 Poster: A snowHead
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I am thinking of buying a basic Go Pro or equivalent for elder daughter's birthday present so that we can film each other skiing (so that we can see how good, or rather bad, we are....). Anyone have any experience of the new "basic" Go Pro or equivalents of about the same price? I appreciate that we'll have to factor in the cost of mounts (telly tubby and/or helmet) and SD card. Anything to be wary of?
Don't worry, I won't inflict any content on  , unless it is of comedic value.
Cheers
Dobby
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's been possible to get the "basic " Garmin Virb for an amazing price recently as it's about to be withdrawn. Was under £100 on Amazon. Worth a look as it comes with helmet mounts etc.
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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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We have contours, look less telly tubbyand been very good.
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The basic gopro will capture good quality video, but is somewhat limited in terms of its options in my view. Things such as the integrated battery meaning limited recording time unless you can charge whilst out from power outlet or external battery. Also the camera is fixed in the waterproof housing and the recording options aren't as wide as the rest of the range.
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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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I've been looking into this too. The quality of the basic GoPro Hero seems to be pretty good, but as ansta has said it's the limitations that put me off, in particular the lack of ability to change batteries. The website says 2hrs 30 of filming, which you can almost certainly take with a pinch of salt. All depends what kind of thing you're looking for, if you want something that's going to be filming through most of the day then you'll need a rechargeable option, but if you just want a good quality camera then £99 (not sure what the mounts will cost though) seems pretty good.
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Anyone have the Hero 3 White Edition?Any good?Seen them for 140quid on Amazon and was gonna get one.
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The basic one is £94 without any discounts. To be honest if you are using the camera sensibly 1hr 30 should do most people fine, as long as you turn it off between recordings sessions. 8 hours of gopro footage is a he'll of a chore to edit down. It should come with the basic mounting options but you may need to consider pole, chest or other mounting options.
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Veho make some very good cameras, the Muvi HD 10 is well worth a look.
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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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@K1orange I had one of those and after a year or so had an issue with the 'voice activation' switch that meant I couldn't get it to work properly again. Video quality is is pretty good for the price but I did find the sound quality was a bit lacking...but then so is a GoPro if it's in the little case dealy. Eventually I upgraded to a Kodak Playful that's a bit higher quality video and the mic copes a bit better with wind.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've used a conventional small iXUS, ContouR, GoPro and a DSLR on a hand-carrier. I'd have to admit that the GoPro seems to have good quality video for the size, but my best videos have been with the Contour, hand-held. Hand-holding reduces camera shake significantly and also allows you to pan sideways while skiing (try this with the camera helmet-mounted!). Hand-held also seems to minimise the tilting effect as you turn.
Of course, the 22 Megapixel Canon EoS 5D Mk.III with an f2.8 USM L-II lens gave good results, but it's £5Ks-worth of camera and I only dare take it out on quiet, well-groomed pistes. Aside from the issue of damage, the main problem is that while the quality is good, the weight means you have to work hard to keep it level and not swing as you turn. Plus, of course, skiing with 4 Kgs of camera in one hand and poles in the other is, to say the least, a bit tricky. The imbalance means that even easy slopes are very hard work and you need to be surprisingly fit to film for any length of time.
Ideally, I'd use my HD Drone, but I'm nowhere near a good enough drone pilot to film safely, although the Verbier Ski Team has used professional drones, with a pro camerman, to get good competition video. I'd like to try drone filming from a fixed point - so that the camer is filming from 10-20 metres up and just dropping and rotating above a fixed point - but you'd have to have absolute still air to guarantee it wouldn't drift over the piste. Plus, battery life would be short in the cold and, apparently, the rotors don't work as well at altitude.
My Contour was stolen, so I'm in a similar position in terms of replacing it with something that I can take out most days that is easy to use and takes reasonable videos. I've looked at the Garmin Virb and the Contour ROAM3 but I can't decide between them, given the latter is close to £200. There are some very good, conventional cameras like the Canon Powershot D30 that are also waterproof to 25m and would probably be great for summer as well as winter holidays.
The one thing I have against the GoPro - and I know this isn't really a fair criticism - is that YouTube is full of GoPro videos that to me are all starting to look the same: probably because the viewpoint is usually either the Teletubby top-of-the-head or the end-of-the-pole position. Since losing the Contour, I've gone back to taking a bit of time and effort to using the DSLR to get more high-quality original still photos, and high-definition still sequences for the purpose of reviewing my skiing style.
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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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I was given one of the basic ones for Christmas. I haven't used it in anger yet, but will be doing so in a week's time. I'll report back 
It comes with the two basic (flat and curved) stick on mounts, and I think the curved one is suitable for my helmet. It doesn't come with the (required) micro-SD card, although my kids had included one for me.
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Um, (1) if you're paying that much for a 5d, well, you don't need to, but there are better Canon options.
(2) if you care about audio you probably would want to record that differetly,but then you'd not be mucking about with an entry level GoPro.
Buy what works for you. Post the product
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You know it makes sense.
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I’ve 2 Contour Roam 3’s. I bought two at the time as there was an offer on. I’ve not used a Go Pro in any shape or form but use them for mountain biking etc and are waterproof too. They come with a couple of mounts as standard. I put one mount on the side of my lid and it's pretty secure but there's also a lanyard just incase. Video and sound quality is very good.
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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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Thanks all for input. Garmin Virb looks quite good.
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Poster: A snowHead
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HI
I work in TV broadcasting and can tell you that whenever you see those fab shots hanging off the side of a F1 car, or some other extreme shot, theyre done with a go Pro.
