GoPro Novice...headed to Europe...adivce needed

[dlopiccolo]

Ok...I ordered myself the GoPro HERO4 Silver last week. I now have it and am headed to board a Mediterranean cruise leaving this weekend. BUT...I don't really know how to use it...yet. I really want some epic footage of the Coliseum, St Paul de Vence, Nice Market place, Pompeii..etc...basically I am hoping to splice together a video of each of our stops to help share the 360 WOW factor of the views, crowds and sights. I have an extra memory card but not battery. What are those top 5 things, you wish you knew sooner? Cool tricks that make an epic shot? I plan on using my iPhone to take lots of family pics to supplement the memories but would love to avoid coming home with useless footage because I was too clueless. Advice?

[shootr]

1) Get close to the subject. The view is super wide angle so use it to your advantage to express height, mass, etc.

2) Get some sort of selfie stick - not so much for self portraits but to get higher and lower than normal shots. Also reach past/around barriers and over crowds. Careful though, places are starting to ban them more and more.

3) Concentrate on holding steady.

4) Explore the faster frame rates, you might want some slow motion in your final project and slowing down 30fps looks bad.

5) Make sure you have the best memory card that writes 90/mbps. Slower and off brand cards can lead to recording failures.

 

Lastly, Google "Abe Kislevitz gopro 4 silver" and review his website. He is gopro's creative person and knows more than anyone about your camera.

[Steviewonder1]

I carry 2 spare batteries and 3 memory cards (32GB). Holding steady is very important unless you have an Stedicam stick to mount the GoPro to. There are many Steadicam type products out there and since the camera is light they will be relatively small but will do wonders for your shooting. If you have an iPhone or Android get the remote app for it and use the iPhone/android for the viewfinder.

[xlxo]

Having the Hero 3+, some thoughts to watch out for Hero4....

• pay attention to battery life. A second battery is helpful
  
• there is no image stabilization
  
• the buttons can be a challenge for a new user
  
• running the camera from the smartphone is easier.... but it means a shorter battery life
  
• there is no optical zoom... there's a few camera settings, but it's not a camcorder
  
• do a few test videos... some older computers have problems rendering the 1080 resolution files.
  

[zqvol]

Make sure that the place you are using it allows use of video, you will find a lot of places that ban video of any type.

[guinnesshalfpint]

Thank you everyone! OP, please post the results here too. I'm getting ready to order the 4 for my upcoming Caribbean cruise and would love to see your results and get additional tips from a fellow been.

[santa cruiser]

Interesting topic here. I just bought hero 3+ last month and have been experimenting. I too plan for a cruise and was wondering how to best use it. From my experience so far, they have excellent video quality. Most of the posters advice above I concur with here. You can also use a head mount harness or mount to a baseball cap worn backwards. Then, both hands are free.

 

Don't expect it to capture any details or closure - these cameras are engineered for grabbing beautiful skies, large buildings, and cavernous interior spaces and distorting like a fish eye to get into the frame in an artful way. Even the sun itself makes a nice image.

 

The other big advantage of these cameras is the slow motion and time lapse abilities - they are easy to master. Since most things on a cruise vacation tend to move slow, I think there is more potential in a time lapse sequence on tours and excursions. Or, perhaps mount at the back of your balcony on a day at sea, especially if you are within site of mountains. I've had good luck with a frame every half second. I just let it go for awhile, make sure I walk or drive in/around large things and when you play back, you can experience your excursion tour in just under a minute or two. I imagine getting on or off the ships, especially if docked next to another big cruise ship would be a nice sequence. Also, on some of the largest ships, the go pro would excel at capturing the main indoor deck areas.

 

I think the go pro can make a much more personalized, big picture memory of your trip that no other camera could duplicate easily.