Go Pro

I would say the internet has enough first person footage of skiing and climbing. Especially if it's mounted to a helmet. The viewing angle is usually bad or it ends up being a bunch of extreme closeups of granite crystals. They are hard to align so you get the right view and they easily get bumped. Half the time the camera will just turn off or never record right to begin with. I'm not saying there isn't any good first person footage out there, but it's rare that someone does it right.

They do have a fisheye effect, so that helps capture everything.

GoPro is as good as any of them.

Accumulating footage is easy. If you don't edit, it get old fast.

Where will this stuff go, and how much time are you willing to spend to make it look good?

Family and friends. Had not thought about editing.
But that's why I asked for the feedback.
Just trying to understand what I might be getting myself into.

Billy

Climbing videos on a GoPro are the most boring, stupid looking things out there.

think about it.. do you think the 3' circle that you can see when you are climbing is very interesting? no… if you want a video of you climbing then have someone hang from a rope and get video of you from slightly above and to the side.

Unless you plan to do something stupid and capture it for YouTube just skip it.

Jake,
I must say, you are so positive and encouraging!

But, actually, when I say climbing I'm not thinking of being pressed against a vertical wall or squeezed into a chimney. I rather was thinking of airy ridge traverses and summits. Solo.

But thanks for you input… it's all good.

Billy

There is some trial and error getting the angle right, so experiment before going out. Editing is the time consuming part and you need a decent computer to edit hd footage. Getting the final video out in a format that looks like what you see on tv ads is probably not going to happen. But I still think its worth it. When reminiscing over trips id much rather watch a. 4 minute video that catches the experience than go through random pictures.

If you're buying now, look at what some are saying about the soft focus problems of the hero 3 plus compared to the hero 3. I have both the hero 3 black and white editions and definitely see the resolution differnce.

what software do you use to edit?

Ok that is hiking not climbing.

standard gopro climbing video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jSzoG5TSqU

good style climbing video
http://www.dpmclimbing.com/climbing-videos/watch/tommy-caldwell-dunn-westbay-longs-peak-514

I used several editing programs before settling on cyberlink power director. I was the best editing program to use with hd footage. The timeline editing was fairly smooth of my 6 year old computer.

Here is a link to my first video edit that I did with gopro's of me and my brother bikepacking the Maah Daah Hey trail in North Dakota. Defintately could do better now, both with editing and camera placement.

Jake,
I guess you'll have to correct Secor since he says it's climbing.
But you seem so decisive in you use of terminology, I'm sure you are right. It's just hiking.

Billy

I hike and climb. I know when i'm doing what.

not hiking ;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/Socjake/Red%20River%20Gorge/IMG_1211.jpg

"I hike and climb. I know when i'm doing what."

I'm sure you do. But we haven't been talking about what you do.
Rather you seem to be telling me what I do.
And seem to think you know what I do better than me.

Billy

got a picture of what you're talking about? walking along a ridge is not climbing. an airy summit could be debatable but i'm guessing not. It doesn't really count as climbing until you get to class 4.

"Class 1: Hiking

Class 2: Simple scrambling, with the possible occasional use of the hands

Class 3: Scrambling; a rope might be carried

Class 4: Simple climbing, often with exposure. A rope is often used. A fall on Class 4 rock could be fatal. Typically, natural protection can be easily found

Class 5: Where rock climbing begins in earnest. Climbing involves the use of a rope, belaying, and protection (natural or artificial) to protect the leader from a long fall. Fifth class is further defined by a decimal and letter system – in increasing and difficulty. The ratings from 5.10-5.15 are subdivided in a, b, c and d levels to more precisely define the difficulty (for example: 5.10a or 5.11d)"

Jake,
I expect I learned all that before you were born.
But isn't it nice to have you remind me.

Thanks so much,
I really needed that reminder.

Billy

Remember, you don't have to wear it on your head, you can wear it on your chest and get rather good footage that way. And if you're looking at the Hero3+, there's an iPhone app so you can see what you're focused on.

Lots of good GoPro footage out there, and even the stuff that's not great isn't meant to be, it's just for sharing with friends/family. Have fun and go for it!

Some trip reports using video have been great. Didn't Eugenius do some video trip reports?

Then my original statement stands. GoPro climbing videos are pretty freaking terrible to watch.

"Anyone have experience with these? Thumbs up or down?"

Down.

now.. some hiking videos on a chest mount aren't bad.

There is nothing inherently bad about gopros. The problem is how people use them. They don’t strive for multiple angles. They don’t edit the footage. They don’t make the extra effort to shoot smooth footage. They don’t mix it up with footage from non-POV cameras. They expect the camera to produce decent sound quality. Etc, etc.

I don’t have an opinion on whether climbing is an especially hard thing to record with a gopro, but I’ve shot lots of hiking, mountain biking, snow biking, snowboarding, and sea kayaking videos, and most people who see my vids seem to enjoy them and more importantly to me, I feel they capture the feeling of the experience about 1,000 times better than still photos. It all does take effort though.

Take a peek at an example: Hiking Across Kodiak Island

As an alternative opinion, I rode a ways in Colorado with a guy who carried three GoPros. I was unimpressed by the idea of recording video for all the reasons stated here, but then he took the camera out of the housing and just took a regular picture with it.

The camera was minute, very ultralight. It looked like a very convenient way to take a picture while hiking.

Here's a picture:

If I were to get one, I'd probably opt to hook it to my trekking pole for this style shot:

Yep, to do it right takes alot of extra effort. I find myself "setting up" the shot which takes away from the present moment. Theres alot of "go back up and come back down". If you want something that looks great you're possibly going to give up alot of the spontaneity of your trip. I wanted to film our canoe trip this year but decided just to enjoy the trip and not worry about the filming aspects.

okay. useful discussion. I'm getting the idea that they are a niche camera and would take a bit of work to have something come out looking professional.

But I also have the idea that if I don't need it to look professional it could be a fun way to relive and share of some adventures getting up some airy ridges and summit blocks solo.

Considering all that has been written here, I would think a significant percentage of buyers could be disappointed in their results. And there might be some good buys on used ones. A used one might be the way to go until I see if I really like it.

Billy Ray

@John S.- I have done some video work for past trip reports and gear vids, but haven't in a while. I was shooting with a Nikon D7000 and a 35 f1.8 lens at the time, not a GoPro. I downsized to a smaller form factor camera that helps make great photographs, but lacks the video capabilities.

@Billy Ray,

You can create well crafted videos using iMovie and nothing else, other than time and creativity. If you're looking to bang out a piece to submit for Sender Films or something of that ilk, you're going to need to pony up for some serious post processing video software and all that goes into supporting large video files. For simple video editing to share with friends and family, quality results can be achieved.

Get yourself a GoPro, purchase a Vimeo account for uploading and sharing finished work, and have fun with it and see what you can create. I'm not sure what Jake D. is pissing on about.

I use mine as a still camera most of the time, I have the hero 3 black, It's great for landscape photos.

Thanks Peter… but it is my understanding that the GoPro has a single, non-variable, wide-angle lens, no?

If so, that seems less than optimal for landscape photos (at least some of the time) as it makes everything look more distant and smaller.

thanks,

Billy