 Poster: A snowHead
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I've compared my GoPro's with Contour's and it was no contest - even the original GoPro was away better than the Contour IMO.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ansta1, sorry for late reply..picked up a grab bag from local cycle shop with 15% off ...stress levels reduced..why am i stressing about a camera mount when i will be in the snow in 36 hours...ah well.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Good job. I am only 40 miles away and am now free tomorrow afternoon, if there is anything you still.need or want to play with sure we can arrange something just shout.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyone got a Garmin VIRB? I've just bought one, more for cycling than skiing because of the inbuilt GPS (so it'll capture speed, heart rate and eventually power) and also because it links to my other Garmin stuff - so I'll be able to control it from my watch (when it's on my head) and from my bike computer.
Not sure how the quality compares, but as I would generally watch stuff on a laptop screen it's perhaps not as crucial. Battery life is a bit of a worry, but I guess it is on all these things?
And (probably a dumb question) - I've got it mounted on the top of my helmet for that true tellytubby look, but I've ordered some other mounts and was thinking of trying it on the side - any more experienced videographers have a preference?
Cheers
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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could be interesting...
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Glad you posted - I looked at this and was just about to ask whether anyone had one. I prefer the physical format of the VIRB compared to the GoPro - just a subjective thing. Reviews say that the picture quality is as good as the GoPro, other than against the top-of-the-range HERO3+
Clearly, Garmin seems to be chasing GoPro and I wonder if I wait whether there's not another iteration of the VIRB 'round the corner that will leapfrog it. But then I could wait indefinitely on that basis, including seeing whether a revitalised ContouR does something dramatic.
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msej449, I guess you've seen DC Rainmaker's review of the VIRB with lots of test footage. Conclusion seems to be the battery life's a bit better than GoPro, picture quality not quite as good, and the GPS capabilities are good - but the killer (if you're an existing Garmin user as I am) is the ability to link it to other Garmin products - so I can take a still pic by pressing a button on my watch when it's in mid-video, and I can have a screen on my Edge computer that I can use to stop and start recordings. The iOS app seems to work pretty well too, so you can use your phone as a viewfinder. It is also going to have the ability to link to power meters as well as the existing heart rate monitor link, if that floats your boat.
It also has a pretty neat "ski" feature which (I think) stops recording on the lift and starts again when you start going downhill.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The thing with the GoPro is that it also lets you set it to output unsharpened footage in a log colour space (the ProTune mode). This gives you way more latitude in playing around with the footage and preserves detail in the shadows and highlights. There's a little more effort involved but even the lowly version 2 puts out pretty good footage if you bother with it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Clearly, Garmin seems to be chasing GoPro and I wonder if I wait whether there's not another iteration of the VIRB 'round the corner that will leapfrog it
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The VIRB Elite looks fantastic. I'm particularly interested in the ski stats ability mentioned by andy from embsay, as my current Holux GPS doesn't do the job of ski stats as well as my old A300 triangular thing used to (basically turning itself off on lifts and measuring only when going downhill).
The only downside (of all?) action cams is the lack of zoom.
I guess it comes down to what you are going to use the footage for. Most users only need stuff to amuse their mates with after a ski holiday. There's only so much POV HD video anyone actually wants.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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" You don't need most of the accessory stuff - ingenuity is better."
True- I have modified camera mounts made for me so I can mount the GoPro's somewhere useful ie not on my helmet...
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Cod piece?
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You know it makes sense.
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My associated problem is that I have a Canon DSLR as my 'serious' system. I do carry it 'round with me some days, and tried out a Cam Caddie on last year's ski trip:
It was easier to use than I'd expected. Hand-holding the camera while skiing also significantly reduces shake, and allows you to pan while moving (not recommended on a helmet-mounted system!). It's better if I can hand the poles over to someone else, rather than have to carry them in my other hand.
If I'm really keen to get good shots then I'll use the Canon - I'm compromising on picture quality anyway, so it's more a matter of ease-of-use.
How easy is the GoPro to switch on/off while it's mounted on a ski helmet? Particularly compared to the 'slider' type ContouR and Garmins?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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msej449, very easy. There's a button to start/stop and a button that changes mode and turns the camera on and off. You can also set it to a one button mode or just use the remote control.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I often carry my canon 1d bodies on the slopes but primarily for stills. If you get used to the gopro or use the remote or app then it's pretty easy to use, but the nature of where it's usually mounted does mean you get lots of "is it on?" face shots which are easily clipped out in post processing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Tiger2, the VIRB does have some zoom capability, but it's a setting not something you can fiddle with whilst recording (I assume GoPro does the same) - I think it just makes it less wide-angle - but I only got the thing a couple of days ago so not done anything with it other than walk around the house irritating my children.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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andy from embsay, I've seen that but it certainly isn't the same as a normal video camera. I quite like standing at the bottom of the slope filming my mates skiing down and adjusting from long zoom to short zoom as they come down the hill.
It is always the case that while these things are all individually awesome you can never quite get what you want all in one package.
I did have a question though - can you download footage to a computer without using the Garmin software? If so, what format is it in?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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philwig, I've mostly used when using several different cameras together or wanted to have a more extreme grade. It's easier to match the colours. But yeah if all you want is the same result as the post-processing you get in camera then it isn't very useful apart from preserving detail a bit better and having less compression artifacts due to the higher bitrate.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Tiger2 wrote: |
andy from embsay
I did have a question though - can you download footage to a computer without using the Garmin software? If so, what format is it in? |
I don't know - I'll find out. I would pretty much always want to use their software as that brings in the .FIT file with the GPS etc data.
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Tiger2, yes you can - just dragged and dropped a MP4 file on my desktop and played it with Quicktime.
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andy from embsay, Thanks very much. I think I'll be buying one as well given the benefit (to me) of GPS data.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| meh wrote: |
| ... I've mostly used when using several different cameras together or wanted to have a more extreme grade. ... |
Yeah, I felt the workflow was pretty clumsy, and I didn't see the same sort of dramatic improvement I do see between jpeg and raw for stills. So one day, all cameras will work that way... meanwhile, I'll not bother for now..
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philwig, don't use Cineform... You can bring the colours back to REC709 quite easily in most NLEs.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think ive decided on the garmin virb elite. Purchase on Thurs hopefully for ski trip to Les deux alpes next week!!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Woo hoo, picked up a virb elite from amazon warehouse for 253gbp!!  Cant wait
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I'd be interested how you get on with the Garmin VIRB
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You know it makes sense.
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Will post a review asap!
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FAQ
