Fishing The Fly Scotland
Index => Main Discussion Area => Topic started by: Mike Barrio on 06/01/2013 at 23:36
-
I bought a digital camcorder to play with, a Vivitar, it is an underwater HD camcorder and it was cheap. Great for fishing methinks :wink
Tried it a couple of times now, not underwater yet ... and I find it very poor indeed. Mobile phones take better video than this thing :shock
So ..... what to try next? I've been watching Iain's videos with the Gopro, he seems to just put it on the harness on his head, or on his chest and turn it on ...... and the Gopro takes over and does everything by itself and records what it sees in superb quality! :cool:
Is it really that easy with a Gopro Iain, or am I missing something?
Cheers
Mike
-
I (well technically my wife :wink) received a Gopro as a xmas present and was meaning to fire off a PM to Ian as to what editing software he uses as his videos are immense! :z16
I havn't got round to playing with it yet but we are off to Krabi in Thailand on Saturday so really need to get it fired up and have a mess around with it this week as I am hoping able to get some half decent underwater footage etc when we are there.
:z18
Steven.
-
We use a GoPro at work for some of the POV filming we do for safety training videos. It does its job, but could never be compared to our broadcast cameras, but they are around £20,000 each!
For the money and for what we use the Go Pro for, its spot on.
-
The Vivitar has been returned to Currys .... hassle free refund thanks, great service :z16
-
The Go -Pro
I don't think that there is anything better for the fisherman at the moment.
Ok, it is not exactly a tiny piece of equipment when compared to the secret agent type sized device that would be handy for us fishermen but then again it's by no means overly huge in it's basic form with waterfproof housing and can be worn on the head via a harness all day without much issue.
There are also a few attachments which can be easily fitted to possibly enhance your days filming/ fishing eg. the battery pack, LCD monitor, flotation pack, etc.
The first two of these IMO all add just that little bit too much weight making head mounting of the Go Pro too much like hard work & as said head mounting is my preferred option. Chest mounting should not be an issue with these add ons.
Even in the confines of the tube changing batteries over is a very basic task so my battery pack has been relegated to the house being used as a battery charger via the mini USB port.
I've never really seen the need for an LCD display either -some form of Wi-Fi monitor, absolutely, but due to the fact that when it's on your head, on your chest or even underwater (were talking on a pole when you are in a boat, on the bank, etc) then you either won't see it or have it add any real value, you roughly point and shoot and due to the varying wide angle settings available decent capture is almost guaranteed. Have a few test shots though on your preferred mounting style and angle setting so that you have a feel for where the housing should be angled, 'too much sky' looks poor in my opinion.
Video quality is also very good and the rendered file on your PC is really quite amazing.
Editing software.......I use Cyberlink Powerdirector 11, only yesterday I was having a look on the Net to see if there was anything reviewed as better than this but again it is apparently top of the field for the layman, this said I have had a few issues with the program hanging up and apparently this has been noted by a few users and the upshot appears to be that you should have a fairly decent computer system to cope the amount of data that some productions can accumulate.
I'd think there are some very basic and free programs that would work perfectly well if you just wanted to produce a title, some footage and the odd transition.
I'll not change my Go Pro for the slightly smaller and lighter Go-Pro III, hopefully by the time there is a version IV it will be the beast that we are all looking for.
Vivitar, never owned or used one and the fact that they seem the preferred make for home shopping channels would make me steer clear by gut instinct alone, your mention of the video quality seems to confirm my concern.
Iain
-
Great feedback thanks Iain ....... :z16
Interesting that you prefer the head mount, I thought the chest one would be better for less jerky movement.
Best wishes
Mike
-
Get two Mike :z16
They both have their merits.
Head mounted can cause jerky footage when you are on the move as its natural for us fishermen to be constantly scanning our surroundings but will instantly catch something of interest on the fly without having to physically turn your torso towards the target, once locked onto the point of interest you just keep still, simples. The same can be true if you want to record a trout rising close into your bank without over rotating your body or indeed any other scenario where you want to lock onto something instantly.
Down side for example can be where you cast to a rising trout, see another rise off to the side, naturally turn to look and then the original trout takes the fly and you missed it on film. Jerky footage can also come from the terrain that you are negotiating but I don't see it as a problem as most of this incidental stuff would be deleted unless you are videographing for a specific scene or look.
