I am wondering with all the youtube videos and the increase use of GoPro which one would be good for a beginner photographer. I see GoPro Hero 2, Hero 3 Silver, Gold and Black editions. Do I really need all the bells and whistles of the Black edition or will the Hero 2 do most of what I want. Thanks. Dan Boston

I'm a beginner and am completely happy with my hero 2 with wifi backpak. Does everything I want and more. Battery life had been just fine for me. A remote is something I think is a necessity if you want to use the camera with the plane.

If you are doing the standard "hang it on the wing and shoot airplane videos" then any of those you list will do the job.

Low light on the gopro3 black is much better than the others. As is resolution. Those matter to me so I went ahead and added one to the arsenal. Audio quality is better on the black, but I'm picky about that and use an external mic anyway so that didn't influence my decision. If you're going to exclusively be mounting on airplanes than audio quality doesn't matter in the slightest anyway.

This video is a very good summary of the differences you can expect.

Go with the Hero 2. The Hero 3 has a TON of tecnical issues. Meaning it freezes alot, goes blank, and because it is so high tech, lots of software glitches and drains batteries like peeing after a drunken night.

The Hero 2 takes incredible video, and is lots cheaper than the Hero 3. I have used both extensively, and my vote is hands down Hero 2. Not much of a difference that I can see in video quality betweeen the 1080 60fps that the Hero 3 touts, and the 1080 30fps that the Hero 2 has. And the only thing that might be worth a shit on the Hero 3 is it is bluetooth capable and such. Not worth 100 bones or more extra.

Hero 3 might be good when and if they fix the issues with it. Some have them, some dont. But I wouldnt pay 400 for something that "might" fail or freeze or drains batteries excessively.

And, in terms of operation, all of them are turn on, hit record. Not much more simple than that.

To answer your question, Hero 2 will do anything you want and more.

Also, I just went to amazon and looked and any reviews. Ther are almost as many 1 Star reviews, and there are 5 star reviews.
Here is the breakdown. If you ask me, 46% of reviews are 3 stars or less, that spells problems if ya ask me.
Stars # of Total Percentage
5 star 172 501 34%
4 star 98 501 20%
3 star 38 501 8%
2 star 36 501 7%
1 star 157 501 31%
Source: http://www.amazon.com/GoPro-CHDHX-301-H ... ewpoints=0


Word

ohadI wrote:Go with the Hero 2. The Hero 3 has a TON of tecnical issues. Meaning it freezes alot, goes blank, and because it is so high tech, lots of software glitches and drains batteries like peeing after a drunken night.

Gopro kind of fell off the cliff in terms of software quality for a while there. Seems to be greatly improved recently.

My experience is the opposite of yours (and most people I suppose). My gopro2 is currently bricked due to a firmware issue and I have an RMA so I can return it when I get to Chicago. My gopro3 (which I only purchased due to the bricked gopro2) has worked flawlessly. Yes, the battery life is much better on the 2. OTOH, my 2 doesn't have wifi and my 3 does. So I can turn the camera on and off via wifi and, at the end of the day, both battery life (in terms of clock time) and editing (due to having been able to capture what I want instead of having to just leave the camera running) are better.

I highly recommend getting the wifi backpack if the OP gets the 2.

This review mentions the glitchness that ohadI references: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-a ... ro-hero-3/

Gopro kind of fell off the cliff in terms of software quality for a while there. Seems to be greatly improved recently.

I highly recommend getting the wifi backpack if the OP gets the 2.

Like I said, some have issues some dont. I hoped the newer versions, or even older ones with an update, would be working way better now. I got one when they first came out. It seems like they were jumping the gun to get something out that wasnt ready. Hero 3 was crap..... I used it for 2 or 3 weeks and had NOTHING but problems, no software updates to speak of etc, so i sent the sucker back. Havent looked back since and am now quite skeptical to get another. I charged up the battery on the old Hero 2, and whammo, still great video, still great time lapse, still great quality, most importantly NO ISSUES EVER!

I like what the Hero 3 offers, but the skepticism of having so many issues is holding me back. Im glad you like it, it could be so good and im happy you get to see the better side of it. The Issues side is quite frustrating, and make me want to dig my eyeballs out with a hot spoon.

I dont know where they "GoPro" went wrong, but I sure hope it is fixed or gets fixed. GoPro any version is Fn awesome.

ohadI wrote:Like I said, some have issues some dont. I hoped the newer versions, or even older ones with an update, would be working way better now. I got one when they first came out. It seems like they were jumping the gun to get something out that wasnt ready. Hero 3 was crap..... I used it for 2 or 3 weeks and had NOTHING but problems, no software updates to speak of etc, so i sent the sucker back. Havent looked back since and am now quite skeptical to get another. I charged up the battery on the old Hero 2, and whammo, still great video, still great time lapse, still great quality, most importantly NO ISSUES EVER!

I like what the Hero 3 offers, but the skepticism of having so many issues is holding me back. Im glad you like it, it could be so good and im happy you get to see the better side of it. The Issues side is quite frustrating, and make me want to dig my eyeballs out with a hot spoon.

Yeah, I wasn't in a rush to get a 3 for the same reason. As I said before, gopro managed to hose me by bricking the 2 with a firmware update (I was trying to get the firmware with protune, instead I ended up with a camera that didn't work). And I feel your pain on the hot spoon part also. Take all your problems and add to it that I'm not in the US so even though they did the right thing and gave me an RMA, I've been sitting on it for a couple months because it would be risky to mail it from Mexico.

