Go Pro 3 test footage
By Greg Hung
The Go Pro 3 was recently released on November 2012 and because it is still relatively new I thought you may benefit from a hands-on review with Go pro 3 test footage to help with your shopping research. I purchased the Go pro 3 Hero Black edition for $380 before 12% taxes in Canada. I was looking for an underwater camera and the Go Pro 3 was a great option at an entry level price point a good internet reviews. Here is a a good review of the Gopro3 as an underwater camera from Backscatter.
I went up to Seymour Mountain located in British Columbia for some snowshoeing with my friends. Once you open the package here is a quick list of the things you will need to do to get set up quickly:
Charge the camera – you can this by connecting the camera to your computer with the included USB Cable.
Insert your Micro- SD card – you will need this to capture footage and update your camera
Update your camera – Depending on when you purchased it you may need to update it out of the box to use it with the iphone app. Link here
Download the Gopro app – download it from the app store
Take the camera out of the housing – I found it a bit tricky. I used the instructions from here
Connect your iphone to the Go Pro – I used the video below to help me set it up. The music is annoying, but the info is good.
Configure the settings using the app – I used the iphone app to configure the video mode and camera settings.
Ready to test
I didn’t have a chance to purchase any of the camera attachments so this test footage in the video was hand shot. The first thing I did was set the camera on a table to test the time lapse feature. I set it to a 1 second interval and left it for about 7 minutes. In post production I took the stills and set the duration to 2 seconds and voila I had a decent time lapse. I can see this feature coming in handy to compliment an SLR time lapse if you need to set one up quickly with a wide angle. After the time lapse completed I had 2 bars of battery left, which concerned me as we had not even started the hike. I turned off the wifi, which foiled my plans to use the the iphone as a view finder. This wouldn’t have been practical as using the phone with the snow conditions wasn’t practical either. I turned off the wifi function quickly using the handy button on the side of the camera.
I took some time to get familiar with the video, picture, and time lapse modes manually so I could find them quickly and just use the shutter button at the top to take video footage. When I was actually shooting I had to get familiar with taking footage without a view finder. The results turned out well and I think as long as you’re mindful of where the lens is pointing you should capture what you need. The batteries died after about 90 minutes of on and off video shooting which was disappointing.
Post Production
I was excited to see how the footage turned out as I couldn’t preview the footage as I could on my SLR. I plugged in the cable and copied the files to my mac. In my opinion the footage was good considering the snow conditions. I did notice that the raw footage was a bit dull and applying the color balancing in Final Cut Pro X dramatically improved the footage. I forgot to wipe the lens occasionally and you can see some water drops in some of the shots. I’ll be more aware of this next time. As I shot the footage at 1080P 60 frames per second I applied some slow motion effects, which I thought turned out well for the snowflakes. This is a good start. I think this camera will set the stage for many more great adventure videos from other people. Enjoy the video and remember to watch in high definition by clicking the gear icon.
Conclusion
It is still early and more tests are need. The battery drained very quickly, which may be related to keeping the wifi feature on. The footage on this current model provides good footage especially when stabilized. I look forward to testing this camera underwater and applying slow motion to exciting action shots. The smart-phone application is a nice feature, but there is a delay on the preview that hurts it. This camera’s size , durability, and underwater casing provide a versatile offering for the adventure film-maker. If you end up producing an awesome travel adventure video lifestyletravel.tv welcomes you to share your video.
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