Going Pro

Hey everybody, what is going on? Welcome to the Sabbatical blog where I turn a hundred days of boredom into a never ending source of projects and entertainment. What follows today is the account of a personal experience - if you came here for the Wild Man of Canada, Swords, and dangerous things then I'm afraid this post might not be your flavour - the second part of the post is a review of the Go Pro, so you can skip ahead if you want to blank out the human experience.

I'm something like halfway through those hundred days - they go past quickly - and have been up to a thing or two over that time but one of my regrets was not getting enough pictures and video over that time so I took the plunge and decided to sink some dollars into a GoPro.

I didn't do much research before heading to the store, but I know a little bit about video technologies from working in the video games industry sad I did work in Digital Broadcasting for a while before that. Hell - I've written transcoders in the past - buying a piece of consumer level technology should be a walk in the park. And then I'll walk in the park and film it.

So - lets go shopping. I hit the store and there are no free assistants. The GoPros are located between the laptops and cameras, so I stare at the product for a second and then this cute lass in the laptops catches my eye so I ask if she can help me out. So Danielle comes over and I make sure she knows what I want.
Well it turns out I really lucked out talking to Danielle, not only is she able to talk knowledgeably about the device, but she owns one and takes it on the ski slope. She advises me about strap ons, we talk about her chest and head and the views you get. She's got the previous generation device, but the tips on impact sports, safety, and not having it crush your sternum show that she really knows her stuff.

About that time we go to look at cases, and the first of the "camera guys" comes over and joins the conversation. Now, I'm already talking to a demonstrable expert and she knows my needs but I say to him I'm looking for a hardbody case and  he just starts talking as if he matters and says they've got some great other cases discounted so we follow him over. I'm not opposed to saving some cash on this transaction.
Well he shows me two piece of shit softbody cases and I tell him thanks, and that we are going to go back over and look at cases and I literally turn 3/4 away from him, facing Danielle, to make sure he understands the message. I pulled this manoeuvre because I don't know if the staff are on commission and he isn't going to snipe a female colleague who was genuinely better than him. He was the first of two colleagues that would cut in and be useless at me before we managed to ring up the sale.

Last stop was memory cards, she took the time to check which card was needed (again, she is using the previous gen hardware that uses the older micro-SD cards) so points for diligence. But here is where I made two mistakes. Firstly, I had no idea what the minutes/GB count is for GoPro video is and neither did she - as a skier she takes a few short videos and doesn't fill up the card during the day - while I'm thinking about set-it-and-forget-it for projects where my hands are busy and then editing the footage.
She thought a single 32GB card would be fine, I decided that two 64GB cards suited me better, but because I didn't actually know what I needed it was a wild stab in the dark.

The second mistake I made was that the battery life doesn't last for 32GB of video - again, she goes on day trips so it was off her radar but I was about to spend eight days off grid so charging every night isn't an option. 2x64GB has no meaning if you've only got 20GB of battery time.

Go Pro Review

So, what do I think of the Go Pro? First impressions were Boss. It's a natty little device that records lots of video. It's a tiny form factor, chest strap, head mount.
However its compact awesomeness is not without considerations that I'd like to discuss.

Full Disclosure: I bought the GoPro Hero 5 Black - at the time of purchase it's the top-end flagship model so your mileage may vary on other kit but almost everything I'm going to say will apply.

The GoPro will record 4K@30Hz - yes it will, but it's fixed wide angle lens means you have to use wide angle for 4K.
On this note, it's write-bandwidth limited at 4K and only achieves this through a non-lossless compression. The video you playback is not the amazing 4K experience you might be expecting. It's still great, and it looks good. But if you are as picky about digital compression artefacts as I am then you'll notice some of the crisp clarity of image - the advantage of 4K - is lost.

To continue, the GoPro has image stabilisation. However, notice this is a digital post process that adjusts pan and scan to stabilise the image. This means you can't stabilise if you are using full-frame, so I don't think can be used during wide-angle shots ... which means no stabilisation on 4K. Not a problem when you are tripod mounted but if you are out and about it's something to think about.

The GoPro will record 1080@30Hz / 60Hz / 120Hz. This was pretty attractive, as I can see myself doing a lot of 1/4 slowmo.
Notch the FOV down to Linear or Narrow and you'll get 1080@60 with image stabilisation. This is probably your preferred setting and your default for everything. You can drop that to 30 to effectively double the capacity of your memory card.

Another option - not mentioned on the box - was 720@240. This is right up my street as I can record some great footage at the Lost and Foundry and I'm willing to sacrifice some resolution for 1/8th slomo. Maybe I can do a picture-in-picture 720 slomo insert on some 1080p fullscreen footage or something - there are lots of options here.

Battery Life... I had some spare USB power banks with me so was able to keep the unit charged for a lot of the time I was off-grid, but power was a premium every day and I could only afford a few minutes of footage and some stills. I'm going to recommend a spare battery or two, power banks if you've got them and a solar charger if you are in the wilds.
Battery life fears prevented me from doing any time-lapse, but I'll try that back in the shop where I can have it powered up all day.

All of the units were waterproof, since I was in a canoe for eight days this was rather attractive, but remember folks. It's waterproof but it doesn't float. Stay paranoid, keep your precious safe.

The custom GoPro quick release mount is good but it doesn't come with a camera mount. I was surprised a camera in the 21st Century doesn't come with a camera/tripod screw. But I guess the use case if small-form-factor-action-shots. I've since bought a 3rd party tripod adaptor, this is just one of those things you've got to know.

Summary - the GoPro is awesome. None of those details are downsides, they are just tricks you want to learn to get the most out of the device and since I was new to it I made a lot of rookie errors. Hopefully I'll be able to get great use out of it in the coming weeks.
With the cheaper model, smaller memory card, and TBH you can just use the solid plastic packaging it comes in as a case - this sort of setup can get you great results that doesn't cost the earth.

Hope to see your Go Pro pictures online soon! Whether you are going on adventures, building projects, or just baking a cake - share your expertise and experience with others!
This is Roger in Sabbatical, signing off - speak to you soon.