Go Pro action camera is better than a camcorder

This is a camera that changed my world. If you have never seen the Go Pro camera before, and you are looking for quality video, you cannot pass this up as an option for consideration.

Now most people who have not seen the quality, may look at it, and have some issues. First, it is first and foremost an action mountable camera. Yet there are some significant differences between the new lines and the former Go Pro, that change it radically from the appearance of the footage and the quality you got in the previous models from two years ago and before.

The new line of cameras is called The Hero 2. It comes in three variations, the white, the silver and black editions. For the prices that these cameras go for, the image is absolutely incredible. One analogy to understand this, is that the images from these same 199 to 400 dollar cameras is the same footage that you see all over ESPN and other television. From bull riding to car racing, you will see this footage showing up everywhere in commercial use, hence the name, GO PRO. The name also refers to the advent in quality video it has on the skateboarding and snowboarding culture, if you are seeking to become a pro sponsored rider, then I don't have to tell about this camera, you already own it.

So the thing to remember about the Hero 2 is yes, it has a small footprint and not bigger hand holding space once inside the housing for those of you used to "gun" style of camcorders for video. However, many people are using DSLR, now for this purpose, and so the lightweight compact design there would feel like a positive improvement. and doesn't seem like it is that easy to use over and above your handheld camcorder, but with the craze these days for posting on you tube, your you tubes will look phenomenally better with this device, I compare it to the Sony Nex7.

There are some considerations in that regard for which camera to pick up. There are some technical things having to do with the peripherals that you would want to be considering as well.

The item in the box does not include the LED screen. There is a reason for that, which is that most smart phones will use the app, and there fore, because WIFI capability comes standard now on these new models, you might not need the LCD Backback. Backpack means that the additional capabilities of this camera are add on's to the back that fit on after you remove it from the tough waterproof housing.

The other reason is that, many people who use these, employ from 2 to ten of them to shoot multiple angles. For example, a sport bike, a hot air balloon (this is huge in some regions, it is very popular) to white water rafting. So the cameras don't need the LCD screen on every single one; the videographer views the footage on one LCD after the action ceased. So, it would be nonsense to include an lcd screen in every package. By the same token, don't forget to buy the memory card, since that will vary on the use that you want it for, and it's not in the box. Hint, you can now get above 64mb cards, and you can get the high action cards in the micro size, which this takes. It will not take the standard size in you point and shoot or DSLR. It takes the mp3, or phone size one. The lcd screen is about $79 and works for all the models, except the earlier Hero editions

Again, if you have a tablet or Ipad, you wouldn't really need to purchase the LCD screen, which segway-s into another product I should post about.. The pocket MIFI card is a personal hotspot. I am surprised at how many people don't understand that they can get a pocket internet account. This is awesome for these Go Pros, because if you are in an activity like snowboarding, not all mountains have WIFI across the resort, such as Breckenridge in CO does. More on that in the another thread.

Back to our little tiny cameras that pack a huge video punch.

When choosing between the white edition and the next one up, the silver edition, there is a special feature to consider, although this may change on the next release in Spring, (most camera gear seems to drop about May 1, if you didn't already know that).

So while all three of the white, silver and black editions, retain the 1080p, and characteristic "fish eye" lens appearance to the footage, the Silver (299) and Black (399) editions have a special feature called the a-spherical lens, which compensates with the quick change of a setting for that convex lens, and then your footage will be shot with a normal or "regular" looking horizon line.

For me this was a huge factor, since what I mostly shoot with this is music videos, and the reason I initially got one actually was for the cool fish-eye look (similar to all the surfing videos) for shooting breakdancers from the floor area up; showing it slow motion, it looks awesome especially. Of course, for some instances I don't desire that effect. Even when I would shoot for that purpose with the Nikon, only the Sony Nex7 would shoot something comparable that could go right in the editing sequence without looking "off". Of course no camcorder could touch it at all, not even with flood lights at the skate park would it ever attain the crisp clarity of this little camera.

Okay so back to the differences in the editions. The black edition is something far into its own class as far as retail cameras go. Im not going to actually list the megapixels on these cameras here, but the still shots have a much improved megapixel rating, but you wouldn't use stills from the camera, in my opinion, if you were seriously using this camera, you would extract instances from the footage in premier or final cut pro and so that sort of negates the need for huge megapixels on the still shot. Obviously though, not everybody does that, so the high megapixels are now there if you to snap stills with it.

Also all three of these cameras of course have the back-light or "CMOS" lighting sensors which improves the quality of all footage. The CMOS capability on the Black is significantly higher. A CMOS sensor is the technology by which the sensor has a little light shining onto it which illuminates all the digital pinpoints the camera is picking up, so that you see things that in the dark or shadowed areas, of even sunny or well-lit footage.

I'd like to bring up that the Black edition is a 4k resolution image. YES, you read that right, 4,000 resolution, while I don't know if you are thinking of trading in your Lexus in order to buy a 4k resolution tv from Sony, since that is the only one out now, there are certainly semi-pro instances where the buyer of this 400 dollar camera would geek out on the insane quality of this thing.
It just depends on where you live, and what you do, but then consider that there are really a lot of you out there spending a lot of money and very careful planning on adventure and scenic travels. I highly suggest you do NOT take off for that scuba trip or Machu Pechu climb without first hitting up your local electronics outlet and grilling them about the amazing little camera for about 300 dollars.

Oh and, don't forget to load the go pro app on your phone, some of the most incredible videos on there are shot by kids in high school, so if you think you have to be pro to use a go pro, it is not so. You can get the app without the camera for free, from the app store. Check out the new video of the day for a bit if you are torn on whether to get this camera.

Of course in addition to all this are the mountable features, the best thing about the helmet mounts is that the sticky adhesive actually does not damage the surfaces of my matte designer finished motorcycle helmets. The camera can use the chesty mount, the wrist mount, and features a very easy to use trigger on top, and of course you can trigger it with a smart phone or a WIFI remote trigger, the proprietary remote trigger is sold separately, I think about 49 dollars. The initial box comes with the bicycle and wrist mount I believe, and then grab bags of additional assorted mounts are a minimal cost. Also, something to note when buying it is; don't forget the 8 dollar adapter for a standard or scorpion-style tripod mount, because this is one of the only cameras out there that does not have it standard on the bottom, since it was custom designed for other types of sport equipment mounting.

I will also go briefly into the founder of this product, a young man who made his first million on it from a dream he designed where he was trying to mount a camera to his wrist. He felt that none of the other cameras out there had any decent quality for his purposes. Then he actually contacted a manufacturer and from there its all history; great company, great product.

My all time favorite user shot video?

HELLO KITTY goes to space. So this eight grader built a space rocket balloon and miss Hello kitty stuffed doll was very nobly selected for the mission. Well, you get to see Miss Kitty break the atmosphere, she starts to fall to earth, and then her chute opens successfully and oh yes, Miss Kitty lands safe and sound in a tree some miles from the girls house. Then the gps tracker signal kept pinging for three days, so her proud owner could find her and get the footage back its pretty cool!
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