Hi all
sorry if this is not the right section to post but I have been looking at go pro alternatives. On looking at the cheaper gopro versions available on Amazon etc, the quality just seems to be pretty rubbish. It got me thinking what if I used my mobile phone. I came across a chest mount for a mobile and I have an old mobile I could use just for video only and wondered if this would be practical and if anyone has used such a thing? or does anyone have a cheap gopro alternative that they can recommend?
it really is just for me so I can have some nice memories of the runs etc (without having to keep stopping and whipping out my phone and doing a panoramic or asking the hubby to video me).
Appreciate any opinions.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
polo99 wrote:
Hi all
sorry if this is not the right section to post but I have been looking at go pro alternatives. On looking at the cheaper gopro versions available on Amazon etc, the quality just seems to be pretty rubbish. It got me thinking what if I used my mobile phone. I came across a chest mount for a mobile and I have an old mobile I could use just for video only and wondered if this would be practical and if anyone has used such a thing? or does anyone have a cheap gopro alternative that they can recommend?
it really is just for me so I can have some nice memories of the runs etc (without having to keep stopping and whipping out my phone and doing a panoramic or asking the hubby to video me).
Appreciate any opinions.
Just buy a 2nd hand GoPro hero 7 onwards. An old phone won’t have decent stabilisation and the footage will be rubbish compared with a GoPro (stabilisation got good from 7)
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?
I bought a GoPro last year and was unimpressed. Probably too high expectations, video quality good but photos poor. I returned it. I've recently bought a Akaso Brave 7 action camera and it's at least as good, if not better as far as I can tell. Having a remote included as standard is particularly handy for using when skiing.
I bought a GoPro last year and was unimpressed. Probably too high expectations, video quality good but photos poor. I returned it. I've recently bought a Akaso Brave 7 action camera and it's at least as good, if not better as far as I can tell. Having a remote included as standard is particularly handy for using when skiing.
I have a hero 8. Agree photos weren't too great but guess they are built for videos really. For photos I normally just use my phone
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
7ncj wrote:
I bought a GoPro last year and was unimpressed. Probably too high expectations, video quality good but photos poor. I returned it. I've recently bought a Akaso Brave 7 action camera and it's at least as good, if not better as far as I can tell. Having a remote included as standard is particularly handy for using when skiing.
Unless you're making profressional quality video edits, I think most people would be disappointed with a GoPro, or pretty much any action camera for that matter.
I thought the same. Ordered a chest mount from Amazon but it was flimsy and badly made. It wasn't able to support the weight of my phone and flipped down.
There may be other versions that work.
It was "MacLean" brand and had some good reviews, but also some that stated the same issues I had.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I bought one for next to nothing on a clearance sale. It sorta makes a phone into a GoPro.
After all it is free
After all it is free
You won't get the same footage too - besides being somewhat sturdier and weatherproof (to a point), and the obvious stabilisation, action cams use wide angles by default. They're designed for shooting relatively close to the action. Plus a mobile battery, afaik, won't last as long with its big screen (especially in the cold).
But depending on your specific needs it might well be enough.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Thank you for the feedback. I have decided to go with a gopro hero 10. Does anyone know if you need to buy multiple sd cards or can you just get away with using 1 and upload to the cloud every night? I have also looked at battery life. would you recommend taking a spare battery or would 1 battery last the whole day?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
If you get a big GB sd card like 256 you'll virtually never need to delete footage.
If you want the footage on your iphone, I reco using a lightning to SD card reader rather than using the app and Bluetooth. Much quicker.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
did you look at the insta360 range?
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.
You don't need multiple cards. Don't shoot stuff which won't work, and bear in mind no one needs more than about 30 seconds of good footage. Shoot less not more, but make sure you shoot when it's good.
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
I'm going to disagree - you need to shoot a LOT to get that 30 seconds of something - you discard probably 95% or more of what you shoot.
