 Poster: A snowHead
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I know we've discussed the launch of these in a few other threads here and there, but thought it was worth canvassing a few opinions in the one thread.
I've decided that I'm going to get one of these two, and now they've been out a few weeks so wanted to see if anyone had already bought either and what their thoughts were?
I've done quite a bit of research and there are lots of differing opinions - DCRainmaker says they're close but seems to prefer the Garmin for action based sports (skiing/biking), while Wired seems to favour the GoPro.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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With screen GP 5 battery won't last long.Low Light performance is also disappointing.The real winner of 5 series is GP 5 session.Quality of image i bit worse than Hero but overall for 249 you get really good lightweiht package.Really good stabilization.Voice command works really well.
If you want to buy Hero version I would go for Hero 4 Black.Have not tried Garmin so can't say anything.
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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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I have the new Garmin. I haven't used it much yet but it's a nice piece of kit and the image quality is incredible.
The built in GPS, g force sensor and connectivity to my cycling sensors (HR, Power meter, cadence etc) is what really sets it apart for me. It also has a better frame rate than the GP5, in 4K.
With all of these things, the ability to upload such massive files is now the main problem!
If you will only use it for skiing, I think the waterproof GP5 unit may be better. If you want to use it for cycling, paragliding, other action sports then the Garmin telemetry recording makes it the winner. You won't be disappointed with either camera.
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Cheers guys, I was veering towards the garmin as the 2 camera's seemed very similar but liked the idea of gps overlays. However, having seen a couple of reviews from bikeradar, it's pushed me back towards the gopro (they prefered the image stablisation, and picture quality).
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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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The picture quality at this level is pretty arbitrary as anything uploaded to Youtube, or others, gets seriously compressed from the mind blowing 4K you filmed it in.
That said, I cannot fault the Garmin picture quality. Neither can DC Rainmaker.
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Cheers @kitenski, that's really useful to know. I've got a garmin watch somewhere, might have to dig it out.
@bar shaker, yes completely agree about picture quality. What I meant was that the DCrainmaker review regarding picture quality was steering me towards the Garmin. Thus seeing that Bikeradar favoured the GoPro on that, reassured me that if I went for the GoPro then I wasn't missing out. If that makes sense!?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| kitenski wrote: |
| @Handy Turnip,I went GoPro over Garmin due to the fact it's waterproof without a case and I'm told that forthcoming updates will add in more functionality from the GPS... |
I wonder if Go Pro left this out of the mix at the launch as it slaughters their battery endurance.
Garmin have worked wonders to have the GPS running at 10Hz and yet still have identical battery life to the Hero 5.
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@bar shaker, the quick answer is no, gopro brought forward the launch date in reaction to market forces (virb/dji mavic). Gopro5 battery life is good, if you want to get real world info look at abe's blog.
In terms of gps the gopro gps works at 18hz and future integration with that side will be enabled in camera and in terms of overlays in the gopro studio software.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@bar shaker, di2'd myself as an early 50th birthday present this year 
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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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Looks like he has really fallen out with GoPro over this.
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You know it makes sense.
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First serious use of the GoPro whilst in Dubai. Some quite major annoyances!
Recording video in 4K which the GoPro capture app cannot download to an iPad mini 4 as it can't play it back. Feels like GoPro software decision as I reckon the mini 4 should be able to playback 4K.
Connect via USB to same iPad gives me an error that this device draws too much power!
Got many sd card errors whilst recording video. Guess I'll be buying a new card in Oz.
Voice control doesn't work in a noisy environment i.e. A water park
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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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@kitenski, jeez!! my heart would explode at 167bpm 
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've only played back 4K from my Virb on my 4K tv. I streamed it into my phone and streamed it to the tv. The quality is staggering.
I have only used voice control once. It's much more reassuring to flick the big switch. This is easy to do with mits on.
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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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My POV is that whilst the GoPro doesn't necessarily have as many features as other action cams, it makes up for it in compatibility with accessories and in price (for both the camera and the accessories - GoPro accessories much cheaper than any other brand).