Chest harness shots are good too but keep everything well clear of its field of view - I recall one outing where I had loads of footage - one half of the screen was the river & the other half was the inside of my jacket flapping around. It can give some really good shots of playing a fish from the rod handle and reel aspect but this does get boring if the whole fight consists of watching you either reel or strip in line while the fish and associated scenery are masked. It is also easier to guarantee a lock onto something with the camera on your head than on your chest.
I carry both harnesses.
Iain
-
Make the shoulder mount, best of both worlds ;)
http://www.goprotutorials.com/gopro-over-the-shoulder-mount/
-
I havn't got round to playing with it yet but we are off to Krabi in Thailand on Saturday so really need to get it fired up and have a mess around with it this week as I am hoping able to get some half decent underwater footage etc when we are there.
When in hot climes (next to fishing) I just can't get enough snorkelling - the Go-Pro would be fantastic , no, brilliant for that.
Steven,
Have you looked at the underwater dive housing? The videos taken with them on the Go-Pro channel are amazing.
Iain
-
Does the GPIII still have the distorted view resulting from the ultra wide angle lens?
Mike, sort of depends upon whether you need it to be shock proof and waterproof really. The Cannon 7D would be perfect if not, takes awesome pics and does broadcast quality HD video too. Not something you'd really want to get wet or manky though and you'd probably have to change al your camera gear to Cannon! Does Nikon make a body that will do top quality HD video now that you could use with your existing lenses, that would be an option unless you are looking for something unbreakable as an addition to the armoury.
Cheers
Ben
-
Does Nikon make a body that will do top quality HD video now that you could use with your existing lenses, that would be an option unless you are looking for something unbreakable as an addition to the armoury.
Does not work like that unfortunately. Even though standard Nikon lenses are good, to get HD vid you need an HD lens.
I am just about to buy a Lumix G5 for fishing to replace my G1 and I had the same question, as that body allows full HD video. The answer was that the the lenses will work, but a proper HD lens will always give better results. More noticable in low/strong light or under artificial light.
-
Sorry Rob, that's a bit contradictory mate and I'm not quite sure I udnerstand. Are you you saying that a camera body wil that takes DH video will only do it with a HD spec lens or, that provided the body is up too it then you can use any lense but you will loose some qualitie?
Not that up on camera stuff.
Cheers
Ben
-
Sorry Rob, that's a bit contradictory mate and I'm not quite sure I udnerstand. Are you you saying that a camera body wil that takes DH video will only do it with a HD spec lens or, that provided the body is up too it then you can use any lense but you will loose some qualitie?
Very simply put, a body is a carrier for a lens. It does nothing more than provide a means of opeening and closing a shutter. It has always been the quality of the lens that gives the image its sharpness. David Baily took many of his photos using an OM10, the simpliest of cameras, but his Lieca lenses were worth thousands.
Modern DSLR's are a little different in that they process the image there and then and can also shoot vid.
So to the lens. an HD lens is made of a higher quality glass. They tend to allow at least double the resolution over SD (standard) lenses and also reduce chromatic aberration by upto 75% (thats colour errors in english).
So, in short, yes, you can use SD lenses on an HD camera, but the quality is not as good as it would be if you used an HD lens. It can be very noticable with low light or high speed subjects.
The analogy I used to use with my students is that its like buying a Ferrari and then sticking remould tyres on it.
Hope that helps...
-
Thnaks Rob!!
Ben
-
David Baily took many of his photos using an OM10, the simpliest of cameras, but his Lieca lenses were worth thousands.
Are you sure it wasn't an OM1? I had an OM10 for a short while. It was amongst the first of the auto focus SLRs and it ate batteries at an alarming rate. I replaced it with an OM1 which was simpler and more reliable. I still have it, I can't see myself using it again but I am keeping it.
Irvine
-
Are you sure it wasn't an OM1? I had an OM10 for a short while.
He used a fair few different cameras to be honest. I picked up on the OM10 because it used to be a very common camera back in the day. From what I remember, he chose the OM10 for shooting slide film because the inbuilt metering was pretty much spot on for this style.
His preferred studio camera was a Rolleiflex, a brute of a thing being a twin lens reflex. Carl Zeiss produced the lenses for them and the negatives are 10x8 inches..and EXPENSIVE!
-
Rob,
Rolleiflex twin lens was a 6x6 and the negs where exactly 56x56mm.
the 8x10 was a view camera with sheet film.
cheers,
marc
-
Rob,
Rolleiflex twin lens was a 6x6 and the negs where exactly 56x56mm.
the 8x10 was a view camera with sheet film.
cheers,
marc
Cheers...my brain is old and shriveled!
