[quote=Edchris177]We make extensive use of the Go-Pro. I teach downhill skiing part time, & for client feedback using video, the GP is pretty good, & affordable. For about $100 extra you can get them in Hi Def.
Battery life is not great, though we use them in cold climates, I would think battery life would be more than double in a warm enviroment.
It takes a bit of concentration, but if you can "train" your head to move smoothly, & not jerk around, it will improve the video quality greatly. The trick is to sweep your eyes from side to side, while keeping your head pointed at the target, when the natural reaction is to keep the head moving.
They are a pretty wide angle, which has pros & cons. The main pro is it is easy to frame what you want. We often video from right behind a skier, as it shows many technical elements well, incorrect fore/aft balance shows up as tail skid. I once had a buddy follow me down a pitch that was steep enough that standing would have been very difficult, & if you fell you were not stopping. I was surprised at how well he could keep my lower body framed, a function of the wide angle.
The units are quite tough. One of the park rats expoxied a mount to the tip of his ski, then proceeded to huck some of the bigger features in the park. It was revealing to see how much the ski slapped around during landings, so much that the mount broke, the camera survived. We tried helmet mounts, strapped to a knee, & mounted on a boot. You could break a mount a day, but the camera itself proved pretty robust.
The con is that unless things are fairly close, you lose all perspective with regards to speed & size. If you think you will get a TSN like view of your Cat blasting through the waves, you will be dissapointed. Even large mountains show up as anthills if they are any distance. I can't remember the file format, but several of my budget travel netbooks will not play an emailed file.[/quote]
