GoPro, what's the go?

[Barney]

you'll forget it's there.  what's nice with the new one is you can line up the shot with an app on your phone. ive wasted tons of battery shooting up at the sky or my gastank...

[ungeheuer]

Thanks everybody for your help and advice 

I bought a Gopro Hero3+ Black.

Mounted on the rhs handguard thusly...

The other mount I recommend, I highly recommend it, is RAM mount.

I discovered two things: 
The 30% better battery life than the previous iteration...   is still 50% of what I was hoping - need to buy more batteries.
The 32gb memory card I bought shoulda been 64gb - need to buy more, bigger memory cards.

Currently using this advice for editing....

...Don't try to edit the files that come off the GoPro. They are so compressed it takes a TON of computing power to handle the files. Use Cineform (free GoPro editing software) to decompress the footage you want to edit. You will have a HUGE file but it's much easier to for your computer to handle. You can recompress the file when you export it.

 

[UNC Monster]

Yeah, battery life isn't great but you can get 2 batteries and a wall charger for 20 bucks from Amazon. Go here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005NC8BF6

The other nice thing about Cineform is that you can slow your video down really easily and make smooth conversions from regular speed to slow-mo to back to regular speed with just a couple clicks of the mouse.

Good luck with it. If you have any in depth questions, shoot me a PM.

[HotIce]

I read some scary horror stories about the Hero3.

[bob795]

(snip)
The 30% better battery life than the previous iteration...   is still 50% of what I was hoping - need to buy more batteries. (snip)

Can't wait to see videos of your ride... especially on the DR650

You can not have too many batteries 
Get Wasabi charger kit. They are sold in kit, one charger and two baterries.
When I bought mine the shop here only have the charger, kit wasn't available... so I had to buy an extra OEM battery separately. The charger is worth it, it makes charging that much easier. I'm going to add powerlet cables on my bikes so that I can charge the battery on the go if I have to.

[bob795]

I read some scary horror stories about the Hero3.

Yes I read those stories too but I never experienced the problem myself.

I only I experienced one problem, the camera freezes when I turn it on and I have to remove the battery etc etc. But it's operator's error, my own fault.

You see, to turn off the camera, the on/off button has to be pressed for 2 seconds then the camera will turn off, that's what the manual says. I thought the same rule apply to turning on the camera. So when turning it on, I press the button for several seconds... and the camera always freezes. Happened all the time during the first two days of owning the camera. Frankly I thought I had a lemon. Once I realized my mistake and just press the button to turn it on, I never have the problem again.

[BastrdHK]

The Hero 3/3+ image quality and low light capability are really outstanding.  Frankly, no other camera in its class can match their performance!

If you are on a budget, the Hero 2 is a great used buy, with slightly less performance (you will still be blown away, if you have never used these cameras)

The wifi/preview range on the 3 was vastly overstated by GoPro, but they have claimed to add range on the 3+ (haven't used one yet to verify in real world conditions).

It is interesting reading some of the comments, as these cameras are pushing, and for many, exceeded the capability of most peoples computers.  I am a pro video producer and the hero 3's 720p 120fps footage does not play nice with my editing suite.

As stated, Cineform is a good tool designed by/for GoPro. 

You will absolutely love these cameras....I use and abuse them (multiple crashes at 100+mph on Flat Track bikes).  Pick them up, put back together what fell off, and they keep going!

There is also a vast support network, much like the DMF:  http://goprouser.freeforums.org/

 

[Barney]

it's true. they really do produce professional quality video, and when you consider the price you pay for that, it's ridiculous. obviously, it's not on par with a RED or what have you, but considering the cost differential...

[joshuajcrouch]

I just bought a side mount for my GoPro and thought this might be a good place to share:

Quick test of GoPro side mount on Ducati

[SteveO.]

I picked up the roll bar mount and stick my Hero3 on my frame slider.  Works well and gets a view of the front tire/suspension and picks up a perfect amount of engine noise.  The camera is pretty sweet but I really haven't found a use for it, or had a desire to watch myself ride.  I figure once I'm healed from my last crash/surgery I'll get some use out of it on the dirt bike.