Crazy - 1080p cam + 180' housing for $270?

[KiiY]

For those of you who haven't yet spent the money on the GoPro, I'd look at a still that shoots HD. A bit more money but the quality, ease of use and the all-in-one small package is WAY worth it IMO.

Good point. I was actually looking at those yesterday, to get a replacement for my current Canon point-and-shoot that only does 640x480 video.

I'm just wondering about a couple things that could swing my decision:

1. Angle of view.

The GoPro HD is 127-degrees at 1080p, but underwater and with a flat port baggie in front of the lens, I wonder what angle of view you'd end up with? I think it's still pretty wide, though.

Compact camera with HD video. Most are not terribly wide angle to begin with, and taking it underwater reduces the angel of view further. Some housings allow an accessory wideangle lens, but that adds weight and bulk. On the plus side, you do have a working zoom with this option.

2. Recording time.

GoPro HD -- Will it record continuously until the memory card is full? Or will it simply stop recording when the file size hits a certain limit? (requiring you to push the start button again)

Compact camera -- Different makers and models probably handle this differently, but I know a lot of the Canons will just stop recording after the file hits something like 4GB. By contrast, my Lumix GH1 will record continuously and the camera just starts a new file every now and then. I'd really like one that I can just push the start button once and leave it recording for the whole dive.

...

I was just getting ready to push the "Buy" button but now I'm not sure. :wacko:

 

[phillybob]

The SD980 has a 24mm lens. I don't know how that translates to degree but it's so wide that Ikelite suggests NOT adding a w/a lens to the housing because the benefit is nil. I had a 4 gb card in it Friday and it recorded till the card was full although I did stop and start a few times. I again have to say that I was highly impressed with the low light quality. And the sound recording was great. I like Canon and Ikelite but if you can find other makes that are to your liking, go for them. I'm just saying that having still and HD video all-in-one, is a lot easier and more flexible, to me anyway. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH !!!

 

[Matt S.]

Bob, that is the solution I want, I am just holding out for another feature or two in the camera before I get a new one. If the SD980 allowed raw shooting, I might get one. (Or if the S90 shot HD video.)

$70 is a lot for the bag solution. I am not ruling it out, but at that price I am not going to pre-order, either.

A guy on this thread epoxied the flat port from an unused digicam housing onto the GoPro case, which doesn't look like a bad hack.

GoProUser.freeforums.org • View topic - Stickie - Underwater video ... blurry right now. Fix coming?

 

[phillybob]

Soon I'm sure something will come out with ALL the cool stuff, 1080P HD, RAW, manual control ... Then I'll have to explain ( read B.S. ) to my wife why I need a new camera and housing. AGAIN !!

 

[Will]

All I can say is GoPro is working on a more factory fix. It will involve a replacement lens that would eliminate the air gap and provide better focus. Looks like it is a month or two out right now. I'll update when I know more.

 

[100days-a-year]

Saw these solutions GoPro Focus Solution - Spearboard Spearfishing Community and got thinking.

I've got some old 35mm housings around.Would a compact Ikelite or Sealife housing work? I could finagle the camera to fit no problem.

 

[Down2bizDiver]

I used the GoPro Hero standard definition camera ($135 - 100') on a St. Croix dive trip last fall with mixed results ... it would freeze up in use, would not begin recording, created empty and corrupted data files.

For Belize I bought the high definition version ($269 - 180'), also with mixed results ... let's just say I've become best friends with tech support. GoPro then sent me a "fully tested" third camera that I used in Bonaire last month ... still seems to have a bug (occasional, random video file corrupted or empty). While this bug is annoying, frustrating, and maddening, I remind myself of the price point, then I feel much better!

I have never experienced any hint of a water leak, even below 120 feet. I don't find still photos good enough because of the off-focus problem, so I shoot only video where the effect is more tolerable, at 970p 4:3 format. The 16:9 letterbox format seems to exacerbate the blur and is more difficult to aim.

Go to youtube.com and in the search box enter "down2biz" (without the quote marks) and a list of my videos made with these cameras will come up. I edit and attempt to color correct with Apple's iMovie. Note: Most land scenes were not shot with GoPro camera.

Belize sharks: youtube.com/watch?v=3UGluxBpHMg
Bonaire turtle: youtube.com/watch?v=p5Ru9kPJKz8

The camera does shut off recording when the flash card is full. On occasion, this last file recorded is the one that is corrupt. I try not to rely on this feature to eliminate one more point of failure.

Condensation in any amount is another factor leading to blur. I have experienced condensation with GoPro once or twice but I take steps to avoid it. It would be nice to have a desiccant bay.

 

[KiiY]

GoPro replied to a questions I posted here earlier:

- The camera keeps recording until the memory card is full. But in light of Down2bizDiver's post above, it may not be good to let the card get completely full for fear of the camera corrupting a file. I use high speed 16GB cards which means over 2 hours at 1080p, so that situation should be fairly easy to avoid. I just don't want to worry about having the camera stop recording every 8 minutes or so (as some cameras will).

- For FYI: Another question I asked was about the 720p 60fps mode. They said it is a true 60fps, not just a frame doubled 30fps like some cameras do (AVCHD Lite cameras, like the Lumix GF1 just use frame doubling which is silly IMO).

Didn't ask about the angle of view since it's a modification to their product.

At $300 I may just bite the bullet and order one of these. I can try the baggie solution until GoPro comes out with a replacement port/housing, and then switch to that. At least they seem to price their accessories very reasonably.

Out of water it could also be a fun camera. I could stick it on my snowboarding helmet and record all the times that I fall down and crash into things.

 

[Down2bizDiver]

Out of water it could also be a fun camera.

Fantastic in air! Do it!

Now, we need some sort of removable but attached outer watertight case dome lens cover to protect it from contact with things that could scratch it. Land users can keep it mounted and in the original hard plastic shipping case, but divers don't use a mount and it would be impracticable (and rude) to bring the big box to the dive site, especially off a boat, and would not help with risks encountered suiting up and getting out of the water. I use a bungee around my wrist and try to hold the case in my hand with lens pointed to palm while grasping rail to climb out of the water but have had some close calls being knocked in camera water buckets when others drop their big rigs in.

For transport on plane, train, and bus I leave the camera in the watertight case and put it in an extra thick snow ski sock.

I met a diver who had a GoPro std def set. He was so afraid of water leak that he put pieces of paper in the case instead of the camera then tested for leaks down to 80 feet. Every time he had wet newspaper. He never took the camera into the water. Looking at how snug the camera fits in the case I suggested that the camera is part of the watertight structural design and in the absence of the camera the case will deform and leak. Anyone here know?

 

[bbcg59]

Wetpixel has a forumula for a diopter correction in sea water as follows.
D = 100cm / 3.03*r
where r is the radius in cm of the dome to be corrected
Anyone got a guess as to the radius of the housing dome ?