First gopro please help me with some advice

[Phantomrider09]

I bought the hero 3 white edition. I'm going to be diving Marquesas Keys (Key West). It's a 30 mile ride to the location so I don't want to screw it up. I bought the Snake River red filter. I don't know the differences between the settings. 1080p 30 fps
960p 30 fps
720p 60, or 30 fps

What would be the best setting for clear water and a relaxing dive with no video light. Also my normal diving is in green water (NJ) and i also bougjt the snake river green filter. I plan on posting the videos online and watching them on my TV. Also any other tips would be very helpfull. Thank you guys so much....it's a trip I do not want to screw up

 

[toozler]

Do a quick read on this forum, there are many topics and posts that you can skim read and get a lot of good information on how to mount, settings, editing, etc. That's the best you could to get better footage and not "screw it up".

Personal opinion: I like to shoot 1030p@30fps because I like to be able extract higher resolution stills from the footage. Some people will also advise on 720p@60fps for smoother video. Those are the two best alternatives you have, forget about the others. The 960p format looks weird on Youtube.

Last but not the least, play with the camera before diving to learn how to use it, restart, cycle modes, etc. Get it ready before diving, just like you'd do with any other equipment, it's no fun to fiddle with it down there.

Attach it to a lanyard too. Inspect the o-ring for hair/sand. Use anti-fog inserts. Keep the camera steady and try not to move it too much while filming.

 

[g550driver]

Buy the Wasabi charger and battery combo...A good $30 well spent!

 

[Glenn08]

Depending on how you will be wearing / mounting the camera, consider a safety lanyard. My Gopro was on the headband and slipped off without my noticing. My buddy did and retrieved it. Mine doesn't have a loop for a wrist strap so I had to improvise.

 

[diversteve]

I'd buy the blue water filter for any diving off Florida or the Caribbean.

 

[Phantomrider09]

Steve I did buy the blue water filter. It's the srp red dome.....It's attached to a goodman handle for shooting with a safety lanyard attached to it. And I do have the anti fog inserts. The biggest problem I'm having is speed and fps. I tried on 1080 and it plays back choppy on my computer and 720 comes with 30 and 60 fps. I'm just not sure which is the best fps since I do t know what that meens. Thanks for the I put guys

 

[avigulf]

720@60 fps looks smoother if you plan to slow down some sequences, but res. is lower than 1080. With higher framerate, smoother picture.
1080@30 fps should playback ok also, so it might be something with your computer maybe.

 

[Marty Cerven]

With the hero white you should be able to use any tips or advice regarding the original HD hero as they share the same sensor and processor. If your moving the camera around 720p60 will look smoother most of the time as its both the widest fov and higher frame rate giving twice as many frames which makes handheld shots look much smoother then the 30p medium fov 1080p mode. Its also likely that your computer isn't playing the footage back smoothly, try vlc player to see if that improved playback. Also try a static shot in both with the camera stationary but something moving in front of it to see if your playback is effected or if its just the camera in motion while recording in both modes.

When I was using the hero 1 camera I tended to use 720p60 the most and got pretty good results with the original blur fix by srp and a cyan filter. Back then I didn't have a very stable mount or hand lol so that tended to work best for me. Recently when I tried out the hero 1 2 and 3 black cameras together I found the hero 1 did the best with its auto wb over the 2 newere cams but not sure if this is still the case with the white. The Black using protune and cam raw does give the best results but purely in auto the hero 1 had the best results with and without a filter for me. My tests were in a very dull spot with not much to see but sand and how the cameras went, so I haven't made a proper edit from that footage.

Definatly best advice is to play around with it at home and see how you go with the 2 modes, the sometimes choppy 1080p playback is also improved underwater as it can be quite harsh with very fast shutter speeds in good light outside. As you get a little less light the shutter speed will be reduced and you will get a little more motion blur that will smooth out the motion a bit too.