Go Pro Hero 4 or Session

[Toymotor]

Just wanting some feedback/advice from people using or have had experience with either or both cameras pros & cons etc. Was lucky enough to win a gopro price pack recently, so have $1000 to spend on a camera and accessories. Have had a search though the forums and have a fair idea what i want in the way of suitable mounts. Was thinking bar, helmet, chest, and rod mount when I'm fishing instead of on the bike. The two I can choose from are the Hero4 and the Hero4 Session. Should get a remote bar mounted to switch on and off as I'm not picking up the bill? :2thumbsup Never had or used a gropro type device before so pretty much flying blind here.

[Akzle]

and you decided to ask this.... As your first post....on a motorcycle forum?

[Asher]

Go for a hero 4 silver. Every review of the sessions rubbishes the image quality.

[awa355]

Here is a link to another thread showing how I mounted the gopro to the bike. Has worked much better than all the clumsy gopro accessories that I spent a fortune buying before I settled for this set up.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/174656-GoPro-suction-cup

[Toymotor]

Haha, yes Akzle, yes i did. I have searched past posting on this topic and i have seen you are not too fond of these. It's a prize given to me (motorcycle related) and i thought it would be good to get some current info from people who you these on their bikes, and yes they do i'm sorry. :hug:

Ah cool Asher thanks, yeh at this stage i'm swinging towards the silver, some features like the night lapse would be cool for taking pics of the sky. Only reason i'm really looking at the Session is purely size, thought it might make a noticeable different if mounted to helmet.

[Toymotor]

I did see that post while searching Awa, that's some good inventive skills there, nice and solid! I think i will look at mounting to the forks. measured up the rollcage gopro mount and that fits the forks nicely. If that doesn't work i guess it's off to mitre10 then? :laugh:

[Night Falcon]

Don't know much about the new jobbies but my Hero 4 (silver) is an awesome camera.

The Bluetooth remote is handy. Mine cuts out and turns the gopro off when riding round hills though so you have to keep an eye on them to check if the red light is on. I could of had video evidence of a DR missing a corner and heading off into the bush, now its lost forever :shutup:

[boman]

GoPro hero 3 or 4 silver. I have footage of a ride on a bumpy road, and the footage is great. Surprisingly so.

And they are water proof and take great pictures and video underwater.

Best money I have spent.

[awa355]

Here is a good comparison.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxiCVu_SdDw

[ir0nslash]

this is footage I took on sunday with a hero 3 black ,
don't judge its my first video and im a noob :P
but came out with decent footage , on side of my helmet , but when on the motorway you can really feel the drag catching the gopro .. im abit paranoid of the sticky pad they give falling off but so far still staying on ..
if I lost my gopro , ild look into those barrel style cameras what go closer to the helmet , but yea not sure brands etc ,


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL-bReA_ihw

[awa355]

When I had my Contours on the side of my helmet I still tethered it to the chin strap with a fine piece of nylon fishing line. Your picture is quite clear. With my bike the transmission whine and wind noise over whelms the exhaust note so I just mute the sound in live movie maker and add music. Have tried a couple of external mics but there is not much difference from the inbuilt mic.

[ir0nslash]

the case im using is the water proof case you get factory I just drilled a hole in the back plate , maybe that's cutting a lot of the wind out ....

[Scubbo]

they need to sort out that weird focal distortion auto adjustment, in and out, like the lens is flexing :sick:

[KoroJ]

I've used a Hero 3 Black for a couple of years and I use a suction mount on the front of the bike. I usually tether it but my experience is that it sticks like shit to a blanket. ie I've had no issues.

I tested a chest mount but I felt it placed the camera too far back and most of the image was tank, bars and dash.

I put a helmet mount on an old helmet but I've only used it when Go Karting. I wouldn't use that on the bike due to the drag, plus the stabilising effect of ones head. I find the best results are achieved when the camera is mounted as low as possible, squarely on the front of the bike because when mounted on the side of the fairing, the extra mounts required introduce more vibration. (I suppose it also depends on the type of riding) I imagine the stalk mount wouldn't be much good on a bike.