What you might find funny (at least in a "I feel your pain" way) is that I did return to the US for a weekend at the Lone Star Maule Fly-in and decided that I was willing to risk a couple hours and get a 3 while I was in town. Given the user reports I actually bought it and sat in the Best Buy parking lot unboxing, charging and testing it before going back to the airport.

What you might find funny (at least in a "I feel your pain" way) is that I did return to the US for a weekend at the Lone Star Maule Fly-in and decided that I was willing to risk a couple hours and get a 3 while I was in town. Given the user reports I actually bought it and sat in the Best Buy parking lot unboxing, charging and testing it before going back to the airport.

Very nice. I was so damn excited to get a new AWESOME GoPro. I never figured "It was not ready". Its tough these days with a tight ass wife to go friviously spend 400 bones, but I talked her into it and got one (Going to be much tougher to talk her into a 30k plane I assume). I was so excited and glad to get it, she was OK with it, then afer a few recordings, and lots of issues and F bombs and such, It eventually got to to the point where I tried to hide it from her, the shame that is. I got a few rolling of the eyes, and a few I told ya so's. So I sent it back.
I just cant imagine if I got another one, hoping for the best, and having the same issues again. Ugh..., It pains me to think about it. Luckily I guess were total opposites, My Hero 2 works flawlessly, and your Hero 3 does as well. So, Im not going to change anytime soon, as long as the good old 2 works, Ill use it and as long as your Hero 3 works Im sure youll use the shit out of it as well.
Im a GoPro believer.... most the time.

ohadI wrote:My Hero 2 works flawlessly, and your Hero 3 does as well. So, Im not going to change anytime soon, as long as the good old 2 works, Ill use it and as long as your Hero 3 works Im sure youll use the shit out of it as well.
Im a GoPro believer.... most the time.

Yeah, you can bet your ass that I'm not going to upgrade the firmware on my 3 until, at least, I get the RMA on my gopro2 sorted out! Don't fix what's working.

My understanding is that they are using linux behind the scenes on these things. On the one hand, this saved them some time and cost, so we get a good bang for the buck. On the other hand, that means they have a pretty big software stack that they didn't write themselves and don't have a 'throat to choke' if things change in unadvertised ways. Regardless of how they got there, the past 6-9 months have been inexcusably bad.

The latest and greatest firmware (at least for the 3) is April 24th and has positive user reports. Hopefully they've got their act together. Unfortunately, this is one of those deals where only time will tell.

Thanks for all the information, I really enjoyed the comparison video, I did not know how small the Hero 3 was, also how does the GoPro compare to the HD 170 which I see on the forum. Maybe some one could set up a poll to see who uses which one. I still am undecided which one would be best. I am not sure I need that much detail taking flying videos but it would be one my wife would like for the grandchildren events. Again thanks for all the advice. Dan Boston

dboston wrote:Maybe some one could set up a poll to see who uses which one. I still am undecided which one would be best. I am not sure I need that much detail taking flying videos but it would be one my wife would like for the grandchildren events.

If the point of the poll is market validation, then that data is already available. Gopro is, by far, the market leader. 21% of all camcorders sold and a third of all pocket camcorders sold are gopros according to Forbes. Even at Best Buy (i.e. traditional retail) gopro outsells sony.

I do wonder about the grandchildren comment though. Neither the gopro nor the HD170 are particularly great "capture family memories" devices. They are labelled as "action camcorders" and are very highly tuned to working well in that specific environment. Unless the "grandchildren" comment is focused on grandchildren that are skateboarding, rock climbing, parasailing, diving, biking, etc, then I think you'll find this class of camera to not suit your needs.

How does the gopro handle "prop effect?"

svanarts wrote:How does the gopro handle "prop effect?"

It doesn't. All CMOS sensors (which is all action cams) have this problem.

Here's one work around: http://www.eyeofmineactioncameras.com/G ... esnp-3.htm

This reduces the light hitting the camera and forces a longer shutter speed, reducing or eliminating the problem.

Interesting. Someone told me the new go pro doesn't have the problem. I guess someone was wrong.

svanarts wrote:Interesting. Someone told me the new go pro doesn't have the problem. I guess someone was wrong

Here's a video I took a couple weeks ago with the gopro3 black setup for 1080 at 60fps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Csq9RsYiQ&t=423

Higher frame rates seem to help some. 60fps is the fastest you can do at 1080. I don't yet have an example at 720 and 120 fps, maybe that's what he was referring to? I can't fly again until the 14th, maybe I'll give it a shot.

Just got my GoPro 3. Here is the first flight. So far very impressed with quality. This was shot 1080, 60fps, 127 degree FOV.

Very nice approach to Stuart Turbo. I love that place!

Papa Victor wrote:Very nice approach to Stuart Turbo. I love that place!

Wow, sure looks green. Last I was there in August, it was all brown. Do you live on Stuart, turbopilot?

Off topic but, interesting ...

I use the open case (back exposed), with GoPro 2, when flying in Oregon to keep the condensation to a minimum. Then... forgot to change back to the waterproof case and immersed the entire camera in the surf. The GoPro actually made "sizzle" noises for about five minutes before a complete demise. I have not looked at the SD chip yet to see if any data is retrievable. Never again!

Zzz wrote:

Papa Victor wrote:Very nice approach to Stuart Turbo. I love that place!

Wow, sure looks green. Last I was there in August, it was all brown. Do you live on Stuart, turbopilot?

Roche Harbor.