New boy

[Brian Coppitters]

Hi all, my first day here so be gentle please! My name is Brian I am 52 y young and only dive when on holiday.
For the last 4 years I’ve been diving in Mallorca with Action sport in Puerto Pollensa. I use sealife cameras when diving and now want to get a GoPro as well, so please any help regarding a GoPro will help thanks

 

[Insta-Gator]

Welcome to SB.

 

[CJFor]

Welcome to SB Brian! I have been a member here for a short while now, but just recently started "diving in" to the forum.
What are some of your questions regarding GoPro?

I dive with a Hero 5 Black and I love it, as with many cameras your settings and accessories can make all the difference in the world. Whatever mount you use for your GoPro, I strongly recommend holding it with two hands for the most stability, every bit of shaking really shows through. I shoot in 1080p 120fps which gives you the ability to slow shots down and keep the buttery smooth footage. By no means am I an expert, but I am a pretty big techy and have researched the life out of things, and wasted a lot of money on poor products along the way!

 

[outofofficebrb]

Welcome, Brian!

I love vacation diving, too...Warm water, great viz just outdoes cold water, poor viz around me locally all the time.

I used a GoPro for quite a while before moving on to a camera rig. I shared a response with another poster yesterday and will copy and paste it here for you:

Here are my responses to a few other threads asking the same question. I think you will find it helpful. I also have links to show what those resulting photos looked like...They were frames taken from videos. The videos turned out pretty good for what it is but they aren't posted on IG. The underwater ones prior to Oct 2017 are all GoPro. www.instagram.com/outofofficebrb

Go Pro 4 Silver
Want to buy the right GP4 light/tray setup - please help
Gopro 6 setup questions! Please help!

 

[Brian Coppitters]

Thanks to you both for your input,
I am looking to mount the camera to my mask as I prefer still photography but this may change, (old dog new tricks and all that )
Re photos on Instagram WOW comes to mind ! If these are all GoPro photos the quality is fantastic
Do you use any software to enhance or are they tamper free and at what depth were they shot at as I will be diving approx 15/25 meters or more in Mallorca this year ? Thanks

 

[outofofficebrb]

Thanks to you both for your input,
I am looking to mount the camera to my mask as I prefer still photography but this may change, (old dog new tricks and all that )
Re photos on Instagram WOW comes to mind ! If these are all GoPro photos the quality is fantastic
Do you use any software to enhance or are they tamper free and at what depth were they shot at as I will be diving approx 15/25 meters or more in Mallorca this year ? Thanks

I suggest not mounting it to your mask...There's nothing like sticking your face up close to an eel just to get a shot of an eel. I like my face the way it is and want to keep it that way in case the eel thinks he doesn't like me where I am. The GoPro shoots in wide angle and will make things seem farther away which means you will have to be closer than you think. Plus, if you lose your mask or it falls, you can lose it all in one go. With a separate handle or tray, you can attach it to your BC. You may find that taking stills may not leave you very much to work with if the shot isn't right or ideal. I like taking movies and then pulling still frames off of them to use as pictures. This worked much better than just straight photos and gives me way more options to grab the "perfect" shot.

Some of the photos were edited lightly in Lightroom. They were shot between 20 feet to 80 or 90 feet. They used red filters or 2 2500 lumen Sea Life Sea Dragons, or a combination of the 2 depending on the environment (distance from subject, depth, available natural light).

 

[Brian Coppitters]

Ok so I need a GoPro hero 5 ?
Just For starters,
Some software and lights
Oh and someone who wants to buy my sealife cameras x5 !

 

[Brian Coppitters]

Oh yer and a buyer for the tomtom bandit I’ve just bought instead of a GoPro

 

[outofofficebrb]

Ok so I need a GoPro hero 5 ?
Just For starters,
Some software and lights
Oh and someone who wants to buy my sealife cameras x5 !

If you're just posting on Instagram and Facebook informally, you can get Lightroom for your mobile device free. It's super easy to use. You will need a tray if you do lights - it will also help you frame and stabilize your shots. You could get a 5, but don't discount a 3 or 4 used if you can get one at a great price.

 

[Brian Coppitters]

But if you were me which would you buy ?