GoPro HD Surf HERO Camera
GoPro HD Surf HERO Camera
- Professional-grade full HD video up to 1080p
- 60 frames per second option in 720p and WVGA resolutions provides liquid smooth slow motion playback.
- Videos can be easily edited with iMovie or Windows Movie Maker
- Widest angle (170º) and sharpest lens captures more of the scene, including you. 127º wide angle viewing area in 1080p
- Includes easy-to-apply mounts for attaching camera housing to surfboards, paddleboards, etc. Impact-resistant housing is waterproof to 180 ft
- 30 frames per second recording option available in all HD resolutions (720p, 960p and 1080p)
GoPro HD Surf HERO Camera
Includes easy-to-apply mounts for attaching camera housing to surfboards, paddleboards, etc. Impact-resistant housing is waterproof to 180 ft
Developed for the consumer and proven by professionals, GoPro’s all-new HD HERO cameras are the world’s most advanced line of waterproof, full HD 1080p cameras designed to be used during sports. With amazing clarity, stability, and slow-motion capabilities, these cameras record your sport’s most exciting moments in professional quality HD video and automatically-captured 5 megapixel still photos.
HD HERO cameras can shoot video or photos from your point-of-view, mounted on your surfboard, helmet, body, car, motorcycle, or other equipment. And GoPro’s 170° wide-angle lens (the industry’s widest) lets you take shots of yourself while surfing or doing other activities. All captured hands-free, while you stay focused on your sport. The cameras feature a quick-release mounting design, making it easy to mount the cameras in many different locations for a variety of angles and a stunning professional look.
Originally designed for the consumer market, GoPro’s wearable cameras have garnered praise from professional athletes as well as film and TV producers who demand convenience and performance from their filming equipment. The HD HERO line produces higher quality HD video than action sports cameras costing ten times as much, and as a result many video segments you see in action sports film and TV today are shot on GoPro cameras. As the #1 maker of wearable sports cameras in the world, GoPro has years of experience in developing cameras and mounting accessories for the most hardcore of sports. As a result, GoPro has won many coveted awards, including Motorcyclist magazine’s prestigious “2009 Product of the Year” award and the “Editors’ Choice Award” from both Popular Mechanics and Backpacker Magazine.
List Price: $ 269.99
Price: $ 258.99
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Comments
Useless as an Underwater Videocam,
The GoPro HD videocam is fundamentally a POV helmetcam for bikers, skiers, and boarders. It offers reasonable HD resolution, wide-angle, with a scan rate up to 60p, which work well for land, air, sailing, or surfing. For the money, it may merit four or five stars for those uses.
My tilt is from the vantage of underwater use, for which the GoPro HD is gol-durned worthless and merits zero stars.
Attractions:
Here’s what drew me to buy:
1) The device comes with a waterproof case rated to 180′, plus a wide-angle lens, which are intriguing features for a <$300 price. The elastic head strap mount can be worn above goggles. One can also buy dessicant strips to avoid fogging.
2) Dedicated UW videocams cost plenty, and the best consumer “rugged” digicams with HD video (the Panasonic T2 and Olympus 8100) rate only to 30′, have LCD screens that are hard to see underwater, and shoot no wider than 28mm, making it hard to frame shots.
Realities:
I used the GoPro HD while snorkeling and free-diving to about 25′. The Cozumel waters were among the world’s clearest. Lighting was mixed sun and clouds. The camera case was dry and clean, and it contained two fresh dessicant strips. I shot at the 1920×1080 30p setting. The full HD, I thought, would give me some room for digital zoom when editing, to bring key object to center frame. I avoided the 1920×720 60p setting, since that is a “fish-eye” mode best for very close POV shots, blurs more at the edges, and the faster frame rate superfluous for slow UW action.
1) The GoPro HD’s video becomes exasperatingly ill-focussed below the surface. The blur is far worse than my own short-sightedness. I could see far better without my glasses than could the camera. Coral formations were all blurry. Fishes, crabs, and rays appear only as blobs. People who see YouTube GoPro underwater samples that look tolerable probably saw shots of large objects taken with the standard definition models. The GoPro HD’s underwater video is anything but HD. It is worse than SD, worse than VHS, worse than MacGoo vision. GoPro has responded to some owners (but not in its product brochure or manual) that it is “aware” of the focus issue, but has yet to offer any optical or firmware corrections. My problem had nothing to do with condensation, since the case was dry and included fresh dessicant strips sold by GoPro.
2) The angle is wide, but not wide enough to alleviate need for careful manual control. One’s tendency is to aim the thing a little too high. Since there is no preview screen to learn on-location, it would help if the brochure gave buyers some “heads up” on the problem. Essentially, one must set the head strap hinge about 25 degrees downward from the angle of one’s forehead, and NOT have the shooting angle match the foreward diretion of one’s diving mask. Alternatively, one should mount the cam on a pole and point it carefully. If holding it in hand with no pole, be extra careful about diretion, usually aiming below a 45% angle from the water surface.
3) No underwater color filters or white balance adjustments. GoPro sells no adapter filters and no generic or third party models fit. GoPro could introduce firmware that allows digital white-balance adjustments for blue or green water, but has not replied it will ever do so.
Bottom Line:
1) People in search of an action or helmet videocamera for land, air, or above-water use should survey the other reviews, plus comments at a user forum. Most are favorable. The most common complaints, meanwhile, are that the protective case latch can break and that GoPro failed to deliver a firmware update, without offering any new ETA. Go Pro’s wide-angle and 60p mode offer unique advantages for POV action video ABOVE WATER. A wide-angle conversion lens alone can cost plenty, and none of this sort exists for other small models. However, if you can get by with 28mm equivalent wide angle, various “rugged” P&S digicams are more versatile (for stills or video) and have preview screens. GoPro may soon introduce a preview attachment for its devices, but cost extra and require removing the cam from its protective case.
2) Those in search of a device for underwater HD video should explore other manufacturers’ models. Alas, there are few expert reviews that include proper underwater tests. Do not rely on any reviewers’ bathtub tests, home aquarium tests (especially if shot from outside, or samples transcoded or shot with SD models. In its present configuration, the GoPro HD is entirely unsuitable for scuba, snorkel, or other diving shots. The earlier SD models yielded more tolerable UW qualty, but anyone in search of HD results, and a $300 budget, might find an underwater enclosure or “marine pack” for a P&S digicam that performs. Circa $400 will buy the latest and…
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|I love this camera.,
I’m an off-roader that likes to capture stills and video on the trail. I have tried all sorts of cameras and attachments to make interesting video’s, but there was always something lacking in the sound and image quality……..until now! This little camera is perfect for off-road use. It’s dustproof, waterproof, appears to be shockproof and takes great video with sound. At first it seems pricy but if you try to put something together close to this in quality and funcuality it would cost a lot more. They are coming out with alot of add-ons so you can upgrade if needed. I find it very easy to use. Being an off-roader I found a mount that works well with the Gopro’s, It’s a billet gopro mount that is sold on the internet. I think this camera is great just taking with you to get family video’s or what ever sport your into.
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|surviver,
This thing survived three days of large waves. One wave busted a thick glassed 9’0″ and a new super thick leash in one take. The camera and mount were fine and filmed the entire thing. The quality is insane on the HD video even in low light conditions.
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