I always enjoy watching You Tube videos of people skiing filming on a Go Pro or similar, I can't think of much I'd like for Xmas, maybe a ski pass from the other half or a Go Pro. I moutain bike allot so for the rest of the year could be used for that.
I don't wear a helmet though which may be an issue? I think you can get staps so they're chest mounted etc?
So what do we all think of them? gimick, people look like geeks just buzzing about on piste with them?! etc?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Chest mount gives a good perspective for both bikes and skiing. Depends a bit on what you do with the footage though. I found with my helmet cam was just a bit of a faff setting it up and so don't really use it anymore. The GoPro is a lot simpler however but you will definitely end up with a lot of footage that isn't very interesting and it can be a right pain sorting through it all. If you want to make edits of decent skiing they can be good (although edits with 100% POV footage are qutie hard to make interesting) but if you're just pootling round the easy slopes, it may be easier to just hold a normal camera.
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?
Quote:
people look like geeks
well yes they do, absolutely no doubt about that. Those teletubby helmet mounts are funny. Personally I struggle to do sensible stuff with even relatively small amounts of video but some people must spend a lot of time, getting sufficiently good at the software to produce interesting stuff. One trouble is that there is such phenomenal professional footage out there, brilliantly skied, brilliantly filmed, brilliantly edited, music reflecting the action. Costs an absolute packet to make every minute.
The video is too long to keep most people entertained, it was more just for the people that were on the trip. But that was 4 days of footage and took bloody ages going through to find the more interesting bits.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Bene, I have had helmetcams for a few years and currently have a GoPro. There are times when you can get great footage (skiing through trees, in awesome snow, following or leading a mate so you can get a good shot of them), but it takes a bit of effort to get it right. A lot of the time I don't bother, but when conditions are right I'm really happy with the video I get.
Who cares whether you look like a tellytubby or not? The mountain is full of people wearing ludicrously bright clothing and clashing colours, with increasing numbers adorned by wearable technology. Does anyone really notice any more?
You have to enjoy editing and not be too concerned about pleasing everyone if you put stuff online. There's a good community of people making amateur stuff that's not 10 minutes of piste based skiing looking at the ski tips set to the cheeky girls.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:
You have to enjoy editing
This. Having discovered that I am not sufficiently good at it to enjoy devoting entire evenings to it, I take a lot less video than I used to! I am not suggesting people should care what they look like but the OP did ask.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Also consider the Drift, Ion the Action and Garmin Virb. The Drift comes with a goggle strap mount too, so you don't need a helmet. Chest harness can be okay with the GoPro but can be fiddly if you wear a rucksack
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I enjoyed using my Contour Roam last time I went skiing, looks much less silly than a GoPro!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I'm not sure the world really needs 99.9% of POV footage that gets uploaded, more fun taking video of your friends to remember your trip IMO.
Not everything can approach the brilliance of A Nervous Star Chute Run:
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.
Jnr bought a Muvi HD with some of his birthday money - about £100ish, so not as much outlay as a Go Pro (which is a lot of money if you end up not using it often. The quality of video is pretty good on the Muvi, but he's never done any kind of editing with it, I've had a play and it takes me too long too (I'm doing some training this year which means I have little spare time to do anything fun let alone take video and edit it).
The chest mount is good, but I find the body position means that it's pointing just a touch too low, you end up getting too much ground/backside of the person in front. Think the chest mount is better for skiing though.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
narc, fantastic vid!
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
He almost made it, certainly survived the difficult bit......
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Go Pro is only cool if you have 2 of them.
1 pointing forward and the other backward.
Cant afford to miss the "money shot".
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
narc, just perfik we always stack it when we think it's all over and we relax.
Haggis_Trap, there are cases of the 360° 4/skin mount.
I've got HUGE respect for the cameraman in the park in Tignes about 16 years ago who was head down to the viewfinder of a 35mm panaflex . . . skiing switch and filming some kid hitting the jumps . . . stones big enough to build a replica of Stonehenge
to give you an idea of just how much things have moved on
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
How times have moved on .......
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?
narc, Brilliant, makes my hand sweat watching it.
Bene, You can get an helmet side mount for Go Pro. I got one as I was worried the chair lift safety bar would knock a top mounted one off, as well as the other reasons.
Picture quality... one of the best.
Price... one of the most expensive.
Versatility.... fantastic, loads of different mounts and cases.
Usability... don't consider anything apart from the gopro 3 which comes with a remote control button.
All the others are clunky and every video ever features 'is it on' at the beginning....
Hobbymounts do a SH discount and they have the latest (as in no focus issues) Black+ in stock.
Argos are doing a 'Black' bundle for £299 which comes with an extra battery, frame mount and a couple of other things I think. Worth checking out and Barclaycard bespoke offers are doing a Rollei Bullet 4s camera package for £150, I haven't used one so can't comment on their use or quality of the image but may be worth a look.
Image quality mounting and recording options wise, the gopro's win in my view. But most people don't need the quality or options.
However if others wanted to record my steeze and share later, well..................................
