Go Pro

[sheephunter]

Anyone have experience with the go pro cameras? Saw them at Best Buy but they were a little expensive to buy without finding more about them. Stuff on youtube looks good, but the best quality is all done by "them". Anybody here used them, pros / cons? Also saw a system at Bass Pro for 1/3 the price but can't remember what they were called. Thanks

[Tim]

FWIW, ive done some looking around too and if i was gonna get one it would be the go pro hd helmet hero (300 USD)...couldnt bring myself the spend the money though

[iflyforpie]

Just ordered the Contour HD for company use. $249.99. Picture on YouTube and reviews seems as good or better than Go Pro, we will see when it gets here.

[AuxBatOn]

GoPro is simply amazing. For 300$ (a little more with the extras), you get a true HD. It's actually pretty close to professionnal quality (Discovery channel/National Geographic). It's robust, it has wide angle (up to 170 degrees) and 1080p.

If you do get one, make sure you get the Hero with a class 10 SD card (32 Gb recommended, 16 sufficient). Buy in the States. About 50$ cheaper.

[Tommyr]

With Go Pros you can by different attachments and use it for things outside of flying too!

[erics2b]

Drift HD170 all the way:

http://driftinnovation.com/hd170-action-camera/

It includes a wearable watch-like remote for recording and stopping, has a tiny LCD screen on board to verify it's aimed correctly, and the lens twists 300 degrees to line up the shot at almost any angle. At 1080p it has a view of 130 degrees, at 720p, 170 degrees. The new stealth models record at 60 frames per second for smoother slow motion video.

I found wearing the GoPro on my head was not a good experience in the small Pitts cockpit - the Drift HD 170 is a lot more aerodynamic (thin and long, rather then a cube-like figure).





The GoPro really thrives being mounted in a large cockpit, on a fixed spot. But yes, it does produce fantastic video - MythBusters and Ice Pilots use them. Some video we shot with a GoPro:



Recent video we shot with two Drift HD 170s:







If you want to record the COM to the video produced, you can buy this, which includes the connectors built in (it's just a Contour HD with aviation audio hardware): http://nflightcam.com/

Or you can buy an audio recorder from RadioShack or whatnot (make sure it has an external microphone input), and buy a cable from Aircraft Spruce to convert a headset port to the 1/8" input the audio recorder will want, then when editing the video, interlace the audo file from the audio recorder and the video from whatever camera you buy.

And yes, you will require class 10 (high write speed for the HD video) SD cards. They generally use 4GB/hour of 1080p video, so we use 8GB cards and storage size isn't an issue - the battery of whatever camera you will buy won't last for 2 hours of recording time anyways!

[Changes in Latitudes]

HEED PAPER, NOW! Move that melon of yours and get the paper if ya can.

[ogc]

Anyone have experience with the go pro cameras? Saw them at Best Buy but they were a little expensive to buy without finding more about them. Stuff on youtube looks good, but the best quality is all done by "them". Anybody here used them, pros / cons? Also saw a system at Bass Pro for 1/3 the price but can't remember what they were called. Thanks

Go Pros are great... I assume you are talking about the HD ones?

I have used them quite a bit for car racing stuff, the suction cups on them are amazing and hold up to being stuck out in 200-240 km/h winds heading down the back stretch at the race track.

They are very durable.

I would definitely recommend it for any environment where you are going to be doing something out of the ordinary. Like I dunno, sticking them to a plane or something, it would have no problem at all doing this. There are better ones out there for day to day recording type of activities.

Plus they also come with a water resistant case as well so you can use it in the rain etc, with out worry.

The only negative is that the microphone on them kind of sucks.

Couple of examples, change the setting from 360p to 720p in the bottom right for HD

http://www.youtube.com/user/EngineeredA ... djtFFBeLL4

Sound is really messed up at some parts in this one, that is something to do with the editing and not the camera.

http://www.youtube.com/user/EngineeredA ... AfibomYW4E

[sheephunter]

Guys/Gals, thanks for all your responses, time and thoughts. Exactly what I was hoping for. Incredible quality. I like the idea with the Drift in having a remote to stop and start as well a small monitor to make sure you don't end up with two hours of a big bug splat. I'm not in a real hurry so will wait for ifly's report on his Contour. Funny how in one of GoPros ads, they brag about their mic system. Please let me know if anyone hears of any sales. Ice is going out here as we speak so the battery is fully charged and might go in tomorrow and see what the weather bring by the weeks end. Might get out flying before the end of April. I never would have guessed on that a week ago. Again thanks for everyones help.

