GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition

Just mounted my first camera and thought I would create a topic so i can start cataloguing my reviews of it.

http://gopro.com/hd-hero3-cameras

Comes with some basic mounts, such as the curved helmet mount, a flat mount, and a few connectors to give you a range of mounting angles. The Black also comes with a remote (with big buttons).

So first impressions:

1. Update the firmware... I cant stress this enough. It was misbehaving and not talking to any of my pc's properly until I did this. It was easy and did it through the website.

2. Make sure you read the instructions... I thought it was like any device, plug it in, charge it up and hit the red button. Didn't quite work like that. It isn't difficult to use, but take an hour to get familiar with it and then its easy

3. It is incredibly small, like all gopros. It has a range of filming res/frame rates and photo modes (like 30/sec or 1/10sec). Im not go to cover the general specs, it is all on the site for the reading, but there are various options to suit.

4. Get yourself a Class 10 64gb microSD. Dont let your memory limit you - you'll wanna test out your 4xHD, sports photos etc

5. Get the Handlebar mount. It is sold seperately (i got mine on ebay) - I just felt it was more secure and less fuss than trying to clip and unclip it from a 3m-secured mounting plate.

I mounted just to the right of the ignition and here's what it looks like:



This is a dumbed-down jpg (screen capture from 1080p video), but let me assure you.. the pictures are a true high quality 12mp

I like where it's mounted, as I can see the instrument panel and the road, which is what I was going for. The alternative I was going to try was side mirror-arm mount... I'll have to fashion an insert to sit inside the handlebar mount to fit the contour of the side mirror-arm.

6. The remote - It is actually a remote you will use. Its charging dock also has a keyring insert so when youre out on the bike, you have your remote right there on your keyring. Great for start and stopping video, taking snaps,etc all without having to touch the camera (no camera wobble, fiddling with buttons, etc)

The other thing thats great about the remote is it tells you what is happening on the camera with an lcd screen... what recording mode the camera is set to, how many videos/photos youve taken... it is a just like having the camera in your hand, as it has two buttons, just like the camera, so its a full functioning remote, and its waterproof.

7. Plug and play - Being someone who is always connecting devices to pc's and waiting for the device to become available, I was sceptical about direct plugging via usb to access the content (thought itd be better to take the card out and into a card reader... usually that is a few secs faster), but the plug and play is AWESOME. Its the fastest device I have ever pugged in and access. You can access immediately straight off the camera via usb. And I mean immediately. I have a decent i7 pc, so that helps, but it just reads it so damn quick, I was very impressed.

8. I dropped it on the concrete this morning without its case on... I couldnt find a mark where it hit the ground... combination of luck and build quality... not planning to test this further

I have many other things to try out and report on, so I will leave this as an introductory review.

The next thing to try out will be the gopro apps (for iphone).

If anyone has anything specific they would like me to review about it then let me know.

It will be difficult for me to be too scientific as I havent owned an action camera before, and use my iphone (for pics on the drink) and my DSLR for general photography. However Im a bit of a tekkie and am looking to explore this camera, so any requests welcome.

Also, I am looking to compile a 'dont like' list however I dont want to do that yet as the things I dont like are probably just settings I havent explored, so i wanted to give it a bit more time first.

I have the GoPro2 and love it...

Would love to know what editing software you use as I struggle with their version. Prefferabley something cheap (free) but more importantly like me simple and easy to use.. O and Mac compatible.

O on my don't like list is the iphone app...

Rustic wrote:

Would love to know what editing software you use as I struggle with their version. Prefferabley something cheap (free) but more importantly like me simple and easy to use.. O and Mac compatible.

Have you tried iMovie? I think it is free and is fairly easy to learn.

Sloth_27 wrote:

Rustic wrote:

Would love to know what editing software you use as I struggle with their version. Prefferabley something cheap (free) but more importantly like me simple and easy to use.. O and Mac compatible.

Have you tried iMovie? I think it is free and is fairly easy to learn.

I use imovie also - a lot simpler to use than others I've tried.

thanks team will give it a crack

Rustic wrote:I have the GoPro2 and love it...

Would love to know what editing software you use as I struggle with their version. Prefferabley something cheap (free) but more importantly like me simple and easy to use.. O and Mac compatible.

O on my don't like list is the iphone app...

I use Adobe Premiere, so that doesn't help on the cheap front or the ease of use front.

And the app is garbage. The preview lags terribly, the preview mode also kills the battery life of the camera, and you can playback anything, totally garbage on the 'use on the go' front. However the ability to change all the settings is great. Much better than trying to change on the camera.

I also downloaded an app for video/photo playback/download, so will give that a try as well.

So on my list of negatives after 3 days:

- wifi to phone app kills camera battery life (will come back with numbers after more tests)

- wifi to remote control kills camera battery life (will come back with numbers after more tests)

- switching between wifi to app and wifi to remote sux. You shouldnt have to go change a setting just because you want to connect to both, and you should be able to connect to both at the same time... big fail there.