If you want to go in cheap, buy a GoPro 3+. Will still shoot in HD. I run mine in SD anyway to conserve battery. 3+ does everything I want it to so I've never considered changing it. Frankly 99% of people I've ever met with a GoPro have only used it a fraction of what they thought they would anyway.
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I echo what @dp, says... I am mostly using my Garmin in 1080p 60fps mode, as this gives excellent battery life and lets me use image stabilisation. I have used it in 4K but I only have a 4K tv in my apartment in Val, so it's a bit wasted for watching video back in the UK. The direct streaming from the Garmin is excellent in any resolution, though and great for flicking through the day's clips.
As for accessories, these are almost all interchangeable between any of these cameras, so I wouldn't consider that a factor.
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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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| bar shaker wrote: |
As for accessories, these are almost all interchangeable between any of these cameras, so I wouldn't consider that a factor. |
does the Garmin use the same mount as the GoPro then?
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Used the GoPro hero 5 on the slopes for the first time today, very disappointed with the voice activation. Thought it would be really handy with ski gloves on. Works great inside, but on slopes I had to resort to shouting at the thing, making me look like a right idiot!
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Used my GoPro Hero 5 on NYE for the first time, with the Karma grip. Very easy to start and stop with gloves on using the controls on the grip and a super smooth finished film. Very impresssed.
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@Handy Turnip, I'm thinking the remo clipped to ski jcket collar would help massively
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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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I need the ability to record in 4k, so that rules out the Hero3+ I'm afraid.
It really is between the Virb and the Hero5.
Any definitive thoughts, pros/cons?
(If I were to go with the budget option, it'd be the Yi2 4k. But is it a viable option)? The early reviews were raving about it.
Considering that I'll be using the cam for, say, 5 years, the £100 difference in price between the Yi2 and the Virb30/Hero5 doesn't amount to all that much.
So quality will decide, though overall, things like accessories and battery life are important too, and I know that the Yi2's battery life is impressive.
I've found the Virb for £330, the Hero for £300 & the Yi for £200.
The Yi does come pretty much without any accessories though, so that needs to be factored in.
What about the other two?
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@snowglider, the definitive list of differences are here, it's down to personal preference/use cases I'd say.
If you scroll about 1/2 way down he has a whole section vis the Virb. I went with the GoPro as I like the fact I can use it without the case which makes it smaller and means I can chuck it in a shorts pocket when running and not worry about it getting wet/sweaty etc.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/10/gopro-hero5-black-review.html
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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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| snowglider wrote: |
| If I were to go with the budget option, it'd be the Yi2 4k. But is it a viable option)? The early reviews were raving about it. |
YI has just announced a new version of their 4K action camera (at this weeks CES conference). Still not waterproof like the Hero 5 but it has an upgraded sensor and processor so maxes out at 4k 60P with a maximum bitrate of 120MB/s (should be very detailed video, but correspondingly huge file sizes!).
Waterpoofness of the Hero 5 (and Session 5) is still a winner for me.
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I just got given a Hero 5 for xmas and plan to use it for the first time in a couple of weeks time. Any advice on mounting options and general usage when skiing?
Thanks
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You know it makes sense.
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@snowglider, yup, I'd buy one again, superb pic and video quality..but I've not tried the Virb!
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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| RichClark wrote: |
I just got given a Hero 5 for xmas and plan to use it for the first time in a couple of weeks time. Any advice on mounting options and general usage when skiing?
Thanks |
I've only got a 3 black, but the basics will probably be the same... I'll assume as you're asking you've not used one much before, so apologies if there's any teaching you to suck eggs going on.
