Considering investing in a GoPro for my 4 weeks away this year. They are £100 cheaper in canada which helps
So- when head mounted are they a fantastic way to capture your fun? Or is the film just jerky and of the ground rushing past you?!
Or are they only really useful when someone has one attached to a ski pole and your recording some tricks? I wont be doing any tricks- far more interested in carving and speed!
Most importantly- im in danger of becoming this guy anyway (i know its a repost)
This video sums it up for me really, I'm more interested in the pole mounted park stuff but I still love this - what better way to capture a holiday.At £100 less I'd definately get one.
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?
The results can be either fun or tedious. If you like having a record of what you did on your holidays, then why not? If you know what you're doing the results can be excellent. I particularly like this one which is done by a fellow snowHead.
I have a Muvi camera, courtesy of santa. I keep it in a waterproof housing. I used it on a chest strap a few weeks ago and it was great but bounced around, also whilst skiing behind others it moved around the piste about as your body movement is not always following others. I have now made a mount for me helmet and the picture is much better, easier to use and more stable. I got thr quick release plate from a tripod, filled the base with heat glue and shaped it to the curviture of my helmet, then used the industrial velcro. Worked really well last week.
I now have loads of footage that I'm trying to work out how to edit.
I am slightly concerned what might happen if I fall with the camera on the top of my helmet. You have to watch it when dropping the safety bar on a cair lift so it doesn't get knocked off. It is also slightly anoying to know if it is on or off as the light is very small.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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.
I would be inclined to say that the chest mount is the best, helmet just seems like your floating on thin air at times!
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 was skiing 2 weeks ago in Morzine, and a couple of the guys in the group had them. I was sceptical - but the replays convinced me that they are a really good piece of kit. Great for memories of a day's (week's) runs, and great for feedback. Just remember to always ski in front of the guy with the camera.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Hi k1orange what model Muvi do you have? am looking at the HD10, looks good value and includes a load of accessories. Can anyone give me any feed back on using these and how to get the best results! Thanks, Sorry for hijacking your thread BillyBoy!
I find the chest mount more stable than the helmet but the helmet mount is better for following others & keeping them in shot.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
My boyfriend has one for other sports and we took it out at Christmas - very good quality footage (using the helmet mount that comes supplied) but in the cold temps the battry only lasted about 20 mins
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Just make sure you have a safety lanyard system in place (from bitter, bitter experience last week) and that you put your email address inside the casing.
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 bough my GoPro HD in Canada and they are cheaper, some advice would be to buy an SD card online in the UK before you go (my 16gb Kingston Class 10 cost $130 in Banff). As for cold weather - I used mine in temperatures consistently between -20 and -40 and the battery life was significantly longer than 20 minutes worth of film time. Once you buy one look at the settings and change the button functions so that you depress the forward facing button for 2 seconds and it turns the camera on and automatically begins recording, press again for 2 seconds and it stops recording and switches the camera off. Remember even if the camera isnt recording but "on" (I.e. LED display is awake) it uses significant battery life. Another suggestion is to record a long clip in several shorter clips (I.e. don't leave it recording for too long) this a) preserves battery life b) means you have smaller video files to import/edit which is easier for your computer to handle. Buy one - you won't regret it!
Another suggestion is to record a long clip in several shorter clips (I.e. don't leave it recording for too long) this a) preserves battery life b) means you have smaller video files to import/edit which is easier for your computer to handle. Buy one - you won't regret it!
+1 that's a really good tip.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
That safety lanyard advice is good!
Also great fun if you are a mountain biker. Loads of mounting possibilities...
You can helmet mount them, goggle mount them, pole mount them with the included handlebar mount (you might need to fatten out the pole a little with some tape), use the goggle mount to velcro them to your ski, or use the goggle mount to attach it to your boot, if your boot has a velcro strap around the top. The boot strap/goggle mount looks like the knee mount in that video above and comes with the camera. If you cut together a few of those different shots, you can make it interesting. The Drift has the advantage of having a built in LCD, so you can review your shots and make sure you aren't filming rubbish. It also has a much easier menu to navigate than the GoPro, which is useful when you have cold hands, and it's lower profile on your helmet so it's less likely to get whacked off. Coupled with the remote and the rotatable lens, Its much easier to use and more versatile than the original GoPro HD, in my opinion. You can also buy a high capacity battery, which lasted me for about 4 hours in -5 to -10C or so.
Enough evangelising about Drift. In response to the initial question, get an HD wide angled action cam. You won't regret it, and if by some chance you do, you can sell it for not much less than you paid for it.
After all it is free
After all it is free
I got a Gopro last summer for mountain biking and skiing, great fun and a good way to capture your holiday. The only problem is time... you need to buy some hours to edit the footage and thats where I struggle, I've not even looked at the stuff from our christmas week.
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.
I'm going to be a slightly dissenting voice in this thread. GoPro footage is really impressive quality, and as the above posts show, you can make some pretty decent video clips with it. To do that however does take a bit of post production work. You will find a lot of stuff ends up on the editing room floor. This isn't a go pro criticism, just an observation of what it takes to make a watchable film clip. By all means buy a GoPro if you are into that, but if you just want to record stuff and watch it without editing, chances are it will probably be a bit boring.
