anyone own a Go Pro?

[huggytree]

i decided to buy a Go Pro camera for our cruise coming up.....were not going to carry a normal camera.....the Go Pro strapped to my wrist is it

i am curious how easy the editing software is....

[Wozcreative]

I hear the go pro's are fantastic. I don't own one but hear nothing but good things.

[MyITGuy]

Go Pro's are nice, but the batter life isn't great, the picture quality is not as great as a regular/current camera and its really compact/difficult to use.

If you plan on using it to record action video using a head/chest strap then its perfect...but I would recommend bringing a regular camera for the usual touristy pictures.

[David Hunter]

Don't have one, but I want to get one for my motorcycle!!! Let us know how it works out for ya.

[huggytree]

i plan on making a 10 minute movie of our vacation w/ it.....and im hoping not to bring a normal camera....

i should have it in a couple of days and plan on practicing with it daily for a week before our trip.....i dont plan on mounting it to my head or chest....i will do it all from my wrist...i also bought a stick mount which should work good for snorkeling....

im curious if i can use it on waterslides on the ship....not sure if anyone would notice it on my wrist

the new model i bought has better sound/smaller.......

for motorcycles they make a mount that swings around ontop of your head....so as your riding its rotating back and forth around you...very cool stuff

[billbenson]

I have one. It's really a special purpose camera. I use mine for martial arts. I can take very high frame per second rates and then slow it way down to pick apart individual movements. Its great for that and its best used up close. It's really a specialty action camera.

As an example, I took a picture of my back yard. It sucked. But for the purpose I bought it for its great.

One thing that wasn't mentioned above is it can take wide pictures. That's nice for group shots.

It was mentioned above that it is small and clumsy to use. Yes and no. There is a nice app you can download to your cell phone to start and stop it and adjust all the settings.

The software that is a free download as well, will work for any MP4 file. You can probably play with it with your current camera.

As mentioned above, the battery life is lousy. About 2 hours or less. I'd buy an extra battery and a battery charger as well. There are a lot of aftermarket accessories for it. I bought a battery charger at Best Buy online for $8. They wanted about $30.

With all the add on features, its expensive. For the right application its great.

[billbenson]

Oh, Huggy, with all the driving you do, you could set it up as a dash cam as well. Could save you a ticket.

[huggytree]

got the go pro today....decided to get the head strap also after playing w/ the wrist strap....im going to look so cool walking around with the head strap(not)

i played around with the editing software.....wow...not easy/simple....printed out a 100 page manual....this is going to take a ton of effort...i think it will be my new hobby when we get back from out trip...editing 7 days down to 10-30 minutes.....ill probably make 2 versions....1 for the family(30 minutes) and 1 for friends (10 minutes)

this thing is waaay cool....incredible how small.....also has micro cards...ive never seen them before...4 hours on this tiny thing smaller than a finger nail

[huggytree]

Oh, Huggy, with all the driving you do, you could set it up as a dash cam as well. Could save you a ticket.

ill wear this on my head next time i decide to go a 140mph beat run with my Shelby

[billbenson]

If I remember correctly Huggy, you don't have a smart phone, but maybe your wife or one of your kids does. It makes it super easy to set up and use. For stills the smartphone will give you the image of what you want to to take a picture of as well. Using the buttons on the phone to set it up is a pain but you can just spend some time getting it set up and leave it as well. Just shifting from photo mode to video mode. The burst photo mode is kind of cool to. You can set it up to take X number of photos in Y seconds. That takes care of the guy that blinks in a group photo.

If you do think you will be taking photos I'd recommend a cheap compact tripod from Walmart and the tripod adapter although that's not necessary.