Batteries - they die fast, especially in the cold. If you're messing about with it a bit, a few charged spares should do the job. Keep it and the spare batteries as close to your body warmth as possible, and put it back when you're not using it. 20 min in the outside world with cold air rushing past it and it'll do the blink of sadness at you when you try to turn it on. Stick the used batteries back in the warm pocket too, as they'll usually give you another good little blast of use once they've warmed up a bit. I imagine using the screen a lot will kill the battery too, so get used to the buttons as much as possible. I assume having wifi turned on still reduces battery life to 5 minutes so watch out for that too.
Case - I'm not sure if the 5 has the same case system as the previous models, but if so use the open back door if you can as you get next to no sound with the full waterproof system.
Mounting - they love to vibrate and pick up noise from that so whatever you stick it on, get it as solid as possible - remember skis and boards flex an awful lot. A couple pence worth of backup string might save you a lot of money if anything breaks but obviously keep it out of the shot! Get creative with it, play about, see what's fun and what's just a wobbly mess of sky or floor. Pole mounts are great, not just for the good old fun gopro on a selfie stick shots, but for general stability. If skiing, I'd leave a pole mount half way up a pole at all times and pop the camera on and off it as needed. A cheap one can be trimmed back a lot with a hacksaw to the point where it's fairly compact, but they can and will break if you smack it hard, remember that backup string! You'll probably be pleased how much smoother a lightly held stick shot is compared to handheld. Let gravity be your image stabiliser. Low or high angles add variety too.
Choice of format, other crap, etc etc - recording everything at 4k 60fps might be tempting, but ask yourself what the hell you're going to do with terabytes of footage! It'll need a fair bit of computing power to edit without frustration, not to mention a new hard drive every ski trip. Generally speaking, pick and choose your moment and try not to end up with 200 hours of footage! Unless massive daunting editing projects excite you of course. Personally I like higher frame rates at lower (720 or 1080) resolution, I'd rather have the option to smoothly super-slow-mo a great (lucky) shot than admire sheer number of pixels.
Short version: Have fun, experiment, and get as much life out of the batteries and memory cards as you can. Mucking about with fiddly little parts in a blizzard really takes a dump on your creative flow.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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doddsie...the Karma grip is amazing...the difference in video smoothness is ridiculously good!
However, have you had any issues syncing by chance, if I use the cable that came with the Karma the Go-Pro doesn't sync, if I use the cable that came with the camera, or one that came with the battery charger it syncs fine?
Go-Pro support weren't sure whether the cables are different, or whether one of mine is defective, just wondering if you've had similar issues?
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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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@jjams82, thanks! I haven't used one before and to be honest, it's not something that I had really thought of, but now I have it, I'm keen to get the best out of it.
I assume shots from different angles make the most interesting edits when put together?
It came with a couple of mounts so I was going to put one on the front of my helmet and perhaps one on my ski, or will there be too much vibration?. Good shout on the pole mount.
Any other tip/tricks or mounting positions are greatfully received.
Cheers
Rich
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| RichClark wrote: |
@jjams82, thanks! I haven't used one before and to be honest, it's not something that I had really thought of, but now I have it, I'm keen to get the best out of it.
I assume shots from different angles make the most interesting edits when put together?
It came with a couple of mounts so I was going to put one on the front of my helmet and perhaps one on my ski, or will there be too much vibration?. Good shout on the pole mount.
Any other tip/tricks or mounting positions are greatfully received.
Cheers
Rich |
Cool, have a good old play with the settings and whatnot before you go then, best not be trying to work that stuff out when froze.
Shots from different angles if nothing else adds variety to any final edit you might make - too much of the exact same angle gets boring... Different angles also emphasise different things, low to the ground shots tend to bring out the speed, high up ones tend to make it look more steep and airy. Try everything and see what you like, even stupid ideas sometimes come out fun. One thing that amused me and the ex no end was running down a hill with the gopro on a pole, handing it over to each other like a relay baton, helicoptering it round and getting all idiotic with it - possibly a good example of how daft ideas can end up providing the most giggles. Stick it out bubble lift windows on the pole and say cheese, high speed fly-by shots of whoever you're with, silly stuff like that. Try everything once. Oh and make sure you crash a lot! That's the real key to amusing video, freeze-framing the moment you hit the ground and seeing what face you actually make (spoilers: it's never a pretty one).
