GoPro?

[Mr. Click]

Ok, I know GoPro has been discussed at length here but I find myself in a weird situation. We had a ton of OBC on our last cruise, planned to use a lot of it on specialty dining packages but that did not work out so by the last night of our trip I was still looking for a way to get rid of it, short of giving it back. So, I bought a Hero 6 in Black.  That was 10 days ago and I still have not even unpacked it.  Usually new camera gear calls my name very loudly but this time. I look at it, I look at my little grandchildren and opt to play with them.  So, anyone have any suggestions to get me going with this toy?

[pierces]

I am the worst person to give advice with my video history (nearly zero) but a good start would be to Google "GoPro cruise video" or something like that and see if there is any style, effect, time-lapse or excursion footage that inspires you to give it a try.

 

Oh, unpacking it will give you better footage to work with. 😉

 

Dave

Edited November 3, 2018 by pierces

[mskaufman]

I have a Hero 5 that I purchased for our river cruise this year.  It did a very good job capturing 4K video of the places we visited,  I used it last week at my nieces wedding.  It's not as good in the dark as in daylight but according to my brother the quality was better than video people sent him from their phone.  Since it is wide angle it might not be the best choice for grandchildren video.

[Mr. Click]

Thanks for the ideas...now that things are settling down a bit I think I will get a chance to unpack it and play with some in the next week or so. I am really much more of a still person but maybe that will change with this toy. Oh, did I mention my grandchildren LOVE to stick their faces right into my lens?  

[mskaufman]

I am a still person also.  However, in planning for a river cruise it looked like there were things that the still camera wouldn't do justice to.  I was correct.

[angie7911922]

Let your grandchildren help you "learn" how to use it. The time will be well spent for both you and them. And let's be honest, if they are over the age of 2, they probably know more about it than you do 🙂 Kids are really good at figuring out how electronics work, and it will give you a chance to look at the features before you cruise!

[Chesneygirl]

This cruise video was shot entirely on a GoPro Hero 5. :)

 

 

 

[mskaufman]

This video is a combination of stills from my Canon 60D and my GoPro Hero5

 

 

 

 

[Loonbeam]

One of the things I have done is gotten a waterproof case (I still use a Hero 2) and a gorillapod and set it up on the balcony rail going into and out of ports, usually on time lapse.  Need a large memory card and usually a battery pack if you set it up night prior and not always a great video. but it takes up almost no room to bring.

 

Basically I find it useful for any activity I want to capture duration or timelapse.  See if it lets me upload the one from the Panama Canal

 

 

 

[Re-tired]

I seem to get carried away with the time-lapse video's, too. There is a lengthy story about setting up on forward facing deck two hours early and then dealing with some pushy lady who showed up mid-transit, but that's not for here.  I don't use the GoPro enough, but it does a very good job when I finally get it out

 

.Panama Canal Video

 

 

[Loonbeam]

13 hours ago, Re-tired said:

I seem to get carried away with the time-lapse video's, too. There is a lengthy story about setting up on forward facing deck two hours early and then dealing with some pushy lady who showed up mid-transit, but that's not for here.  I don't use the GoPro enough, but it does a very good job when I finally get it out

 

.Panama Canal Video

 

 

Thats why I like the gorillapod method.  I can set it up somewhere that's out of people's view.  I've had staff even help me mount it in places not normally accessible.

 

[Re-tired]

10 hours ago, Loonbeam said:

Thats why I like the gorillapod method.  I can set it up somewhere that's out of people's view.  I've had staff even help me mount it in places not normally accessible.

 

I did use a clamp but my life experience just won't let me leave gear where some malcontent can take it.  If it's going to leave my sight it pretty much has to be disposable.  Maybe I need therapy...

[Loonbeam]

14 hours ago, Re-tired said:

I did use a clamp but my life experience just won't let me leave gear where some malcontent can take it.  If it's going to leave my sight it pretty much has to be disposable.  Maybe I need therapy...

Which is why I use my balcony more often than not or ask permission to put it somewhere out of easy reach (like a railing in a non-public area - I have surprisingly good luck with that request if not always the best positioning if they do it).  If I have it in public areas I tend to stay near it and use my regular camera at the same time.

 

[Re-tired]

8 hours ago, Loonbeam said:

Which is why I use my balcony more often than not or ask permission to put it somewhere out of easy reach (like a railing in a non-public area - I have surprisingly good luck with that request if not always the best positioning if they do it).  If I have it in public areas I tend to stay near it and use my regular camera at the same time.

 

Wow, thanks for the idea.  We are heading out in March and May so I will try your method.  If it gets swiped I will lobby for the new Hero7...

[Loonbeam]

19 hours ago, Re-tired said:

Wow, thanks for the idea.  We are heading out in March and May so I will try your method.  If it gets swiped I will lobby for the new Hero7...

Worth noting - mine are a Hero1 and Hero2.  If they get swiped I can probably replace $20 used on Ebay, so risk factor is much lower.

 

[Re-tired]

Well, that makes sense.  GoPro had a $100 rebate for a new 6 so I sold my 4 to my brother-in-law and bought the 6.  It is a huge improvement, especially the stabilization.  We went to Iguazu Falls earlier this year and the in-camera stabilization worked wonders in the ride to the falls.   

