Thinking of buying a 'go pro' for Scuba Diving

[diversteve]

Hi All,

I am thinking of buying myself a 'go pro' camera to use on scuba dives, I have never got into underwater photography before but it seems like a decent way to get involved for a resonable cost.

Photos or Video? The GoPro wouldn't be my choice for photos. It is a fixed focus, 170^o wide angle camera. So it's very good for "action" but it imparts an un-natural aspect to photos. It also has no framing method unless you also buy the bacpac - which cuts down on battery life. And a monitor that small is just a suggestion anyway...lol.

It also doesn't do Macro "out of the box" although I believe there are wet diopters for that. By their very nature they will induce some decrease in resolution.

Even worse, it won't drive any sort of strobe. You'll notice anyone shooting photos with it has video lights on their tray. The 3Black is supposed to be pretty good in low light so that may work to about 60' with a red filter - depending on where you dive.

Unless you just want a point-of-view generic video of your dive, I'd go with a tray - it forces you to concentrate on what you're shooting. More importantly it keeps the camera a lot steadier while filming video - the GoPro is a tiny camera so more affected by movement of the water around it.

The only reason I would shoot stills with a GoPro is that the better ones have that burst mode - that could be useful in fast moving encounters like sharks or dolphins - turn it on and pick out the best frame later.

You'll notice just about everyone posting here is talking about shooting video with theirs.

 

[greenliger]

Don't think, do.

 

[stalefish]

Out of the box it will do fine but you'll get much better results with the LCD backpac, a filter, and light. Here is one if my examples. http://youtu.be/UijMs1U6_Y8

 

[SoBay Jim]

Go for it, but spend the money and at least add a red filter.

 

[ladyfishdvr]

I use a go pro in both video and picture mode. Batteries are removable but I use one battery fully charged per dive. I made a pole mount myself and now have a short and a long pole. Definitely use a filter for better pictures and remember to go slow when taking video. Also make sure you have your name and contact info inside of it so when you lose it, you may get it back.

 

[mick allein III]

Bought a Sony action cam. Very good in low light and much cheaper than gopro.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

For what it's worth, my last two weekends diving have seen a stock Hero3+ in the 131' case function properly on dives to 270' and 190'. Which is not to say that such depths won't eventually result in pressure messing with the buttons and/or flooding the housing, but it seems to work rather well right out of the box.

 

[undrwater]

Take the intova sport into consideration as well.

 

[mick allein III]

Correct me if Im wrong but don't you have to buy all the gopro stuff separately? What I liked about the Sony was the case and I believe 1 mounting came with it. I've only had mine to 110' but it held up well.

 

[Malpaso]

Correct me if Im wrong but don't you have to buy all the gopro stuff separately? What I liked about the Sony was the case and I believe 1 mounting came with it. I've only had mine to 110' but it held up well.

This is what comes with it:

• HERO3+ Black Edition Camera
• 131’/40m Waterproof Housing
• Wi-Fi Remote
• Higher Capacity Li-ion Battery
• Quick Release Buckle
• Vertical Quick Release Buckle
• 1 Curved + 1 Flat Adhesive Mount
• 3-Way Pivot Arm
• USB Charging Cable