So, I like to video my rides. Unfortunately stuffing my big-ish camera into my helmet and taking mediocre videos is a bit disheartening. Several months ago there was a sale here, on the GoPro Hero 5MP camera set for $165. Cool, but not $165 cool.
As luck would have it, one came up for sale for only $120 on CraigsList. So, to me, it IS $120 cool. (I would have rather had the previous owner's custom Aprilia for $120, but, hey...)
It is a rather small camera, with no fancy color display; just a mechanical viewfinder, LCD mode and status indicator on the front and two buttons. The one on the front is power and mode. The button on the top is for shutter and options.
The camera comes with a plethora of mounting options and a water tight case. The image above shows the camera in it's water tight cast. According to the manual it can be submerged by up to 30 feet of water and continue to record. GoPro Hero Wide Web
At any rate, here is a sample video I took this morning. This version of the Hero has a wide angle lens that presents a different perspective, for me anyway.
6 comments:
The quality of these cameras is really very good. Just compare the clip in this posting to the clip in your posting of 14th February shows just how good these GoPro cameras are.
I see you mounted the camera on your helmet. A good choice, but I prefer mine fixed to my bike as this avoids the strange view when you turn your head to check on traffic at junctions. What software did you use to create your clip?
I look forward to seeing more ride videos from you!
Gary
Gary’s USA Tour
Thanks, Gary,
These are fantastic little machines. I personally like the fact they are so utilitarian with only a few bells-and-whistles.
I did put one mount on my bike but the batteries died before I could try it. It looks like this may be a good spot to shoot video while moving at a good speed, not at lower speed due to the vibrations. We shall see today how well that works.
The camera was mounted to my helmet at 90 degrees and rotated when I rendered it. I didn't receive all of the mounting gear but it seems decently priced at the GoPro website. So, for now, that is how the camera will be attached to my helmet... Sideways.
I used Microsoft Movie Maker to create the clip. One side effect I noticed with this program is how when I rendered in lower resolution or smaller format, the result was a bit dark. The original and higher quality rendering was brighter.
Ah well, I am new to this, with a lot to learn.
The video you shot with the GoPro HD was fantastic! These little cameras seem to do a great job.
It has just occurred to me, that is why I like it as well - sheer simplicity.
Regarding the vibrations, I have a Screamin' Eagle 110 inch motor in my custom bike and it vibrates like heck! I looked at the camera as I was riding and thought the vibrations would create a dreadful result, but I was wrong. The clip on my blog is using the suction cup mounting on my tank, but today I used one of the fixed mounts and it wasn't quite as good, but still well within acceptable limits.
Yes, the end result was a little dark. I used Adobe Premiere Elements 7 which was recommended to me and I think it came out ok (especially for a beginner). It will be interesting to see how our efforts get better over time.
Gary
The GoPro works really well for being so small. It is fun to be able to video rides.
OK, that’s two I’ve seen in one day, yours and Gary’s. You’re making it very hard not to get on of these. Besides from the quality of the video, the absents of ‘wind’ noise is outstanding!
I had issues with “Movie Maker’ darkening videos some time back. What I found was that if I saved it for the ‘Web’ it would darken. If I saved it for “Play back on my computer’ it was fine. Don’t know why.
Being a complete novice about videos and what software to use, I did some research and asked around about what the best software to use for editing and creating videos was. bobscoot seemed to me to have the best advice in this area and he suggested Adobe Premiere Elements version 7 (he and others said don't go for v8 as it had too many bugs).
I have no experience to compare it to, but this software was easily loaded, did what is was meant to, was quite easy to learn and produced good results even for a first-timer like me.
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