Underwater stills on Hero 3+ ?

[Bordiver]

Hi everyone?

I´m really new to GoPro, and more to underwater filming...

I just bought a Hero 3+ black edition, and there´s a mode in 1080p that takes a still, while filming, every chosen interval.

I´ve seen some stills, from GoPro on google, but they all looked blurry to me... As they were taken with slower shutter speeds...

Has anyone managed to get crisp, sharp stills using a HERO 3 or 3+ underwater? My goal is to dive with only the Hero 3+ and a light, and get stills taken automatically. Would it work?

I´ll be diving in Curaçao, so probably blue and clear waters...

Thanks!

 

[3D diver]

I don't know about the 3, but often pull frame grabs from my Hero2 videos & the issue is usually motion blur.

If you can hold still enough, and/or brace yourself somehow (think pole or tripod) you can likely get sharp images.

Otherwise, you're better off with a good, fast, housed camera, IMHO.

my images here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3d87c4/sets/72157630071954457/

 

[krukster86]

I just got my Hero 3+ and won't get to try diving with it till later this month, but I am also VERY curious about this capture mode.
When I tried this setting on land with a picture taken every 5 seconds of video, I was pleased, but the trick is to keep the camera SUPER steady.
Otherwise, the best bet would be to shoot video and take a screenshot through software. With the Hero 2 on 1080p (720p was too blurry for decent pictures), I would find a scene I wanted to capture and then skip forward and back a little frame by frame to find a frame that was crisp and in focus.

*EDIT: The pictures in my album (to the left) are all taken through screenshots of the Hero 2. The more blurry/pixellated pics are from when I shot 720p video instead of 1080p.

 

[trevalo]

I'm new to Gopro also and it's a super fun gadget with impressive results. But my biggest qualm was the issue of shaky footage.

Taking stills every 5 secs during video worked out ok for me. I kept it in mind that there would be a still shot every 5 seconds, so when filming I would pay extra attention to hold camera super steady for as long as possible. In the end, this awareness actually helped with my video being steadier also.

How powerful is your lighting? I suppose the more light you have, the less chance of blur.


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[PinkInkScuba]

Most end up blurry unless you are still during the shot. It's best to just use the software and take your stills from the video.

 

[jphehe]

Hero 3 Black here. When I go diving, I always use this mode. 720/60p, 5 sec a shot. Great pictures for normal light conditions.

If you use a spread/wide angle torch for night/low light, the picture will improve very much.

 

[krukster86]

How powerful is your lighting?
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Not sure who this was addressed to, but I was using one Sola 1200 dive light for the screenshots you may have seen. I picked up a SOLA 2000 video light that I will be using for future dives.

 

[hellhole]

its really a hit and miss ... as it depend on a lot of things...

if u shooting the gopro with a tray and stuff.. then the possibility of getting a decent picture is higher... but really.... i really think u can get a screen grab much better...

 

[trevalo]

Definitely "hit and miss".... significantly more "miss" than "hits". I wouldn't count on this feature to produce any great results but it's a pleasant surprise to find a nice Still shot at the end of the day.

If interested, you can see here some results from this "5 sec auto-capture": Flickr: trevalo0325's Photostream

And here is a video I put together from which some of those Still shots were captured:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/39jCbWcOp5g[/video]

My first stab at underwater video, some bits are quite shaky... gotta work on that buoyancy!

---------- Post added March 7th, 2014 at 02:57 PM ----------

Not sure who this was addressed to, but I was using one Sola 1200 dive light for the screenshots you may have seen. I picked up a SOLA 2000 video light that I will be using for future dives.

Assume you'll be using both the the 1200 and 2000? That should be plenty of light to get some nice colorful shots down there. How's the spread and those Solas?


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[krukster86]

Assume you'll be using both the the 1200 and 2000? That should be plenty of light to get some nice colorful shots down there. How's the spread and those Solas?

Yep! I was going to get another 1200, but the dive shop had a 2000 on clearance for almost $100 less! Two lights should be very helpful. On wide mode the spread of a single SOLA is great for 5 ft or less. I haven't tried 2xSOLAs yet (Cozumel in late March). You get some orange tint from the filter but I can live with that.