Do you have some photos of helmets with gopros on? can i use the mounting stuff in the gopro box or do i have to be more "creative"?
i dont want to watch my brand new gopro falling to earth after my first opening ;)
It comes with mounting points that use a 3M adhesive that will stick to your helmet. It won't fall off. One of the guys at ZHills had to put in an insane amount of work with tools to remove one. The plastic that attaches to the camera case will probably fail first.
@DSE: Got a guy at my DZ that jumps a CX7 and I've noticed the colors on that look much "richer". Just deeper, more vivid. Colors pop more which makes my gopro look a little washed out in comparison. No complaints though, the gopro is like a third the cost.
@DSE: Got a guy at my DZ that jumps a CX7 and I've noticed the colors on that look much "richer". Just deeper, more vivid. Colors pop more which makes my gopro look a little washed out in comparison. No complaints though, the gopro is like a third the cost.
I really don't understand why you all are comparing cameras like sony cx100-105 to cameras like GoPro HD / Countour HD... There's really no comparison at this moment, no point in trying to compare... Really funny to read all those comments that GoPro isn't up to par with full fledged cams like Sony.. It was never made to be on par!
DSE (D 29060)
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Nov 30, 2009, 10:47 AM
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@DSE: Got a guy at my DZ that jumps a CX7 and I've noticed the colors on that look much "richer". Just deeper, more vivid. Colors pop more which makes my gopro look a little washed out in comparison. No complaints though, the gopro is like a third the cost.
I really don't understand why you all are comparing cameras like sony cx100-105 to cameras like GoPro HD / Countour HD... There's really no comparison at this moment, no point in trying to compare... Really funny to read all those comments that GoPro isn't up to par with full fledged cams like Sony.. It was never made to be on par!
Maybe once you start flying a camera, you'll understand better. The GoProHD is a very valid comparison to the CX100, for example. Maybe you can tell us a few of the reasons why?
Do you have some photos of helmets with gopros on? can i use the mounting stuff in the gopro box or do i have to be more "creative"?
Here's a picture of the GoPro HD on my helmet. Yes, yes, bring it on. My helmet is big and ugly! But the proof is in the pudding. It is super stable takes great videos. Besides, it has the world's fastest buckling system -- a seat belt from my Toyota! I was nervous about the sticky 3M tape by itself, but it seems to be very secure, and I am going to chance it and leave it alone and hope for the best. Also, note the padding. I unscrew the case to take out the unit. When I am done dubbing, I put it back, press the case against the padding as much as possible and tighten. It works great.
So on a short note, we had one gopro HD go in today and it was still recording when we got to it. Thankfully the bathtub took a good amount of the impact but it still recorded. We also tried to replicate the same scene and ended up trashing 2 GoPro HDs and possibly the footage in the process. I've done a bunch of work with these in the past few days and as soon as we finish throwing these tables out of the skyvan, I'll provide some screen shots and some other information.
The lens on the plastic case is pretty bad and if you live in a dry climate you may just want to mount it outside of the box. I believe some of the extreme over exposure that I have seen from it upon exit/in the plane is from this imperfect lens. I'll share these in the next day or two but in the meantime don't do anything rash.
On an end note, did my first garbage day today and still grinning ear to ear.
(This post was edited by bomb420 on Nov 30, 2009, 8:55 PM)
Here is the way I mounted my GoPro to a standard (open face) skydiving helmet. This mount I made myself but you could also use the Tripod Hero mount pn#GTRA30 or the mounts in the Grab Bag Hero pn#GGB30. I have used this mount on 50 jumps and have found it to be unobtrusive mounted low on the helmet. Also with the GoPro Wide with its 170 deg. field of view you don't need a ring sight for capturing your jumps. The 3M adhesive works good but thoroughly clean the spot where it will go, remove any trace of mold release, grease, oil or puke then mount and clamp for 24 hrs. Also notice that I didn't use the supplied wing bolt, I replaced it with a metric allen head bolt (6x1.0x25) that eliminates a snag point. The different mounts can be seen at http://skydivingopro.com/osc/images/Mounts/
Do you have some photos of helmets with gopros on? can i use the mounting stuff in the gopro box or do i have to be more "creative"?
i dont want to watch my brand new gopro falling to earth after my first opening ;)
It comes with mounting points that use a 3M adhesive that will stick to your helmet. It won't fall off. One of the guys at ZHills had to put in an insane amount of work with tools to remove one. The plastic that attaches to the camera case will probably fail first.
@DSE: Got a guy at my DZ that jumps a CX7 and I've noticed the colors on that look much "richer". Just deeper, more vivid. Colors pop more which makes my gopro look a little washed out in comparison. No complaints though, the gopro is like a third the cost.
I used the mounting pad with 3M to glue the socket on my helmet. I did 3 BASE jumps with it last weekend with one very hard opening and it holds very well.
Yeah I was unsure about the 3m tape at first, but after these past few days, I got to say that stuff is stupidly strong. I've seen the mounts break before that tape pops off. Just saying.
So brief tally: 4 Go Pro HDs went in, 2 still work, 2 are dead, 1 mp4 file did not seem to complete properly, 1 SD card appears corrupted.
So in this very scientific research, I conclude, if your go pro HD goes in, you have a 50/50 chance of reusing the camera.
