New inexpensive HD video camera!

Dusty2 · Post by **Dusty2** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:23 am

Check this guy out! $260 for the complete outfit and full 1080 HD. Housing, Camera and helmet mount. Good to 180 fsw. If you want to spend even less there is a 960 res coming out this month for $189.00

http://www.goprocamera.com/products/hd- ... camera.php

dphershman · Post by **dphershman** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:32 am

I checked the specs-- fixed focus at f2.8? that might be difficult for anything closer than a few feet as you won't have much DOF.

Would be interesting to see some UW footage with it though.

Most newer point and shoots these days are coming out with HD video built in, so they might still be a better choice for the casual videographer.

I'm sorely tempted to check out the new Nikon D7000 DSLR that was just announced the other day though. It has HD video and it is supposed to be able to autofocus, unlike its predecessors. New camera and housing.... brother! It'll take awhile for Ikelight to make a housing for it so my pocket book is safe for awhile!

Nwbrewer · Post by **Nwbrewer** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:40 am

dphershman wrote:I checked the specs-- fixed focus at f2.8? that might be difficult for anything closer than a few feet as you won't have much DOF.

I never see much more than a few feet in Puget Sound anyway....

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:22 am

This guy is experimenting a lot with photography, from 3D to putting this camera into shark's mouth

http://echeng.com/journal/

Dusty2 · Post by **Dusty2** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:46 pm

Granted it has many limitations but at that price a guy could just stick it in his utility pocket or clip it to your BC while taking pix with your regular camera and if you saw something interesting just whip it out and shoot some video. It's not for serious vidiographers but then it doesn't cost 5 grand either!

dphershman · Post by **dphershman** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:10 pm

I wonder if shark swallowing voids the warranty?

whatevah · Post by **whatevah** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:58 pm

There are a few folks on the board who own GoPro cameras - myself included. I've used mine for all kinds of stuff - skiing, whitewater kayaking and rafting, motorcycling, go-karting, and diving of course. They are _heaps_ of fun and great value for the money. Mine is the standard definition wide angle model and I'm really happy with it. Someday I'll likely upgrade to the HD but I'm not in any hurry. I have an 8GB card in mine and I buy the (rather spendy) one time use Lithium batteries - a new set will last through a good hour of recording in cold water. Only issue I've had is that I've snapped some of the mounting arms, but they are cheap to replace, and I am pretty hard on them. It really does well with low light conditions - but for diving, you need decent vis and lots of sunshine directly overhead to get good results. It won't focus very close (so not much good for close-up critter stuff) but is awesome for capturing the feel of the overall scene - it is almost fisheye. Here's a video I made using mine earlier this year...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0LTI_rG1tk[/youtube]

-Aaron- · Post by **-Aaron-** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:59 pm

A friend of mine just picked up a Contour HD helmet camera http://contour.com/contourhd/helmetcam. I'm not sure exactly the details, but he seemed pretty convinced that they were much nicer quality that the GoPro. The form factory is much smaller for sure. He has a couple videos up he took downhill mountain biking, but we haven't tried it out in the water yet, http://contour.com/users/ontrackvideo. I think we might get a chance on our upcoming Channel Islands trip.

dwashbur · Post by **dwashbur** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:20 pm

The biggest problem we have shooting video with our current cameras is focus. It doesn't adjust as we move around. This camera appears to have ongoing autofocus? Is that correct?

Dusty2 · Post by **Dusty2** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:41 pm

The HD sport model does but I think the cheaper ones are fixed focus. Supposedly anything over 2' away will be in focus for the fixed focus models. You have to remember though that these are designed to be mounted on a helmet or scooter or something. They are strictly point and shoot with no frills. They have no viewfinder and no controls other than on and off and video mode selection. That is the way they get 2 1/2 hours off of one battery charge and how they can price so low.

If your looking for something with auto focus, macro, zoom, and all the goodies your lookin at some serious bucks and a real dedicated HD video camera and aftermarket housing.

Most of the Point and shoot cameras give only passable video with some pretty big drawbacks and the Video cameras that take stills are pretty basic on the camera side. There is still nothing that does both well.

Dashrynn · Post by **Dashrynn** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:46 pm

Dusty2 wrote:The HD sport model does but I think the cheaper ones are fixed focus. Supposedly anything over 2' away will be in focus for the fixed focus models. You have to remember though that these are designed to be mounted on a helmet or scooter or something. They are strictly point and shoot with no frills. They have no viewfinder and no controls other than on and off and video mode selection. That is the way they get 2 1/2 hours off of one battery charge and how they can price so low.

