So I came out of the holidays with both a GoPro Hero3+Black and Garmin Virb Elite. I also came away with one of Addicted2Climbing’s camera mounts, which I can’t say enough good things about. Unfortunately I didn’t magically acquire any video editing know-how, or cinematographic expertise, so no BCP vids yet.

Since a lot has been said elsewhere about the GoPros, I thought I’d call out a couple nice features of the Virb that I’ve enjoyed:

1. Really positive prop-blur filter. Not practical for popping on and off for beach vacations, but if you want a dedicated airplane camera, the Garmin prop filter installs very securely.

2. On-board GPS- this allows your video to embed location, altitude, groundspeed, track, etc, which can be displayed in "aviation format” using Garmin's video editor.

3. GPS also allows for automatic on/off recording. i.e., it will automatically start recording when you start taxiing, and shut off when you roll to a stop.

4. Using the GPS start/stop also means that you can turn off wifi/bluetooth, which dramatically extends battery life. They say the battery lasts longer than the GoPro anyway, but with wifi/bluetooth turned off, I’ve had 45 minutes of recording in 0F conditions and still had two-thirds charge remaining.

5. You can also turn off the sound recording, if you don’t want to waste battery and storage capturing 45 minutes of rushing wind.

Here is a crazy Virb review that really lays it all out.

Cheers,

-DP

denalipilot wrote:So I came out of the holidays with both a GoPro Hero3+Black and Garmin Virb Elite. I also came away with one of Addicted2Climbing’s camera mounts, which I can’t say enough good things about. Unfortunately I didn’t magically acquire any video editing know-how, or cinematographic expertise, so no BCP vids yet.

Since a lot has been said elsewhere about the GoPros, I thought I’d call out a couple nice features of the Virb that I’ve enjoyed:

1. Really positive prop-blur filter. Not practical for popping on and off for beach vacations, but if you want a dedicated airplane camera, the Garmin prop filter installs very securely.

2. On-board GPS- this allows your video to embed location, altitude, groundspeed, track, etc, which can be displayed in "aviation format” using Garmin's video editor.

3. GPS also allows for automatic on/off recording. i.e., it will automatically start recording when you start taxiing, and shut off when you roll to a stop.

4. Using the GPS start/stop also means that you can turn off wifi/bluetooth, which dramatically extends battery life. They say the battery lasts longer than the GoPro anyway, but with wifi/bluetooth turned off, I’ve had 45 minutes of recording in 0F conditions and still had two-thirds charge remaining.

5. You can also turn off the sound recording, if you don’t want to waste battery and storage capturing 45 minutes of rushing wind.

Here is a crazy Virb review that really lays it all out.

Cheers,

-DP

Hello DP,

Thank you for the kind words regarding my camera mount. I have yet to have the chance to Visit Denali, but hope to one day so for the next best thing, can you post a video you took with my mount and the Garmin or Gopro?

I only have a few customers using the Garmin,but those that do have good things to say. Another interesting Camera is the replay prime XD since it has a proper cinema style prime lens. I may buy one to test, but i don't like their tripod mount so will have to make my own.
http://www.replayxd.com/

Take care,

Marc

Thanks for the review, sounds like a lot of great useful features on the VIRB.

Yes, would love to see some video from it.

I hope to have some share-worthy videos one of these days, but am still at the bottom of that learning curve, looking steeply upward.
-DP

Addicted2climbing wrote:Another interesting Camera is the replay prime XD since it has a proper cinema style prime lens.

That looks like a cool product, but I'm curious what your definition of a "proper cinema style prime lens" is? A prime lens by definition is just a fixed focal length. They spec the aperture using a T-stop value, which is all the rage with cine lenses, but it's just like saying "calibrated airspeed" vs "indicated airspeed" to say T2.8 vs F2.8. The sensor size is roughly on par with the GoPro, though a hair larger at 1/2.3 vs 1/2.5. It's good to see some competition in the market but I'm not sure it's anything revolutionary.

The form factor and the feature-set-for-the-price-tag beat the heck out of the GoPro. The integration into Garmin Pilot is a nice bonus (meaning I can configure and start/stop the recording of the camera on the wing from my dash tablet)

Outside that, nothing revolutionary. I do love mine however.

Zzz wrote:

Addicted2climbing wrote:Another interesting Camera is the replay prime XD since it has a proper cinema style prime lens.

That looks like a cool product, but I'm curious what your definition of a "proper cinema style prime lens" is? A prime lens by definition is just a fixed focal length. They spec the aperture using a T-stop value, which is all the rage with cine lenses, but it's just like saying "calibrated airspeed" vs "indicated airspeed" to say T2.8 vs F2.8. The sensor size is roughly on par with the GoPro, though a hair larger at 1/2.3 vs 1/2.5. It's good to see some competition in the market but I'm not sure it's anything revolutionary.

Hey Zane,

I spoke to the guys at replay a few months ago and they told me they used a local optical house to design their lens. I cant remember who it was, but it was one that made Cine lenses. it's been a year since I worked for RED so i ama bit out of the loop now, but i did know of the company he mentioned. For the life of me I cant remember it. Regardless, I think its a step in the right direction if their camera has improved optics. However, they are a bit late to the show as nobody is going to topple GoPro..

Marc

Addicted2climbing wrote:

Zzz wrote:

Addicted2climbing wrote:Another interesting Camera is the replay prime XD since it has a proper cinema style prime lens.

That looks like a cool product, but I'm curious what your definition of a "proper cinema style prime lens" is? A prime lens by definition is just a fixed focal length. They spec the aperture using a T-stop value, which is all the rage with cine lenses, but it's just like saying "calibrated airspeed" vs "indicated airspeed" to say T2.8 vs F2.8. The sensor size is roughly on par with the GoPro, though a hair larger at 1/2.3 vs 1/2.5. It's good to see some competition in the market but I'm not sure it's anything revolutionary.

Hey Zane,

I spoke to the guys at replay a few months ago and they told me they used a local optical house to design their lens. I cant remember who it was, but it was one that made Cine lenses. it's been a year since I worked for RED so i ama bit out of the loop now, but i did know of the company he mentioned. For the life of me I cant remember it. Regardless, I think its a step in the right direction if their camera has improved optics. However, they are a bit late to the show as nobody is going to topple GoPro..

Marc

Doesn't hurt to try though. They look cool.

I'm going to reach out to both Garmin and Replay to see if I can get some evaluation cameras.

Just bought a Garmin VIRB Elite and am interested in Addicted2Climbing’s camera mounts mentioned above. Where can I get one?

Hamish

ZK Kiwi wrote:Just bought a Garmin VIRB Elite and am interested in Addicted2Climbing’s camera mounts mentioned above. Where can I get one?

Hamish

Probably PM Addicted2climbing directly, as he is the company owner, or Spruce perhaps:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/a ... -14981.php