thedon

For the first time I will be using a GoPro Hero3+ on a K-Edge Pro Handlebar mount next week during a trip to Hawaii.

I plan to use the 1080/60fps/medium angle settings and will have a 32GB storage card.

Is the waterproof or open case preferred for riding?

Does anyone have any general tips on how to best capture the rides?

thermalattorney

Use the waterproof case, the only effect is on the audio. It helps cut down on wind noise *but* the audio will suck anyway so you might as well be waterproof.

IIRC it's ~15min per 4gb segment at 1080p/60 so 32gb (28gb actual) will cover 105min worth. Not a lot in the grand scheme of a day, dropping it down to 30fps will increase your recording time by a third to ~140min.

on the K-Edge mount. It's stupid expensive but is the single biggest upgrade I would normally recommend.

thedon

Just the feedback I was looking for - thanks!

Coffee312

I film quite a bit with the GP in all sorts of environments (biking, on the water etc), and have been doing so for a couple years. If I was going to recommend one thing to you it'd be TEST IT! Too many times I've jumped in with lots of enthusiasm and then got home to find the lens fogged up, the angle is wrong etc etc. Using the GoPro app will help you test it quicker so you can see the angles etc.

TheSame

Get multiple GoPros.

I try to do multiple views to make the videos interesting. (no one really want to watch an hour of slowly moving scenery).
For my Mnt bike videos
- Forward facing one - Either handle bar or Helmet. The lower the camera is the better sense of speed you get. On your head... it seems like the world is going slow. handle bar, more normal.
- Rear mounted under seat one. it's cool since you can see your buddies behind you vs videos of someone's backside the entire time.
- Chesty mount. Great perspective view and you can see your arms / handle bar, how you manipulate the bike.
- Down tube Mounted - on a mnt bike, great views of front shock working as you're cruising down some awesome single track.

Buy lots of batteries. They don't last... your mem card will prob out last your battery.

freighttraininguphill

If you're not going to ride in rain, I would use the non-waterproof back door. The audio doesn't always suck, especially if you use the helmet mount. With the waterproof door on, the audio is very "rumbly". You will only hear the loudest sounds when you're not moving. When you're moving you will only hear rumbly road noise and gear shifting. The shifting is good, the rumbly road noise is not.

Here's a video from another rider who used the Hero3 on the K-Edge mount. He used the non-waterproof back door. I edited this video for him after getting the raw files from him. He used the 960p "tall" setting at 30fps. You can hear conversations and commentary from the riders, gear shifting, and friendly honks from oncoming motorists saying hi. All these make the video more interesting than if all the audio was removed and replaced with music, IMHO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUedXrq2HWY

Here's a video from another rider in the same group ride. He was using the Hero3 Black at 1080p 60fps. He also had the K-Edge mount, but he was using the waterproof back door so you can hear the difference in sound quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVeyATJ3Zq4

Here's one of my videos using the helmet mount and non-waterproof back door as always. The audio is even better because the body acts as a shock absorber. This is also a group ride, and you can hear commentary from other riders even better. My camera is a Hero3+ Silver Edition, and I recorded at 720p 60fps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe9Ba7Ba7Us

I recommend purchasing a 64 GB card for maximum recording time. I use one and I can record for 8 hours and 58 minutes at 720p 60fps. This allows me to record entire long rides, and if something interesting happens I stop the recording and start a new one. This makes it much easier to find the good stuff while editing, as I know to look at only the last few seconds of the raw file. Here's a series of short clips of things I found interesting on a ride. With the non-waterproof door on, you can hear the honking geese flying overhead.

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

thedon

Freighttrain, your post is a front runner for winning best post of 2014!

I really like the audio that's captured with the slotted backplate, so I'll be using that one when there's no rain. Also, I thought battery life was about 2-3 hrs, which is the max length for my rides. Is that about right?

thermalattorney

All good advice freighttraininguphill, thanks for posting the comparison!


You dropped $50 on a mount but didn't buy a second battery?

megalowmatt

Freighttrain nice job. I use a Contour Roam but still like watching other videos that people make. Every few rides I make a special highlight video and plan out a few shots in advance if I know where we're riding.

THSdrummer

We got hit with a big snow storm here two days ago, and school has been cancelled the past two days. I grabbed my friends GoPro and set out to do a bit of (slow) riding and photography.

My biggest tip that I've learned over 2 days, is test it. Someone else said it. If you're going to do shots from off the bike (i.e. looking at you), play around with it first. I tried two where I sat the GoPro on a small tripod and rode past it. One was to far away, and the other didn't really offer any good pictures (the guy I was working with moved the GoPro to a different location, which is not what I wanted to do - it reduced the amount of pictures we got and removed some good background). It was his GoPro and I was being bossy, so I didn't correct him on it.

I've been working on a few cool angles on the bike. Some turned out real cool, others were a waste of space. It sounds like you're doing video though which generally turns out good regardless of camera placement.

I would also like to point out I didn't have the GoPro app or the Wifi remote (both of which would've made things a LOT easier).

cthenn

Any tips for best way to mount on descents? Standard handlebar mount rattles the crap out of the GP, even on smooth roads. And if the road is bad, the camera almost always starts to tilt up or down, no matter how tight I screw it down. I've even tried strategically placing stiff rubber bands around the camera to try and help stabilize, but with little improvement. Does the K-edge help absorb some of the bumps, or any other mounting tips? I'm not a huge fan of the helmet mount because I'm constantly looking around or just moving my head. Way too dizzying for me. I like to keep it mounted to the bike, but it always seem to vibrate a lot.

cthenn

BTW, just doing a quick search on Aliexpress, I found this item:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-...037466490.html

LOL @ the price difference between the real thing. Not trying to start another war over fake Chinese rip off stuff, but $60 for a small piece of machined aluminum is a joke.

