back to article You like jumping out of planes? Try the new GoPro 4. Short walks? There's a Hero instead

GoPro, the maker of video cameras for those who like to mix danger with their hobbies, has added two new models to its range: the GoPro 4 and and the GoPro Hero. The GoPro 4 follows the GoPro 3, and is available in black and silver editions. Like a posh credit card, the black version is better than the silver one. The black …

  1. qwarty

    Windows control app support still missing?

    I've a Hero 3 with remote control apps for Android and iOS but still no Windows software release despite the fact that an x64 tablet makes a far better mobile solution for professional video use.

    Great device in its way but let down by a poor UI so remote control is virtually essential.

    Come on, its only a few weeks dev work surely a billion dollar company should have this sorted already.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Windows control app support still missing?

      And while they are at it why not one for OS/2 and Linux?

      I think you have missed the point, Android and IOS are the main OSs for smart phones and tablets. These cameras are not the sort of things that you control from your PC.

      1. JoshOvki

        Re: Windows control app support still missing?

        I am going to take a shot in the dark here and assume they mean Windows for tablets and phones.

        1. Thought About IT

          Re: Windows control app support still missing?

          "I am going to take a shot in the dark here and assume they mean Windows for tablets and phones."

          GoPro do have an app for Windows Phone:

          http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/gopro/bca90c60-10c7-4009-b8b0-13df4ebcf9da

          Haven't tried it so don't know if it's any good.

      2. Vociferous

        Re: Windows control app support still missing?

        These cameras are not the sort of things that you control from your PC.

        Why not?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Windows control app support still missing?

          "These cameras are not the sort of things that you control from your PC.

          Why not?"

          Yes, why not? In fact, if you're seriously thinking about 12mp frames at 60fps a second, you better PRAY you're smart phone has immediate access to a computer (like...immediate!), or at the very least have a SD slot that accepts 128GB+ cards.

          After thinking about it, maybe a computer is the only practical thing to use, because a mobile only seems practical to tether in for use as a "Live View" or a glorified Bulb device.

          1. melt

            Re: Windows control app support still missing?

            It's a REMOTE CONTROL app. The camera records to its own internal SD card.

        2. stu 4

          Re: Windows control app support still missing?

          You can control them from a PC relatively easily.

          Have a look on the net.

          The gopro runs linux, and the wifi interface presents a basic webserver.

          You can use this to start/stop video, stream video, etc pretty easily with a basic script.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      4K

      Overkill?

      Does anyone have a Screen to make use of it?

      1. SkippyBing

        Re: 4K

        Now? A few people, in x years time, loads of people. Maybe they don't want to make the mistake Disney did and regret not saving all the high res footage down the line when displays catch up.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 4K

        I have just upgraded my two external screens connected to my Dell M6700 laptop to the "cheap" Samsung 4K's, and despite what Dell and Nvidia say I can drive them both at 4K 60Hz and the laptop screen at the same time.

        Aero does turn off due to the number of pixels driven off the single graphics card, but that is a windows limitation rather than a hardware one.

        4K screens in the £400 price area are surprisingly good.

      3. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Windows control app support still missing?

      Why is it that some people feel obliged to downvote or comment that someone who actually uses a GoPro and would find a PC app extremely useful is somehow wrong? If its because you have in depth experience with video work then why not at least attempt a dialog on why it is useful. Bit of advice - if you don't understand a topic, better to keep quiet than open your mouth simply to confirm you're an idiot.

      Incidentally I'm currently using a hacked PC app written by a teenager because the company itself can't get its act together. The phone app is all well and good but a 15" screen is sometimes useful when setting up and dealing with more complex shoots.

  2. Vociferous

    I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

    An ultrawide lens is pretty much useless while diving.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

      I guess your downvote was from one of the company people, because your point is strong. I understand low light situations, but in ultra wide you're going to have to blow the fucker up so much that distortion is abundant OR, you're going to have to sneek up to 1 foot from the fishes...not happening.

      Again though, low light situations... I guess I wish it did come with a tele, but at the same time that would probably reveal the *value* of this camera. BTW, 2000 lines at 12mp at 30 fps...uhhh compression artifacts maybe?!?!? Good luck blowing those frames up!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

        I guess your downvote was from one of the company people,

        Nah. My downvote was because I've been diving for over 30 years and can think of very few occasions when anything other than a wide would have been required .

