Hero2: Screen capture of video or picture?

[300winmag]

Using the Hero 2 with the new dive housing and flip up filter what is a better option...
Using VLC media player on the Samsung Tablet to view the movies and take screen captures for use as pictures or just put the Hero2 in picture mode?

It would be easier to just leave it in video mode and when watching the movie later take all the screen captures but what would be the draw back of this?
Quality better in picture mode?

 

[flareside]

Ultimately depends on usage of final image. A screen capture is only going to be 1920x1080 at best, essentially a 2MP image where a still shot will be 11MP. But if this is going to be for something like a web page, a screen capture may be acceptable. If you are ultimately trying to get high quality stills, I would set up in a 2 second time lapse mode. (1 second mode may not be successful in low lighting conditions.)

 

[300winmag]

Really!! only 2MP? that sucks!
2 sec time lapse mode... does this mean I have to hold the camera perfectly still for the 2 seconds so the sensor can capture the light? That's a long time to stay still underwater.
Thanx for the help!

 

[racerx_]

No it'll take a picture every 2 seconds, or whatever interval you set it at

 

[300winmag]

Looks like I have a lot of learning to do when my Hero2 comes!! I hope it's easy to switch between 2 sec pictures and video.

 

[flareside]

I hope it's easy to switch between 2 sec pictures and video.

Nope. (This camera was designed to mount on a helmet, turn on, and then jump. It was designed for the kind of action where people are too busy to even think about messing with the controls.)

Looks like I have a lot of learning to do when my Hero2 comes!!

Yep.

Regarding the frame grabs, video is recorded at the playback resolution as anything higher would just waste storage space. If that means 1920x1080 for 1080p video then 1920x1080 is the best frame grab you are going to get.

 

[300winmag]

Regarding the frame grabs, So that means an 8X10 photo professionally printed (at Costco) would look like crap??

 

[thorschosen]

Its easy enough to switch between modes, you just have to hit the front button 3 times to get from time lapse mode back to video.

 

[flareside]

8x10 doesn't fit the ratio of the image so assuming no cropping and you go with the 10" as the 1920 side of the photo (leaving black bars to fill the 8" sides) that is only 192 dpi which is not great. So whether it looks like crap depends on whether you are looking at it in a frame on the wall or you are looking at it with a magnifying glass.

The other factor in how good it will look will depend on how much motion there is in the frame because whenever you freeze a video often times the image on the screen is not really that great. But when that image is played as a part of a series of images the eyes and brain correct the image and things like motion blur go away. Remember, this is only a 1/30th of a second photo. Normally you wouldn't want to take anything underwater under 1/125th of a second unless you knew it would hold still.

This is not to discourage you as there have been some really good screen grabs shown here on the forum. And they look great on a computer monitor. It is just hard to say how they will translate into print. You may however be able to up-res the photo and then smooth out any pixellation for a better final print image.

 

[Blackwood]

Regarding the frame grabs, So that means an 8X10 photo professionally printed (at Costco) would look like crap??

Not necessarily.

http://photsy.com/blog/?p=457