Crazy - 1080p cam + 180' housing for $270?

[Gombessa]

1080p: 1920x1080 True HD featuring a 127° angle of view, 30 fps and 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
960p: 1280x960 Ultra Wide and Tall HD featuring a 170° angle of view, 30 fps and 4:3 aspect ratio. See more of the action above and below than widescreen16:9 resolutions can show.
720p: 1280x720 Ultra Wide HD featuring a 170° angle of view, both 30 and 60 fps and 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio

My hunch is 960p is probably best since what i really want is the wide screen to see as much as possible...

bg

Nice, let us know how you like it. I'd agree that 960p or 720p are your best choices. 1080p is going to be less wide, and will take a huge chunk of additional hard drive space, which for me is always at a premium on vacations.

Shooting 960p will also let you crop to 720p later if you decide you want wide angle.

I noticed that Erik posted a new, higher-res 960p dive video a couple of days ago (click through to Vimeo to see the HD version):
[vimeo]7797675[/vimeo]

 

[Matt S.]

Mine arrived from HelmetCamCentral yesterday. They had a problem with the 4GB cards they were including, so I won't get one of those until they sort it out. Making do with a 1GB card for now.

I've only had a chance to play with it in indoor lighting so far, where unsurprisingly it looks like crap.

 

[bennyscuba]

the difference isn't too bad in terms of storage - 12 min/gb under 1080p vs 14min/gb under 960p vs 16min/gb under 720 - and with 32gb i should be good to shoot! - but i agree the appeal is wide angle...

i have to say while the video is a bit blurry, i'm impressed by how little shaking there is - i guess that's the wide angle aspect b/c i don't think there is any image stabilization...

also the monterrey videos are making want to head back down there - perhaps i'll have to jump back into a 7mm and get cold! i've just been spoiled the past couple of trips...

bg

 

[Gombessa]

At 170 degree coverage, you could be shivering in a -15F snowstorm and the camera would barely register the shake

 

[phillybob]

... Surprisingly, they hated the Picsio, even giving it a little skull and crossbones badge next for low-light mode...

I'm a bit more skeptical of reviews since I bought a new T.V. a few weeks ago. CNet said this Panasonic plasma tube was the ***** and the Sharp Aquos sucked. I wrote down a few model numbers they recommended and went to the store and compared. The opposite was true. The Panasonic sucked. There had to be 50 other T.V.s with a better picture. The Sharp is in my T.V. room right now and the picture is awesome !! I'm still waiting for more video to show up before I buy an HD vid cam. YouTube has a bunch of clips from the Picsio, some at night and they look pretty good. None under water, though.

 

[phillybob]

I just read a few reviews for the JVC on Best Buys' website. They all said the Picsio blows. Where there's smoke...

 

[SeaYoda]

I may have an answer for the blurry video from this camera. I've been working on a still project in a cavern and had some blur issues. The problem turned out to be where the focal point is with a dome port. My dome creates a virtual image in the 12" to 16" range. If my camera was set to the hyperfocal distance in air (for using manual focus in the dark) the underwater pictures would come out blurry because the setting would not be for the virtual image. The same thing affects whether a diopter is needed for certain camera / dome port combinations. The Hero camera may not be focusing on the virtual image underwater, maybe a diopter could fix the problem?????

 

[Matt S.]

That sounds perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately there is hardly any room between the lens and the dome port on the tiny Hero housing... Worth looking at more, though.

 

[bennyscuba]

Just wanted to say that I got this yesterday from Adorama via amazon. I'm off to thailand in two weeks so will try to post video when I can.

Having just played with it indoors, initial impressions are:
(a) the thing is small, boxy and very solid in the case - makes in convenient for packing - i'll probably just through it in and forget about it
(b) pretty simple to use though i imagine you have to memorize the function menu b/c the LCD menu is crap
(c) has a multi-shot feature (take a burst of 3) which seems like a good idea for underwater to make sure you get the picture
(d) image is definitely fishbowl - i'm not sure why it isn't on the gopro site, but all of my video has curved edges. maybe i need to take it outdoors for that to go away
(e) inside color is a yellowish-green
(f) sound is crap
(g) very nice field of view that handles shaking well
(h) it comes with a lot of mounting components so it should be feasible to create something good for securing it under water - though a nice plastic strap to go around the wrist (like my back-up light has) would have been pefect - any idea where to get that?

all in all it's not a perfect camera but i think will soot my needs - to capture life underwater and remember what i did. with a 32gb SD card (for up to 8hrs of video) it came to < $400 which is seems like the best price point out there if you don't already have a viable p/s...

one question: this is my first U/W video/camera. Between dives, how should i care for it? soak it in the rinse tank to keep it cool? anything in particular to know?

here's the cnet review which seems pretty positive but also mentioned some of the issues i did


bg

 

[Gombessa]

I may have an answer for the blurry video from this camera. I've been working on a still project in a cavern and had some blur issues. The problem turned out to be where the focal point is with a dome port. My dome creates a virtual image in the 12" to 16" range. If my camera was set to the hyperfocal distance in air (for using manual focus in the dark) the underwater pictures would come out blurry because the setting would not be for the virtual image. The same thing affects whether a diopter is needed for certain camera / dome port combinations. The Hero camera may not be focusing on the virtual image underwater, maybe a diopter could fix the problem?????

I don't know if it's in this thread or another, but someone posted a conversation with GoPro that confirmed this. The curved dome of the housing requires a diopter. Perhaps you could stick one of those HydroOptix contact lenses over the camera's lens in order to make it sufficiently myopic to get sharp focus

image is definitely fishbowl - i'm not sure why it isn't on the gopro site, but all of my video has curved edges. maybe i need to take it outdoors for that to go away

It should be less fishbowly if you use 1080p, which has a narrower focal length. But the fishbowl appearance above water is pretty evident in GoPro's biking and surfing videos. Note that underwater, it'll be a lot better, since the refraction/magnification effect will naturally cut off a bit of the edge.

though a nice plastic strap to go around the wrist (like my back-up light has) would have been pefect - any idea where to get that?

I'd suggest choosing a mount that allows you to attach it with a firm bungee loop, so you securely can wear the camera on your wrist for hands-free filming.

one question: this is my first U/W video/camera. Between dives, how should i care for it? soak it in the rinse tank to keep it cool? anything in particular to know?

Opinions are mixed on the rinse tank. If you leave it out, make sure it's cool and covered so you don't get condensation inside the housing port. I wouldn't store the housing closed, as that can eventually deform/wear the o-ring seal.

Have fun!