School me on GoPro cameras:

[speeder]

So I either go to some store, (or online), and buy the latest edition or look on CL where there are tons of used ones for cheap. My thought process on this is that the ones from a few years ago had plenty good enough resolution for me and I'd only use it for MC or car videos anyways.

One thing that jumped out in the comments I could find from google is that maybe the newer ones have worse battery life because of the higher res(?)

Anyhow, I've gone this long w/o wanting one bad enough to buy one and now I only want one bad enough to spend $1-200 on a used one.

I saw this really close by, should I?

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pho/6197275717.html

[Geronimo '74]

For MC uses, maybe a hero session, which is smaller, might be a good option.

[wdfifteen]

Used one are cheap because as the next hot gadget they were given as gifts to a lot of people who don't use them, then sell them. Even people who buy them find they don't use them after a while. They are a fun gadget, but the fun wears off pretty fast. Time to sell and move on. I would buy a cheap one, see how much I use it and decide if I use it enough to justify buying a better one.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I have a hero 4. Got as a gag present. I never was that "insane" with stuff I did, so I'm not jumping snowboards off cliffs. I generally wear it on helmet for bicycles.

I think above comments are spot on, however, after using the hero 4, I really am captivated by features of Hero 5.

Like the comments above, my computer doesn't even run the higher resolutions, and even our new flat screen doesn't handle the 4k smoothly if I hook the camera straight in.

My gut impression with my limited experience is that the hero 4 is a nice camera, but it has a lot of features which are hard to toggle through in real life, especially in the field when it is in the waterproof plastic holder. Mounted on a helmet as a POV camera, I constantly would hit the wrong button and miss shots/ video because I couldn't see what I was hitting buttonwise. Although there are few buttons on it, they control a lot of functions, so if you can't see what you are toggling through (b/c it's up above your head) when you hit "record" you might be toggled into a completely different use of the camera.

The hero 5 seems to address this with voice activation and elimination of the clunky plastic holder, and I would want the image stabilization feature too, but I don;t know how well the voice activation would work on a loud motorcycle.

I think the lower battery life is due to features- especially voice activation on hero 5.

If in your shoes- consider your budget. If $ no real object and you are a technophile, I would consider the new features of hero 5 advantages, however, if you want to get a good deal, go used and buy an earlier model. In the case of a hero 4, I would mount it on motorcycle handlebars so you could see the features in front of you to make sure you were in the right mode/recording what you want to be recording when you want to record it. If you were riding gravel/offroad, I would consider image stabilization so the people you subject your videos to wont get sick to stomach, although I think for really rough stuff, youd still need one of those gimballs/gyros thingees.

oh yeah- these cameras do have a learning curve to get used to functions. If you get one, take some time practicing on it before you head out on some Alaska ride or something (to make sure you can consistently get the shots you want). Good luck.

[sugarwood]

For MC or car vids, you may prefer a dashcam like Mobius.
GoPro is sort of big and clumsy.

[wildthing]

I bought one through a friend who worked there (50%) a few years ago. It was a 3. Wouldn't have bought one at full price or even 30% discount.

I thought I'd record all my autocross runs and see where I can improve. But I found it to be too much of a hassle. I haven't used it to record an AX run since '15. I use it mostly for photos, for the wide angle these days, and even then, only when traveling.

Just my personal experience. You might enjoy it and keep using it.

[motion]

I've had all the GoPros, except the latest gen. Didn't like them at all. Buggy and clumsy. Those damn housings...

I went with a Garmin VIRB Elite and love it. I stick it on top of my helmet and it has one simple sliding switch to turn on/off. I can reach up easily and turn it on when needed. Easy to do while riding. And, it has GPS overlay built into it. Not sure if the GP5 has that or not.

[rattlsnak]

I have a Hero 3 and it is plenty. I don't need the super hi def that the 4 offers. As far as the size, it is just fine. You'll get used to it. The challenging part is figuring out the best mount attachment/points that work best for what ever you are doing. (I have a helmet mount, handlebar mount, suction cup mount, etc. all for various different activities)

The part that most people don't like, or take the time to do right, is edit the video in the software suite. That takes 3 times as long as making the video does!

[RF5BPilot]

I got an original GoPro fairly early on.

Got a waterproof case with better lens and videoed returning salmon.
With an aftermarket dual suction cup base, attached it to the outside of my sailplane and made a number of in-flight videos (rf5bpilot on YouTube).

When my Moto Guzzi had an odd symptom, attached it to the lower frame, went riding and was able to document what was happening during the ride where I couldn't see from the rider's seat.

One time, fed it into a wall in the house to see what structures and electrical lines might be there.

Now have a Hero 5. Also bought a remote control so can turn the camera on/off and change settings up to 600' away. Sure beats trying to find controls while you should be keeping your balance/watching the road/etc. Seems like an excellent upgrade and I'll continue to use it for video projects and odd tasks around the house/car/motorcycles. Has been a good investment for me.

I see the advantage of 4k in that you can crop a frame to get just what you want, and still have HD quality footage. So, there are a number of times I'll plan to shoot in 4k, but only for the purpose of being able to more carefully select what goes into the final video frame since I'll have more resolution than what I need.

[widebody911]

I have a Hero 3+. It's "OK" but as other have mentioned, it's clunky by today's standards, and GoPros are at the top of the price range for the segment. My real problem with GoPro is their app aka "Capture" they made a change recently such that you can't use the app without it first contacting GoPro HQ (or some special server) over WiFi. If you're in BFE with no WiFi? Tough *****, sucks to be you. The recently made a change to the app to make it easier, but they didn't actually remove the wifi-connection part: you just have to have connected previously in x amount of time, and when you do get WiFi again, it updates the server with who knows what. For me, the problem is twofold: a) I should be able to use my device without needing to connect to GoPro - there is no actual physical need to connect, it's an artificial constraint b) this artificial constraint was added after I bought the device. The GoPro marketing guys decided they needed to collect user info (to sell) long after they'd sold the device to me, so in effect it's a retroactively-applied usage restriction. i have no say because I've already paid for it, and I'm out of any return or warranty window. My only recourse if I disagree with the new terms of the deal is to get rid of the camera.

