New: GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition

[flareside]

I would not get all exciting about this one boys and girls. Let's be honest... if this your first gopro purchase... it would be cheaper to get a $329 version of gopro hero 3 black + wasabi batteries for $19.99 than to spend $400 on a new + model. + model offers improvements, yes... but those are virtually undetectable. If anything newer model is not that friendly for diving.

All the extra batteries in the world will not do you a bit of good when you run out of juice at 60 feet. The newer model allows you to get through a fairly long dive without having to worry about whether the battery is going to make it. It even allows some slack to use an LCD some of the time. And if your worried about fogging, the old cases with room for anti fog strips still fit and are going cheap right now.

 

[yarik83]

Yeah..... except... that.... why would you want to dive with a gopro and original battery?

To get 2 1 hour dives with 15 minutes to spare people go for original battery + battery backpack.
To get 2 1 hour dives with 30 minutes to spare people go for wasabi battery + battery backpack.

Unless you shoot in something like protune 2.7K you should have more than adequate battery on standard battery alone. If you wish to use lcd screen (not that I would recommend it but still) and use a gopro battery you might get like 45 minutes ish. With wasabi you will get 1 hour ish.

Most people that seriously get into gopros have hundreds of dollars worth of batteries, mounts etc etc so battery life is rarely a concern.

But if there are people that want stock battery on hero3+ and then spend additional cash on a hero 3 housing... it just seems a little counter intuitive.

I think what happened with hero 3+ was that they were waiting and waiting and waiting for A9 chip to work with hero 4 and some contractor backed out or failed to meet a deadline so they went into survival mode and rushed to get hero3+... as far as I am concerned all those things could have been added to hero 3 black just via software update.

If someone is making a first gopro purchase ... well... decision is up to them but I would recommend saving money and getting hero 3 black... something I would not have said about hero 2 vs hero 3 when 3 came out.

 

[RickI]

The power consumption is substantially improved in the Hero3+ as is the white balancing. I really like the color the camera delivers. There are still other good improvements in the new camera.

Here is a short video I put together rapidly earlier today. I used a red filter underwater for color correction.

[video=vimeo;75906726]http://vimeo.com/75906726#[/video]

 

[ronscuba]

Do you think these updates challenge the realm of a Panasonic LX7 or Sony RX100? Exception being the minimum aperture.

GoPro Hero 3 Black and Panasonic LX7 video frames frozen and saved to jpeg. I don't think the Hero 3+ is going to make up the difference.

 

[James R]

If you're an REI member, you can get 20% off a GoPro today through the 14th at rei.com - coupon code is: FALLMEM13

 

[ScubaERDoc]

Thanks so much for the heads up James! I just ordered mine on REI.com and saved 80 bucks!!!! Strangely enough the person working at the brick and mortar REI store said that that code doesnt work on cameras and other big ticket items but the website let me do it. Also the Surf edition has sold out after one day so the Adventure package is the only one left...probably wont be there for long. Went with the Hero3+ instead of the older one because the $80 buck discount justified it in my head

 

[James R]

You're welcome.

I ordered a Hero3+ black adventure pack too...we'll see if it ships or not.

Currently: In Process (not shipped yet)

 

[cool79]

Does gopro have international warranty?

 

[James R]

FYI mine did ship, so the REI discount code worked.

They shipped the GoPro in one box and the tripod mount in another (one USPS and one UPS from the same location - figure that out heh).

 

[ScubaERDoc]

Mine did too. 80 bucks off. Not bad, although the only downside is that it is not eligible for a REI member refund if you use the discount.

Got my 3 housing for 200 feet, Xshot monopod, Polar Pro Red/Macro coming as well... all in time for Cabo Pulmo next week. Now I am debating with myself, to LCD or not to LCD?