Hero3 Black testing underwater

[Marty Cerven]

What if you got an underwater case for the iphone?

WiFi doesnt work underwater or at least only to a few cm, touchscreens dont work underwater either so even though its possible in some way to do this I dont think it would be worth the hassle or expense of getting a phone/tablet underwater compared to the cheap, safe and easy way of just using the LCD bacpac. Live view also has a lag of about 2 seconds on my hero3 black so the LCD is still better as a viewfinder but the app can be used for framing and camera setup which is all I used the LCD above water for anyway.

 

[nharring]

I just got my GoPro Black 3. This is my first UW camera. I am looking forward to my first dive in Monterey CA with the camera and sharing videos with friends and family. Any suggestions about filtering (red ?) and mounting ? I am going to try to mount it to the top of my dive light and diffuse the light a little. I am using the stock camera and housing. No special lenses or housing. I am a point-and-shoot guy so I don't really understand speed and density but I am sure I will learn over time.

I am open to any suggestions ... just don't get too technical ;-)

 

[yarik83]

Thank you Marty, as always great input. I have absolutely no plans to take photos with gopro but I am going to use it occasionally for time lapse and that is why I was doing that benchmark.

Scenario 1

My family and I rent this amazing cottage in Florida Keys just feet from water. There are crabs and star fish and tides and weather patterns rolling in. I would like to capture that on my next trip to the keys.

Scenario 2

I mountain bike so things like road trip could be captured in time lapse just to add to the video.

I have just got back from biking and recorded video footage on both go-pros. I understand this is a scuba site but it may help some folks to assess how awesome those little cameras are.

I can attest to the the fact that chest mount is the most awesome most horrible contraption devised by gopro. I had no idea that putting slight pressure (even with straps loosened) to my chest area would make me out of breath while biking. I actually had to stop after every trail, unclip the chest mount, catch my breath. I felt like I was sipping air through straw. Granted biking is an intensive hobby but interesting observation right there.

 

[Marty Cerven]

After doing a few dives recently using the Hero1,2 and 3 black all side by side I have come to the conclusion that its best to avoid auto white balance in the 3 black. As it still pretty much sucks in the 3b especially as vis gets a little poor at around 5m like my last dive. But even in decent vis the other day at around 10-15m in changing light the awb is very flukey and can be quite frustrating if you cant really use a shot due to poor AWB.

The funny thing is when it comes to underwater the hero1 still has the best auto white balance of these three with both the 2 and 3 black tending to go quite green, whenever they get confused which is quite a bit in poorer visibility. These last few test dives were only to about 10m but compared to shooting in cam raw with pt on underwater the lack of consistency in awb would make me avoid it at all times.

Filters do help the AWB a bit but its still flukey with lots of wb drift so trying to fix that in post would be a nightmare at times and when its bad its very bad lol. There are sections where it gets it pretty close but its almost like a random wb drift from green to good with both the hero2 and 3 black in auto modes.

I will post some videos up when I get a chance to edit them up and will also try and do a basic tutorial to show how you can use protune with cam raw wb and fairly easily, just using the free cineform studio get much better results every time compared to the auto modes.

Mode wise I like the 1080p30/60 modes and 2.7k30 the most with 1080p60 doing really quite well but struggling just a little more in lower light with a bit more graining. With the latest firmware all 3 1080P FOV modes are now selectable in protune and so even for my macro shots I can now use pt all the time.

Using the regular modes or auto wb is fine above water but underwater I think the benefit of wb control with cam raw makes the extra bit of work in post easily worth it IMHO compared to the inconsistent and sometimes quite poor results using the regular modes.

 

[ronscuba]

Mode wise I like the 1080p30/60 modes and 2.7k30 the most

Marty, just got my hero3 black. Shot about 30 seconds of video indoors at 2.7k30, raw wb. Viewed clip with Cineform studio. The original clip looks as it should. Colors and contrast on the flat side. Perfect for adjusting in editing. When I converted the clip with Cineform, the avi clip looks very saturated and heavily contrasted. Are you experiencing the same thing ?

 

[RockyHeap]

Hero 3 Black, with the ProTune turned on, in 1080/60, will not shoot in narrow mode.

