Next step after the Hero 4 Silver? Hero 5 or another brand (e.g. Xiaomi YI 2 4K)?

[NowTeelus]

The title says almost everything.

The Go Pro Hero 4 Silver dived with me for the last 100 or so dives but I think, that the time for the next step has come. I will fly to Palau the next march. Then I want to be ready with (maybe) a new setup.

My major concerns with the Hero 4 are the following three:

• Low Light Performance (The footage of the Hamerhead Sharks in 140ft depth was really grainy, so the entire footage was garbage)
• The LCD display is pretty small
• It has no image stabilisation

My concerns with many other products are:

• Often they don't seem to perform better under Low Light conditions
• Most time, they don't offer RAW video like ProTune. This is absolutely essential to me since I always use RAW video. My killer-no-go for the most products
• Most of them don't offer bigger LCD displays. Often, there's no display at all
• Most of the quality red filters are not compatible (quality means: SRP CYD, Backscatter Flip). Only exception: Magic Filter
• Often, only wide angles are available. I film to 90 percent with the medium angle and 10 percent with the narrow angle

I thought about switching to the Hero 5, but after seeing lots of comparison videos, the difference seems to small for this money. If I had no cam at all or a Hero 3, I would consider buying a Hero 5. But switching from the 4 Silver, it makes not that much sense to me.
Then I saw some comparisons between the Go Pro and the Xiaomi YI 2 4K. I was quite impressed, but I'm not sure if I really would do a step into the right direction.


Any suggestions? Thanks a lot!

 

[sea_ledford]

Lights and a good handheld mount/ handle will go a lot further for you than any new camera.

-Chris

 

[NowTeelus]

Lights and a good handheld mount/ handle will go a lot further for you than any new camera.

...which I use both since the beginning. I'm not one of these GoPro-Pole users that film their shaky videos and claim "oh look, it is like swimming into the swarm". And Lights are only helpful for filming macro, but not for the shark school in distance, nor for filming Mantas.

 

[BDSC]

What kind of money are you willing to spend?

 

[NowTeelus]

What kind of money are you willing to spend?

Not an easy answer since I don't know the options. For example: 300 Bucks for a minor improvement (minor improvement means: If the difference is important is more a matter of taste) is expensive. 500 Bucks for a significant (significant means: videos are considerable less grainy, for example) change is cheap. It depends on. Often I decide based on the options how much I will invest. I know that there's no upper limit, but we don't talk about Red cameras but about action cams or maybe entry level camcorders.

 

[BDSC]

I'm going to DEMA in a couple of weeks and I'm sure folks will have the latest and greatest systems out there. I'll take a look and let you know if there is anything interesting.

I have a Light & Motion housing with a Sony camcorder and it takes some great video. A new system like that would now run a few thousand I'm sure. But it's a dedicated camcorder and folks now want something that will shoot both stills and video. Mine will do stills but it's not what it was designed for so they are just OK.

There use to be several companies that made underwater housings for camcorders but they are on the decline. While a GoPro does have it's limitations, their ease of use and size has all but put the competition out of business.

 

[NowTeelus]

Thanks a lot, BDSC!

And I agree with your statement that the ease of use of GoPros (or, better: action cams in general) is a really important aspect.
I think, the next step after a action cam would be also a huge jump in money.

For sure, todays action cams give us divers capabillities most of us didn't even think about a decade ago.

 

[BDSC]

No problem!

You know the GoPro really changed a lot of things. I remember when you would go to most any dive resort or liveaboard and they would have a "video pro" that would go with you on dives for the week and make a dvd at the end to try and sell you. I can't even remember the last time I have seen anyone do that. It seems like at least half of the divers now have a GoPro so the professional guy isn't needed anymore. The GoPro pretty much wiped out that profession.

 

[José Teles Reis]

Lights and a good handheld mount/ handle will go a lot further for you than any new camera.

-Chris

Wise

 

[DesertEagle]

Make the investment in a tray, arms and lighting. I have a single Light & Motion 2500 and I wished I had to on my last trip. Definitely upgrade the lighting before dealing with a new camera.

This video that someone posted really shows what you can do with good lights.