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VideoNewbie

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 6, 2009
476
6
so im considering buying a gopro because ive seen it produce some really awesome vacation videos

im not sure if im falling for the hype and marketing but what exactly can a gopro do that an iphone cant?
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
so im considering buying a gopro because ive seen it produce some really awesome vacation videos

im not sure if im falling for the hype and marketing but what exactly can a gopro do that an iphone cant?

The two can't really be compared. The iPhone 5 has an, IQ-wise, absolutely great but pretty narrow-FoV and mono-audio, non-stabilized, generic (non-sports/action) camera, while the GoPro excels at wideangle action shooting.

The GoPro 3rd Black Edition (I don't speak of cheaper versions) has

- FAR worse battery life when shooting video (unless you use my wideangle hack, see next bullet)
- FAR wider FoV (even if you use my wideangle hack (see https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1538193/ for more info) or a low-res 4:3 mode)
- FAR better high speed modes (1080p60 etc. - the iPhone 5 in no way can be made shoot with more than 30 fps)
- FAR better high-res modes (2700*somethingp30, 4Kp15 etc. - the iPhone 5 can't go over 1080p)
- FAR better accessories for body mounting

than the iPhone 5.

Generally, the iPhone 5 can't be used for (extreme) wideangle sports / action shooting without getting an enclosure with an (extreme) wideangle converter. They, however, vastly decrease the otherwise excellent image quality. They, currently, can't be reliably mounted on heads / chest either: I only know for GoPro mount-compatible (beta) enclosures for the Nokia Lumia 920. (Which is, BTW, far better for action shooting than the iPhone 5: 26mm wideangle and OIS out of the box. When paired with a possibly additional WA converter, it can become a decent action shooter, unlike the iPhone 5. Nokia has always been MUCH better at providing decent cameras than anyone else, including Apple.)
 
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salacious

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2011
750
5
I think you should first evaluate what you will need to shoot, then decide from there, also if you thinking to buy an iphone with that money, don't, get a decent HD video recorder.
 

Macrovertigo

macrumors member
Jan 25, 2008
87
0
Vermont/España/etc.
GoPro Hero3 Black - my own experience

I bought one and used it for three weeks, I loved it's resolution and performance except for the famous energy drain on the stock battery - when I used the GPH3B with wifi on in order to use my iPod or iPad as a monitor, the battery was depleted within ten to fifteen minutes. I found this limitation to be unnacceptable, as I am not interested in carrying a pocket full of batteries. I fell in love with that black match box though, like it as well as I like my iPod Touch for video capture, but imho to compare it with the iPhone (or withe the iPod Touch) is not fair to either tool. Still shopping for a video capture device ...
 

loteq

macrumors member
May 12, 2008
47
29
Check out Hitcase.com

Longtime Macrumours user, ill put a shameless plug in here. We make Hitcase for the iPhone with mounts etc that covers off exactly what you are trying to do..

Check it out and if you are interested I can maybe dig up a discount code for you.. :)
 

jayeskreezy

macrumors 65816
Mar 3, 2005
1,137
0
Longtime Macrumours user, ill put a shameless plug in here. We make Hitcase for the iPhone with mounts etc that covers off exactly what you are trying to do..

Check it out and if you are interested I can maybe dig up a discount code for you.. :)

Hmmm...wish I'd known about this before I got my Hero.

Anyway, the Hero 3 in general gets worse reviews than the 2. The battery does suck though, but IMO no worse than my iphone 5 battery.
 

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Feb 4, 2009
2,906
42
Upstate NY
My GoPro Hero 3 Black's battery life sucks but the thing is amazing and I can get a good amount of action squeezed in. With two batteries I can rotate effectively by leaving one say charging in the car on a USB battery charger or cigarrette lighter plug and the other in the camera. If thats not possible just pony up $15 for the ultra tiny batteries. The thing just works, if it had better battery life it'd be perfect (along with 30fps 4096x2160p :D).
 

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Feb 4, 2009
2,906
42
Upstate NY
Prolly this year's model. If nothing else works, then, they surely put a SnapDragon 800 in there :)

Haha I was thinking that too! 3840x2160p60 would be perfect....I love the 4K on my GoPro but I its low light ability at 4K produces some nastier noise than 2.7K but for 2.5K or 2K delivery its okay. I think for 4K to look good on the GoPro it'll need to go the higher resolution route where it pixel bins from a 6144x4096 pixel sensor.
 

kokako

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2011
179
3
I'm starting to become a go pro fanboy, my hero3 black blows me away, set it turn off after 5 mins and the battery lasts, I get an hour and a bit at 1080p 60fps, anyway try shooting on an iphone solid for an hour? you won't get this much battery.
The Hero3 Gold or Hero4 will be announced in October 2013 looking forwards to that, btw these things aren;t just for sport/extreme sport they can be used in every situation.
This is the market the iWatch will no doubt be getting into POV, the GoPro idea was born out of a wrist camera....the iWatch will have a camera too and a billion 3rd party companies lining up to make additional mounts for the iWatch.
 

mBox

macrumors 68020
Jun 26, 2002
2,356
83
WTF?
Seriously this is why I dont read the posts here all the time :p
Dumbest question ever.
Lets see now, a phone purchased outright costing almost two and half times a camera that can be submerged in all kinds of places.
Dumb dumb dumb dumb :p
 
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