Go Pro Hero3 battery life

[fredmeister]

Anyone using GoPro Hero3+ here can comment on the life of their battery?

I get about half a day on a full charge before the camera shuts down on me. I have the standard battery that came in the camera and was looking at buying another one as backup to switch out at lunch time, but heard rumors that the accessory batteries suck.

I have been careful to shut the camera completely off after it sits idle for more than 5 minutes, but sometimes near the end of the day it will shut down in the middle of recording a session on a track day. Pretty frustrating.

Is their extended life fatty back pac battery any good?

thanks,
Fred

[juanbenae]

have you considered a cigarette lighter 12V charger to use throughout the day as needed? i just charge mine in the tow vehicle as the 12v outlet is long gone in the car.

[winders]

Originally Posted by car 311

have you considered a cigarette lighter 12V charger to use throughout the day as needed? i just charge mine in the tow vehicle as the 12v outlet is long gone in the car.

Why not hard wire a switched connection in the car? I have my camera (not a Go Pro) setup so that it starts recording when it receives power and stops recording 1 minute after power is removed. I switch the camera on during the warmup lap and power is removed when I park the car and shut it off after the session or race.

[fredmeister]

Originally Posted by car 311

have you considered a cigarette lighter 12V charger to use throughout the day as needed? i just charge mine in the tow vehicle as the 12v outlet is long gone in the car.

Aint got no tow vehicle. I drive it to the track.

I don't want to run hard wires or futz around with wall chargers, I was just looking for others experience with their accessory batteries and how long they lasted, quality, etc.

thanks,

[turbobrat930]

Is your Wi-fi function inadvertently tuned on? I know mine does that, and will kill the battery in short order....

[Tom W]

The Hero 3+ battery life stinks. I never got more than 2 hours out of a newly charged battery. I bought the piggy back battery pack and also extra batteries, but the only real solution was to get an adapter to hardwire it to the car. And, yes it's worse if you leave the WiFi on or run it at 1080p with 60 fps.

[Plavan]

I have a USB connection wired (weather proof dongle) directly to the battery, then have a 6 foot USB cable with the correct GoPro connector on the other end. Basically its hardwired. It's the best thing I have ever done, no more worrying about a battery. You can get everything for cheap off of Amazon.

Then there is also this:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/limefuel/gopro-hero-4-hero-3-extended-battery-pack-limefuel

[fredmeister]

Thanks for the input guys.

Misery loves company.

I might look into hard wiring after all is said and done.

Fred

[mnez]

I use the Go Pro battery back pac with the Hero 3 - almost doubles the time available. Presumably similar is available for the 3+