GoPro insights, hints, thoughts for newbies

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BrianOrange

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Here are some thoughts, insights, etc on the GoPro camera specifically meant for newbies like me. Many people on here might be used to taking photos, video, etc underwater. But if anyone is like me, the GoPro was my first attempt to take any type of picture underwater. This post is meant for the newbies like myself.

First, the GoPro is a great camera. It's easy to use and pretty straight forward. There isn't some huge manuel to study or thousands or cables and cords to set up. It's pretty much ready to go on arrival. Read the manuel that does come with it -- it's pretty small -- and just play around with the camera. Take some photos inside, practice loading them on your computer, etc.

Here are some general thoughts, insights, hints:

-Assuming your purchase a flat lens, look online and call place you got the lens to help you install it. There are a few videos on Youtube that will give you a few hints. Everyone said it's easy to install. This is correct if you are familiar with these types of things. But if you were like me -- ZERO experience with a camera and it's parts -- while it's still fairly simple, it's not as cut and dry as people on here would have you believe. So call and look around for help if you need it.

-Once you install the flat lens, while it's probably common knowledge, TEST it first (obviously do this without the camera inside the waterproof case). Run it under a faucet, put it in a bathtub, etc. You see any water in the case and you know something is off. If not, you should be good.

-First dive with everything ready to go, do the dive without the camera inside just to test for any last leaks. I did this and it really gives you a peace of mind that when you finally put the camera in the case and dive with it, you won't ruin your $300 investment on the first chance.

-Head strap -- it works. I dove with just the strap and was fine. Now, I was frequently making sure it was still snug on my head. You should do this. Once or twice I did strap it back down and it did feel like it was close to coming off. But like I said, keep it snug and you should be fine and it will work for you.

-Bubbles in field of vision -- NOT a problem whatsoever.

-If you want to just shoot video here and there and not just once long rip of video -- i.e. 1 minute of video here, 3 minutes there, etc -- that is fine but realize you are adding more files and you have a limit of something like 15 or 16 files the camera can hold before you have to move or delete them. At 15 or 16 you will no longer be able to take video.

-Some of the best shots I got were on the boat and on the boat looking down INTO the water. Just great color and so vibrant.

Overall it's a great camera with a big "wow" factor when you first show other people. Easy to use, well worth the money.

Hope this helps. Any advice, set me a message!


Brian
 
Great report! I just bought my second GoPro. I had the STD def model a few years ago, and just moved up to the HD model. I've only ever used mine for motorsports filming, using it under water should be a blast!

Thanks for sharing...

Where did you buy your flat lens? How much?

Cheers
 
Can you expand on the file limitation? Is that a disk capacity limitation (does the GP take an external card?), or some firmware limit on directory size?
 
The GoPro takes an SD card, It's up to you on how large of memory you get. For me 16 gig is plenty. It should last a few battery recharges, and I don't like transferring files in-between uses. One other factor is what mode you record in, the higher mode on go pro, the larger the file size.
 
Nice tips there Brian but I'd like to add a few more for GoPro newbies to save both their footage and cameras.

Make sure that the white rubber o-ring is very clean before using the camera underwater, one hair across this rubber seal can be enough to let water in and damage your camera. This is the same with all underwater cameras but as many GoPro users have no previous experience with underwater cameras they may neglect to check this and destroy their camera.

The headband is great but I would strongly recommend that you either use a chin strap or put it under your hood, underwater the rubberized grip of the headband doesn't do much as water can pass between the headband and your head, your camera will fall off without you ever feeling a thing. It happened to me on my first test dive but luckily it was at a local pier I knew well and just retraced my steps and found it. If this happens on your descent or ascent on a deeper dive with any sort of current and low vis you will be very lucky to find the camera again.

Bubbles in headband are only there if you are pretty much in a stand up position with no current or current from behind you, the normal swimming position the camera is forward of your regulator so they aren't an issue then.

Also if diving in colder waters the camera housing can fog up easily as it gets fairly warm inside the case when the camera is running, you can use some silica gel packs or fill a plastic bag with air from your scuba tank with your housing inside and close it while in the bag. This air is very cold and dry and using these methods you wont lose any footage due to fog. Where I dive atm water temp is around 12c, can get to around 8c mid winter and 22c in summer. If I put a housing with no anti fogging procedure under water it will completely fog up in seconds and all video will be useless.

I haven't come across a file limit using my gopro but I tend to do longer continuous videos, I have filled a camera with 3 hours of timelapse at 1 sec per frame and there is no issue. As soon as the camera has 999 images it makes a new folder and starts again at 001. There was an issue in earlier firmware but its best to use the latest firmware to avoid these sorts of issues, even brand new cameras will not necessarily have the latest firmware installed.
 
I took the advice of a few posters on here and purchased my flat lens from Mako Spearguns and Spearfishing. They came highly regarded from here on the board. Mine came with the camera but you can buy separately for I think $15 or so.
Great report! I just bought my second GoPro. I had the STD def model a few years ago, and just moved up to the HD model. I've only ever used mine for motorsports filming, using it under water should be a blast!

Thanks for sharing...

Where did you buy your flat lens? How much?

Cheers
 
Can you expand on the file limitation? Is that a disk capacity limitation (does the GP take an external card?), or some firmware limit on directory size?

Honestly, I am not sure if it's a disk capacity limitation but I am inclined to think it is.

The situation I ran into is when I was underwater and thought I was saving battery time by not filming at all times, I would shoot 1 minute or so of footage, then stop shooting. Then I would start up again, shoot a while, then stop. That process works but it creates 2 separate files on your camera. If you do this enough you will get close to the maximum, which I think was like 15, and it will stop shooting video. In my opinion, it's better to just keep the camera rolling.
 
Honestly, I am not sure if it's a disk capacity limitation but I am inclined to think it is.

The situation I ran into is when I was underwater and thought I was saving battery time by not filming at all times, I would shoot 1 minute or so of footage, then stop shooting. Then I would start up again, shoot a while, then stop. That process works but it creates 2 separate files on your camera. If you do this enough you will get close to the maximum, which I think was like 15, and it will stop shooting video. In my opinion, it's better to just keep the camera rolling.

This is not true at all. The only limitation is file size. My GoPros have recorded THOUSANDS of files on one SD card. There is no restriction as to how many files you can record - only the amount of free space on your SD card. Once the camera has recorded 999 files in a folder, it will create a new folder (100GOPRO, 101GOPRO, etc) and continue until the card is full.
 
As long as we're giving advice: A helmet cam is great for Moto or skiing etc. where your head is the "quietest" part of your body, but in diving I highly recommend using your hand to hold the camera. You can keep your hand in the same location relative to your subject even when making minor boyancy adjustments. You can also be looking around without moving the camera. Also how would you take a picture or video of a moray or a close up of a flatworm on the sand with the camera mounted on your head?
 
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