-
that's what i was thinking.... :X2 :roll :wink :z4 :shock :z3 :grin
-
Went for a wander and had a wee play with this today. Not up to Goolager standards I'm afraid, a simple walkabout with my hands in my pockets as it was a tad cold :z4 but it was interesting to get an idea of how things work :cool:
Looking forward to the learning curve .........
Cheers
Mike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JVvR95SLQo
Looks reasonable for a first effort if you change the settings to HD ........ no signs of any fish :z4
-
That looks great for the 1st time out Mike, good crisp picture feature.
Bri.
-
Nice pictures Mike. When your feet come into shot you get a real idea of how wide the angle of the lens is. It looks like you are on stilts.
Irvine
-
cool Mike :z16
Looking forward to some fishing footage this year.
Iain
-
That is really good quality Mike, what GoPro are you and Goolager using - the Hero2 HD Outdoor ?
I could be tempted for a Hero2 (the 3 is out of budget) as I would really quite like lots of footage of me playing big trout....then losing them in the weeds :z4
Any probs with them "freezing" up after a few secs recording that the interweb is rife of ? Can you mount it safely on say a reversed baseball cap ?
Cheers,
Lindsay
-
Hi Lindsay
Mine is a 3 and I think Iain's is a 2. Lot's of good deals on the 2 at the moment on the net. I haven't had a look at the settings or anything yet, that was taken by simply taking the thing out of the box, putting it on the head strap and turning it on :z4
Best wishes
Mike
-
Mine is a 3 and I think Iain's is a 2. Lot's of good deals on the 2 at the moment on the net. I haven't had a look at the settings or anything yet, that was taken by simply taking the thing out of the box, putting it on the head strap and turning it on :z4
Thank Mike, very good effort straight out the box ! Yes the 2's are going for a song just now and are appealing ! The 3 looks really good but having just bought another Rod (and Guitar :shock) and paid the Tax for the year ( :z10) it would be hard for me to justify !
Cheers,
Lindsay
-
Hi Lonsdale,
I can't bring myself to check out the current deals on the GoPro2 it might make me cry. Obviously the 3 must be an improvement on the 2 e.g more compact and has new features like WI-FI, increased frame rate ( if I recall correctly), etc but the 2 is still more than capable of making good videos of your 'trout lost in the weedbeds' productions.
Sell one of your guitars!
I've said before that it's important to take photo's of your fish and surroundings so that they can be remembered and relived long after the event, but to my mind video is so much more stimulating and in a few years I'll wager that the amount of guys (and gals) recording their exploits will start to rocket.
Any probs with them "freezing" up after a few secs recording that the interweb is rife of ? Can you mount it safely on say a reversed baseball cap ?
Don't know what you mean here Lindsdale? You don't mean the buffering from having a council broadband rate do you?..... As for freezing up, never been an issue for me.
Baseball cap? It won't sit on one with NY or Lakers on it but the head strap will allow it to sit on a normal cap just fine.
Iain
-
Cheers Iain,
Thanks for the comments. Yep good deals on Hero2 just now, the 3 would be hard to justify though.
I'd come across quite a bit of anti Pro2 and even new 3, where the camera switches off after a few secs and says "repair file edit". It doesn't and only cure is to remove battery and reboot ? Thats said, some of these dudes are using it on skiing holidays and I wonder if it is the cold.
Close to pulling the trigger on Hero2 Outdoor Edition, but it might have to be a 'black op' job :wink
Linz
-
You know it makes sense!
-
You know it makes sense!
Don't know about that, but too late now black op in progress :wink
Lindsay
-
:z16
Youtube here you come!
Iain
-
:z16
Youtube here you come!
Well, the GoPro Hero 2 arrived today ! Quite surprised by how small it is given the Hero3 is 25% smaller ! It will be given it's premiere on a March day on the Deveron, so I hope Alan's troots are playing ball ! :wink
Lindsay
-
Champion Lindzer :z16
How you mounting it?
Iain
-
Champion Lindzer :z16
How you mounting it?
Iain
Oooo er Mrs :z4 :z4 :z4
:z18
Jim
-
How you mounting it?
Only on ma heid the now as it only came with a headstrap - you preferred this anyway ? Might get the chest mount I don't know yet.
Any tips as to best shooting resolution settings and angles and a' that ?
Cheers,
Linz