Most importantly, if you do go to the effort of editing it properly, make sure you post it here for us to see!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
It needs editing anyway otherwise you get the inevitable faff once you've switched the camera on and start putting your gloves back on etc.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I am a massive fan of the GoPro! i have used it for skiing, mountain biking, holidays, general recordings even a tour around a house that me and my partner were interested in. I have the chest mount, a helmet mount and a pole mount! If you like to mount the camera on your ski pole check out a site called a gopole.com, also on ebay! Ive picked up some great footage!! As other posters have said, you need plenty of time at home to edit and organise your footage!
I don't regret for one second, putting it on my christmas list!
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.
They can be really good. POV footage can add a really interesting dimension to a video. However, a whole video of it tends to get pretty tedious (unless just a couple of mins). Also it's quite hard to get footage that actually looks good with the gopro - it tends to make stuff look flatter and easier. You have to plan how to ski lines and film them, rather than jsut press the button and go. However mix up the angles, put a bit of editing work in, and you can get a good video. Otherwise you end up with a holiday clip that you yourself may enjoy, but will bore most other people senseless. Depending on what you want to do with the film that may not be an issue though!
But seriously, people buy GoPros for the look??! If you're not trying to make a film, why on earth would you want to look like a teletubby??
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
homers double wrote:
It needs editing anyway otherwise you get the inevitable faff once you've switched the camera on and start putting your gloves back on etc.
The drift remote does away with that faff - you just put it on your wrist or bag strap and it has 2 big chunky buttons which are easy to use in gloves. It beeps to start recording and beeps differently to stop. Really simple, clever idea.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I've used a GoPro for the last couple of years. Had the Standard one up until last year, when I bought the HD (not the HD2).
Used it for the first time last month in Selva, and been extremely chuffed with the results, a huge improvement over the standard definition cam. I just attach it to my (ski) helmet using the supplied helmet mount. Rather use this over the chest mount, as I like the camera to be pointing in the same direction as my face, I therefore have more control over where it's pointing.
I also hear what people are saying regarding editing the footage. Personally this isn't something I do, as I only really take it for my own benefit. I do post some of the vids on YouTube, but this is really for the benefit of the others that were on the holiday. So due to lack of editing, all my vids start with a minute of faffing about! But they still seem to get quite a few views and positive feedback, so it'd seem people find them reasonably entertaining, interesting and hopefully useful
One big thing I've noticed about GoPros specifically regarding skiing, is that the results are much better if taken on a sunny slope. The texture/ruts etc on the snow show up a lot more clearly and gives a much better sensation of speed. If the slope is in the shade, it can just look a bit flat. This is only factor with skiing, I've not found this 'sun' issue to be a prerequisite with MTB videos I've taken. Also, having it on the wide-angle setting (170degrees) greatly increases the sensation of speed. With the HD, this means you have to come down a resolution to 720p (but which is still HD). This isn't a problem with the HD2, as it has 170degree field-of-view at full 1080p resolution.
Below is a link to the best video I got from the Selva holiday (complete with 40 secs of faffing!). It's the Cucasattel piste from Seceda to Ortisei, give you an idea of the type of results you can expect.
shoneyman- what pixel and fps were you useing there?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Although they are cheaper in Canada, you may have difficulty getting a Hero2 out here. Banff Photography has none left and the guy there explained that not many were shipped to Canada; I've only seen the previous model at Sunshine and Lake Louise, but Nakiska has a few ($349+tax). I think that works out about the same as buying in Dixons at Heathrow (you can call and reserve). Also be careful buying accessories - the LCD screen (it doesn't come with one) is $150 at Sunshine, but only $99 in Banff Photo (who I found very helpful - and they rent them, in case you don't want to buy).
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
WASHOUT, the Selva video was raken at 720p resolution (so 1280x720), and 30fps. That corresponds to the 'r2' resolution setting on the GoPro HD. With this setting, it has a 170 degree field of view.
It's capable of a higher resolution (1080p: 1920x1080), however on this setting (r5), the field of view is limited to 127 degrees. I find the lower res, but wider view gives better results (for skiing).
The HD2 is capable of doing full 1080p at the full 170 degree field of view, which I reckon would give amazing results.
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?
Here’s our video from our holiday last month.
Filmed on a Gopro 960.
We took A LOT of footage, we’d not used a gopro before so some of it wasn’t amazing.
On a couple of the days we had fresh snow falling and so the poor light didn’t help, also meant the fresh snow was getting the lens wet and obscuring the view.
Took quite a bit of time going through clips to select parts, I regret not going through them at the end of each day and starting the editing out there.
Didn’t help either that my laptops a few years old now, my 2gb of ram was probably on the limit and I was only using Movie Maker.
Overall though I think they’re great,
I need to re-publish the video again on Windows Movie Maker as it’s not saved it as full screen
cheers shoneyman, i took a video in zell last month useing 1280x960p and 48fps. it wasnt great quality. part of the learning curve i guess. onwards and upwards
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