Everyone was totally stoked about the footage. I unfortunately cannot post it, but I'm sure it will surface in the next few months on TV shows, commercials, etc.
What SD cards are you all using? my "maxflash" class 6 card has trouble recording anything greater than 720p (30fps). camera just stops recording after a couple of seconds!
What SD cards are you all using? my "maxflash" class 6 card has trouble recording anything greater than 720p (30fps). camera just stops recording after a couple of seconds!
Been recording at 1080p just fine. I've only had 1 issue with my camera and that's if I don't charge it the night before a weekend of jumping it'll run out of juice and not record on one of the jumps. It'll go from displaying a full charge to no charge. I've just been charging it each night when I'm jumping.
Also the mounting is loose from where the camera snaps in. Hasn't been an issue on wingsuit jumps because the air pressure is 1 directional on the camera, but another guy at the DZ has had issues with the camera shaking on FF jumps. Wedging something in where the camera housing snaps into the mount fixed that though.
The embed is 720p, but you can download the full 1080 version at the bottom of the page.
I put the above together with Super LoiloScope, which I'm sure no one here has heard of before. http://loilo.tv/product/1/desc
It's really easy to work with and uses CUDA for the encoding, which is nice if you run a NVidia card. A 5 min 1080p vid takes about 7 mins to encode on my laptop.
I am going to start jumping a camera soon.. I really have no aspiration to become a professional vidiot, or join the ranks of people like Norman Kent any time ever. Basically my goals for jumping a camera are to 1) have fun 2) document my jumps 3) edit together skydiving videos 4) give myself and friends something to watch
Right now I'm kind of torn between spending a bunch of money on a legit camera helmet and CX100, or just going with the Hero HD. Can I accomplish those goals with the Hero as a primary camera? I hear and see a lot of people using it as a secondary toy...
The picture quality online looks good from what I've seen online.. How does the footage look when played on a big screen? The price with the hero is definitely right, and the variety of angles is cool too. Does mounting this low profile camera reduce the snagging hazard?
DSE (D 29060)
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Dec 5, 2009, 1:02 PM
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given your goals, the GoProHD is a great option. It's not a LESSER snag point but rather a GREATER snag point unless you take some steps to make it smaller profile. Given that it doesn't sit flush on the helmet, the mounting system could create a snag, but the redeeming factor there is that you'll likely snap off the camera at the mount in the event of a bad opening. Quality is fair on this camera, and great as a crash cam.
A new Lithium-ion battery will benefit from an initial "conditioning" of the battery. For the first 3 charge cycles, fully charge the battery overnight and allow it to fully discharge before recharging. Once conditioned, Lithium-ion batteries will perform best when charged at a rate somewhere between a conventional slow charge and a rapid charge. When rapid charging, Lithium-ion batteries require a charger designed to charge Lithium batteries. To achieve a true full charge when rapid charging, the battery needs to be slow charged the last 10-15% of its charge cycle. A Lithium-ion battery may be damaged by extensive overcharging (continuously on a charger for more than 24 hours). To sum up, get a wall charger GoPro pn#AWALC-001(get it here http://skydivingopro.com/osc/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=60) for the first hour of charging then finish up with usb charging for the next hour or so. Hope that helps.
"USING SD CARDS The HD HERO camera is compatible with 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacity SD and SDHC cards. While all speed cards work in the camera, GoPro recommends minimum Class 4 speed cards for reliability when shooting HD video. GoPro’s own testing has shown improved reliability in high vibration activities with name brand SD and SDHC cards." So I would say SanDisc or Kingston.
Anyone have more pics of how their gopro's are mounted? I've been looking around recently, and I really don't like the way that the camera is mounted and exposed on most people's helemts.. I'm talking about those who have a protec like helmet, and the camera mounted on the anterior half of the top shell.
It looks like it is one funneled exit away from being knocked off the helmet and lost. It also just looks bad.
I know it would be tiny... But are there any companies making a box for it like traditional cameras? That way it would be flush with the helmet, and look better. And isn't skydiving really about looking good?
I really ends up being your call. If you plan on being on funnel exits style dive I don't feel 90% camera setups are really protected against that. You'll see lenses ripped off, mounts broken etc.
From our experience we've seen the plastic mount break before the VHB adhesive ever budge. We tried to rip two off on a stunt and the one where we used 80lb test line, the 80lb line broke. On the one we used tandem line, the plastic mount with the VHB, the actual plastic cracked to release the camera.
You could add a lanyard to the camera but then you have the issue if the camera got somehow got wrapped up in your lines upon deployment, the camera released but now you have a lanyard preventing it from clearing. Top mounting these cameras definitely help prevent this from occurring but bad body position, prematures, or spinning non-level reserve fires may pose an entangling issue.
With that said, if you are worried about it on a certain jump, you may just want to leave it on the ground. It comes off in a snap.
Most boxes are going for around 200+ I'm not sure a box is warranted on these cameras.
Perhaps build yourself some Very High density foam blocks that cover up the snag points. This is never a bad idea.
I don't think the goPros look that bad. It's the new style especially when you see airspeed, Red Bull, Arsenal and I'm sure other teams training and using them on a day to day basis.
goprohd.jpg
