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I remember going snowboarding with a go pro. We were so excited to see the footage. The guy in the Chalet even offered to put it on the big screen so everyone c

I remember going snowboarding with a go pro. We were so excited to see the footage. The guy in the Chalet even offered to put it on the big screen so everyone could see. What followed was about 30 minutes of embarrassing slow and inordinately dull snowboarding. The jumps that seemed high were barely off the ground. The speed that seemed potentially deadly was a snails pace. Recording yourself doing sport only makes sense if you are really good!

Godel_unicode 7y ago
Making appealing video requires thought, knowledge of lighting and how cameras work, and creativity. "Just strap on a camera and go" is definitely not the way to do it, people make amazing videos with mediocre skill in the thing they're doing. It's like any other complex tool, garbage in garbage out.
- Thriptic 7y ago
  I think it depends on what you are doing. If you are doing something intense enough, it works. Check out on the roofs, the guys who break into sky scraper construction sites and scale the buildings. Go Pros work perfectly for their use case: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U
  - woobar 7y ago
    I think a 5 minutes clip of a climb that obviously took several hours proves GP's point. No one would watch raw garbage captured by their GoPros, you need heavy editing and a catchy soundtrack.
    - jonplackett 7y ago
      If daft punk had been staying in the chalet with us and offered to put their next unreleased album up next to our snowboard footage, I still don’t think anyone would have stayed to watch it.
- matsemann 7y ago
  My best clip [0] is fastening the GoPro to a clothes hanger where I removed the middle pin, and added some cardboard on one side to make it not wobble. Then some fishing line and spinning it around my head while skiing. At 0:09 the shadow of the contraption can be seen. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXlwJYt0mg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXlwJYt0mg
  - teruakohatu 7y ago
    That shot is really good. Do you have a photo of the contraption?
    - matsemann 7y ago
      No, but some googling I found something looking very similar [1]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV1qTigUkR8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV1qTigUkR8
  - jonplackett 7y ago
    That is so cool! Looks like it was filmed on a bullet time rig. Well done!
InvaderFizz 7y ago
Or really bad! My GoPro videos are wipeout compilations, action packed and fun to watch.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
Reminds me of me learning surfing and taking videos. Finally got to surf a wave without falling, felt like a hero. Then I saw the video and realized the wave was at max 20cm :(
shred45 7y ago
I think the wide-angle lens contributes a lot to this effect. I found that tree skiing was the best way to get a sense of speed with these cameras. My problem with GoPro was that it became apparent that they relied on a yearly upgrade cycle. I'm willing to do that for an iPhone that I use daily, but not a camera that I use a few weekends a year. After they released a 1080p camera and the remote that let you operate the camera without constantly removing your helmet, I stopped upgrading. I occasionally watch their product launch videos but I just don't want to spend any more on this product space. I think the image stabilization has potential, but the 3D / 360' camera is a gimmick until there are better ways to consume and edit that content. Another big problem out on the slopes is that phone batteries drain quickly in the cold and operating phones with gloves on is still a chore. Any app-based improvements that GoPro has introduced feel like a non-starter to me in many of the environments that GoPro is useful.
- adrr 7y ago
  Toss a hand warmer in the pocket that you store your phone and extra GoPro batteries.
hugey010 7y ago
I bought a GoPro Hero something for a long remote hiking trip. The durability and self-steadying was just amazing. Using the app to take selfies or wide shots of scenery was shockingly flawless. Then, I started mounting it to my dirt bike helmet, just for video evidence if I were to wreck and die. What I didn't realize was just how painfully slow it feels to watch a video of me (barely an amateur rider) on a track. The silver lining being, watching that video has helped me improve quite a bit.
myself248 7y ago
Where was it mounted? On your helmet will tend to make everything seem far away and slow. Stick it on your ankle or on the board itself...

Godel_unicode 7y ago

Making appealing video requires thought, knowledge of lighting and how cameras work, and creativity. "Just strap on a camera and go" is definitely not the way to do it, people make amazing videos with mediocre skill in the thing they're doing. It's like any other complex tool, garbage in garbage out.

Thriptic 7y ago
I think it depends on what you are doing. If you are doing something intense enough, it works. Check out on the roofs, the guys who break into sky scraper construction sites and scale the buildings. Go Pros work perfectly for their use case: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U
- woobar 7y ago
  I think a 5 minutes clip of a climb that obviously took several hours proves GP's point. No one would watch raw garbage captured by their GoPros, you need heavy editing and a catchy soundtrack.
  - jonplackett 7y ago
    If daft punk had been staying in the chalet with us and offered to put their next unreleased album up next to our snowboard footage, I still don’t think anyone would have stayed to watch it.
matsemann 7y ago
My best clip [0] is fastening the GoPro to a clothes hanger where I removed the middle pin, and added some cardboard on one side to make it not wobble. Then some fishing line and spinning it around my head while skiing. At 0:09 the shadow of the contraption can be seen. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXlwJYt0mg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXlwJYt0mg
- teruakohatu 7y ago
  That shot is really good. Do you have a photo of the contraption?
  - matsemann 7y ago
    No, but some googling I found something looking very similar [1]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV1qTigUkR8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV1qTigUkR8
- jonplackett 7y ago
  That is so cool! Looks like it was filmed on a bullet time rig. Well done!

InvaderFizz 7y ago

Or really bad! My GoPro videos are wipeout compilations, action packed and fun to watch.

Ididntdothis 7y ago

Reminds me of me learning surfing and taking videos. Finally got to surf a wave without falling, felt like a hero. Then I saw the video and realized the wave was at max 20cm :(

shred45 7y ago

I think the wide-angle lens contributes a lot to this effect. I found that tree skiing was the best way to get a sense of speed with these cameras. My problem with GoPro was that it became apparent that they relied on a yearly upgrade cycle. I'm willing to do that for an iPhone that I use daily, but not a camera that I use a few weekends a year. After they released a 1080p camera and the remote that let you operate the camera without constantly removing your helmet, I stopped upgrading. I occasionally watch their product launch videos but I just don't want to spend any more on this product space. I think the image stabilization has potential, but the 3D / 360' camera is a gimmick until there are better ways to consume and edit that content. Another big problem out on the slopes is that phone batteries drain quickly in the cold and operating phones with gloves on is still a chore. Any app-based improvements that GoPro has introduced feel like a non-starter to me in many of the environments that GoPro is useful.

adrr 7y ago
Toss a hand warmer in the pocket that you store your phone and extra GoPro batteries.

hugey010 7y ago

I bought a GoPro Hero something for a long remote hiking trip. The durability and self-steadying was just amazing. Using the app to take selfies or wide shots of scenery was shockingly flawless. Then, I started mounting it to my dirt bike helmet, just for video evidence if I were to wreck and die. What I didn't realize was just how painfully slow it feels to watch a video of me (barely an amateur rider) on a track. The silver lining being, watching that video has helped me improve quite a bit.

myself248 7y ago

Where was it mounted? On your helmet will tend to make everything seem far away and slow. Stick it on your ankle or on the board itself...