Anyone have experience with both that is willing to post your experiences? I am trying which way to go. Planned use is pretty much what we all do here. I am wondering about ease of operation, quality of footage, battery life, mounts and so on.

Appreciate any input.

Thanks

Kurt

Aloha Kurt!

My skewed experience...

VIRB: (50) inflight videos in the R44 (Oahu, Kaunakakai, Kaulapapa, KONP, Western Oregon) , (5) fishing videos (Molokai, Oahu), (2) waterborne surfing videos. The VIRB was 110% an absolute joy.

GoPro: I discontinued purchasing GoPro products after several frustrating failures. Except the clone universal action camera mounts.

Note: I consider myself a wannabe. My style: Point and shoot, then guess on clicking editing buttons then share to YouTube. Oh yeah, I figured out how to buy music from [url]play.google.com[/url]

Let me know if you decide on GoPro and/or VIRB? Would be interested in any successes/issues you may have.

“viewing tip of the day; refreshing page after each video (below) may negate latency between playing individual videos partially”

VIRB on tripod:
VIRB in night, day, mountain snow:
VIRB waterborne:VIRB surfingVIRB fishing Hawaii:VIRB held in hand doors off R44, cabin mount:

Thanks!

I will watch the vids tomorrow when I have more time to actually enjoy them. Seems like Garmin hasn’t come out with anything new in awhile. I hear others echo your comments on GoPro vs Virb.

Anyone else have anything to add?

Kurt

I have been using GoPro for a long time Started with the original hero. Although my flying skills are not on par with the people of this site here is an example of GoPro footage. Shot at 1080/30fps with a hero 4




And some surfing ,which I do have good skill sets



And just for fun.....



For better quality in the Vimeo clip click on the gear symbol and select 720p instead of auto

I will say something about these new cameras with software stabilization: I don't think it always looks good. Maybe for a mountain bike ride, but not for flying. I've dabbled with 360 video, and hardware gimbals on the plane, and that is just weird too.

Shots where the horizon is fixed and the airplane appears to rotate around the axes in a jello-like way....blah. I much prefer the fixed airplane cockpit where the world and horizon moves around it.

But that's just me...

I thought about getting a new hero8 but Im starting to like the 360GoPro camera better. May have to go that route

Thanks for all the input everyone!

Kurt

Zzz wrote:I will say something about these new cameras with software stabilization: I don't think it always looks good. Maybe for a mountain bike ride, but not for flying. I've dabbled with 360 video, and hardware gimbals on the plane, and that is just weird too.

Shots where the horizon is fixed and the airplane appears to rotate around the axes in a jello-like way....blah. I much prefer the fixed airplane cockpit where the world and horizon moves around it.

But that's just me...

I agree. I have mounted mine on the back of the airplane and it is sort of strange how the replay is like that.

So, since you are the resident movie expert, do you have a favorite camera for mounting outside of the cockpit??

Flying Dave wrote:do you have a favorite camera for mounting outside of the cockpit??

I use a....<<<<...drumroll...>>>>

GoPro Hero 5 Black. Why? I found it super cheap when the 6's or 7's had been released. I also have a Hero 3&4 Black with a lens mods.

Usually GoPro footage is just fun personal video for me. For BCP films I have focused more on handheld cameras.

If I really needed a good looking shot mounted outside I would probably use a small micro 4/3 style camera like a Blackmagic Micro Cinema and a wide/distortion-free lens, because of the sensor that camera has, and the ability to optically get away from fisheye. But it would be such a huge PITA compared to just using a GoPro or similar.

On that note...there's a ton of off brand action cameras you can get for cheap nowadays. For less than $75 you can try some clones or others that use decent sensors and processors.

I do think 4K is important because I often end up taking still screen captures from the footage that is as high res as a digital photo.

I have a Garmin Aera 660 that has a window to operate the VIRB Remotely. Just trying to streamline the amount of Technology in the cockpit and can't decide on Go Pro or VIRB. Does and anyone have any experience with Garmin Connect I think is the technology?

I do a lot of wilderness filming with my Ipad and Iphone during bird and big hunts but still a notice video photographer, want to keep it simple.

I have a VIRB and a Go Pro. VIRB is orders of magnitude easier to set up and use, but no newer tech versions I’m aware of.

The Go Pro seems to be great IF you’re a real techie type. I haven’t been as frustrated by a piece of technology in a loooong time. And I haven’t used it enough to get competent with it…..because my blood pressure goes up every time I try to use the thing.

Other than that….

MTV

I am not familiar with the Garmin Virb but have a Hero 4 and 8. I must be some sort of tech geek because it seems very straight forward to me. They did change the interface between the later models making it a little confusing. 1080 DPI is a better setting in my opinion than 2.7 or 4K for aviation videos. The higher resolution uses too much memory. It also gives a longer lasting battery life. I do think the GoPro cameras are overpriced and a friend recently bought a knockoff version for < 100 dollars that was reported as being of great quality - I haven't seen the videos yet. Having a good external mount is important for good quality videos from the outside. I like having both internal and external videos. The internal videos with radio communications can be a great training tool. Especially for IFR.



Josh

The VIRB is really “under designed”. But, I literally abhor GoPro.

Note: opinion strictly from own experience over the last (10) years.

Latest VIRB (recorded 2021-JUNE) with various flight and ground scenarios:Water etc recorded (3) days ago:

Just got a Hero 9 Really happy with the picture quality of the 4K. easy to edit using the GoPro studio software.

I love Hero 8 and 9, easy to use

My dirty old VIRB is over (3) years old and has been from the very top of Mt. Bachelor in Winter (9,000’+ MSL) to fishing in the tropics. Still my favorite (though far from perfect) action camera!

Yesterday in Hawaiian waters. Caution: expletives