Looking for a camera that I can mount to helmets, or a dashboard, or a motorcycle/waverunner fuel tank, etc. Needs to be waterproof or have a waterproof case available (for SCUBA). I want it to film in 1080p, too.

Any experience or preferences? There are several of these available...not sure which one to get.

1/17/2011 11:56:44 PM

absolutely no question, get a GoPro camera

http://www.goprocamera.com/products/hd-surf-hero-camera.php
That includes the 180' waterproof housing.
You can buy car/helmet mounts on the site for scuba, snowboarding, motorcycles, cars, whatever else you want to record.

They are 1080p, have pretty darn good reviews and cost like 1/5th what the previous generation of durable mount cameras did.

1/18/2011 1:44:17 AM

^this. A friend of mine is a helicopter pilot and he uses them to record some of his work since he is a contracted pilot. The quality is awesome on those things. He's taken it ziplining and on roller coasters before. It's good stuff.

1/18/2011 4:28:36 AM

+1 gopro

1/18/2011 8:42:32 AM

Agreed, GoPro.

I have 2 of them and use them for various activities.

I've taken it snowboarding, mounted to the tank of motorcycles, I've even mounted it on a wakeboard (it was fully submerged when I wasnt up being towed by the boat). Quality is amazing compared to other "HD" action cams i've used.

I bought a Contour HD a few months before the GoPro, and the quality completely sucks compared to my GoPros.

1/18/2011 12:11:15 PM

can these do 24p out of the box

1/18/2011 12:41:02 PM

^no, they all do 30fps @1080p, or 60fps @ 720p.

You can do the 3:2pulldown to 24fps in software afterwards.

1/18/2011 12:52:06 PM

720p @ 60fps is nice

i'd like to get one....is the video fish-eyed at all? how would you compare it to a focal length of lens mounted on a dslr

1/18/2011 3:12:17 PM

I did a lot of research before buying mine a just a couple of weeks ago. Although there's some strong new competitors out there, I ended up with GoPro. There are a number of options you could go with, but the three that are in about the same price range and with similar specs are HeroCam GoPro HD, Drift HD170, and Contour GPS. Drift is the only one out of the three with the integrated LCD screen (for now) that helps you aim your video and also review what you have shot in the field. Contour is the only one with the GPS capability. Also, Contour got the iPhone app in works that uses bluetooth connection to make your smartphone into a remote wireless monitor (very nice). I don’t think you can use it for reviewing your footage though. Contour and Drift have rotating lenses that make orienting the footage horizontally very easy. However, Drift is not as waterproof as the Contour and GoPro which have external watertight cases, and probably can not be used for SCUBA.

I ended up going with GoPro HD. The main reason: Image and SOUND quality - I looked at hours of online video filmed with all three, and GoPro had the least CMOS jitter (jellyvision) and the best exposure and color saturation out of the box (although the colors are on the warm side, think incandescent yellow tint vs fluorescent white). I personally like it on the warm side, awesome for any summer activities, maybe questionable in the snow. However, night performance and sound abosolutely blow the other two out of the water. Listen to all the racing videos filmed with the GoPro, amazing engine sound and very litle to no wind noise due to the external housing. Also, having a replaceable housing and lens makes whe camera truly waterproof (you can get

Additionally, think about where you are going to mount it most often. While the elongated shape fo the Drift and Contour is good for mounting on the side of the helmet or on the side of a motorcycle, I really wanted an option for chest-mounting (biking and riding motorycle) and helmet-front mounting (snowboarding with a good view of your face, body, and the board). GoPro 's shape works a lot better for those two types of mounting. GoPro has the most mounts available out of the three. I ended up getting a Motorports pack (curved and flat-surface adhesive mounts and suction-cup mount + camera in the waterproof case all for $239 on Overstock.com), and in addition to that I got chest harness, head strap harness, seatpost mount (basically works with any similar sized tubular surface), and tripod mount.

You will find that you do NOT want to mount this cam ridgidly if at all possible unless you are pointing the camera at youself. There is no image stabilization, so the surrounding scenery will do a lot of bouncing around and make the footage unuseable, even with the widest angle setting.

Main disadvantages of the GoPro are current lack of a LCD preview screen and complicated setup manu. Icons that show the camera status are super tiny, and cycling through the menu using just two buttons is worse than setting up a calculator watch.

Go Pro will be releasing a BacPac expansion unit that will add an LCD to the cam sometime in February hopefully, and that will pretty much make it perfect other than the Tamagotchi-like menu. No word whether the LCD back will allow you to review your footage or it will be for orienting the cam only (you need both).

1/18/2011 3:26:06 PM

nice review

1/18/2011 3:44:49 PM

GoPro, if it hasnt been said yet.

1/18/2011 5:30:35 PM

wow. i was just looking into buying one the other day for my snowboarding trip to Utah. thanks for the help TDub

1/18/2011 6:50:42 PM

I just got my GoPro for Christmas. If you're looking to save a little money, I got the GoPro 960 which is only $179. The only difference between it and the $300 HERO is that it only shoots up to 960p instead of 1080. It also doesn't have the expansion port for future attachments that GoPro is talking about coming out with. (like an LCD screen.) For what I use it for (messing around) this was worth saving extra dough. I usually leave it on the 720 setting anyways for the aspect ratio. If you wanna check out some of the videos I've shot on it check the links below. Sorry the snowboarding one isnt in HD, it was too big for facebook.


http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1619880582524

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1599406870694

1/19/2011 11:07:28 AM

i'm interested in the GoPro camera

can i use the mounts that come with the Hero HD version to mount it to the side of a car? I'm sure it can be done, but i don't want the thing tumbling off at 60mph.

anyone here tried this?

1/27/2011 10:03:07 AM

have you visited their site?

http://www.goprocamera.com/products/hd-motorsports-hero-camera.php

1/27/2011 10:37:41 AM

yes, i'm just skeptical and wanted to see if anyone here has tried mounting on side of vehicles

also the 120+ degree FOV is annoying

1/27/2011 10:45:54 AM

Dude this camera is one of the top selling in the industry. Yes you can stick it to the side of a car.

1/27/2011 2:12:27 PM

Dude sweet

1/27/2011 2:18:23 PM

I successfully used the suction cup mount on the exterior of my truck , but not at 60+MPH. If you want to be absolutely sure for secure mounting at higher speeds, you will can use the adhesive mounts that come with the Motorsports kit.

Also, the field of view is noticaebly fish-eye'y 170 degrees at 720p, but at 127 degrees 1080p is really not that distorted. Anything much narower than that and a) you would be missing half the action b) vibration would make the footage unusable.

Drift HD has digital zoom if you really need it, and the sensor resolution of the GoPro technically would allow for it as well if they were to release a firmware update, but really you are unlikely to find it useful for mounting on anything moving and vibrating.

1/27/2011 2:34:41 PM

I used a friend's GoPro last year at Jackson Hole. Got some great footage of me splitting a tree, and a nice head over heels falls.

Several bitchy items. As mentioned, the status icons suck. it was NOT intuitive.

1/27/2011 3:29:11 PM

^^

great info, thanks

1/30/2011 4:28:09 PM

GoPro HD motorsport package arrived today

2/2/2011 12:02:33 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/01/gopro-starts-shipping-80-lcd-bacpac-for-hd-hero-has-no-room-fo/

what i needed, definitely picking up the hero now

2/2/2011 9:35:55 AM

also, i thought you guys would appreciate this. i spotted a gopro hd in this weeks episode of top gear UK

2/2/2011 4:43:19 PM

Yeah, they've been using GoPro's for quite a while now in their shows.

Also, pretty much every car at Pike's Peak last year had one (or several) on the outside.

Does this photo show up? I'm at work and images are blocked.


I count 7 GoPros (one's hidden on the right side).

[Edited on February 2, 2011 at 5:25 PM. Reason : .]

2/2/2011 5:18:09 PM

^^ thanks for the heads-up. BacPac ordered.
A bit on the expensive side, considering how cheap consumer electronics are these days (you can pcik up a digital camera for that much). I am glad to see that it gives you playback abilities, and I am extremely glad to see that dedicated button for playbeck, as opposed to having another menu setting for it.

It does not appear from the commercial that it gives you any type of battery life or shooting mode indicator. I hope that is only because the image is simulated. oh and lol at the Apple-esque ad while im at it

2/2/2011 5:25:25 PM

My LCD BacPac unit came in on Friday and it pretty much eliminates all the major issues that plagued the cam from the beginning. It provides a real on-screen menu (although toggling is still done with the same two buttons). It allows you to actually see what you will be shooting while setting up the cam, and lets you preview the video in the field and decide whether you need a second take. It only adds one button to the cam for a total of three, but miraculously lets you to control the LCD playback, fast forward and rewind your footage.

2/13/2011 10:36:59 AM

I shot these vids with a non HD go pro.

As you can see, one of the vids goes around the rallyX course and doesn't budge. It's a solid investment.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arixlhum7gM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAqTbS_HdJ4

And this is non HD.

[Edited on February 13, 2011 at 11:31 AM. Reason : ]

2/13/2011 11:29:00 AM

haha, I spat my GoPro HD out the window of my Z06 at CMP a couple of weekends ago (dashboard mount came loose in a corner). Doesn't appear to be hurt at all.

2/13/2011 3:13:41 PM

dammit, Ubuntu seems to be totally unwilling to read the SD card from my GoPro, and I don't currently have a Windows or OSX computer.

3/26/2011 9:13:23 PM

is the sd card formatted in ntfs? if so, you might need to install a driver. otherwise just mount it as vfat

3/27/2011 1:59:54 AM

As best as I can tell, I have drivers for both NTFS and FAT. It sees the card, and even recognizes it as "GOPRO", but I cannot get it to read anything on the card.

3/27/2011 3:56:14 PM

what does

$ cat /etc/fstab 

$ ls /dev/mnt 

3/27/2011 9:17:17 PM

Never mind, it appears that Linux does indeed play nice with those files. The problem is such a lack of CPU horsepower that it's taking FOREVER. I was just not giving up on it too soon earlier.

3/29/2011 12:16:38 AM

speakin of gopro cameras: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ImuTpUYa-4 (slightly nsfw: dirt bike injury)

4/5/2011 9:55:25 AM

DISGUSTING

4/5/2011 12:37:18 PM

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/2c8e5274-997d-44ee-b4be-299369af1f82/gopro-hd-motorsports-hero-1080p-helmet-camera-and-camcorder

4/10/2011 12:40:05 PM