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Haggis_Trap,
You ARE the GSA and I claim my $10
After all it is free
After all it is free
DAMMIT Acacia! I was just about to post that! That $10 should be MINE!
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.
Nah, the GSA had a camera mount on his ski, too.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
narc, thought he had nailed it after he got the better of his nerves...great vid
purchased a gopro and the gopro software for editing is really easy to use..took about half an hour of playing with the editing functions of the software and able to put a really good dive clip together. I have had a bullet cam and the gopro is soooo much better in quality..
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've got biscuits in my lens
Only a Brit
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.
MogulMonkey wrote:
...I have had a bullet cam and the gopro is soooo much better in quality..
Indeed. There are lots of other cameras around, so you can buy those and see how you go then buy a GoPro later like everyone else.
As far as how you look... well about 95% of skiers look pretty bad at skiing generally, so I don't think those people are too worried about that. Even so, most people manage to get over the embarrassment.
You can get head straps easily enough. Other cameras an be goggle strap mounted (eg Contour etc). That's a poor mount for snowboarding though - try a long pole for that. You can get chest/ shoulder mounts which also work well for skiers, as does lashing it to one of your sticky things and holding it there, facing forwards or back.
I ride with a POV camera on my bike every day, they work well there. I used a GoPro for about a year, helmet mounted. That's good because it's easy for drivers to see, so they tend to be more polite. I switched to an SD1080 because it's lighter and I don't need the GoPro quality for what is legal defence footage. I use GoPros exclusively for stuff I may want to actually watch.
Turning on / off. Task 1 is to learn how to trim your clips.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
flangesax wrote:
Usability... don't consider anything apart from the gopro 3 which comes with a remote control button.
Assuming you're referring to difficulty in finding the on/off/record buttons, it's not really much of an issue if you're using the chest mount.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
el nombre, or a helmet mount when you're used to it.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
seems to me to be the lack of confidence that it is actually doing what you have asked it to do.... mainly when in the cases.
The menu system is shite on the I and II.
They seem to be very similar to Apple products to me...
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
flangesax, have you used one much? I turn mine on/off and start and stop it whilst it's on my helmet without needing to take it off to check what's going on. There's a very audible set of beeps that let you know what's going on as well as an obviously flashing red light on the top and front. The menus are fiddly initially but once you work out that one button cycles the selection and the other interacts everything is a doddle. Every camera since the 2 has an LCD screen which explains clearly using text and symbols what mode and settings are active. The 1 was rubbish for that. The value in the remote for me is triggering the camera when it's out of reach. The "is it on" stage is something all new users of tech that sits outside of your immediate view experience.
My main complaint has been the dodgy firmware updates which bricked mine but the GoPro customer support was excellent and I got a new one PDQ. This seems reasonably solved since they took the manufacture in-house.
Pre-emptive accusations about people being fanboys is rather well... weak?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Bene wrote:
I always enjoy watching You Tube videos of people skiing filming on a Go Pro or similar
OK. 99% of them bore me to tears, quite honestly.
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?
Mentioned already, but I have a Veho Muvi HD camera, about half the price of the GoPros but equal to all but the most recent of them in terms of visual quality.
Trick, in my opinion, is not to use them for video (unless you are a wizz with appropriate software/doing frankly absurd tricks) but to use them on a "take a picture every x seconds" setting. I did that a few times with mine out in France last year (was there for 6weeks) and some of the results are brilliant. Yes, you get a fair amount of duff/boring/lift pictures, but it's a hell of a lot easier to sift through 300+ pictures than it is hours and hours of video footage.
meh, The majority of people who use them at my gaff have either recently bought them for the holiday or only use them for their holiday.
Of course regular users are going to know how they work.
How many times I've seen people say they have set it to one button on and record... to be followed by 'is it flashing?' 'is the light on', 'did you hear it beep; I didn't'.... to be followed by another press of the button as they are not sure if it worked or not etc.. etc...
Quote:
Pre-emptive accusations about people being fanboys is rather well... weak?
NIME
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
should add though... the new camera is great and easier to use. So GoPro are obviously pretty clued in to what changes have needed to be made.
The majority of people who use them at my gaff have either recently bought them for the holiday or only use them for their holiday
I have recently had a lot of old cine and video digitized. By far the most memorable footage was of "everyday" stuff and people. For example walking son to school on his first day, remembering how terrified he was of the railway bridge because of the fearsome racket if a train went over. Playing on the swings in the park. One son, at about 15, cooking dinner in the kitchen of a previous house. (How I wish we'd taken more interior shots in that house, which I can't remember well enough). My parents (both now dead) on holiday with us in various locations. The rusty old camper van. All the "scenery" shots will be chopped, apart from a few seconds to set the scene.
My nephew recently installed a catalytic gas heater in my current house and was having a problem working out what was what with the gas pipes. I remembered a bit of the old video, taken when we were having building work done, moving walls etc. There was a brief glimpse of the old boiler (no, not me, the gas one) which told him exactly what he needed to know.
One merciful aspect of old cine is that you had a 50' reel which didn't last long so you didn't film the endless chunks of rubbish which I now can with a modern HD video camera.
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