Extra battery(s) would be a good idea, plus extra cards. I carry Battery Power Packs that I can charge on the bike and use them to recharge the battery and remote on the go.

[Bruce Lee]

The one you want is the Hero 4 Black. A little more than the session but image quality is superb. I mount mine on the top of the helmet for an incredibly stable pic.

[iaingsx1300r]

Just wanting some feedback/advice from people using or have had experience with either or both cameras pros & cons etc. Was lucky enough to win a gopro price pack recently, so have $1000 to spend on a camera and accessories. Have had a search though the forums and have a fair idea what i want in the way of suitable mounts. Was thinking bar, helmet, chest, and rod mount when I'm fishing instead of on the bike. The two I can choose from are the Hero4 and the Hero4 Session. Should get a remote bar mounted to switch on and off as I'm not picking up the bill? :2thumbsup Never had or used a gropro type device before so pretty much flying blind here.

Is that you Daniel?

[awa355]

I recorded 1hr 20 min with the wireless wifi operating on today's ride. Recorded in 720p x 50 fps. Usually I use the 720 x 25 mode and without the wifi on can get over 2hr 20 mins. I used the skeleton door and the wind noise was barely audible. Less wind noise than all my playing around with various external mics.

Actually, I think the remote might have shut the camera down before the battery was drained. I'm using a 1180hr battery, the original is a 1050 mAh. I carry both batteries but have never needed the second one. From today's ride I have kept about 10 minutes video for my own files, and included one still in today's ride report.

I find that recording at 25 fps and then at 50 fps doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. I'm tempted to use the NTSC format and see if the extra 10fps make a difference.

[Toymotor]

Good info guys thanks.

Decided to swing for the Hero4 Silver, as people were saying, and reviews were it of better quality than the cube. A few other things like non swappable battery, no bacpac addons, were also a deal breaker. Probably would have even swung for the black, but there was only the silver session and original(?) on the cards, and i'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth :) Was able to fit a few accessories into the budget given. So sprung for the battery bacpac, a black case to help keep it more stealth on the bike, and several different types of mounts, so play around with and find out what suits me best.

[Toymotor]

Is that you Daniel?

Oh hey Iain! Fancy seeing you round here. You'll have to make your new ride you profile pic, as you say the zx looks better ;)

[Toymotor]

came out with decent footage , on side of my helmet , but when on the motorway you can really feel the drag catching the gopro .. im abit paranoid of the sticky pad they give falling off but so far still staying on ..


Cool as, a good run through the traffic. Did get the side mount over the top mount as thought it would suit me better, but time will tell. Yeh i can imagine it would create a bit of drag, hence considering the session. Got some tethers in the pack too which will come in useful. Wanting to mount it round the forks somewhere first like awa has done. Off topic, but whats the actual law surrounding bike lanes, can we legally use them? I don't ride in town much so i haven't really encountered them.



Extra battery(s) would be a good idea, plus extra cards. I carry Battery Power Packs that I can charge on the bike and use them to recharge the battery and remote on the go.

Got the battery bacpac, and i read they charge up at the same time. I brought a usb/12v kit for the bike the other day, just have to wire it in, then the only thing that would hold me back would be storage :2thumbsup

Will be buying the smart remote kit at some stage for ease of use :yes:

[george formby]

I have sticky mounts for the go pro all over the place. Anywhere that does not wobble on the bike. I use a tether or cat strangler as insurance should the worst happen but thus far those 3M mounts are going nowhere.
Helmet cam is boring, don't put it online. It's not the camera, it's the editing.

I stopped taking vids when I failed to edit. Must have another go.

Enjoy riding then getting home and watching the ride again. I do, it's perverse. 2 hours bike, 2 hours telly with commentary. Weird.

