No clue where to start

[swimbody]

Photo guy here, love taking photos underwater and 7 years of diving has yielded nothing for me to enjoy while planning the next trip. I'm interested in GoPro as a setup underwater. Where do I start? GP hero 3 3+ or 4 or 4+. I read the resolution differences. Why does GP no longer sell the hero black? What's a practical entry level setup that will give me stability and comfort. I understand about red filter now. A primer please from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

 

[onderwaterfoto]

Your question is a little bit confusing. Yes there was a hero 3 black and yes there was a hero 3+ black. Now we have 2 Go Pro Hero 4 camera's. The Silver and the Black. Choosing between those 2 is simple. Do you want 4k resolution @ 30 fps. If yes the go for the black. If not the Silver is the one to get. And from there you can go further but depends on what you want. High quality or just casual videos? Lights, filters, lenses, trays. Dunno what your budget is.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

The cool(or not so cool) thing about Go Pro's is that you can go as little or as much as you want depending on your ambition and budget. I have seen some insane 3D 4K cave videos using lights and strobes and I have seen the tropical reef diver with a 4 year old original Hero HD mounted to a head strap filming clips for his friends to watch on Youtube. It's all in what you want to do.

 

[carlkcarlk]

I choose the Hero 4 Silver, not just because it was cheaper, but because it has a little touch LCD on it's back. On the other hand, the higher-resolution and frame rate of the Black would make it even better for using video to get stills (and also video, of course).

- Carl
My YouTube video: "Easy One-Button Scuba Photos with GoPro Hero4 (via Video!)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54bwE5N7G_c

 

[swimbody]

Best places to buy the Hero 4 Silver? If I'm amateur do I really need the 4 Black's higher resolution? It seems The 4 Silver would def do the trick. I'm assuming the housing that comes with it is secure enough? Saw that GoPro also makes a housing to go to 195'. I've been to 130' a few times. The stock one comes rated to 115'. How about the best, lightest one-handed mount with lights? I'd like an affordable set up if anyone has a good suggestion. Are all the mounts designed to use any GoPro?

 

[3D diver]

I recommend the new, basic Hero---it's cheap and very capable for the money. Use the money you save to get one or two of DRIS's Impact video lights and use some simple hand tools to make yourself a tray.

Oh, and yes, GoPro mounts will work with all of their cameras.

Here are a couple of my DIY threads:

This first one emphasizes lighting...I did a lot of experimentation, came up with a pretty good hack that I used for a couple of years, but have replaced them with the impacts:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/gopro-video/425784-my-gopro-3d-setup.html

This second is an experiment in trying to use too many cameras at once:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-videography/486348-cameras-pointing-everywhere.html

Don't be distracted by my 3D emphasis...a camera is a camera from the point of view of setting up a tray and lights.

There are a lot of other DIY tray threads out there & I encourage you to browse.

 

[tamas970]

Whether you need the resolution you have to find out yourself - what I can say is the 4k vid played back in fullHD is better than any fullHD content I've ever seen.
(However I am not so convinced by the real 4k capabilities of the Black - played back in native resolution I see noise and the sharpness could also be somewhat better)
Anyway, the silver and the basic hero are both decent cameras, check out some real-life tests, if you are satisfied with the result, buy the cam. The silver has the added
advantage of the LCD-screen.

As for depth rating: you'll be fine, the stock housing can safely/officially go to 130'/40m, I don't know where that 115' figure came from... More important is
to always check the o-ring (unfortunately its a single one) and do a pre-dive check pushing all buttons in the rinse tank watching for bubbles. The housing
itself won't implode, only the buttons might become inoperable at greater depths.

Regarding budget: really depends what you want. For top quality video u need BIG LIGHTS. I mean, something in the 2x2000 lumens or more range if you want to bring
colors back. With these you already tripled the cost of even a hero 4 black... If you are fine with less, you can take filters (even a penny gel sheet does the job)
for shallow and use a single archon D32vr for dark places/night dives.

Best places to buy the Hero 4 Silver? If I'm amateur do I really need the 4 Black's higher resolution? It seems The 4 Silver would def do the trick. I'm assuming the housing that comes with it is secure enough? Saw that GoPro also makes a housing to go to 195'. I've been to 130' a few times. The stock one comes rated to 115'. How about the best, lightest one-handed mount with lights? I'd like an affordable set up if anyone has a good suggestion. Are all the mounts designed to use any GoPro?