Go Pro Hero for recording

banditgrrr

banditgrrr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was at a tournament this past weekend and seen someone with a Go Pro Hero 2 that he attached to the light to record his match. He had a small clamp style mount that would attach directly to the light. When his match was over, I seen it as he played the match back but it looked like the fisheye effect really distorted the view.

I've done a search and I've seen where people mentioned they have tried the Hero. The newest model is the Hero 3. I'm willing to buy one but I'd like to know if anyone has experience with getting an overhead video with one of these without the fisheye. A couple people mentioned changing lenses to remove the fisheye effect but did not mention which lens to use. I'd also be curious to know what mounts people have used to attach the Go Pro to the table light.

Please post any lens or mount information you may have that would reduce the fisheye effect. This will be used on a 7' table.


Thanks
 
Quick heads up.

The GoPro Hero 3 White is just a smaller form factor of the GoPro 1. The GoPro 3 Hero Silver is a smaller form factor of the GoPro 2. Only the $400 Hero 3 Black is a new and improved model.

As such, if you're going to buy a silver or white, save your money and buy a used older model.

These are great cameras for versatility and decent picture for an economy camera, but they're heavily limited in terms of advanced functionality. Pretty awesome if you're looking for a cheap way to record just about anything.
 
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I love my GoPro, but I haven't found a good use for it in an overhead pool situation. It might be cool to mount it on a player's head or chest, but that fisheye effect kills the effect I'm going for (accuracy).

I don't have the GoPro 3 black, and maybe it's different, but the overall design goal of these cameras is to capture the widest field if view possible, which requires that fisheye lens.

Sorry to add more irrelevant feedback (I don't know if non-fisheye lenses are available), but I thought I'd add my experience with the GoPro series.

Please let me know if I can help in any other way (related to filming pool).

-Blake
 
SloMoHolic said:
I love my GoPro, but I haven't found a good use for it in an overhead pool situation. It might be cool to mount it on a player's head or chest, but that fisheye effect kills the effect I'm going for (accuracy).

I don't have the GoPro 3 black, and maybe it's different, but the overall design goal of these cameras is to capture the widest field if view possible, which requires that fisheye lens.

Sorry to add more irrelevant feedback (I don't know if non-fisheye lenses are available), but I thought I'd add my experience with the GoPro series.

Please let me know if I can help in any other way (related to filming pool).

-Blake
Click to expand...


So I broke down and bought the Go Pro Hero 3 Black edition. I picked it up off Craigslist so it wasn't too painful and it actually came with serveral aftermarket items. So my bar table is in the middle of the garage right under the garage door opener. One of the mounts is the suction cup so it worked perfectly just sticking it right to the bottom of the opener. The fish eye isn't quite as bad as I thought and I think that's because it's mounted a bit higher than normal.

My concern is over the file size. I've tried recording at 1080/30fps and 720/60fps and the file sizes are about the same at 2.3GB for roughly 4 minutes of video. That's insane. Has anyone been able to figure out how to reduce the file size? At that rate, I can't even record a full match on my 32GB card. I'm trying to play with the settings but not sure what I could adjust to get the file size down when recording.
 
banditgrrr said:
... The fish eye isn't quite as bad as I thought and I think that's because it's mounted a bit higher than normal.
Click to expand...
That's good. I was wondering if the newer models had a less aggressive lens.

banditgrrr;4048947... said:
My concern is over the file size. I've tried recording at 1080/30fps and 720/60fps and the file sizes are about the same at 2.3GB for roughly 4 minutes of video. That's insane. Has anyone been able to figure out how to reduce the file size? At that rate, I can't even record a full match on my 32GB card. I'm trying to play with the settings but not sure what I could adjust to get the file size down when recording.
Click to expand...
That seems way out of line. I could easily record several hours on my older GoPro in 720/60 on a 32 GB card. My entire 4-video MTB series was one continuous "take," and I had plenty of room left on the card.

I wonder if there is a compression setting or something that could explain it. I'll do some research and see if I can come up with any recommendations.

We'll figure this out. In the meantime, have fun with the camera!

-Blake
 
SloMoHolic said:
I'll do some research and see if I can come up with any recommendations
Click to expand...
I couldn't find any references to file sizes being THAT big. I can only make a couple of suggestions:
1. Format your SDHC card using the camera itself (not your computer).
2. Update to the latest firmware (on the GoPro site under Support).
3. Use a 32GB or smaller SDHC card. I did find some folks that had some problems with 64GB cards.

Let us know how it goes. If you need any more help, I'll be glad to assist...

-Blake
 
amazon

SloMoHolic said:
I couldn't find any references to file sizes being THAT big. I can only make a couple of suggestions:
1. Format your SDHC card using the camera itself (not your computer).
2. Update to the latest firmware (on the GoPro site under Support).
3. Use a 32GB or smaller SDHC card. I did find some folks that had some problems with 64GB cards.

Let us know how it goes. If you need any more help, I'll be glad to assist...

-Blake
Click to expand...

amazon had a couple of fixes for some common glitches in the review section.
bad reviews by the way:(
 
banditgrrr said:
My concern is over the file size...the file sizes are about ... 2.3GB for roughly 4 minutes of video. Has anyone been able to figure out how to reduce the file size?
Click to expand...

Banditgrr: Do you maybe have the Hero in the protune mode? That is available in the settings. It records at a lower compression rate/higher file size.

You enable/disable protune from Settings -> Capture Settings -> ProTune.
 
I've been messing around with recording pool matches with my Hero3 also. I'm waiting on my 2.1Amp USB power adapter to continue testing since the battery life is not very good. I like having the Wi-Fi enabled to control the camera w/o touching it and that kills the battery.

If you don't want the fisheye lens effect, you will have to get the camera as high as possible and don't use the ultra wide FOV setting. Try Medium or Narrow.

The 240fps looks neat when slowed down (only available with ultra wide). You need a LOT of light though.
 
Thanks for the post because I've been thinking about the Sony Action Cam and have been trying to compare the two. At about $260 its cheaper.
 
Use a computer?

Wasn't there a post recently about using some special software to (almost) eliminate the fisheye effect? I think it works like Google's street scene views.
 
So I followed the advice and turned off ProTune. I also tested several different settings and the setting that creates the smallest files size is 720/60fps. I played for just over 5 minutes and it resulted in a 763MB file. I think that's ok since I have a 32GB SD card and I can get another one if needed.

What I'm disappointed with is the battery life. I have 2 batteries that were fully charged. I played about 15 minutes total and the battery was completely dead. This happened with both batteries. Is this what other people are getting out of their batteries or should I look at getting new ones? It's going to be a royal pain changing 3 batteries to record a match if it goes 45 minutes. I have no problem buying a couple more batteries but before I spend the money, I'd like to know if other people are getting longer battery life.
 
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