Go pros are good outdoors but hopeless indoors. Record to quicktime movies as standard and you can get pretty decent battery life and recording times if you stick a 32 gig sdhc card in them. Eraly versions like mine have no screen etc which i find annoying but new versions can have attachable screens, wifi monitoring and operation by your iphone app etc etc so seem to have grown up well.
Peter
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just got a GoPro Hero – brilliant piece of kit! So simple to use and great results. Easy to edit clips using free GoPro studio (I use a Macbook air). Was going to go for a GoPro 3+ silver but the higher end ones start getting expensive, so decided to get the Hero just to see how I got on. For £95 its worth a punt even if it ends up in the drawer with the rest of my gadgets. Got a 32MB SD card for £18, sticks and mounts are cheap on ebay. Battery lasts over 2 hours (more than enough if you’re using it for fun).
Will be using it in anger next week in anger at Les Arcs.
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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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@PeterGroom and @redblade, thanks
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We've got a Drift Ghost (I forget which one), and it is brilliant. The battery lasts for ages, and the remote control unit straps comfortably on to your wrist. We've used ours on nine trips over three years, and are really happy with it. You can put it on your goggle strap, or stick it on your hat, or get a harness to carry it on your shoulder. I think they are great.
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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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http://2seetv.co.uk/acatalog/Sports_Cameras.html £59 for a very similar camera to the Go Pro. Blimey. And its got all the bolt on kit... looks very much like the cheapie rip off we bought at Snow and Rock 3yrs ago. Cost us £119 back then, when the Go Pro was retailing at about £300 plus all the gadgets you needed to buy on top. The system we ended up with is a Swann Freestyle HD which at the time was on the shelf at £279... we have used it surfing and skiing and its a great little piece of kit. But, £59 for the first link. Wow.
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@dobby, cycling, but this: https://vimeo.com/103611146 gives you an idea of Virb footage. I use one on the front and one on the back of my bike.
DCRainmaker has some good reviews of various types. For me, the ability to turn the camera on and off with my Garmin watch or bike computer was a big draw, as is the built in screen and replaceable battery. The basic Virb's £119 on Amazon just now.
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@andy from embsay, be good for coverage of my sketchy descending style. Coming to a Welsh hill near you....whenever the weather gets a bit better....
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@dobby, we'll have to have a "wimp-off" - I'm renowned as the worst descender in Yorkshire...
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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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got one from lidle before xmas..seems ok less than £100 (xmas pressy so not sure of exact price)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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We have a Veho Muvi HD10. Great little camera.
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Just a heads up, if you are going to use the camera for a ski holiday check what temperature it will work at... We have ruined two good cameras on ski trips..
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You know it makes sense.
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Fruity - Good point. Canon recommends carrying a sealable plastic bag: put the camera into this before moving from outside to inside. It allows it to warm up without heavy condensation forming, and ruining the camera/lens.
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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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And if course low temps eats batteries - another reason for replaceable batteries.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@msej449, thanks for that. Top tip. Will be going to Norway so it'll be knacking cold.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Looking at one of these now on ebay blatant rip off of the go pro but who cares if it works... Looking at a few reviews on youtube the quality looks great although there are a few warnings about fake versions... Comical that they will fake a fake version of a go pro!!!
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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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I got the SJ4000 WiFi (not the fake) 3 spare batteries and a charger all for about £75, the SD card was extra. If you have a smart phone the Wifi version connects to your phone and you can use your phone as the view finder. As long as it works ok, it seems like a great deal, I still take the occasional tumble so really didn't want £ 00's of camera, as there is a chance i'll break it...
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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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| r1chard wrote: |
| I got the SJ4000 WiFi (not the fake) 3 spare batteries and a charger all for about £75, the SD card was extra. If you have a smart phone the Wifi version connects to your phone and you can use your phone as the view finder. As long as it works ok, it seems like a great deal, I still take the occasional tumble so really didn't want £ 00's of camera, as there is a chance i'll break it... |
Was thinking of getting a GoPro but up tp now put off by the price because based upon past experiecne the novelty may disappear after the first use, but at this price seem may be worth a punt. I'm also one that doesn't fall that often but when I do its normally quite spectacular, and destroing a camera at this price point is more bearable. I have seen that there are accessory packs available that have a chest strap, but is there a lanyard or similar to prevent loss if the mounting pad loses adhesion and the camera falls off?
What does the Wifi allow you to do? Just transfer the images or can you control it from your phone. Does it support Android?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
What does the Wifi allow you to do? Just transfer the images or can you control it from your phone. Does it support Android?
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From what I have tested, you can control the camera from your phone, I am on Android and it works really well
My friend also has one, he has bought a pole for his, it was advertised for a Go pro and all the fixings seem to be the same, check first, but I think GoPro accessories should work with it...
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@dobby, are you going the week after us?? We go on the 8th Feb... it would have been good to catch up over there... but I seem to recall you mentioning half term...
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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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@Fruity, fraid so. Out on the 15th. Kids are big and local authority goes ape if you take em from school.
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Mine is 14, totally unsporty but highly academic. Our headmaster thinks it's good for him to show an interest in winter sports. He has to do a project on the local area that we visit, a daily diary and talk to the year group in assembly. We've had every holiday authorised since 2011 by him, on this basis. My lad has fantastic projects on Whistler, Bansko, Pila and the Aosta valley and now Hemsedal to add to his collection. I'm quite impressed that the Head is so accommodating 
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FAQ