[awa355]

For me, I have never bothered adding commentary. I run the gopro simply because I might get something interesting happen or to highlight a neat piece of road. As happened yesterday, I kept 90 seconds and deleted the rest of the 8gb of recordings.

Nothing worse than watching a head mounted cam that is moving all the time (especially before they get moving,edit that out). You use a camera for your own satisfaction. Almost anyone else couldn't give a shit about your bike ride. The best video's I might watch are some of the South Island off road rides, country I wont get to see or ride over. I do add a song or music to some videos and they can be fun to watch on the tv screen.

[ir0nslash]

well my video was the first , so edit will be rough and video can be boring ,

but as some people think riding videos are boring some people have 330,000 subs , not saying ill get there im just saying you have to start some where
https://www.youtube.com/user/DOITWITHDAN/about

[awa355]

well my video was the first , so edit will be rough and video can be boring ,

but as some people think riding videos are boring some people have 330,000 subs , not saying ill get there im just saying you have to start some where
https://www.youtube.com/user/DOITWITHDAN/about

As I said, if you make and publish videos because it gives you some enjoyment, that's the main thing. If it is what you want to do, then do it. I have several videos on you tube, (almost nobody views them but I don't give a toss). It's all good fun.

[ir0nslash]

cough whats your channel ill watch them :P

[pritch]

cough whats your channel ill watch them :P

Yeah, I thought I'd take a look but it seems to be a secret.

A someone said editing is important. I went to a friend's one night and someone else turned up with footage of a boat trip. No editing, just seemingly endless footage of the boat trip as it happened. What an ordeal.

Have never felt brave enought to try and make a movie, I still struggle to get one frame right.

[awa355]

cough whats your channel ill watch them :P

This video should lead you to my vids. Many are from the Yamaha 100cc scooter I had for a while. Still good to watch if you're not in a hurry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNx1X-pHSNY

Actually this might be the link to my videos.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ZBkOxz3TjXJF2K1YqP55w

I have just tried my gopro in the NTSC format as opposed to the PAL format. The playback (normal speed and slow motion) seems smoother and it plays on both the tv and laptop okay. Is there any reason for not using the NTSC format?.

[R650R]

they need to sort out that weird focal distortion auto adjustment, in and out, like the lens is flexing :sick:

Its a technical issue known as rolling shutter and will always be present on low end (compared to DSLR or better) devices, especially with the wide angle type lens these small cameras have.

[R650R]

Is there any reason for not using the NTSC format?.

Yes unless you want to piss of everyone in the world watching who is not American. I guy I was following in Scotland was shooting some cool heavy haulage stuff but theh he started doing everything in ntsc and its vertically distorted on any screen not in or set up to American style. You might have a flash display that is auto compensating but most people wont. NTSC is also more of a square image than widescreen style.

[awa355]

Yes unless you want to piss of everyone in the world watching who is not American. I guy I was following in Scotland was shooting some cool heavy haulage stuff but theh he started doing everything in ntsc and its vertically distorted on any screen not in or set up to American style. You might have a flash display that is auto compensating but most people wont. NTSC is also more of a square image than widescreen style.

Been reading up since I posted the question. I'll stick to PAL.

[Toymotor]

Rode with a couple of mates round the Hunuas' today, was able to film the ride with the battery bacpac installed no worries with room to spare. Will have a trawl through the footage see if there's anything worth keeping. Very happy with it though. Got home and decided I didn't want to hang the riding boots up quite yet, so spun the camera around and took the niece for her first ride. Might make her a biker out of her one day :headbang:313963

[awa355]

which resolution size are you recording in?

[Toymotor]

which resolution size are you recording in?

1080p, but had video+photo enabled, so this is just a still image.