Perfect for slapping on a scooter I'm figuring

Dusty2 · Post by **Dusty2** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:51 pm

Dashrynn wrote:
Dusty2 wrote:The HD sport model does but I think the cheaper ones are fixed focus. Supposedly anything over 2' away will be in focus for the fixed focus models. You have to remember though that these are designed to be mounted on a helmet or scooter or something. They are strictly point and shoot with no frills. They have no viewfinder and no controls other than on and off and video mode selection. That is the way they get 2 1/2 hours off of one battery charge and how they can price so low.
Perfect for slapping on a scooter I'm figuring

Yep, switch it on when you hit the water and switch it off when you surface.

whatevah · Post by **whatevah** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:26 am

Dusty2 wrote:The HD sport model does but I think the cheaper ones are fixed focus. Supposedly anything over 2' away will be in focus for the fixed focus models.

All the GoPro cameras are fixed focus with depth of field that covers 2' to infinity. And fixed focus is really what you want for the kinds of uses these cameras are going to see.

Dusty2 wrote: They have no viewfinder and no controls other than on and off and video mode selection. That is the way they get 2 1/2 hours off of one battery charge and how they can price so low.

The standard definition model does have a viewfinder, but it really isn't very useful.

mancub · Post by **mancub** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:41 pm

They are apparently coming out with a little LCD attachment, due to the growing popularity.

Check out www.eyeofmine.com/gopro/
The thing that interests me is the camera's 170 degree lens. To get that in a normal hd camera is very expensive. And, eyeofmine has designed a better underwater housing specifically for scuba divers.
The stock housing has trouble focusing underwater due to it's curved "fisheye" dome port. Eyeofmine made a reinforced flat port that fixes focus issues underwater. It appears to keep the great wide angle abilities of the camera.

Jacob

whatevah · Post by **whatevah** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 3:42 pm

mancub wrote: The thing that interests me is the camera's 170 degree lens. To get that in a normal hd camera is very expensive. And, eyeofmine has designed a better underwater housing specifically for scuba divers.
The stock housing has trouble focusing underwater due to it's curved "fisheye" dome port. Eyeofmine made a reinforced flat port that fixes focus issues underwater. It appears to keep the great wide angle abilities of the camera.

I wonder if that focus issue is particular to the HD model. I don't think I've noticed anything like that with my standard definition model - and EyeOfMine only offer the different housing for the HD camera. One thing that concerns me with the HD camera is battery life. My standard definition camera gets about an hour of recording time in our local water temperatures with the disposable lithium batteries I use - nothing like the record that's given in the specs. I'd expect similar reduction in battery life for the HD model. Only problem is that the HD camera has an internal rechargeable Lithium Ion battery (1100mAh). When I run two 1000mAh rechargeable Lithium Ion AAAs in my standard definition camera I get drastically shorter record times in cold temperatures. Would love to hear about battery life from someone who runs the HD camera in water from 38 degrees to 54 degrees. The HD camera does supposedly direct more of the heat from operation towards its battery compartment - providing some warming, but I wonder how effective that really is.

Matt S. · Post by **Matt S.** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:01 pm

The HD Hero image quality underwater just plain sucks. The lens on the housing was not made with underwater focus in mind and the quality of the camera is just plain wasted. The Eye of Mine site shows good before/after videos that illustrate this. GoPro tech support told me, when I asked, that there was some "minor loss of sharpness" or something like that apparent in the HD version which was not noticeable in the SD version. It's more than minor though, unfortunately.

Besides the Eye of Mine solutions there are a couple of other outfits making things. I would not buy the camera unless you were OK with immediately buying or making something to fix the UW focus issue.

Discussion of HD Hero issues can be found on this forum:
http://goprouser.freeforums.org/questio ... ly-f4.html

Here is a thread about UW focus mods:
http://goprouser.freeforums.org/underwa ... 8-290.html

Beware, the forum admin is cranky and people get banned for posting links to products.

New firmware just came out, by the way, so be sure to hit the manufacturer's site and get it if you buy one.

H20doctor · Post by **H20doctor** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:08 pm

i think a Go pro is good for a entry level diver who is on a Budget ... i was gonna buy one , but after reserching it , it just didnt look right for underwater.. Above water yes , Below No

mancub · Post by **mancub** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:13 pm

Beware, the forum admin is cranky and people get banned for posting links to products.