        1. Vociferous

          Re: I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

          > My downvote was because I've been diving for over 30 years and can think of very few occasions when anything other than a wide would have been required .

          Rubbish.

          However, it turns out there are third party add-ons for GoPro to get "macro", so one can take photos of things smaller than a football and get decent detail: http://www.backscatter.com/sku/bs-flip-mm.lasso

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

      Anything other than a wide angle lens (or at the very most a "normal" lens) for diving means you're sticking more water (and hence particles, silt, bubbles, etc) between you and the thing you're taking a picture of. Which is a bad thing!

      1. Triggerfish

        Re: I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

        I have to say seeing some go pro diving films, including ones I have been on the dives so have some idea of the conditions they were filming in, they seem alright.

        For me this is for the enthusiast and someone who wants that camera for holiday dives and travelling around as a cheap option, (Compared with a proper set up for underwater video with a good vid camera plus housing plus lights minus a fair bit of bank balance), I'd be happy to take one on diving trips and its dinky enough you can carry it at all times for dive trips.

        Would be interesting to see how it compares to something like a nice compact like a RX100 in a dive housing for filming though.

        1. Len Goddard

          Re: I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

          I came across the gopro (hero3+) on a recent dive holiday. It is not for the professional or even the serious amateur underwater photographer but it is ideal for anyone who simply wants to take some pics to remember the dive and show friends. It scores on convenience and ease of use. You won't get Attenborough quality footage but with a little practice you will get stuff you will be happy to show others.

          1. Triggerfish

            Re: I wish they gave an option for other lenses.

            That's exactly what I am thinking off, its small enough I could pack it in a rucksack where space might be premium for a long holiday of a few months, its small enough to tuck in a BCD pocket as well.

            Plus as expenditure goes, proper nice dive kit is expensive as hell the costs of a housing for a good video camera or DSLR is really pricey sometimes more than the camera, its not the sort of stuff the average person buys to try out and find out if they like uw photography/ videography, but having used some poor quality kit before that could put you off as well as its a bit discouraging to have nothing but bad shots. This comes at fair point for quality v price v ease of use.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm a total video noob

    and I always wanted to get a GoPro for my mountain biking and other assorted stuff, but I'm never sure if it's worth the money.

    I mean, really, honestly, for personal use, who gives a fuck about me on a downhill MTB track through woods and jumps? It's just a new form of holiday footage torture.

    Unless you cream in. That's what the viewers love.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'm a total video noob

      weirdly enough, loads of people want to see that. Especially on mountain biking facebook groups.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I'm a total video noob

        Yeah, I'm a member of a group in the city where I stay and we go out regularly, but, man, they're just weird.

        Shocks this, frame that, brakes this, titanium that, alloy this, carbon fibre that. These are people on bikes costing well over £3,000 - more than my car!

        I just ride for fun and I do love the GoPro idea. Just wish I could be more confident about the investment, but I notice that have a 30 day money back guarantee - you just send it back for a full refund no questions asked if you're not happy with it. I might give it a shot.

        How to hide the purchase from the wife, that's the next question!

        1. Triggerfish

          Re: I'm a total video noob

          I don't know how you'd hide the purchase from the missus.

          But once you have bought it you can use it for a video log of her growing shoe collection and such in the wardrobe for ammo when she finds out.

          Then you can recoup some cost of your gopro with you've been framed or similar because you know how that sort of escalation is going to turn out.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I'm a total video noob

            you can always come up with the "reasonable" and "manly" excuse like, "we DO need this for while we're driving, darling, them idiots on the road, and this thing gives us a HD quality recording in case we need to go to court to prove it..."

  4. Mondo the Magnificent
    Pint

    FARK!

    The GoPro offerings have come a long way over a short time

    It's the adventurers' friend, no more risking your expensive DV cam or DSLR whilst filming something ambitious

    I like to use my 3 as a "dashcam"[sic] for [motor biking] and mountain biking, always a good reference when I exceed my skills on the mountain bike trail and bail. I've discovered that my pre-crash vocal reactions are fairly entertaining and no longer forgotten!

    Also, I believe that the GoPro is the type of birthday or Christmas present that could be the catalyst for kids to embark on a career in film making, with it's versatility, robustness, mounting options and reasonable cost, make it an amazing device if not, the little buggers could have just as much fun strapping to their bikes, radio controlled cars, skateboards and family pets.