Learned this the other night filming ATV/Motorcycle racing indoors on an ice rink. Fun Stuff.

Also, the "latest" Hero3 Black and their GoPro APP doesn't work on Motorolla Razr Phones, with a droid O/S. Not a life ender, but sighhhhhhhhhhh

Other last little whine, is with a TouchScreen LCD backpack, the latest firmware shows the WiFi in the lower right corner Wi-Fi "rainbows" with "off" next to it, even if the WiFi is on, you have to check for the blinking blue LED in front to really find out.

Maybe it's my H3 Black, it's getting sent back to the factory as it's locked up numerous times just taking it on/off the USB cord from charging the battery. I want a new one.

 

[Marty Cerven]

Marty, just got my hero3 black. Shot about 30 seconds of video indoors at 2.7k30, raw wb. Viewed clip with Cineform studio. The original clip looks as it should. Colors and contrast on the flat side. Perfect for adjusting in editing. When I converted the clip with Cineform, the avi clip looks very saturated and heavily contrasted. Are you experiencing the same thing ?

Ron by default but not always for some odd reason when you convert go pro mp4 to cine form avi it auto selects the cineform preset. This preset is for those that just want the traditional gopro look, all you need to do is go to step 2 in cineform studio and either select preset "none" or reset all.

You can open cineform studio at any time and load your converted cineform avi into it to make adjustments as it uses non destructive meta data for its settings.

I always start the files from scratch and avoid using the preset, then once I have adjusted my video as wanted then use the avi file in premiere to edit with. Only encoding it once when doing the final render.

Rocky you need to update to the latest firmware, this enables the app to work on android and also gives 1080p modes in narrow using pro tune, The latest firmware was released on the 14th and also make sure you have the latest android app.

Edit: Its possible 1080p narrow in pt is only selectable in app even with the latest firmware, I thought it was also in camera but will need to check when I get home. 720p120 is also available in narrow using pt with this version but may be the same app only ATM.

In app there are also all 3 fov modes in 720p60 but these don't stick, if selected it just reverts back to wide. Looks likely for a future update but with pt off these 720p60 fog modes aren't listed and these are I am certain only seen in app.

I am using the app with a Samsung galaxy note running jelly bean. You need to set WiFi to go pro app in camera and you also need to find your go pro camera in WiFi networks connecting with your password that you set when updating the firmware.

Live preview works in all modes on my phone with about a 1.5 sec delay and live view while recording works in 1080p60 or lower modes when pt is off. Changing menu settings is much easier with the app too rather then the clunly 2 button standard UI. WiFi doesn't work underwater and neither would my phone lol so though the app is quite handy its useless for my main use of underwater video.

 

[RockyHeap]

Nothing to do with the APP part Marty, I spent 3 hours on the phone with GoPro's reps yesterday. Upgraded everything to the latest firmware, Even the Tech Reps said nope no work on the Razr Phone.


!@#$%@$%^%^ the thing, I'm sending it back for a new one as this camera has locked up too many time in the last 3-4 weeks simply plugging/un-plugging it off of the USB cord.

 

[Marty Cerven]

Nothing to do with the APP part Marty, I spent 3 hours on the phone with GoPro's reps yesterday. Upgraded everything to the latest firmware, Even the Tech Reps said nope no work on the Razr Phone.


!@#$%@$%^%^ the thing, I'm sending it back for a new one as this camera has locked up too many time in the last 3-4 weeks simply plugging/un-plugging it off of the USB cord.

That sucks about the RAZR phones, a bit odd as to why they don't work with the app.

There was a charging bug with the first firmware hanging but this was fixed I thought. If its still doing it with the latest firmware then you must have got a dud which is a bummer as there appears to be a few of those around. One of my hero2's died on a firmware update for no explainable reason so there just are some gopro's that don't want to play nice.

I also double checked the narrow modes with pt on and this is only selectable from within the app which kind of sucks but I'm sure it will be fixed in the next firmware.

 

[sharksdelight]

Hey Marty,
One of my HERO 2's also died on an update attempt. I kept getting some kind of cam icon blinking on and off forever. App Support tried but couldn't help so they sent me a new one. Spoke to GoPro yesterday and they are crazy backed upped with orders they can't fill fast enough.
Steve