 10 as a bundle from Highly Tuned Athletes. My White also from HTA came with a class 10 but not a brand I had heard of. Both are 64GB cards. I format them in the cameras every few days.

My Black isn't nearly as bad as some I've read about on BNA and elsewhere. Occasionally it does the single rear light freeze on power up, or won't power on if its been in use and is very warm. More of an annoyance for me and I'm hoping its "just" a firmware thing when GoPro release a new version.


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[Aushiker]

I have a separate charger (and a second one on order with three extra non-branded batteries) that I use exclusively for recharging. I don't recharge the batteries in the cameras.

Thanks. Is there a particular reason you charge this way? I wonder if regularly removing the batteries is a good thing long-term.

My Black came with a Sandisk class 10 as a bundle from Highly Tuned Athletes. My White also from HTA came with a class 10 but not a brand I had heard of.

They said that they where getting reports of problems with the Sandisk and hence switched to the brand you got I am guessing or Kingston. Buyers choice.

Thanks for answering all my questions

Andrew

[Aushiker]

For those using K-Edge mounts which one do you use? I am think of a under the bar mounting.

Go Big



Go Big Pro



Thanks
Andrew

[Lukeyboy]

I use the GoBig Pro. Everything is all neat and tucked away on the bars. Only problem that I have is that the brake/gear cables can ding against the back of the case if the battery pack is on it. Depending on your bike that can vary and quickly sorting out the cables will prevent that from happening.

[Boognoss]

I have a separate charger (and a second one on order with three extra non-branded batteries) that I use exclusively for recharging. I don't recharge the batteries in the cameras.

Thanks. Is there a particular reason you charge this way? I wonder if regularly removing the batteries is a good thing long-term.

My Black came with a Sandisk class 10 as a bundle from Highly Tuned Athletes. My White also from HTA came with a class 10 but not a brand I had heard of.

They said that they where getting reports of problems with the Sandisk and hence switched to the brand you got I am guessing or Kingston. Buyers choice.

Thanks for answering all my questions

Andrew

Glad you appreciate it. Such a pain typing on the ipad .

I just have a routine of charging out of the camera from my old Otek camera days where that was the only option. No logic but just habit.

Not up on the reasoning behind HTA's switch. No probs with anything to do with the White as I've mentioned before. Another test I can try is to switch the Sandisk into the White and no name into the Black.

Sheesh, so many combinations.......


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[Boognoss]

I use the GoBig Pro. Everything is all neat and tucked away on the bars. Only problem that I have is that the brake/gear cables can ding against the back of the case if the battery pack is on it. Depending on your bike that can vary and quickly sorting out the cables will prevent that from happening.

Same here with the GoBig Pro. Bought one for each bike.


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[Aushiker]

Glad you appreciate it. Such a pain typing on the ipad .

You need a Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard cover. Brillant bit of kit which makes life with the iPad so much better.

I just have a routine of charging out of the camera from my old Otek camera days where that was the only option. No logic but just habit.

Fair enough.

Now trying to hunt down a K-Edge Go Big GoPro mount. Cell Bikes are asking $79 delivered ... Ouch and no black ones.

Andrew

[Aushiker]

I use the GoBig Pro. Everything is all neat and tucked away on the bars. Only problem that I have is that the brake/gear cables can ding against the back of the case if the battery pack is on it. Depending on your bike that can vary and quickly sorting out the cables will prevent that from happening.

Thanks. My cable setup looks much the same as yours .. may need to tidy things up a bit.

Andrew

[Lukeyboy]

I don't think they have had any black ones since August last year when I stuck my beak in for a little look around their store.

That pic is a little old but this is what my current setup looks like. I used a zip tie to loosly hold all the cables together and then taped two of the cables to keep them together so they don't bounce around/block the light. If any of the cables bounces on the back of the case just tape some thin foam/rubber to the cable.

[AUbicycles]

I have a couple of Go Big Pro's

Mounting the camera up-side-down under the bars keeps it out of the way rather than on top of the bars with the Go Big.
Also extending the camera forward works well to give you a chance to clear cables and just move it out a bit. In my view, it is worth it. (Though for a CNC aluminium part still feel that they are generally more expensive than they should be).

Cheers
Christopher

[Aushiker]

I don't think they have had any black ones since August last year when I stuck my beak in for a little look around their store.

Found JensonUSA have them and with five day delivery the price still comes in a touch under Cell's of $69 and there is an US eBay seller with a delivered price of about $60.00. Best price I have found is Wiggle but no stock.

Andrew

[Summernight]

GoPro sent me my RMA code (return authorisation) and asked for me to return my Black to them for checking so it has gone in the Registered Post to the USA today (another ~$19 ).

Hopefully it or its replacement come back to me quickly. When returning the camera they say to keep the battery, SD card and all the housings and just send them the camera itself back (minus Lithium ion battery of course).

And I'm bloody hoping it isn't an issue with Sandisk microSD cards as that is what GoPro said I should switch to if I wasn't already using it.

The K-Edge's mounting profile is a heck of a lot smaller than GoPro's which makes it easier to fit in tighter spots like those shown by Lukeyboy. And I think it looks nicer too.

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=71673
After I'd uploaded a certain number (can't recall how many) to YouTube, I got a message on my YouTube home page saying that my limit had increased, and that I was now able to upload videos longer than 15 minutes. In other words, your default limit (initially) is 15 minutes. Since then, I've uploaded videos longer than 15 minutes, and the video file has been as much as 1GB (takes a while to upload, though). I upload in MP4 format, normally, but haven't tried any other format so far.

I was trying to upload a 30 second .avi clip of only 130MB. That would have been my first clip on there so I didn't think I'd hit the 15 minute limit with that. When exporting Cineform does say it is making the clip into a MP4, but I wonder why that doesn't show up on the file format...

[Aushiker]

Taken the plunge and placed an order this morning with Highly Tuned Athletes for the GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition and the GoPro HERO3 Battery BacPac. All up $464.00 delivered with local warranty. Cannot complain about that.

Now to get a new 32 GB class 10 card and k-Edge GoPro Go Big handlebar mount.

Regards
Andrew

[Summernight]

Taken the plunge and placed an order this morning with Highly Tuned Athletes for the GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition and the GoPro HERO3 Battery BacPac. All up $464.00 delivered with local warranty. Cannot complain about that.

Now to get a new 32 GB class 10 card and k-Edge GoPro Go Big handlebar mount.

Regards
Andrew

$464? How'd you manage that price? The Black listed by itself is $479?