Hero 3 Blk Battery Conservation??

[guamrider]

Maybe I missed this in a post but I'm wondering what gives more battery life on a dive. Video clips, avg duration about 30-60 sec. Protune is off.

(1) If I leave the camera on and just shut off the lcd between shots.

(2) Shut it completely off and re power it. I'm thinking that this might be a bigger drain but???

Anybody ever test this in the "real world of diving" instead of a shop test?
Thanks.

 

[flareside]

With the number of people who have had issues with the camera seizing randomly while powering up, the second option may be a little too risky. The first option kind of wins by default. The best method to stretch battery life is through the video mode selection with 1080p/30 giving the longest times and 720p/60 close behind. 1080p/60 being the worst. Ref: HERO3 Black Edition | Wi-Fi enabled | Most Advanced HD GoPro Ever (note: all times may be a bit optimistic) But if you are recording in short bursts however, mode may not make a significant difference anyway.

 

[guamrider]

With the number of people who have had issues with the camera seizing randomly while powering up, the second option may be a little too risky. The first option kind of wins by default. The best method to stretch battery life is through the video mode selection with 1080p/30 giving the longest times and 720p/60 close behind. 1080p/60 being the worst..

Thanks. Appreciate the comments.

 

[Interceptor121]

Usually on compact camera powering on and off retracts the lens, this ends up having a devastating effect on battery life
What kills power is the LCD so even on a compact you only switch off LCD
Gopro same thing keep camera on and switch off LCD
Mode wise it depends on your shooting style you seem to know what you are doing and you frame the shots which is great
That means you will not have the camera filing the whole dive so you can change shooting mode if you wanted to increase frame rates for close ups however as the gopro does not have a zoom and you are very steady there are no real benefits of increases frame rates unless you slow it down
I would shoot everything at 2.3k and then crop to 1080p to magnify

 

[divingpyrate]

Trust me, even the new models still freeze on boot up.
So always turn your camera on before hitting the water. If you have to do a battery pull, you can.
For peace of mind, I carry extra batteries and 32 gb cards.
Every dive gets a fresh battery and card and the camera is powered on before leaving the boat.

Sometimes I just let it continually film sometimes not. the new one breaks 27K into 11 minutes sections if you leave it running
The best results seem to be what Ron and Mary taught me. 27.5K protune on, camraw white balance