Go Pro Hero3
 

Does anybody have one of these? I'm looking to buy one for my wife for Christmas. We have a baby coming and we want a new camera, although I want to use it for other things. I'm curious to know if they take good still photos? I know the still photos have a "fish eye" look, but is it possible to not take wide angle stills? Thanks guys, Merry Xmas

I have the Hero2 but the Hero3 has a flat field case lense not the fisheye! The Hero3 comes in 3 levels of photo quality/pixels from $199 to $399 (white/silver/black). I can only assume the Hero3 is like the Hero2 in that you can adjust narrow/wide angle settings.

There are better alternatives out there in the $400 range that can create much better all around videos than the GoPro.

If you don't need the waterproof/shockproof/size advantages of the camera, it no longer looks like such a great little tool. That said, my stills from my Hero 2 were amazing...

We took both Stills and video, we have the 2 series, takes both very well. the only problem with the go pro is all the extra attachments you may need to have. that is were the money adds up. Unless you just stick with what you have that comes with the camera.

A little Elf told me I'm getting the hero3 white for Christmas. ;)
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The still pictures on the Hero2 are like looking through those underwater aquarium portholes, it is distorted due to wide angle. Video is amazing very good underwater and above. Loaded on a helicopter while hot, at 60 frames/sec it picks-up the blades rotation... pretty cool. Yes you can switch the still frame size but I have found that it retains the "fish eye".

IMHO I would look at something else unless you plan on taking videos of your baby while sky diving.

I've heard the new Hero3 resolves this issue. If the misses knows what's good for her, I'm hoping to answer this question myself after christmas.

I'm thinking more along the lines of base jumping for the baby.

IIRC the Hero 3 reduces the fish eye effect, but doesn't resolve it entirely.

Hahaha!

I was thinking about why a different option is better, my hero2 when I turn it on, does not always go to the option I want, i.e. camera, burst, video, etc. you have to scroll thru each option with only the two buttons it comes with. This sucks when trying to get that "moment" in time. With that said, I have no idea what the hdh3 is like.

I fished Cutty this year, and wanted to get some stills/video for our club and had the camera in my backpack. It turned on during the walk out and recorded video, I have 2.5hours of black screen video if you want to see it, but nothing else drained the battery. The casing it comes with allows this to happen. For family photos and even fishing photos in the surf or from the boat, there are now a ton of options that are really good; most of which do not include the HD hero. Yes it is cool and it has it's place but unless you are having the next Usain Bolt I would at least look at other options. I still like my 8 yr/o olypus waterproof, shock, cold 5mpxl cam. I guess they changed the features of this model which was not that good for the new one, but there are many others options for sure.

Congrats & good luck to your search.

I too have been thinking about getting one. Sorry for the "Hijack" but anyone have feedback on the video aspect? Want it for my winter snowmobile adventures mostly.

Would be great for fix mounted onto snow mobile! Make sure you have many extra batteries, in that cold they won't last long. About $10ea. for the knockoff, $30 for the GoPro (I think). Trying to control the camera with thick winter gloves will be a challenge. Low light situations are notoriously challenging for a GoPro.

I and others have posted many videos from a GoPro, part of the problem is reducing the resolution to upload in various services. The raw video in HD is great.

Thanks. Looking to do helmet and hood mounts and was worried about durability and if the video would be "jumpy" especially when mounted directly to the sled. I have seen plenty of videos on youtube and they seem good.....though they also all seem to be on flat & freshly groomed trails too....hmmm

I am used to the battery death in the cold. Bought the olympus tough a while back for still photos for this reason but even that has shutter problems when things get below zero :) and lets just say the shockproof claim was not true after my "field testing" :( it has some issues....oh well

It looks like a nice camera/video camera. But, I am still filtering through the mixed reviews. From what I have read, it definitely needs a firmware update.

The pics and vids online looks amazing!

I am leaning towards the black edition, my self.

Santa came early! I am picking up a GoPro Hero3 Black Edition next month. Cannot wait. ;-)

Just upgraded. You will love it.
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I got my GoPro Hero3! :-)

Aside: Found some books on GoPro Hero3 for the Kindle. ;-)

Title: "How To Use GoPro Hero 3 Cameras: The Surf Edition: The Essential Field Guide For the Hero 3 Black, Silver and White Editions"