GoPro declining usage?

[tridacna]

Is it my imagination or am I seeing less and less GoPro cameras by divers?

I was in Roatan a few months ago and saw very few - Just returned from Cozumel and saw only one or two. No poles either (which is a relief). Anyone else see less usage? Or just me?

 

[Snoweman]

I'm still using mine, albeit a little less. Instead of taking it on every dive, I will do a dive without it to ensure my skills. That also turns out to be the dive that I with I had it with me.

 

[Snoweman]

Not sure what skills you need to ensure, but whatever they may be, you can't ensure them with a camera clipped to your BCD?

As a warm water, vacation diver, I don't feel that one hour without the camera will ruin my experience. And, being on drift dives, pulling it out, turning it on, getting a dive light ready and taking the picture means I missed the pic about 50 yards ago.

 

[northernone]

Here's my theory, worth what you paid for it....

In general I think the market saturated with action cams and the end user realized after a few dozen hours of shaky footage they don't need any more and the gopro ends up in the forgotten toy bin.

I suspect divers are no different. A few dedicated users stick with it, the rest do a few trips with a camera and stop.

Seeing less too anyway.
Cameron

 

[Saltyhawg]

Still use mine every dive. My wife bought one a year ago and uses it almost every dive as well. With good buoyancy skills and some discipline the footage doesnt have to be shakey. I use a simple pistol grip mount that is on a retractable tether and fits in my BC pocket.

Valuable part of our dives.

 

[J_Rod]

Still use mine. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but after 30+ years, I still see things I have never seen, and things that are "cooler" than the last time I saw them. Editing and cutting scenes together is a nice way to remember/reflect on a particular dive. Now that my kids are diving, it makes for good home movies, too. I may be the only one wanting to watch them, but they are better than our old Thanksgiving footage!!

Addendum:

My buddy has a few of the $50 convenient store "FauxPro's"....They seem to work every bit as well as my GoPro. Not sure what the differences are. Shoot in 4k. I don' think they have WiFi, though.

 

[ystrout]

GoPros are great. We bring ours on every dive. We always seem to see something worth capturing and reminiscing on later that night while uploading it to the computer.

But we aren't photographers. We just like to capture the moment and look back at the pics and vids from our dave that night. I'm sure true photographers wouldn't use one, and some people who bought it and would rather just focus on the dive don't carry it anymore. Both probably bought it during the GoPro crazy though.

 

[flyboy08]

I always have mine..fits neatly into my side pocket...I do take too many pictures though...

 

[divinh]

I put together a new GoPro rig for the last trip, but ended up using a much older Canon G12 instead. The G12 just works better for stills with its zoom and macro. I'll attempt to use the GoPro more on the next trip though.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Do you feel like you're seeing GoPro's being replaced by other cameras? Or just fewer divers with cameras? (Or both: Fewer cameras overall, but more "nice" cameras?)

I'm wondering if we've moved on from the necessity of having to document every waking moment of our lives on film, or if people are "moving up" to higher end cameras.

I went backwards: I used to use nice cameras with massive flash set ups, but for travelling I realized I could get decent photos and video with a GoPro and didn't have to schlep an extra pelican case around airports, on transit, etc. That, and I'm not selling photos or videos. Just showing friends, and occasionally students in classes. Good enough for me.