GoPro users, could you answer somme questions please?

OU812

Am thinking of getting a go pro, want to look at doing some time lapse stuff & it seems to be the best thing for it. If you have & use a gopro could you answer some quesions for me ?

Does it do timelapse out of the box?
Does it do slow motion out of the box?
Does it record audio in video mode?
Is it really almost indestructible?
Is there a viewfinder on it or do you need to buy the LCD back?
If it fixed focus?
How long does the battery last?
Would it be suitable for video blogging?
Is the wifi back & app worthwhile ?
Do you regret buying yours because of lack of use/control/whatever?

Thanks

.Longshanks.

Does it do timelapse out of the box? Yes
Does it do slow motion out of the box? Yes
Does it record audio in video mode? Yes
Is it really almost indestructible? apparently - providing it stays in the supplied housing
Is there a viewfinder on it or do you need to buy the LCD back? No viewfinder. My Hero 3 black edition lets me use my phone (with 2-3 second lag) as a viewfinder. This requires enabling the built in WIFI - which kills the battery
If it fixed focus? Yes. The focal length can be changed on mine from super wide - normal - zoom via in house digital cropping
How long does the battery last? on highest setting of 60FPS you will be lucky to get 25-35 mins. Less with WIFI on. Mayb a bit more on timelapse mode. I've got the optional extended battery pack and it doubles the original battery life
Would it be suitable for video blogging? no idea
Is the wifi back & app worthwhile ? see above
Do you regret buying yours because of lack of use/control/whatever? nope

OU812

Is it possible to run the camera for time-lapse, plugged into mains & also save images to a computer rather than a memory card (for large file sizes) ?

.Longshanks.

OU812 wrote: »

Is it possible to run the camera for time-lapse, plugged into mains & also save images to a computer rather than a memory card (for large file sizes) ?

You can plug to the main - however that limits you to indoor timelapses!
You will need a big and fast memory card to make the most of the video features. It would take a LOT of still to fill the card

Rew

You can get the skeleton housing which has an opening for access to the USB port allowing you to charge it while using it. I have plugged mine into one of those port USB batteries and boost the battery life that way. I have filled the cards plenty of times, mainly from setting the time lapse frequency too high.

To make a time lapse video you have to use external software to assemble the photos it takes into a video. For slow motion you need to use external software to slow the video to the desired speed. The more FPS the video has the more you can slow it down without ending up with ugly jerky video.

OU812

What FPS would you need for decent quality ?

It's a hero 2 I'm looking at - 120 fps WVGA, 60 fps 720p, 48 fps 960p, 30 fps 1080p Video

Rew

More FPS = Slower footage. Completely up to you and what your happy with. If you record at 60fps and display at 30fps thats a 50% slow down and its still smooth but 50% slower isn't all that slow when you see it. You can go from 60fps to 24fps and get a 40% slow down and its still going to be smooth. WVGA is a very low non HD video resolution so the 120fps there my not be of any benefit to you.

SafeSurfer

I have a GoPro 2. I wanted to do lots of time lapse videos. It does the job but is not ideal really. There is a bit of editing involved to get a usable time lapse video and you will need quite a fast machine to work on. Even then it can be slow and sometimes the results appear quite jerky.
Just today I got a Brinno tlc200Pro. It HDR and it renders time lapse videos automatically. It cost about £230 from the UK, quite expensive. I have just shot 3 time lapse videos this evening and have been impressed with the results. I am currently shooting in low light mode to try to get some shots of the current "supermoon".

The GoPro has its uses and its got loads of accessories. However in my opinion it does not excel at time lapse. If this is your main area of interest I would look at the Brinno. If you want something that you can use for a range of applications maybe look elsewhere.
One point to consider, the waterproof housing for the tlc200pro is not yet available in the UK. I was told it should be in the next few weeks.

Loads of tutorials on YouTube about time lapse techniques.

.Longshanks.

A video I made a few months ago. 95% of it was with the GoPro
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83854064

OU812

Yeah, I got my hands on it & I'm not 100% sure it's what I was looking for (which is a shame because I forked out for a load of accessories for it). I'm gonna hold onto it until after a holiday with the kids because of the waterproof enclosure & then may sell it on & get myself a decent SLR with a wide angle lens which is what I probably should have done in the first place.

OU812

How'd you do the panning effects on that longshanks ?

.Longshanks.

OU812 wrote: »

How'd you do the panning effects on that longshanks ?

I used a egg-timer thing called camalapse

OU812

Anyone experience with the cineform pro software ? Have it installed on OSX & it won't open any files.