Apologies, I have not used any of the aforementioned products, just attempting to add in to the conversation. I can edit it out or by all means delete my post, I understand product placement doesn't belong here. Merely adding to what I had learned via searching the OP on "insert your favorite search engine".

Jacob

Matt S. · Post by **Matt S.** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:38 pm

OMG, sorry, I meant the admin on that OTHER FORUM. This forum is ACES, nothing to worry about.

I should have been more careful in my writing!

mancub · Post by **mancub** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:32 pm

Makes more sense now. All good, I read it the other way around. I was gonna say, the mods on this board seem to be great

There was a very cool freediving video that was shot with the gopro. Posted earlier on this board if I remember right.

Matt S. · Post by **Matt S.** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 12:03 am

Besides Eye of Mine, check out this fix vendor:

http://www.goforfocus.com/index.html

It's 30 euros shipped or 35 with a color filter. The Eye of Mine solution is a new housing, not just the flat lens, for $100. Or they have a $70 "bag." Both flat ports will have a little vignetting in some modes.

I'll probably try the German flat port, I like the price. Hopefully the camera wrist mount comes out before my trip next month.

sheahanmcculla · Post by **sheahanmcculla** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 7:34 am

The free diver guy on the board uses the GoPro Camera with the eye of mine flat lens and it looks pretty good to me.

$220 including lens seems crazy good for HD!

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/14188947[/vimeo]

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/13426349[/vimeo]

Cabezon · Post by **Cabezon** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:09 am

Hey Divers,

These small, compact underwater HD video cameras are definitely revolutionizing action video, especially with social media going viral. I was so impressed with these little cameras that I actually joined Contour 17 months ago. Contour innovated and introduced HD and 1080p HD to the hands-free video camcorder market last year. We also just announced a GPS version of the camera – too bad it GPS doesn’t work underwater!

Being an avid diver and underwater photographer, I thought the compact video camera has great potential for scuba application compared to bulky and traditional video housings. It is easy to use, easy to travel with, and costs a fraction of traditional systems. As Contour had no aspiration to address the hard-core scuba market, I joined the company with the premise that I get to develop the scuba market as a side business. A buddy of mine (who an accomplished engineer and craftsman) and I designed, developed, and beta tested a very robust housing for the Contour camcorders. We looked at what was available in the market (i.e. the Flip and GoPro). Both those housings are injection molded and really look like toys rather than a robust piece of scuba equipment. However, they are very cost effective. When we tested the GoPro housing, quality came into play as one of our housings leaked at depth and we experienced the same optics problems listed above. If you are interested, you can actually send your GoPro housing to Sartek and they can replace the port on the housing with a flat port that that works – for a fee, or course. However, you will still have the severe fish-eye effect associated inherent to the GoPro optics. The wide angle of the Contour1080p camera is not near as wide, and therefore produces much less distortion.

Our housing looks more like something Ikelite would build. It is pressure tested to 300 feet and will probably go much deeper (300 feet is as deep as the pressure pot would go). Of course, the housing is quite a bit more expensive ( $319). As any of you underwater photographers know, good housings typically cost more that the camera – often 2 or even 3 times as much. We realize this housing is not for everyone – our goal was to build a high quality housing that produces excellent quality video for serious scuba divers, and keep the package price under $600 (camera and housing). If you are interested, I have video shot with the camera on my website (http://www.emeralddiving.com/H2OV.html). I shot the Port Hardy video this year – the other two videos were shot by customers (one from the tropics with no artificial light and the other a wreck dive to 270’). None of us are professional videographers – we just like to dive! Anyway, I thought I’d let you know there is a compact HD alternative to the GoPro – an alternative that was actually built by scuba divers for scuba divers. Sorry for the shameless plug!

-Cabezon

Norris · Post by **Norris** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:33 am

Yeah kinda

It's pretty well known that we can get into a video sytem for around 600 dollars. I think the idea of this thread is affordable video options for the novice underwater videographer.

1 Cabezon post = 1 Cabezon plug

my psi

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:53 am

I don't think it's off-topic. Cabezon's Contour HD cam is very much a direct competitor to the GoPro ones (I went down to their HQ which was across the street from Newsvine and got myself one). The housing is the main cost difference. I don't know what the GoPro is rated to, but the Contour housing is rated to 300 feet, which involves some pretty tough construction. The Contour cam I bought from them is on Mt. Everest at the moment, with one of my writers, Eric Larsen. We'll see how it performed in the cold when he gets back with all of the video.

Northwest Dive Club