RE: the ski mount, I think it'll end up way too shaky but I've not tried it on my board so can't say for sure - just looking at it vibrating away like a madman on piste put me off it. Vibration = more or less unwatchable footage. Perhaps in nice deep powder it'd be smoother? Someone's bound to have uploaded an example to youtube so have a peek to see what it's like. I guess the closer it is to the boot the more stable it'll be, but you really want it as far away as possible for a nice wide view so hmm, might turn out a bit boring watching a boot whiz down a hill.
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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 have quite a few 'ski-mounted' videos. The trick is to place the mount nearer the binding. You can mount the camera facing forwards, or up towards the skier.
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@ansta1, do you have any sample clips on YouTube/Vimeo? Also, did you use a standard mount?
Cheers
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I’ve not tried the Garmin camera but I recently upgraded from GoPro 4 black to the GoPro 5.
Advantage I found of the 5 over the 4
Image stabilisation on the 5 is great, ok you loose a few pixels but its well worth it because the footage much more usable.
The 5 doesn’t require a waterproof housing, the frame you get for the 5 is much lighter so is more comfortable on your helmet or ski pole
I’ve found the battery lasting longer and much easier to use with the one press power on and record one press power off. One down side to this is, it takes some time to get a GPS fix so you miss the start of the GPS data recording.
Some downsides
Battery and port flaps are more fiddly due to the extra waterproofing.
Phone app requires you to sign up with GoPro account, this really pisses me off.
I leave the LCD alone but if your tempted to use it you’ll munch up the battery.
Mounts and accessories
I’ve not had much success with non-genuine accessories, battery failure, wobbly/rattly mounts, loose fitting chargers. I always buy genuine now to avoid buying twice.
General shooting
To get good footage you really need to spend time setting up your scenes/shots and then the all important editing. You can take 2 hours of boring raw footage spend 3 hours editing for a 30sec awesome clip.
Upfront helmet footage is really boring, chest mount is a bit of an improvement where you can see a bit more action. Pole mount makes good footage but less convenient taking it on and off, I find camera the heavy on the ski pole so don’t like leaving it on. I’ve not tried mounting to my skis yet, bit scared of it falling off. Good footage is of someone else or them filming you, but you do have to be quite close or having the camera in a fixed place.
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| dklemm wrote: |
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Image stabilisation on the 5 is great,
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The 5 doesn’t require a waterproof housing, the frame you get for the 5 is much lighter
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Those two things alone sound like a very decent improvement over to my 3 black, add the LCD for framing up shots and long exposure photos/lapses and it almost seems worthwhile to move up now. Hmm...
Do your old batteries from the 4 work with the 5? (EDIT: i stopped being lazy and googled it... I assumed 3 and 4 batteries were the same but all of 'em are different. Shame, meh, nevermind)
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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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Quick questions to those with the 5, as it's a little hard to picture without one in front of me.
What with it being waterproof now and having the somewhat awkward door mentioned, I assume the USB charging port is under there too...
if so, does this make the idea of having a USB charging pack (instead of buying 4 new genuine batteries at £20 each) that it can be connected up to in my backpack when not in use a little impractical/annoying?
As I mentioned above, my experience with the 3 on snow trips was almost constant battery management, just trying to gauge what it'd be like on the new one.
How did the 5 manage with battery life in cold conditions?
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Unfortunately the 5 has a new battery design so means buying new batteries and dual charger(optional). The new batteries are larger capacity and also USB-C, if you use a proper USB-C>USB-C power adaptor charging is much faster.
You can't access the charger port when its in the mount so can't keep it connected up like you say, but if you have a USB-C battery like Anker PowerCore+ 20100 you could charge the battery over lunch breaks etc.
Hero 5 batteries are currently £14.99 at Argos
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FAQ
