Should I get gopro?

I'm interested in gopro...I had a great Sony underwater camera and it broke recently. Most underwater cameras as cruddy quality. Trying g to decide what to get...

Background is I'm a professional portrait photographer but I have never used gopro of even seen one in person.

Here's my wants from new camera and also my questions

Wants

1 great underwater photos

2 take videos

3 durable

4 easy to use while swimming etc and not overly complicated

Questions

1 Do people use this just to take photos or do people only use it for video?

2 is it hard to take photos w no viewfinder?

3 is it complicated? I know lots about photography but don't have times of time to learn a while new field

4 what mounts are necessary for swimming and stuff like that?

5 does it come w waterproof case

6 is editing videos difficult? I have no knowledge of video recording quality etc...I assume it's great quality

7 what model do I need?

8 is there another High quality waterproof camera out there? That takes videos? Loved Sony but hard to use touchscreen w wet hands and inside photos using flash weren't great

Thank so much

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of Info and I can't sort it out in my head ;)

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I'm interested in gopro...I had a great Sony underwater camera and it broke recently. Most underwater cameras as cruddy quality. Trying g to decide what to get...

Background is I'm a professional portrait photographer but I have never used gopro of even seen one in person.

 

Here's my wants from new camera and also my questions

 

Wants

1 great underwater photos

2 take videos

3 durable

4 easy to use while swimming etc and not overly complicated

 

Questions

1 Do people use this just to take photos or do people only use it for video? they use both

2 is it hard to take photos w no viewfinder? no not at all due to the wide angle lens you just hold and shoot

3 is it complicated? I know lots about photography but don't have times of time to learn a while new field If you have no time to learn anything, you know the answer already. takes a few times to remember where thigns are, but not when its on a Wi-Fi app

4 what mounts are necessary for swimming and stuff like that? head strap, chesty strap, floaty, monopod floaty grip

5 does it come w waterproof case Yes

6 is editing videos difficult? I have no knowledge of video recording quality etc...I assume it's great quality if your pc/mac is old yes codecs wrong software not to date, you will need the requirements to meet or higher. you make thev ideo look great, not gopro camera see the gopro videos they are MODIFIED!

7 what model do I need? gopro hero4 silver.

8 is there another High quality waterproof camera out there? That takes videos? Loved Sony but hard to use touchscreen w wet hands and inside photos using flash weren't great. yes the CUBE by Polaroid

Thank so much

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of Info and I can't sort it out in my head ;)

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

answered in red

Thanks

It's not that I can't learn anything new, it's just if it has a high learning curve and will take lots of time to get good results, it might not be the best option for me right now. Thank you!

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I use a GoPro 3 Black Edition that is 2 generations old from the "4" that is being released soon. The 3+ came after mine and is about to be replaced this week with the "4" . There are numerous settings but you have dig into the menus to change most of them.

After you go through the menus to set up your "big 4" as I call them: video capture settings (resolution, frame rate, etc.), Still Image settings (just stick to 12MP - the max) and wide or narrow FOV, then there are time lapse settings and a mode for shooting 1-3 seconds of 2-30 images/sec - for like cliff diving or some short but intense activity - that is where you normally can relax and enjoy the camera.

When you power it up it will go into video mode with the settings you pre-selected. To go to one of the other 3 modes underlined above, you just push the power button again and that is what progresses from mode to mode. After the 4 modes, there is a settings mode, then back to video again.

As a pro, I would think you will really like the creativity the super wide FOV gives in stills (My eye isn't that good but the way it handles nature scenes, buildings, etc is very different than a 50mm prime on my dslr).

If framing is a concern, either practice a bit and see your results on your computer, or invest in a video backpac, or the GoPro app on a smartphone via wifi from the camera is the best IMO to see how a shot comes out, but figure 30 seconds and juggling two devices to preview a shot (if you don't use the app all the time, just for review). That said, you can use the app as a remote trigger, so you can frame (with a few second lag in the image to your phone) and press the shutter button on the app to take the image.

Clear as mud yet?

Swimming: I used a handle with a wrist safety tether last time, but since then I invested in a simple wrist mount with a rotating base - nothing to drop, easy to aim at myself and others, and easy to pack.

Underwater Photos: In clear Caribbean waters at noon less than 10 ft. deep you should get fantastic close shots (5-10 ft.). More distance = more water and more blue added to the shot, which can still be corrected later. Deeper is same problem, which is why divers use color correction filters past 10-15 ft. down. I have no experience with these. I shot video at 1080p/60fps in Grand Cayman and was still able to pull stills from the video that made passable 3x5 prints, but I will try setting the camera to the time lapse mode, have it snap a pic every 5 seconds, and let it fly. LED's all over the camera will flash red when it takes a shot or is filming so you know when it takes a picture that way.

It will come with a waterproof case and there are really only the power button, the shutter button, and a button to turn wifi on/off - and they suffice very well. Though arduous to change settings deep in the menus in the case, everything is reachable and programmable without opening it up (or by using the app - it by far is the easiest way to change settings on the camera).

I can't stress enough to invest in some fog strips - these cameras generate an appreciable amount of heat and in the right conditions will fog inside and ruin the day (underwater - never had a fog issue on land, but I'm in Arizona so, well, there you go!)

I won't lie - editing can be a chore and initially frustrating. If your post production gear handles Photoshop, it should handle a video editor ok. The GoPro software is very basic, but a good way to learn. I use Corel Video Studio Pro - there are a ton of tutorials on youtube (for most any editing program) and they will be your friend! I tried a lot of free trials on editors, and personally found Corel the easiest to use with lots of great features, transitions, etc. But it's a challenge and time consuming - but to me - very worth it.

Hope that helps, ask away if other details are needed.

what video format does the gopro use? My cameras all use MOV which is easy to work with . . . hoping the gopro does the same.

I'm fairly certain it's h.264 codec in mp4

I'm fairly certain it's h.264 codec in mp4

That would work. I imagine it would use less space than MOV as well, right?

On a microsd card of 32gb, I get approx 2.15 hours of 1080/60 video, if that helps.

HD1080P.MP4 format Fisheye is not the best to have, all the time, and working with no optical zoom, you may want to up to 2.7k and zoom in 20% for little loss of quality.

You will want the Gopro 4 due to the Night time lapse, and protune raw photo