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

[Matt S.]

Looks promising.

It will be interesting to see how smart the auto exposure is in an underwater scene with bright HID light spots in the frame. I am assuming that the camera, being intended for outdoor use, will expose for the shadows in a scene with high contrast. It will be fun to do some tests.

 

[zahgurim]

The Go-Pros are great little units.
Quite a few of my mountainbiking friends use them to make vids.

I didn't know their case had such a deep depth rating, I can definately see picking up a HD unit myself for diving/biking/skydiving.

 

[TMan2]

Good day all,

We have been offering the GoPro Line for about 6 months and have sold a bunch to many different users. From my experience it is a good little unit with surprisingly good results. Its just so damn small, having used multiple manufacturers video units it just doesn't seem natural to me how small it is, but maybe that is why I have an suv and not one of those little electric cars. Just doesn't seem natural. Anyway Great little product with a great price....I am waiting to get my hands on a flip though, I think that is going to be a happy medium for me.

 

[Aggie Diver]

People talking about mounting options...

Why not get the tripod mount, then it looks like you could mount to most video trays (I have an Ikelite tray, think it would be perfect for that). Guess we'd need to find out if it's stainless steel, but I'd assume so.

Awesome find! I'm really interested in this.

 

[scubashawn123]

The camera

Flip UltraHD Camcorders | Flip Video



The underwater lights and housing


Underwater Housing for Flip Ultra Camcorders


This has to be the least expensive way to get into uw video production using the flip editing software HD camera, lights and housing.

Extremely travel friendly.

 

[phillybob]

People talking about mounting options...

Why not get the tripod mount, then it looks like you could mount to most video trays (I have an Ikelite tray, think it would be perfect for that). Guess we'd need to find out if it's stainless steel, but I'd assume so.

Awesome find! I'm really interested in this.

I'm waiting till I hear from someone who actually used this thing at depth. The base-jumping video does look great, though. This thing looks so small, I was thinking of strapping it to a Light Canon or some other strong light with a diffuser on it. I only use one strobe on my still camera rig (Ikelite), so I may mount it to the empty handle and use the spotting light I have under my strobe as a video light. Digital still AND H.D. video, all on one rig. That would be nice.

 

[mrivken]

I compared specs for Flip and Hero. Both of them have fixed focus, but Flip's from 1.5m(~5') to infinity vs. Hero's 0.6m(~2') to infinity - even not taking in account wide angle it allows to be almost 3 time closer to subject. Sensor size Flip - 1/4.5 vs Hero's 1/2.5", which theoretically will have less noise. So, according to spec's GoPro HD looks more promising.

 

[Gombessa]

Sensor size Flip - 1/4.5 vs Hero's 1/2.5", which theoretically will have less noise. So, according to spec's GoPro HD looks more promising.

All things being equal, we're probably looking at similar noise. Both Hero and Flip have 2.2um pixels, but the Flip's physical resolution is limited to 720p. So, the way I understand it, at 1080p the Hero should have similar noise to the Flip at 720p, but at 720p, unless the Hero does something novel like pixel combination/averaging, it is still going to have similar noise characteristics to the Flip since the Hero will capture in lower resolution using the same number of pixels as the Flip.

As for wide, that's really where the Hero has a huge advantage - the Flip seems to have a ~40mm lens, definitely on the extreme narrow end of the spectrum. To get it to ~90-100 degree coverage underwater, you need a $300 accessory wide lens. The Hero beats the pants off of that in stock form. Pretty exciting.

 

[Matt S.]

Still probably 2 weeks before my HD Hero arrives. :/

 

[phillybob]

I've read were the Flip needs to be held very still for the video not to come out blurry. Judging by the base jumping videos, the Hero doesn't need to be held too still for the video to turn out clear. I'm still going to wait to see what the Hero does at depth.