Opinions on the GoPro Hero5 Black?

[markc]

Been researching a possible purchase of the H5B, and there seem to be a fair number of issues being reported in various forums. Most notable thus far: overheating and loss of footage; and not holding up to the waterproof claims.

Anyone been using it for in-flight purposes, and if so, thumbs up or thumbs down?

Thanks for any insights!

[Ward Odenwald]

Have flown with a hero4 (black) attached to the keel.

What’s good -> It’s a remarkable learning tool for thermal flying, takeoffs and landings.

What needs improvement -> battery life and a better/more secure contact with an add-on battery. Rough-air will shake/separate its batterypack from the camera. After having many videos cut short, I now secure/reinforce the batterypack - camera connection with rubber bands.

Over heating is an issue but most likely not a problem for HGers given its exposure to the wind/air flow. Here’s a test for just how heat affects the recording time. Film indoors (ambient temp ~77F) with the camera placed on a bookshelf or table and time how long it films before shutting off using a bat backpack then repeat using the same conditions but place the camera/battery backpack on a freezer pack. I’ve repeated this experiment several times and the freezer pack consistently doubles the filming time.

Down loading the video into your computer can also be frustrating if you try doing it before recharging the camera battery.

Hope this helps,

Ward

[markc]

Yup, great cams, thinking of upgrading. But seeing a lot of neg comments for the H5B compared to the H4 Silver, hence my interest in opinions from those flying with the H5.

Agree that overheating prob not a concern, but some of the 'random shut down/freeze up' descriptions don't seem temp related. Curious if any pilots are having that sort of problem.

[John Simon]

Hey Mark,
Hope all is good, long time no fly. Just got back from Brazil and I bought a Sony X3000 action cam for that trip. I really like it, I got it over the GoPro5 because it has both optical and electronic image stabilization and a sensor with larger pixels (means better dynamic range and low light performance in video at the expense of lower resolution stills). There were a couple other reasons too, but I forget now .

Shoots 4k, has a phone app that works very well (remoter control and playback). I think it was priced very similar to the high end Gopro. One thing I didn't like was that is seems to have a bit more wind noise (Ollie Chitty flew with the Hero 5 and you can hear him in the air REALLY well). It has software wind noise reduction, but it can't hack HG... I didn't use the case though and Ollie did so that may be the difference.

Here is a link to a vid I took (FF 30 sec or so) in Brasilia. It was done at 1080p/60fps and in Medium wide mode vs full wide. I have some 4K stuff too, but it won't translate to most laptops and youtube conversions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arUxDUA6jIk

We need to fly soon!!! I am jonesing for some mountain miles!

Hasta,
Joh

[markc]

Thanks for the Sony suggestion John, points out that I should broaden the cams that I'm considering. Don't really have any displays that would put 4k through its paces, so the bigger issue is reliability : Does the cam glitch out at just the wrong moment?

Lost some awesome above-CB footage on an H3 once, still grinding my teeth on that one

[markc]

BTW, kudos to you for competing at that level! I would never be able handle gaggles like that, whoa!

[krryerson]

John,
Thanks for posting that video. The gaggles in this comp was really challenging, I see...
Great pictures too. I use the cheapest Go Pro camera, which works. Only $120. But,...
Watched you guys on line, live. It was fun following you live, and you did great.
Next time you are in our neighborhood, let us know. Maybe you could talk about your experience from Brazil, with CHGPA, Beer, pizza and World HG comp as topics.
Knut

[John Simon]

Hi Guys,
Mark, the Sony was bulletproof for 13 flying days in Brazil, pretty rough handling. It has over 40 hours and 13 of my "landings" under it's belt. Also a couple trips on the mountain bike. No issues at all, and GREAT battery life so far!

Knute, love to catch up... you said the magic word (beer).

John

[CraginS]

I have not seen one in person, but the promo for the new $800 Garmin VIRB 360 take it right to the level of
OMG! It can do that?
https://virb.garmin.com/en-US

And actually, the $400 VIRB Ultra with voice control, linked from that same page, looks pretty impressive too.