  5. Simon Rockman

    The Fiesta review http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/20/review_ford_fiesta_black/

    used a GoPro on a drone.

  6. I'm Brian and so's my wife

    Battery, battery, battery

    I use one of these on my cycling commute (GoPro3). They last about 1h 15m I reckon, but I believe environmental conditions have a part to play: it's sometimes not lasted a slightly slower commute of 1h 5m (I'm normally 5-10 mins faster). I have it recording a rolling hour at 720p wide 60fps.

    The first thing I do is to make sure it's left to charge off my PC. This is a major part of my defence on the road (yes, I obey the rules; yes, a minority of others don't; yes, they annoy me too, etc.) so I'd be interested to see how this new model operates in low light. Still, mine's working fine and I don't fancy forking out £350+(?) for a new one just yet.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    adventuring? r u kidding

    We saw enough "adventurers" at Disney, walking around with their gopros on the arm length stick, taking selfies basically anywhere that a crowd would be trying to go. So there they were clogging up things.

    more than a couple of times I wanted to snatch the thing out of their hands and beat them with it.

  8. sleepy

    Crop

    Right now the most powerful reason for me to go 4k is that I can crop or scale and crop HD video out of the 4K frame. The type of thing stills photographers do all the time.

  9. DrG

    What's that smell?

    Call me crazy, but do a few of the preceeding feedback stink of astro-turfing?

    Who mentions the return policy out of the blue? Followed closely by why it is a great gift idea?

    1. Triggerfish

      Re: What's that smell?

      Not me if that's what you're thinking, I don't work for them, or even own one.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    battery time?

    I bet it lasts a couple of hours, and then you carry dead weight for the next two weeks, until you get to the nearest plug. Adventure, my ass.

    Alternatively, you can invest in a set of 1 x 2 m foldable solar panel on a wheelie to take with you ;)

    1. wdmot

      Re: battery time?

      A portable solar panel may be a good idea, but maybe one you can put on your backpack? The batteries don't last long enough; 1-2h depending on what rate and size you're recording at. So be sure to buy several extra batteries, even for only day trips where you can plug into mains every night. If you're on a fortnight adventure you'll have to figure out a way to charge those batteries, assuming you have plenty of high capacity SD cards as well.

  11. kmac499

    Dogging with a GoPro

    Although useful for search and rescue dog work, Does anyone really want a 4k close up picture of the sort of thing that would interest any self respecting Dog.

    Plus is the waterproof box fox-shit proof...?

    MInd you

    https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=run+walter+run+youtube&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb&gfe_rd=cr&ei=SYoqVO2-Bemq8wfa6YCADg

    is fun

    1. Triggerfish

      Re: Dogging with a GoPro

      You know that title could really come across as something else.

  12. stu 4

    Mutts nutts

    I've got 5 of the things - 2 3+ blacks, 2 HD2s and an HD.

    I've been using them for years for my adventure sports - paragliding, paramotoring, sky diving, scuba diving, snorkelling, motorcycling, mountain biking, etc.

    There really is nothing to touch the quality of the optics on the 3+ (and now probably the 4) - pin sharp edge to edge at 170 degrees is awesome. Plus protune records in insanely high bit rate (40+) giving amazing artifact free footage.

    The 3+ is a pro tool, the 4 will be too. TV programmes are full of gopro footage these days, from TopGear, to movies. It's the defacto POV.

    I can shoot incredibly 3d footage with the 2 3+ next to each other (I make a wee 3d mount you can download from thingiverse if you want it), and mounted on a gimbal (I'm stu of stubilizer 'fame') the results take some beating.

    here's Skye from the air:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-NcAVY3DpM

    Shooting at 2.7K in protune allows post edit cropping and still leaving crisp 1080p footage too.

    Battery life is a bit pants (I use external lipo solution I built), but the 4 seems to have bigger batteries.

    I am tempted by 4k - (both my macs are 3k screens) but for now, I'm gonna stick with my 3+s I think.

    I think the budget one is the killer though - that's only a slight premium over the far inferior quality chinese jobs (SJ4000, etc) - with the great optics and decent sensor/ambrella chip I think they might have really chopped off the cheap chinese market.

    I'm off to Menorca next week - and will be packing the gopro as always - this time, for some snorkelling footage (red filter on lens). :-)

    stu

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