I read a lot about that too.

I just bought a Gopro Black 3.
It's not very intuitive and at times can be quite buggy.

My 2 cents after owning it for a few hours
Pros :
- It's really really small
- The housing is really solid
- They do provide lots of accessories with it
- You can use your phone to control/preview

Cons :
- Controls are not intuitive. I had to skim through manuals and online websites just to get it connecting to my iphone. Not a simple plug and play
- No tripod mount accessory. Need to purchase extra, similar with mic jack too
- No tripod mount on the camera itself, so will need to use the housing
- Housing has no opening, you can't use any accessory and use the housing at the same time. This is bad.
- Battery life not really good, I tried USB charging it and using it at the same time. It doesn't work
- No exposure controls. I'm not talking about manual ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed controls... even auto exposure compensation toggle is not available.
- It's gets really really hot. Possible autoshutdown may occur

Currently I'll try hooking a eneloop mobile booster to the battery bacpac. Not sure if this will work, will find out soon.

This post has been edited by LegendLee: Jun 1 2013, 06:28 PM

I've read of issues like that too. Guess I'll stick with HERO2. But I'm looking for an upgrade. Any alternative brands?

are you using class 10 micro sd card? cuz before that the sales guy gimme a class 4 micro sd card and i didn't realize it so i barely could record anything more thn a few secs and it turn off itself. updated firmware also same. thn kopek the micro sd card and rage. in the end i get a 32gb micro sd card fixes all the recording problem but sometime while recording will hang and stop recording.

This post has been edited by DarkEmotion88: Jun 3 2013, 05:12 PM

wow, nice one!

i had this exact problem, i sent an email to GoPro's support and they requested that i send it to their distributor in Netherlands (coz i'm in Portugal, easier to send there than send all the way to US). received another one (refurbished, i guess) 10 days later. then i realized, i spent like 60euros on postage via FedEx, might as well buy the LCD bacpac, which allows me to see everything :/. but i bought one anyway lol.

btw you're a pilot too?

once i tested, it stop recording after 12 seconds was becos i selected the 4k resolution

maybe the the card writes the files too slow ? this happens even with DSLR. i normally record with 1080p or 720p only

i've never had it get really hot and autoshutdown, but i have to agree that the battery really sucks.. but its really weird lol, sometimes the battery can last for 2h30min flights but sometimes 1h30min the battery die already . for the exposure control, i use the GoPro Cineform software (its free on their site) to adjust the aperture and contrast. you can buy one of those YooBao powerbanks, i'm currently using one bought in Garage Sales for my GoPro + iPad + Galaxy S4, 13000mAh lol.

On my own Hero2, the battery was really decent; able to last up to a whole day of on-off recording (although it did get very hot). A friend's unit I borrowed however, had crap battery life. I charged it before a 14-hour flight, and when I landed, it had completely drained. Without use.

On my Hero3, battery life is appaling as well. I tried recording some runs last weekend and of the three 15-min vids I recorded, only the first and last turned up in my SD card. The second vid was cut off halfway. I'm recording on 1080p running on a Class10 SD card btw.

Oh, converting the files from CineForm is a pain too.

This post has been edited by r3kahsttub: Jun 5 2013, 09:39 AM

not to sure about the card
but when u choose 4k, its written next to it 12 dunno what

It gets really really warm when you plug in power and shoot at the same time.

I also found out you can't plug in power to shoot and charge the battery at the same time.

How does the software works ? Can I change the exposure control right before taking a shot ?
I really hope that is the case....
Imagine if you need to connect a DSLR to a PC to change it's shutter speed... pretty inconvenient

As for powerbank, thanks for the recommendation but I have a personal preference over Eneloops.
They retain their charge pretty well even if I don't use them for a month or after years of usage.

We have 3rd party Gopro Hero 3 Frame mount selling at RM119 per unit. Very affordable price.

Call Danny at 010 2066609.




Rechargeable Battery for GoPro Hero 3 - RM69.90
GoPro Hero 3 External Charger- RM59.90

its like photoshop, just editing the exposure. i'm not 100% sure if there's a way to control the exposure like a normal DSLR but i don't think so. its with 0EV like most phone cameras lol. i'll try and see if its possible to control the exposure, then i'll let you know

this happens to me too, a lot! i found that the camera records in parts (which is fine of course, i can just join all the parts together) but sometimes the middle parts are gone! if the ending parts are gone ok, can understand maybe battery/space habis but in the middle . i really love using my Hero 3 but sometimes the cons are very ... and yeah i agree, converting from Cineform is really annoying. it takes super long to convert and to export.

CineForm basically decompresses the recorded vid; a simple 2Gb file can easily turn out to be 16Gb(!). To me, this sucks. With the Hero2, it was always just a matter of transferring the file to PC, then edit.

Now, I have to decompress, convert to .avi, then only can I begin to edit. Btw; prior to export, are you able to tweak the vid? I can't seem to do that. Unsure if it is a PC limitation, or if I'm doing something wrong.

Another gripe I have: recording in-car; if I want to record by mounting the camera on driver side window, I can't seem to get a good angle. Not sure if its in my head or not, but I seem to remember getting it slightly better with my Hero2...

you mean like recording your steering and car direction?

anyway this is how i did it..

Regarding charging and recording at the same time, the trick is you need a USB cable without the data wires inside, only the +-. For example like powerbank and some cheap usb cables. Mine could even record without the battery in it, solely powered by a step down regulator. hehe


Yah some Hero3 users even switched back to Hero2.


I'm using the Sandisk 16GB Class 10, what UHC1. I think it's more like the problem of Gopro firmware not able to handle files in the card, regardless how many video files in it, still buggy one.

Yea i also contacted Gopro support, they asked me to send it to US. Coincidently then my screen not working so i sent it back to local retailer. n days ago they said they would replace a new one, which i would believe it's a refurbished unit la. US comp always like this.

Yeap pilot. but Drone pilot. haha

New video. with my Superman Tricopter. ;D

Click play for more info. hehe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PyiucTvImk



This post has been edited by edwardc: Jun 7 2013, 09:08 PM

oh drone pilot as in those 4 "propeller"-ish things like helicopters? it looks fun haha, but later wind blow away then GG . yeah they're normally refurbished, but that's fine with me honestly, as long as the condition is really good + it works then I'm ok with it. when the drone took off, what are you wearing over your eyes? is it some goggles which are connected to a camera on the drone?

oh drone pilot as in those 4 "propeller"-ish things like helicopters? it looks fun haha, but later wind blow away then GG . yeah they're normally refurbished, but that's fine with me honestly, as long as the condition is really good + it works then I'm ok with it. when the drone took off, what are you wearing over your eyes? is it some goggles which are connected to a camera on the drone?