GoPro camera or similar....

[Fab Foodie]

Friend of mine is looking for a GoPro or similar camera/video to record a rowing trip around the scottish isles. Mustn’t be too complicated nor super expensive. Obvs. Must be bery waterproof.
No nothing about these things, advice and reviews appreciated!
Cheers
FF

 

[captain nemo1701]

GoPro is good quality but I've personally never liked the look - like you've taped an SLR box camera onto your head etc. I used a Contour HD once & believe they now have a model that's fully waterproof. Ridiculously easy to use, even with cold fingers & bulky gloves - switch on, use slider switch to start/stop recording. However, mine broke due to the On switch which when depressed, pushed a bit of plastic into a small hole. Mine broke, so no way to turn it on.... However bullet cams look at bit more 'cool tech' to me.

 

[vickster]

Friend of mine is looking for a GoPro or similar camera/video to record a rowing trip around the scottish isles. Mustn’t be too complicated nor super expensive. Obvs. Must be bery waterproof.
No nothing about these things, advice and reviews appreciated!
Cheers
FF

I think you can get a waterproof case for the Go Pro...well you must be able to as they are used for diving and snorkelling to take pictures of all the pretty fishies

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

GoPro is good quality but I've personally never liked the look - like you've taped an SLR box camera onto your head etc. I used a Contour HD once & believe they now have a model that's fully waterproof. Ridiculously easy to use, even with cold fingers & bulky gloves - switch on, use slider switch to start/stop recording. However, mine broke due to the On switch which when depressed, pushed a bit of plastic into a small hole. Mine broke, so no way to turn it on.... However bullet cams look at bit more 'cool tech' to me.

I have a Chilli-Tech bullet cam - linky. I’ve had it about 8 months. Current bullet cam price is £33 and spare batteries are £6 each.

Pros:
- good picture 1080p
- not bad sound, but not great
- optional time stamp
- can adjust file length (I have mine set to create a new file every 3 minutes)
- you can swap the battery for a spare
- waterproof without need for external casing
- can set to record until memory full or loop

Cons
- you can’t tell if it’s still recording when on the bike (the blue flashing button that shows this is far to difficult to see in the daylight), hard to know when battery is flat
- swapping the battery loses time/date settings so don’t bother with time stamp for any ride longer than 1.5 hours
- can’t change recording resolution to extend memory

Other notes
- battery lasts about 1.5-2 hours depending on environmental factors
- supports up to 32gb microSD BUT you can use a card up to 128gb if you reformat it to a 32-bit file system (video on YouTube Chilli-Tech channel shows you how, but I’ve not done this yet as I’ve yet to buy a larger card)

There’s no screen, but you just line it up the right way up and pointing where you want it. Simple.

Last thing - my bullet cam came with a rubber strap to secure it to the bike. It snapped in January. I contacted their customer services and they sent me 3 new straps and their new mounting system (free of charge) which looks a lot better, but I haven’t tried yet (inaugural use this Sunday, hopefully). When you buy the camera is also comes with sticky velcro strips so you can fit it to your helmet, if you want. It doesn’t have the fitting to affix to a Go Pro mount.

Hope that helps.

 

[Beebo]

We bought a Chinese go pro knock off for my daughter. It’s fine for mucking about in the pool or sea.
they are waterproof because they sit in a Perspex box. So the waterproofing is as good as the rubber seals.
As mentioned above they are hard to work in bright sunlight.

 

[oldwheels]

Friend of mine is looking for a GoPro or similar camera/video to record a rowing trip around the scottish isles. Mustn’t be too complicated nor super expensive. Obvs. Must be bery waterproof.
No nothing about these things, advice and reviews appreciated!
Cheers
FF

Aldi have one currently which is supposed to be watertight and they say suitable for kayaking. Cost £49.95

 

[vickster]

I have a Chilli-Tech bullet cam - linky. I’ve had it about 8 months. Current bullet cam price is £33 and spare batteries are £6 each.

Pros:
- good picture 1080p
- not bad sound, but not great
- optional time stamp
- can adjust file length (I have mine set to create a new file every 3 minutes)
- you can swap the battery for a spare
- waterproof without need for external casing
- can set to record until memory full or loop

Cons
- you can’t tell if it’s still recording when on the bike (the blue flashing button that shows this is far to difficult to see in the daylight), hard to know when battery is flat
- swapping the battery loses time/date settings so don’t bother with time stamp for any ride longer than 1.5 hours
- can’t change recording resolution to extend memory


There’s no screen, but you just line it up the right way up and pointing where you want it. Simple.


Hope that helps.

How does that work when using during activity, different to just sticking on a bike?
The link suggests it's for cycling not an all purpose action cam a surgeon the OP

 

[Milkfloat]

I can recommend the Yi Action cam, I use it for Kayaking, one huge plus is voice activated recording. If the user wants to record a whole trip around the islands then battery life is going to be a problem.

 

[numbnuts]

SJ4000 very good and waterproof down to 10M, but make sure it is a genuine Sj4000 loads of copys out there

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

How does that work when using during activity, different to just sticking on a bike?
The link suggests it's for cycling not an all purpose action cam a surgeon the OP

I'm not a rower, but a camera is a camera. For rowing, you could use the elastic straps to attach it a part of the boat (to something a similar diameter to a bike handlebar). The new bike attachment I received attaches to the handlebars and may be adjusted laterally for direction which is a definite improvement over the basic strap. The velcro attachments could be stuck to any plastic/fibreglass surface and the camera mounted with that.

For the price, it's worth the OP at least having a look and their rower friend seeing if it's fit for their purpose. One plus point for it (as mentioned above) is that you can buy and use as many spare batteries as you may need for a day's rowing. Depending on how many views the OP's friend wants, it's cheap enough to buy multiple cameras as well as multiple batteries.

 

[vickster]

I'd think rowing you'd want it on your head or chest (neither of which would be static when rowing)? If it was on the boat and static, surely you'd just get video of the water and not the scenery (which is also presumably the aim?)

I got a go pro knock off from 7 day shop as recommended on here, came with loads of accessories for around £50. I was going to take it to Latin America for snorkelling but in the end I decided against as it was a ll a bit much to take on 3 week holiday for a day or two in the water!

 

[steveindenmark]

If you want it done right it needs to be a GoPro. The image stabilisation is far superior to anything else I have seen.

 

[Kryton521]

I have an older model Contour HD with a water proof case, used to do a bit of free diving and liked to record my near death adventures! But, it is apparently better with Apple/Mac whereas Go Pro isn't so fussy.
Only had imac and never used Go Pro so can't say for sure if it is true....

 

[Accy cyclist]

I'll stick post my question on this thread seeing as it's more or less about technology.
Can any of you recommend speakers for a phone? I've heard that you can buy small ones that plug into the ear plug socket. I've also heard they make 'bluetooth' wireless ones,but i just want a simple pair of easy to use speakers. Does such a thing exist?

 

[Nibor]

I'll stick post my question on this thread seeing as it's more or less about technology.
Can any of you recommend speakers for a phone? I've heard that you can buy small ones that plug into the ear plug socket. I've also heard they make 'bluetooth' wireless ones,but i just want a simple pair of easy to use speakers. Does such a thing exist?

Hi Accy any powered pc type speakers should plug into your phones headphone socket and should be really cheap. There are loads of Bluetooth ones out there too.