“A hero is a man who is afraid to run away” (English Proverb)
I bought a GoPro (hero 2) a few years ago as I wanted a small, robust and waterproof camera with a wide field-of-view for filming in the notoriously wet and damp jungle environment. As with any piece of kit designed with an emphasis on a particular set of benefits (compact/waterproof/lightweight/wide FOV) there is an associated downside, and with the GoPro Hero 2 those downsides came in the form of lousy sound quality, poor video quality in low light and an annoying fisheye effect. I own a standard camcorder (a Panasonic SD 700) which is far superior in terms of audio quality, video quality and ease of use…however, the problem is that it doesn’t like being in the humid jungle for too long and would break if it was dropped or got wet,
With the GoPro Hero 2 there were other problems: there was no built in LCD screen (so you were never fully sure of what was in shot or not) and no way to playback what you just filmed (to check that you’d got the shot you wanted).
It took me a while to get around these problems and it was only with the addition of the the WiFi backpack that the camera really started to work for me.
Back when I bought the GoPro there weren’t many alternatives in the action camera market – these days there are a growing number of competitor brands and, judging by the reviews I’ve read, the GoPros are under pressure to justify the premium price they currently command. If you’re in the market for an action camera I would do a Google search on ‘GoPro alternatives’ before you buy into the GoPro brand….that’s not to say that the GoPro is a bad choice, but rather that there are cheaper alternatives out there that might suit your needs just as well.
Nevertheless, a GoPro is what I bought and it does have the benefit of being able to cope with the jungle environment which is, in itself, is a major plus for me as it means that I can now film on trips where in the past I could not.
In the video below I show the ways I’ve got around the problems I encountered with the GoPro and, now that they are no longer an issue, the camera is performing well enough and the only outstanding issue is the poor video quality in low light situations.
Hello,
knowing your other videos I was a little bit surprised seeing you using this bulky setup. But as you wrote, few years back there was probably no real alternative.
I was looking for a camera too and decided to buy something that’s called “Mobius”.
Compared to the GoPro it is a relatively inexpensive camera with great picture and good audio quality (for it’s size). It is lightweight too, something you would probably like. I’m using it for metal detecting in the woods (https://www.youtube.com/user/MetalDetecting24). It is mounted to the shoulder strap of my backpack (unfortunately Youtube is reencoding all clips and makes the quality much worse than it actually is). A load of people using this cam for aerial photography because of it’s weight.
You can check out this forum for more info: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1904559
There also is a good review on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wmIyD1fM4M
The battery life is ~ 80 minutes, but you can charge it (even while recording) using an external battery pack. I’m very happy with this setup so far, maybe you would like it too. If you want to see raw footage of this cam, I could upload a sample on Dropbox.
Cheers
P.s. Your videos are great BTW. I don’t watch TV, but I can imagine you having your own programme on a channel like the BBC.
Hi md24,
Many thanks for the comment and info – I watched the videos and I have to say I was very impressed with the quality of the footage you took when metal detecting on the Mobius and, as you say, it is not only much smaller and more compact the my Gopro 2 but also a lot cheaper! Anyway I’m glad you wrote in and hope other people take note as there are alternatives out there to the Gopro that may suit people’s wallet and needs better. I didn’t want to talk about other options myself as I don’t like reviewing products I haven’t tried out so it’s good to hear from someone who has.
Having looked at the Mobius my Gopro does indeed seem a bit big and bulky!
Cheers!
Paul
Hello Paul,
I also had a Hero2, and I made few adjustments too it.
First I put a lanyard as it was in my pocket all the time for a few months travel, even when I was sleeping. Didn’t want to lose it. I threaded my cord through the screw holes on the bottom of the case.
I found that a long pece of inner tube, between 15 and 20g (now I would make it thinner but longer) could attach t almost anywhere.
And that’s it 😀
It did very well in Malaysia’s seas and forests! Happy Wawa was I 🙂
Next time I go in the Jungle, I’ll bring an action camera of some sort.
How much does your fully loaded hero2 weight?
I wonder how much would an E01 headtorch improve the video during the night.
Thank you for sharing your improvements.
Hi Wawa,
Thanks for comment and good to hear the Gopro served you well on your trip. I don’t think there is anything inherently bad with Gopros it’s just that there are now other alternatives out there that might suit people better and that the Gopro does take a little bit of getting used to and has a few issues you ned to get round.
There is an interesting comment by md24 about the Mobius camera which is a good case in point if you really want to go compact and lightweight (and save a bit of money as well).
Anyway, I did the video because I struggled a bit to get the Gopro to do what I wanted it to do and thought it might be useful for others who are facing the same problems.
Thanks again,
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Have you ever tried low temperature thermoplastics for kit mods? Polycaprolactone (aka: Instamorph / Thermomorph/ Friendly plastic ), for example, is very tough and hard at ambient temperature but becomes malleable at 60C.
I’ve had some luck with it for making quick and dirty custom sheaths/clips. It’s not too expensive and a little seems to go a long way; plus you can always reuse failed parts by re-melting them. It would let you make more robust versions of your duct-tape-based GoPro mods, new mods that are difficult to do with duct tape (torch mount/diffuser) or at least provide a quick way of prototyping things for making final versions out of the higher-temp plastics.
As always, thank you very much for all of your knowledge sharing efforts.
Cheers,
Nathan
Hi Nathan,
Many thanks for the comment and tip about thermoplastics and I know my duct tape and plastic mods for the Gopro look a but rough and ready! I have used Kydex before for making parang and knife sheaths and love the stuff (but it is a bit pricey). The great thing is, as you say, you can simply remould again if you mess up the first time and I simply warm it up in the oven (when my wife’s not around!) so it’s very easy to use.
Anyway, many thanks for the tip and support.
Cheers!
Paul