Worth it just to see if the quality improves.

1nterceptor

Chest strap maybe?

cthenn

Yeah, except I don't want to wear the harness looking thing, and again, if I adjust my torso position between the tuck and upright, the angle may change too much. I saw a video of yours mounted on the chainstay, looked pretty clear. Probably less vibration back there. Also, low position makes the video look even faster!

1nterceptor

The camera I'm using now is a CountourGPS. I tried the a GoPro(HD 960) before and didn't like the blocky profile.

Rear triangle mounted by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

With bullet shaped cams(Virb, Contour, Sony, etc.), it's easier to mount it in different places(fork,
handlebars, frame, seatpost, rear triangle, helmet, etc.) using just strips from an old inner tube.
Usually the footage is stable as long as the road is smooth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jea4l...6zPoymgKaIoDLA

freighttraininguphill

Thanks thedon

You are correct about the battery life. I get between 2:20-2:50 per battery. When I bought this camera I also bought four extra 1180 mAh batteries. If you're looking for spare batteries, be sure it says 1180 mAh on the package and battery. The old ones were all 1050 mAh, which are lower capacity batteries that don't last as long. For a while GoPro's official site was still selling the old 1050s. I just checked and they are now selling 1180s. Best Buy still sells 1050s. BTW, they are the same price as the 1180s.

One of the selling points of the Hero3+ is the longer runtime between charges. Sure enough, my Hero3+ came with an 1180 mAh battery. It was a challenge to find the newer batteries. I bought the camera at Target, and I was able to get the four extras at Target stores but I had to go to other Targets to find the last two. They were still selling the 1050s too, so be careful.

I have two K-Edge mounts. I have the Go Big handlebar mount that was mentioned above, and I have the saddle rail mount. I used these mounts and the helmet mount for this cycling club hill repeat challenge video from New Years Day. When I went through the footage I decided to use the helmet mount footage for the forward facing shots, as it picked up all the commentary and encouraging remarks from passing riders. The saddle rail rear-mount footage was great for capturing overtaking riders and the few that I was able to pass. Riders who knew the camera was there reacted accordingly

I made this before I had my Hero3+, so cameras used were the Hero 1 on the helmet mount and Hero2 on the saddle rail mount.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf4OT6dB0AQ

60fps is great for slow-motion shots. The Hero3+ Silver and Black will record at up to 120fps in 720p. The Hero3+ Black will record at 240fps in WVGA 848x480. The higher the frame rate, the smoother the slow motion looks.

Here's a video from a recent group ride. This squirrel ran right through the ride leader's front wheel, catapulted through the air, and ran off. The first clip is normal speed. Second is slow motion, and third is extra slow motion (.125x) so you really see what's going on. I recorded at 720p 60fps. NSFW language.

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

cthenn

Wow, so that's all that's holding the camera on, tubes? I guess it's as safe as a plastic GoPro mount which could probably break with a hard enough jolt. Also, the rubber may give a little shock absorption.

Also, I really don't like the shape of the GoPro, yours looks almost invisible on the chainstay (minus the chunky inner tube wadded up on it haha). You think of these extreme action sports where these cameras are normally used, and then you have this dorky Teletubbies square thing on your head or whatever.

TheSame

I have both the contour and the GoPro. The Contour being my first camera... i got it since I hated how the GoPro looks. Contour just looks cooler. Looks better for side mounting on your helmet. Like for snowboarding and stuff...

that said. The GoPro is a lot better. GoPro has more mounting options. Video Quality is better. GoPro does look kinda stupid mounted to your helmet. But... everywhere else, it works better.

Contour also went out of business last year.

NoTrail

If it's not raining, I would use the open case to pick up some audio ... even if I planned to cover most of it with a song in editing.

I totally agree. The GoPro mounts are the worst part of the system. I've broken two along the way. The K-Edge are pricey but so worth it.

freighttraininguphill

I have a ContourHD and ContourGPS. Like you said, video quality is better on the GoPro. Audio too, especially on the Hero3 series.

Contour is back in business, btw.

megalowmatt

Thanks for the heads up on that!

Team Sarcasm

My friend got a new gopro and had mad a quick video of driving his truck. He used the roll bar mount and it broke just from driving on the streets (normal driving, no bumps). Lucky his camera didnt go flying off on a turn.

spectastic

I need to move to california ASAP.

Anyway, I use the non-waterproof door, because it'll help with heat dissipation, which is a problem with gopros (while they're stationary at least). Also, I shoot in 30fps at 720p because youtube only allows 30fps anyway, and 720p will save WAY more battery, and is pretty good quality.

freighttraininguphill

YouTube will accept 60fps files, but it will convert them to 30fps. 60fps isn't just good for slow motion. It also drastically cuts down on that annoying wavy jello-vision look known as rolling shutter. 720p 60fps is what I record at. My camera will record at 1080p 60fps, but battery life will be shorter and I'll end up having to buy new backup hard drives even sooner. I've already had to transfer most of my videos from my computer's C drive to a 3 TB external, and my two 500GB backups are getting full as well.

spectastic

i just store em on youtube