[Tommyr]

Google Adsense is so creepy..we mention Go Pro a few time and then the ad at the bottom of my screen just happens to be for a Go Pro camera.

[Rowdy]

I picked up the Go Pro Motorsport from B&H online and had shipped to my US mail box.. Saved me around $90 all said and done. The suction cup mount works fantasticly on the car at speeds up to and including 240k (tried once) And I'm sure would be perfectly fine on say.. a beaver I also bought the optional LCD pac so I can frame and review shots a little easier. It adds a bit of bulk but makes it oh so much easier.

I did a side by side comparison with the Contour and for the price the Gopro beat it out as it COMES with the waterproof housing, with the contour its an additional cost, Theres also supposedly better support from GOPRO themselves..

With the box hooked directly to my HD TV the quality is stellar. The clips loaded to my laptop are decent.. however I dont have any software yet for proper editing.. but expect some fun clips to be posted this season! Really looking forward to seeing some better flying footage out there with one of these

[fingersmac]

The latest model of the Contour camera has a GPS receiver built in and bluetooth capabilities. The latter allows you to pair it with an Android phone or iPhone which allows you to view what the camera is viewing and adjust settings on the go. The camera still weighs less than 5 ounces. It may not be waterproof but it is water resistant. It's routinely used in a lot of professional snowboard videos with great results. There's also a video of it attached to the nose gear of a B747 so it's obviously ruggedly designed.





At the end of the day, I'm sure they're all great and it really depends on what you want to do with it and which design suits you best.

[looproll]

Thanks for the review, eric. Just ordered a Drift Stealth. Got a few RAM mounts for it. The video on the Ram site even shows a few ideas for mounting on a Pitts!

http://www.ram-mount.com/Gallery/Camera ... fault.aspx

[Ralliart]

Google Adsense is so creepy..we mention Go Pro a few time and then the ad at the bottom of my screen just happens to be for a Go Pro camera.

If you use Firefox, get AdBlock......I downloaded it, never see it in the background, but it blocks most ads.

I don't see any ads whatsoever on AvCanada anymore, or many other sites. It's great.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... lock-plus/

[Beefitarian]

Bump

[Tim]

iflyforpie, what do you think of the contour now that youve had it for a bit??

[kiloindiapapa]

You might consider...

http://www.aerovideo.net/

[iflyforpie]

I was trying to get a video on YouTube, but there is just too much darn flying lately...

I was initially disappointed in the video quality of the Contour. Of course, I am more a still photographer and I don't have much tolerance for poor exposure, distortion, and chromatic aberration. My iPhone does better video.

But this is a really compact camera so you have to go with that and the really unique view is what makes it awesome (I use it externally only). After tweaking the exposure and contrast I can get decent results.

The mounting system made me skeptical at first, since it is adhesive and industrial strength velcro. But I've found it good for speeds up to 160 knots. Hard landings seem to be the only Achilles Heel (thank God for the lanyard) .

[iflyforpie]

Here's my first effort with the Contour HD...

[niss]

Just picked one up, anyone have issues with static in the audio?

[moocow]

There's a Contour HD aviator edition. Basically, it have plugs for the intercom.

http://www.lightsportgroup.com/aviator.html

[niss]

WRT the suction cup mount for the GoPro, does anyone use a tether? Where would you tie it to? I was thinking for wingtip shots putting the tether around a screw in the wing tip, and for horiz. stab shots tying the tether to the tail tie down. Concerns for damage if she lets go and starts flapping in the airstream?

[niss]

.

[r22captain]

I use a tether on the outside of my car.....around a wiper.....mirror....back in through the window. This was after it fell off once (car was a bit wet) and beat the crap out of the outside case, but camera was A-OK. Of course never had it fall off when tethered

Haven't had it on the outside of the heli.........yet.....haha

not sure how it'd go at 140 kts

[niss]

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