 

I'm not a rabid camera buyer, most of my gear is decades old and uses large pieces of film. But for some strange reason I like having the latest GoPro even though I don't use it enough to justify the expense.  I'm charging the batteries for a weekend of fun at Willowsprings.

 

 

[Mr. Click]

Thanks everyone for the ideas.  I finally got it out of the box, charged the battery up, bought some cards, now I am considering attaching it to my almost 20 month old grandson......or maybe doing a time lapse for a friend who builds trade show exhibits.....

[Loonbeam]

15 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

Thanks everyone for the ideas.  I finally got it out of the box, charged the battery up, bought some cards, now I am considering attaching it to my almost 20 month old grandson......or maybe doing a time lapse for a friend who builds trade show exhibits.....

Works great for things like trade shows, I used to do them for our booth years ago when I ran one for a former company.   Used a gorillapod to attach it to some light rigging and ran a power cord to it.  

[Mr. Click]

Thanks for the ideas and info.  I guess I better get busy and get that gorillapod ordered.

 

Unrelated to the gopro here is the link to my coffee table book that I did on the trip.  I bought the gopro on the last day with our excess OBC so I never had a chance to really think about using it on the trip.  I use a Canon 5D Mk III, lenses are 16-35 F2.8, 24-105 IS F4 and the 70-200 II IS 2.8, often with the 1.4TC Mk III.  

 

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/7893541/2a25672cc174554601cbf74d7ecb407d861f2c29

 

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Mr. Click

[Crew News]

On 12/16/2018 at 2:48 PM, Mr. Click said:

Thanks for the ideas and info.  I guess I better get busy and get that gorillapod ordered.

 

Unrelated to the gopro here is the link to my coffee table book that I did on the trip.  I bought the gopro on the last day with our excess OBC so I never had a chance to really think about using it on the trip.  I use a Canon 5D Mk III, lenses are 16-35 F2.8, 24-105 IS F4 and the 70-200 II IS 2.8, often with the 1.4TC Mk III.  

 

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/7893541/2a25672cc174554601cbf74d7ecb407d861f2c29

 

 

What an amazing coincidence!  With my excess OBC, I opted for the Hero 7 at 9:00 PM on the last cruise evening rather than lose $400 two days ago.  I even purchased the way overpriced micro SD card so I could play with the GoPro.  The instructions to remove the housing and the stiff latch caused me to wait until back on land to watch a video rather than break my new purchase.  I did put the battery in upside down and needed a nail file to remove it.  Who writes the instructions?

 

Now back home, I am trying to decide what to do with a GoPro since I shoot Olympus micro 4:3.  Only one hour battery life for a GoPro??

 

Time to determine what are the "needed" accessories.

[Mr. Click]

2 hours ago, Crew News said:

What an amazing coincidence!  With my excess OBC, I opted for the Hero 7 at 9:00 PM on the last cruise evening rather than lose $400 two days ago.  I even purchased the way overpriced micro SD card so I could play with the GoPro.  The instructions to remove the housing and the stiff latch caused me to wait until back on land to watch a video rather than break my new purchase.  I did put the battery in upside down and needed a nail file to remove it.  Who writes the instructions?

 

Now back home, I am trying to decide what to do with a GoPro since I shoot Olympus micro 4:3.  Only one hour battery life for a GoPro??

 

Time to determine what are the "needed" accessories.

You sound like me but the Hero 7 was not available on our cruise and because we had all EU ports I had to pay the VAT and then apply for a refund....Still free money that I was not giving back.  Thankfully there are some great videos on YouTube showing how to actually use the thing from getting out of the box to actually making pictures.

[Crew News]

More than $140 later, I have gathered a plethora of clamps, tripod adapters, spare batteries & charger, carrying case, gorillapod, head/hat clips, etc.   I am still looking at a remote control before I take it to Alaska in June. 

[masterdrago]

Like several here, I've just opened my new 7 Black. I've been a still shooter since 1965 and only recently (eclipse of 2017) taken up video. For me the learning curve of the GoPro seems high, but then I've never been a hard core techie. I got the 7 with $100 off when it first hit the market by trading in a D70 Nikon body (didn't use it anymore). My reason for dipping into the GoPro world is our Alaska cruise next May. I wanted a way to easily take time lapse from the balcony while in Hubbard Glacier. So far, I've only scratched the surface on the cameras capabilities but I've got plenty of time to work out the tweaks. And right on spending more than a couple of $$$ on extras. Batteries! Wow, does this thing eat them. Fortunately, they unlike some other proprietary batteries, are not overpriced.

[masterdrago]

On 12/4/2018 at 5:10 PM, Chesneygirl said:

This cruise video was shot entirely on a GoPro Hero 5. 🙂  You've shown exactly how I want our new GoPro vids to look. Extremely impressed with your editing ability. I plan on shooting as many short vids as possible and can only hope I can edit 1/3 as well as you have. Amazing!

 

 

 

 

[Chesneygirl]

1 hour ago, masterdrago said:

 

Thanks so much! The key to making this type of video is to make sure your clips are about 10 to 15 seconds long. It makes editing soooooo much easier. Also getting creative with camera placement for different points of view helps keep the video interesting. Feel free to subscribe to my YT channel…I have another cruise coming up  in February and I going to use the GoPro Hero 7 along with the Canon g7x Mark to capture footage. Youtube will notify you once I've uploaded my new video. :) 

Link to my channel wwwdotyoutubedotcom/reelfocus