 Poster: A snowHead
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Is the Gopro hero 2 as good as it looks? all the clips on youtube etc and the marketing of this cam' appear to make it the best for what it it is made for, but
are there any alternatives?
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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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I think, if you've looked at the amateur clips on You Tube... the answer is obvious. It looks to be an awesome bit of kit!
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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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They deliver, frankly.
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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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its the quality of the video along with the range of mounting options that makes it a winner.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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great cam.
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The quality is outstanding though to get really good shots like the adverts, some really good video editing software is needed to improve things.
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If it's good enough for broadcast TV, then it's good enough for me. Much of the quality must be in post though, not the camera. There's a massive difference between amateur vids and TV and the Go Pro promo vids.
edit: although there is definitely product placement going on too (especially in th US), so good marketing. Either contour and the others really aren't so good, or they are not so good at product placement? Certain TV shows make sure that the GoPros get seen in the final cut, although of course only those interested in such a purchase would recognise that.
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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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It's a great cam, but it's also great marketing.
Other companies make comparable cameras, with their own pros and cons compared to the GoPros. The two I'm familiar with are Drift Innovations and Contour. Both worth a look.
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doesn't the contour have a nice fat slidey switch to start and stop record... that is a winner with gloves on!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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flangesax, Yep thats what swung it to Contour for me, easy to do with gloves on and easy for the kids when they have the camera.
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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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flangesax, Drift has a remote with big fat buttons which are easy to use with gloves on - comes with a velcro strap so you can put it on your wrist, or bag, or wherever else. It also means you can mount the camera somewhere and start recording without having that 5 seconds of faff where you see the person reaching to turn it on/off. I found this pretty useful when scrolling through masses of clip thumbnails for editing - the thumbnails of the shots where I had used the remote were instantly recognisable, as they had the target of the video in frame. The thumbnails where I had turned it on by hand were just pictures of gloves, and this made it hard to tell what the clip was without opening it. Sounds minor, but when you have 30 odd GB of footage, it's a major timesaver!
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+1 for the countour, also mounts & looks slightly less stupid than the go pros IMHO....
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You know it makes sense.
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They're great fun to play around with in locations where a conventional DSLR won't fit. I made this over the weekend:
http://vimeo.com/37107259
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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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ultimately it comes down to a couple of choices.
image quality and features - gopro2 wins.
form factor - contour and others generally win, but this depend on what you are using them for!
Either way as mentioned elsewhere what matters is what you do with the footage after capture.
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Poster: A snowHead
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element, we brought my son the drift X170 for Christmas, which is not HD, but the HD version is identical in size & fixings. Certainly the X170 is easy to use, clip on & off, use with gloves - the footage we got from it are ok on pc & look fine on DVD thro tv - 90% being from his head, either on top of helmet or off goggle strap (not as robust as on top of his helmet).
Like all head cams (based on reading thro many reviews) light sensitivity is an issue, certainly going down a mogul field in the 3V where we were in shade & the background was in brilliant sunshine, the camera was fighting to adjust but then I think they would all suffer to varying degrees - although this may also be down to settings.
The big bonus is being able to rotate the 170 degree lense, depending on where you mount it, to level the view.
It has a neat screen to play back but we used it to line up the innitial setting of the fixing - the screen can be set off, on or to switch off after 5, 10, or 20 secs to save batteries.
The 2 x AA bateries on the X170 lasted all 11 days of our holiday, being used on 9 days, mainly in the afternoons - which was way beyond the stated battery length, the HD version has a rechargeable internal battery so I don;t know how long that lasts.
The only issues I have with it is that the mic pics up the wind (the HD version can have an external mic fitted) and the "beep" to confirm filming when the remote button is pressed - we couldn;t hear with a helmet on, although there is an accessory with the HD version that illuminates an LED cable so you can have visual confirmation.
Above all the big plus for us was the base X170 was £60 from Amazon, plus £30 odd for a 32 MB memory card - which was really great results per pound spent.
I would certainly consider the HD version for me next year.
Noisey
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