When to switch to 60 fps... GoPro Hero Silver

[dpspaceman]

So I have the newer GoPro Hero Silver ($399) which can shoot 1080 @ 60fps. I've been told to stick with 30 fps, but looking at my videos unless i'm completely still I do notice a blurring effect. Can someone opine if it's time to switch to 60 fps? I'm wondering if switching to 60 fps is going to be a negative...

I have lights and flip red filter... if I'm diving deep, i typically take the filter off and just use the lights. (2 archon lights)

youtube.com/gpdadventures

 

[ReefHound]

When you have strong light.

 

[spoolin01]

I have a first gen GoPro and always use the 760/60 setting, as it's choppy at 30 fps with most any motion. I notice the same thing at 760/30 with an Oly XZ-1, which I otherwise like.

What's the downside of using 60fps? Lower ISO? I don't find that to be an issue for shallow water tropical use w/o lights, but perhaps it's noticeable under other conditions.

 

[ReefHound]

Some downsides would be:

Larger file sizes as 60fps takes more space than 30fps

Higher frame rate requires more light. You may have "enough" for 60fps but that same light level would make 30fps pop.

60fps requires more processing power meaning you can record in higher resolutions at lower frame rates. For example, the Hero4 Silver offers 4K at 15 fps; 2.7K at 30 and 24 fps; 1440p at 48, 30, and 24 fps; 1080p at 60, 48, 30, and 24 fps; 960p at 100 and 60 fps; and 720p at 120, 60, and 30 fps.

60fps requires more CPU power on your PC for editing. If you have a strong PC then no worries.

 

[diversteve]

If you're not shooting in 60FPS you should be. 1080P/60 is the current broadcast standard unless you're shooting high-end 4K video.

And will clear up the blurring for the most part.

Youtube upload compression often lowers the quality anyway so you may as well avail yourself of the better option.

As long as you have the light/post-processing power to support it I'd switch. Just about any quad-core computer sold in the last 5 years probably does with enough RAM.