GoPro advice?

Irish196 · Feb 20, 2016

I would like to purchase a GoPro for softball games and for indoor activities (e.g. taping clinics- where lighting might be a problem). I would also like to buy whatever accessories I need to make sure if it gets hit it would not get broken as well as accessories to attach it to a fence/backstop. I would also like it to be very easy to use, easy to upload the video to Youtube (or send it to people) and have the ability to shoot wide shots (whole field) and close ups. I would also envision using it for special events (not softball).

I am worried about getting the earlier models. I wonder if the accessories are still readily available and if they are way behind the times in terms of what they can do and how good the video is. I'm also worried about battery time. However, I do not want to spend $400+ for a new one. Is there a GoPro model that anyone would suggest that would fit all of the above and not cost $400? I'd like to cap it at $250 or something along those lines.

Also, any suggestions as to how you rig yours up to get a good game video would be great. Thanks!

Pacerdad57 · Feb 20, 2016

The problem I had trying to use a go pro was the extremely wide view angle. Very big fish eye effect. You can reduce it but not by a whole bunch. Mounted camera on fathers helmet, can't pick up ball until last second, def not what I was looking for to try to record recruiting film of a pitcher with. Just my .02 's worth

Irish196 · Feb 20, 2016

Which one do you have?
I'm not really interested in using it for recruiting (at least doing in game close ups). I'd like to
be able to have someone follow the whole game if they can't be there. My dad is unlikely to
be able to come out to games so I'd like him to still watch our DD play. That said, I don't want to
be unable to do close ups if I'm just videotaping something like her practicing (so we can look
closely at her swing or her pitching, etc.)

Pacerdad57 · Feb 20, 2016

I would have to check, forget but I think it's the hero4. I've had better luck shooting video with our Nikon dslr
And the slow mo on cell phones is great for bp. I actually thinking that one of the small video came maounted to the back stop (in some way that it can't get smashed). Would be a good way to go.

Pioneer01 · Feb 20, 2016

I use the Kodak propix action cam and is great!! Doesn't have the big fisheye look and it 1080p. Reasonably priced at about $220

Pacerdad57 · Feb 20, 2016

Pioneer01 said:
I use the Kodak propix action cam and is great!! Doesn't have the big fisheye look and it 1080p. Reasonably priced at about $220

That's the style I was thinking of. Not a bad price and good equipment that doe st make you sick at your stomach (too much) if it gets whacked

Dawgsdad · Feb 20, 2016

I just got a gopro hero 4 silver. I used it for the first time last weekend. I am playing with it to see what I can and cannot do. The viewing angle is a small issue currently and it really can only record like the batters box area. The other areas seem to be a bit to far away for a clear and up close picture. My goal is to use it as a possible teaching tool and hopefully create an edited highlight tape for all of our players

Pacerdad57 · Feb 20, 2016

As a teaching tool for hitting and r offing from the side of the batter's box it would be fine. The extreme wide angle just makes it hard to use for anything that is very far away, and 43 ft seems too far. The 220mm zoom on the Nikon works well for distance, so I intend on shooting video for recruiting purposes with it, much narrower field of view.

Mad Hornet · Feb 21, 2016

Pacerdad57 said:
The problem I had trying to use a go pro was the extremely wide view angle. Very big fish eye effect. You can reduce it but not by a whole bunch. Mounted camera on fathers helmet, can't pick up ball until last second, def not what I was looking for to try to record recruiting film of a pitcher with. Just my .02 's worth

I have the Hero 4 Black and experimented with all the settings. At 4K this effect you describe was ridiculous. Way too immersive. However, I have found that the 1080p setting at 60fps gives me very good results. We see the field from foul fence to foul fence and have really good footage of every game. Is it ESPN? Well no it's not but for amateur video I've gotten very positive feedback including from college coaches.

http://www.ohiostingraysgunter.com

Irish196 · Feb 21, 2016

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

Irish196 · Feb 21, 2016

Mad Hornet said:
I have the Hero 4 Black and experimented with all the settings. At 4K this effect you describe was ridiculous. Way too immersive. However, I have found that the 1080p setting at 60fps gives me very good results. We see the field from foul fence to foul fence and have really good footage of every game. Is it ESPN? Well no it's not but for amateur video I've gotten very positive feedback including from college coaches.

http://www.ohiostingraysgunter.com

Do you have any footage up on YouTube or anywhere that is public?

Pacerdad57 · Feb 21, 2016

I'll have to check the settings and try that one. Thanks for the info!

frenchy101010 · Feb 21, 2016

Irish196 said:
Do you have any footage up on YouTube or anywhere that is public?

I have the GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition. I have the LynkSpider mount, external battery, and 2 64mb's cards. I record all our games on 1080p, 30fps, and on medium view. Here is just one of my games, feel free to check out the other games as well, there's like 50+ of them:

https://youtu.be/oYqeDgv6stU

Mad Hornet · Feb 21, 2016

Irish196 said:
Do you have any footage up on YouTube or anywhere that is public?

Yea on our team website. Our primer on the home page and on all the player profile pages. www.ohiostingraysgunter.com

EDGE MARCHINY · Feb 21, 2016

how do you get it to record so smooth. on my hero 4 silver+ about every 10 secs it hitches and its not a smooth video

Mad Hornet · Feb 21, 2016

EDGE MARCHINY said:
how do you get it to record so smooth. on my hero 4 silver+ about every 10 secs it hitches and its not a smooth video

If this is happening right after you download video on your PC you either got a bad camera or something with your PC. If you are seeing this only on YouTube it's more likely something with your PC. I had a similar situation just watching YouTube and when I got a new laptop the problem went away.

MadT · Feb 22, 2016

Mad Hornet said:
If this is happening right after you download video on your PC you either got a bad camera or something with your PC. If you are seeing this only on YouTube it's more likely something with your PC. I had a similar situation just watching YouTube and when I got a new laptop the problem went away.

It could be the SD card you are using as well.

Fastball19 · Feb 26, 2016

EDGE MARCHINY said:
how do you get it to record so smooth. on my hero 4 silver+ about every 10 secs it hitches and its not a smooth video

Make sure you are using a class 10 memory card. You can tell what class it is by looking at the face of the card. There is a C with the number of class it is rated inside of it.

We use a Hero 3+ silver and a Hero 4 when we are able to shoot two camera angles when at a place like firestone park in the video linked below. I know you wanna save some bux but, I saw a tutorial that added a zoom lens to the gopro to be able to zoom and stuff. Kinda pricey and of course you run the risk of bricking your gopro. We also have to use the battery eliminator as well as a power bank to run it all tournament weekend.

[video=youtube;AzMG1l64TLM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzMG1l64TLM[/video]

EDGE MARCHINY · Feb 27, 2016

my card is a sandisk ultra pluse 64gb it has xc1 on it

Fastball19 · Feb 29, 2016

To the left of the xc1 there is a U with a 1 in it? If so, that is more than capable to handle the video. What recording settings are you running with? I use 1080p @ 30fps. The raw video has this hiccup in it or only after processing? I would see if there is a firmware update for it and contact them if it is still doing it after updating. They will probably want you to try a different card.

GoPro advice?

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