[awa355]

I will upgrade sometime to the silver 4. Better low light capability, and more options for faster fps rates would be nice. The Hero3 white is fairly limited in those areas. 1080 at higher fps would not playback so well on my existing laptop, but I would love to have a smoother slo-mo playback than the 720 x 50 setting.

[R650R]

I will upgrade sometime to the silver 4. Better low light capability, and more options for faster fps rates would be nice. The Hero3 white is fairly limited in those areas. 1080 at higher fps would not playback so well on my existing laptop, but I would love to have a smoother slo-mo playback than the 720 x 50 setting.

The problem might be in what you edited it/rendered it with afterwards. Eg today I shot at 30fps then while editing noticed photoshop was defaulted to 25fps on editing window (I could change it just couldn't be arsed), little things like that can cause problems in final vid.

Well I dipped a toe into the gopro world today with the Session. Given it quick test on the mtb and it coped well in low light and severe vibration on forest trails.
The one touch recording is not quite idiot proof, I did flaff about a bit but then I hadn't fully read the instructions... lol
Only thing I don't like is there is very little space to drill holes in the proprietory mounting system for custom installations and mounting in odd spots. But I do like the form factor.
Will suss things out bit more then get it mounted on the dR in some interesting places and blat up to the hotpools for offroad ride....
Sound recorded was ok given wind noise, mic must be in good spot or have decent noise cancelling algorythims.

[awa355]

Looks like some good advice on the Hero 4 video formats here.

http://abekislevitz.com/understanding-video-in-the-hero4/

Probably the best site I have visited concerning 'knowing your gopro'.

[5ive]

Rode with a couple of mates round the Hunuas' today, was able to film the ride with the battery bacpac installed no worries with room to spare. Will have a trawl through the footage see if there's anything worth keeping. Very happy with it though. Got home and decided I didn't want to hang the riding boots up quite yet, so spun the camera around and took the niece for her first ride. Might make her a biker out of her one day :headbang:313963

Was a good ride, especially since the weather was good, and you got some good quality photos with your Go Pro. You've inspired me further towards getting a video camera myself. Maybe I'll get one for summer.

[Scubbo]

couldn't it be fixed with just a fixed focal point? that look in videos from velocity change is the reason I havent bought one of these things yet @_O do they have a setting to stop the auto focus?


Its a technical issue known as rolling shutter and will always be present on low end (compared to DSLR or better) devices, especially with the wide angle type lens these small cameras have.

[Toymotor]

Was a good ride, especially since the weather was good, and you got some good quality photos with your Go Pro. You've inspired me further towards getting a video camera myself. Maybe I'll get one for summer. I think Heath sounded like he wanted one too ;) Yeh i'm wrapped with the quality of the photos. Looking through the videos, there is some rolling shutter like the video posted up before. Will have a play around with the settings next time around, see if it improves. We got some nice views from the plateau heading down to Kaiaua that were picked up in vids. Might try knock something together when I've got the time.


couldn't it be fixed with just a fixed focal point? that look in videos from velocity change is the reason I havent bought one of these things yet @_O do they have a setting to stop the auto focus?

It is a fixed focal lens afaik.

[Toymotor]

Better late than never. Did a ride out to Muriwai via an access road so had my 1st tutu editing with that. Then this evening i went back and edited some footage of the hunuas. So got a mix of sand and seal, to cater to all lol :2thumbsup unless you hate metal/rock music :laugh:

Editing maybe still a bit rough, but I've spent some time on it so i'm happy, but i'm by no means accomplished hahaha.

Muriwai:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JLOxdJWIEvY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Castle to Kaiaua:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Q9WITKEZqk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[5ive]

Nice vids!

I forgot about that stupid bitch trying to get a Darwin award, shaking my head at her as I slowed down as much as I could, and riding the white line.

Letterbox positioning failure.

[Toymotor]

Cheers. Haha yeh, i moved to the left as soon as i spotted the car, then to the right once i realized it was someone with a death wish. I guess she never got over playing chicken as a child? :scratch: