Cyber Monday panic!

[cowprintrabbit]

I had a vague idea that I would get a GoPro for my husband's "big" holiday present this year. Just went online to purchase and there are so many options! All the threads discussing this seem to be from around 2012.

For holiday divers, what would you recommend? We are certified to 60ft, but my physical problems limit us to once or twice a year, warm water only. I'd just like him to be able to get a little video, and either still shots or grab stills from the video afterwards (which I guess requires asking for a video editing software recommendation.)

My fear is that if I get him the best, most expensive one it will be too much camera and too complicated - we're never going to skydive with it, or downhill mountainbike, and we don't have kids to video growing up.

Thanks in advance!

 

[diversteve]

Personally I'd go with the 4 Silver.

It comes with the LCD screen built in - nice for framing what you're shooting underwater. It shoots 1080P/60 which is the best resolution most HDTV's support.

The Black does 4K resolution but only at 30fps so if you own/buy a UHDTV (4K set) its' going to look a little jerky at times so you'll likely wind up doowngrading playback to 1080/120 anyway. It's $100 more and no LCD screen so you're paying for the processor. You can add the LCD to a Black for another $100. At $600 I might start looking for a better option.

If you also plan to shoot stills occasionally - either has the 12MP sensor now so they'll be better quality.

Either model comes with the 131' depth-rated case also.

The problem I see with the 3 regular Hero's is that all are built into the case. Seems awkward for surface use. Plus only the Hero + LCD has a screen. The others don't even have an add-on LCD since the back is too thin to close over it. Only the two better models have an 8MP sensor - the entry level Hero is only 5MP.

GoPro has a decent editor that's free to download. It's called GoPro Studio and is found on their website. For most people it does what they need. They also have a smartphone app that allows you to create short clips and upload them to Youtube etc. It's also used to upgrade the camera software if there is one. And control the camera but not underwater obviously.

The Sesssion is out since it's only good to 33' underwater.

 

[Brandon]

Hero 4 Silver will do a great job for what you're after. I have mine with me on almost every dive now and am very happy with the results. I'll see if I can get some video up for you, but here are some stills:

Hrm... pictures do not want to load. What the heck.

-B

 

[lamarpaulski]

Like Steve and Brandon say...not that complicated and a lot of fun. Will be the best gift ever. Plenty of uses above water too. ( Screen grabs and stills are Ok but videos really shine.)

Actually, playing with the thing above water is good way to get familiar with it. Does a lot of cool stuff. I find the wi-fi smart phone app to be very useful btw.

For tropical diving a red filter and a mount is a good idea.

 

[seeker242]

My fear is that if I get him the best, most expensive one it will be too much camera and too complicated - we're never going to skydive with it, or downhill mountainbike, and we don't have kids to video growing up.

Thanks in advance!

I much prefer the ones that have an LCD screen. Makes it easier to operate the menus etc. Any one of them can be used for skydiving, etc.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Just picked up a Hero4 Silver on Amazon for $399--the one with $80 Amazon Gift Card.

Don't go too crazy with filters and mounts in the beginning especially since you aren't sure what he will use the camera for. Just get the package that has the camera and 64GB SD card to start.

 

[abloodworth]

Here's an even better deal on that GoPro ($349.95) as there are no tax or shipping charges and you get a couple diving accessories: Buy scuba equipment and dive gear from Scubatoys.com - GoPro Bunle

Just picked it up myself!

 

[CptTightPants21]

Here's an even better deal on that GoPro ($349.95) as there are no tax or shipping charges and you get a couple diving accessories: Buy scuba equipment and dive gear from Scubatoys.com - GoPro Bunle

Just picked it up myself!

The no tax is very nice. You still need to buy a memory card, but a nice deal regardless

 

[BFRedrocks]

Convinced my wife that me having a GoPro on my solo dives would allow me to show her what I actually do when I'm soloing underwater, so we just picked one up for the holidays this year.

I also chose the Hero4 Silver as the LCD touch screen and lower cost outweighed the need for 4K 30 FPS and higher resolution. The one thing I didn't realize until I had the thing in my hand though is that you cannot operate the touch screen (e.g., swiping it to change options) while diving, because the standard housing (waterproof to 131 ft) doesn't allow for direct contact with the screen. The Hero4 Silver comes with a special "touch" backdoor that allows you to use the housing and the screen at the same time, but not while diving (not waterproof to diving depths). This wasn't a deal breaker as for me the point of the screen was really just to be able to see what I was shooting anyway.

I got mine from Amazon too for $319. I also added a couple of 64GB micro SD cards ($34), a waterproof stick ($15), and a external charger with 2 batteries (Wasabi) ($24). Good enough to get started with and great to have in my drysuit pocket whenever the need arises.

---------- Post added December 1st, 2015 at 10:53 AM ----------

Hero 4 Silver will do a great job for what you're after. I have mine with me on almost every dive now and am very happy with the results. I'll see if I can get some video up for you, but here are some stills:

Hrm... pictures do not want to load. What the heck.

-B

Are those still shots pulled from video, or are they actual still photos taken with the GoPro?

 

[Nagel616]

I'll also suggest the Hero 4 Silver..

And it DOES do 4K video, though you will probably user lower resolution unless your editing PC is a beast. I took my Hero 4 Silver to Cozumel last September, and used it all the time. A red filter is highly recommended below 15'..

Personally, I shoot in 1080 and sometimes 720 (2.7k and 4k are too high for my TV and are downright painful to edit on my PC).

For software, GoPro does come with some basic editing software. If you're more creative there are other packages out there. I've used Pinnacle Studio (currently version 19) since version 9, and been happy with it. Bit of a learning curve and not always intuitive, but plenty of videos online on how to use it.