[huggytree]

i think were just going to do a video for the cruise...no photo's

no smart phone

wife says her new PC has a photo editing program thats easy to use....this GoPro one seems overly complex

i need to buy a baseball cap to somewhat hide the camera on my head when were walking around...i want to cut my idiot look down 50%.......i think the wrist is where ill be wearing it most of the time though....

bought a 3 option adjustable stand (new)...it has a tripod built into it as one of the 3 options......its a short handle/ long handle/ tripod......it may not arrive in time for the trip though(may be back ordered)

curious if Carnival will let me wear it down their waterslide

[billbenson]

There are probably only a couple of editing functions you need to do with the software. Plenty of tutorials on youtube. Just go there and search for what you want to do. You don't need to learn everything in the manual.

[huggytree]

There are probably only a couple of editing functions you need to do with the software. Plenty of tutorials on youtube. Just go there and search for what you want to do. You don't need to learn everything in the manual.

looked up some easy tutors on utube....got it down!

just got back from my trip....gopro worked great...kept having battery issues.....now that im at home i realized i hit the wireless button by mistake a few times and it was looking for a wireless device wasting my battery....

now the process of editing my video...trying to edit 7 days down to 10 minutes (within the 2 songs i chose as background music)

[billbenson]

Good luck on the editing. I need to learn how to do that. Glad the GoPro worked out for you though. Its really a great product.

Oh, and on the editing, the gopro software may be the simplest, I have no idea. But there are a lot of editing programs out there including one that comes with Windows. Maybe some others here know what will work best for you.

[huggytree]

their editing program is awesome....im in the middle of it right now and taking a break for the night....its going to be around 20 minutes long

it fixes poor lighting for you.....also tweaks the image to fit with whatever song you pick....makes it look like a music video.....i had tons of fun slowing down parts where my kids are acting goofy....also picked a fast/fun song for part and then sped the sections up to match the fast pace music....

I went on a Carnival cruise to the Western Caribbean....i cruised Disney years ago and hated it....Carnival i liked....i plan to do it again in a couple of years....Eastern Caribbean most likely next time....one of the best family vacations ive taken

i was starting to get an odd twitch under on my right eye for about a month....it went away on the cruise....stress definitely takes its toll on a business owner....i took no phone or internet with me....came home to 9 messages and 500 emails...spent 1/2 a day getting bids done and revised...im finally caught up ready for work tomorrow

[billbenson]

So what islands did you go to? Which islands do you plan for your next trip? The Caribbean was part of my sales territory for years, back when I had a real job. Curious about where you liked and what you liked about it.

[huggytree]

So what islands did you go to? Which islands do you plan for your next trip? The Caribbean was part of my sales territory for years, back when I had a real job. Curious about where you liked and what you liked about it.

Western Caribbean
Cozumel
Costa Maya
Belize
Roatan


next time its eastern caribbean (even though i went to Nassau already w/disney)

Belize we went to the ruins....great experience....

i mix up Costa maya and Cozumel....one is an island...the island one we went to the mainland and snorkeled with the Turtles and also inside a cave
Roatan we went to French Key...worthless....just take $400 and wipe your @ss with it.....for $400 the excursion got us $1 worth of chips and a private beach(which there are beaches for free everywhere)...

if Cozumel is on the mainland then that was our last day...only had 5 hours and were afraid to venture much.....was planning a beach day, but just used the pool at the port....(large pool)

comedy shows were great...magician great.....musical shows were horrible....designed for 10 year old girls and gay guys...even the wife hated it

i wouldnt go again w/o great excursions....we had 2 good, 1 bad and w/o 1........next time = 4 good ones......one issue for us is the 6 year old...tons of great stuff had a 8 or 10 year minimum.....

just finished the gopro video...its burning to cd as i write this.....i managed to get it down from 10+ hours to 4 songs worth (15-18 minutes).....i could have gotten it down to 12 and still been good if i had to.....i think we will ALWAYS go pro our trips from now on....its soooo much better than 100 snap shots...you get to see the kids moving and playing around....i used goofy songs and modified the video to match the song...i used Whipit by Devo and then sped it up to match(climbing the pyramid)...used some heavy metal songs and got my son screaming on video and slowed it down to match certain points in the song...even ended it with a photo of my daughter waving goodbye.......im now a film maker

[billbenson]

Sounds like fun Huggy