So yeah, I won't be buying another GoPro

[aston@ultrasw.c]

I buy used hero 2s.

They work great and res/frame rate is quite sufficient for my purposes.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Used one are cheap because as the next hot gadget they were given as gifts to a lot of people who don't use them, then sell them. Even people who buy them find they don't use them after a while. They are a fun gadget, but the fun wears off pretty fast. Time to sell and move on. I would buy a cheap one, see how much I use it and decide if I use it enough to justify buying a better one.

Pretty much nailed it. I have a feeling I would not use it much after the initial novelty wears off so definitely don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on it.

Originally Posted by sugarwood

For MC or car vids, you may prefer a dashcam like Mobius.
GoPro is sort of big and clumsy.

Originally Posted by motion

I've had all the GoPros, except the latest gen. Didn't like them at all. Buggy and clumsy. Those damn housings...

I went with a Garmin VIRB Elite and love it. I stick it on top of my helmet and it has one simple sliding switch to turn on/off. I can reach up easily and turn it on when needed. Easy to do while riding. And, it has GPS overlay built into it. Not sure if the GP5 has that or not.

Was wondering about lower cost and more importantly, less bulky alternatives. The idea of having the big square GP on my helmet does not appeal to me. A small, cylindrical camera would be better. A friend had one that looked like a big deer whistle but can't remember the brand. It cost a fraction of a GP.

Originally Posted by widebody911

I have a Hero 3+. It's "OK" but as other have mentioned, it's clunky by today's standards, and GoPros are at the top of the price range for the segment. My real problem with GoPro is their app aka "Capture" they made a change recently such that you can't use the app without it first contacting GoPro HQ (or some special server) over WiFi. If you're in BFE with no WiFi? Tough *****, sucks to be you. The recently made a change to the app to make it easier, but they didn't actually remove the wifi-connection part: you just have to have connected previously in x amount of time, and when you do get WiFi again, it updates the server with who knows what. For me, the problem is twofold: a) I should be able to use my device without needing to connect to GoPro - there is no actual physical need to connect, it's an artificial constraint b) this artificial constraint was added after I bought the device. The GoPro marketing guys decided they needed to collect user info (to sell) long after they'd sold the device to me, so in effect it's a retroactively-applied usage restriction. i have no say because I've already paid for it, and I'm out of any return or warranty window. My only recourse if I disagree with the new terms of the deal is to get rid of the camera.

So yeah, I won't be buying another GoPro

That sounds like a deal killer to me. Fk all these apps and their data mining. I want something old tech where the content is only on the camera and my computer/device until I decide to post it or YouTube it.

Thanks for all the responses, exactly the info I was seeking.

[svandamme]

I have a tom tom bandit , really like the format, sturdy
bit heavy, but quite happy with functionality, built in gps and wifi.

[speeder]

Super cheap and small, anyone know about these?

https://www.amazon.com/iON-Camera-Air-Pro-Wi-Fi/dp/B00H8H7MU4

[motion]

Haven't tried that one, but you can always send it back if you don't like it.

[carr914]

I've got a Hero 3 Black Edition with accessories that I'm selling for $150. Very Little Use!

T.C.

[Jeff Alton]

I have multiple versions of the GOPro since its induction. I now use the HERO Sesssions and have a few of them. Great cameras, easy to use, control with my phone, no complaints....

[jyl]

Techmoan - Techmoan

There's a lot of smaller, cheaper action cameras out there. I have a Mobius, works well. There's also even smaller action cameras sold for mounting in R/C aircraft. I wore one of those on my bike helmet for awhile, it was smaller that a matchbox.

However, don't let the idea that you're going to capture cool video lead you to do stupid stuff.

I cycled up Mount Diablo once and then switched on my helmet camera for the descent. After 1/4 mile I stopped and turned it off. I was going harder into turns than I should have, just to get cool video. Rode the rest of the way without video. Bummer really, that is a super fun descent, 10 miles of curves and on a road bike, you can really fly, I was passing cars in the curves like they were tricycles.

[dlockhart]

Originally Posted by motion

I've had all the GoPros, except the latest gen. Didn't like them at all. Buggy and clumsy. Those damn housings...

I went with a Garmin VIRB Elite and love it. I stick it on top of my helmet and it has one simple sliding switch to turn on/off. I can reach up easily and turn it on when needed. Easy to do while riding. And, it has GPS overlay built into it. Not sure if the GP5 has that or not.

How is the GPS overlay. I have a sony A20 which I understand to be one of the early cams with gps. It seemed like a cool idea, but the GPS was very laggy.

gps test vid

[djmcmath]

I bought into the GoPro package years ago, for karting and racing. I found that even with the low res early units (which were significantly lower cost than The Coolest New Version), I had enough pixels to see where I was on the track and critique my driving after the fact.

I carry the GP on hikes for time lapse. You're sitting at the summit watching the clouds go past for half an hour, why not make some video of it? It's not great for that application, but it's definitely a workable solution.

Recently, I've started using a GoPro for diving. The weakness there is that it has no display, so you can't see what you're shooting. After taking a lot of video that *almost* includes my intended subject, I finally sprung for a Hero 5 Black, which has a display. I'll let you know in a week or so how that works out, if you're curious.