My rule of thumb was rough cut, watch it, edit it, watch the edit - if you don't want to watch the edit again straight away, edit it down again harder. Repeat.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I was thinking I could just start recording in the morning then again in the afternoon. Do you have to keep turning it off and on? Is there an app on the phone that can do this remotely or do you have to take it off your helmet and do it? Is it possible to upload the footage to the cloud at night then wipe the card for the next day? Is the cloud free? Sorry for all the questions, I appreciate everyone's input
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@polo99, Well just looking at my little GoPro7 recording 2:30 minutes at good resolution was about 1.2GiB so thats about 29GiB per hour to record, 144 Gib for 5 hours recording. Thats not an insubstantial amount to be uploading on your chalets wifi to the cloud. Take a laptop with you and offload to that nightly then reformat the card.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@polo99, you have to pay GoPro a subscription to use their cloud. I just use the voice activation to start/stop recording clips when I’m riding, then transfer them onto my iPhone and use the Quik app to edit them after which I send them to my photos to publish via IG / WhatsApp. Then delete everything off the GoPro and Quik app (as they take up a lot of space).
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:
I was thinking I could just start recording in the morning then again in the afternoon. Do you have to keep turning it off and on? Is there an app on the phone that can do this remotely or do you have to take it off your helmet and do it? Is it possible to upload the footage to the cloud at night then wipe the card for the next day? Is the cloud free? Sorry for all the questions, I appreciate everyone's input
Oh that is a LOT of footage. Strongly recommend you review the footage and rough edit every night and only keep the best bits.
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?
polo99 wrote:
I was thinking I could just start recording in the morning then again in the afternoon. Do you have to keep turning it off and on? ...
as above, there are different approaches, but to me that's crazy. Almost none of it would be usable, and you'd have to wade through masses of garbage to even find any decent stuff.
There's no need to shoot unusable footage, you will only throw it away. I just shoot the good stuff.
It takes 1 second to turn the thing on and off; hours and hours to find and delete pointless footage. Try it, you'll soon work it out.
g
There's no need to shoot unusable footage, you will only throw it away. I just shoot the good stuff.
.
and useable depends on how you define useable; for me the bar might be a lot lower than someone wanting to do a pro cinematic film
But I agree with you entirely. Out of 5 minutes filming I'd want about a minute to be useable - I'm allowing for trimming the start and stop in all that.
As for Go Pro alternatives I had a look recently and the clone cameras don't seem to have moved on much over the last half decade. I use a Firefly 8S which gives very good footage and has excellent stabilization but the camera has only seen relatively minor updates over the years. I guess if it does most of what you want already.
As for shooting. I've never liked chest or helmet mounts, I guess if you don't waggle around a lot you could get some nice shots.
360 cameras are very clever but holding a pole for skiing gives a slightly unnatural look.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
The insta360 looks good. A good video from Dave Searle here
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Many of us switched to the Insta 360x3, but I think that wasn't the question. The advantages of 360 cameras are that you can do the framing in post, and the pole is auto removed (snowboarders), plus there's now a ski-pole adaptor for skiers. The disadvantages of the 360x3 are resolution, and some additional post-processing work. There's a thread here for 360 cameras where people have posted actual footage. An x4 is a possibility next autumn.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@phil_w, The x2 can swap the lens & not be 360
I specifically did not pick a model due to the number of action cameras in their range.
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.
Gored wrote:
@phil_w, The x2 can swap the lens & not be 360
That’s not the X2 that’s the One RS, which is the modular camera that Insta360 sell.
The X2 is a very similar form factor to the X3, but with a smaller, and circular, display.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
polo99 wrote:
Thank you for the feedback. I have decided to go with a gopro hero 10. Does anyone know if you need to buy multiple sd cards or can you just get away with using 1 and upload to the cloud every night? I have also looked at battery life. would you recommend taking a spare battery or would 1 battery last the whole day?
You are going to need multiple batteries, especially in the cold and especially if you are going to record with the GoPro for hours at a time. One large SD card will be fine, but you are going to chew through batteries at a rate of knots.
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