hey guys looking at buying a go pro surf hero? has anyone got these and what do they rate them?
Also do they fit the kite cam rig sold here on seabreeze... if not how do you rig them up?
Can you use them as a normal camera too?
cheers guys
any input or photos from your cameras would be sweet!
stevo
And how is everyone getting around any condensation issues?
Does it happen when kite is mounted in canopy
Or only down near the water EG on board or head cam
Tends to happen a lot quicker when it's on the boards... But we use the go-pro anti fog inserts... They're little pads that slide down next to the camera and absorb all moisture...
Pretty cheap and custom made for the Go-Pro's... $22 for a pack of 10 I think...
G'day,
the camera is great and yeah it does take 'normal' single shots if you want!
Hey Rhys, have you had any word on the memory card incompatibility fix yet. Just wondering if anyone has heard yet, I've gotten generic replies from GoPro, "coming soon" but its has been a while now!!
cheers for now,
Robbie
Fair call Robbie, I know some guys had a few hiccups. I was all set to buy a 32gb but got an 8Gb, as someone advised an 8Gb will do the trick before the battery runs out. Maybe I was lucky, or maybe there were a few dodgy units first of the press? Certainly not had any customers bring it up.
Regards the Pentax W80, I've not used one, but I did put both the W60 and W30 through their paces as kite cams for a about three years, so I wouldn't have expected the camera to get worse with the W80 .. friends with the W80 have rated them as pretty good.
Videos are great for improving your riding skills and can be a good watch (when filming someone else!). The W60 video was always lower res (640x480), but I was pretty happy with it. The single frame pictures were great .. 5mp(?), and sharp/great colour.
The resolution & colours of the vision from the GoPro HD is stella. Amazing that such a quality image comes out of such a small unit, really is a technical marval... Full 1920x1080 video, or even 60fps at 720 (super slow mo).
so laurie what you are saying is that i should buy a hd gopro and a mounting kit for my two weeks in the cocos this september ?
Hey ta Milko and Laurie.
Yep Lumix vid is good, it'd be noice to get a perfect still shot of a deep slash accross the lip on a nice 10foot monster (lol in my dreams) to hang up tho. Some nice footage there BTW Milko.
Sorry to re-hash old ground folks but is the standard (not wide-angle) GoPro HD model much chop as a family go everywhere camera? I seem to remember yarns about superb vid but not so good stills and out of water stuff? Am i right in thinking the GP's are all fixed lenses - so no lense zoom at all? Er.. do they have a view screen either? Hard to tell from the pics/online stuff.
I need the point and shoot I buy to be useful for everyday fam stuff too.
EDIT: The deal breaker for the W80 is when using the proprietry Pentax IS sytsem the shot to shot time is apparently around 5secs!
WTF! My trusty ol' 2004 Canon does that - and sh!ts me bigtime - which is why I am finally trading up.
Carn' Loz - don't be shy - let's see some ofya pics.
I am following the thread with interest as I will probly buy a waterproof camera soooon, I don't own one but have briefly seen one
It is not a point and shot sort of camera
In order to take still you will set the timer for say 5 sec and then just hold the camera for a bit and take a couple of shots, not button to press.
No LCD screen to check the shot in either.
I don't even think it had a viewfinder?
I might be wrong but I think that's how they work
They are designed to be mounted somewhere and take video and stills unassisted once you set the parameters
Here's a photo from last weekend using a GoproHD in the kite. It's a video frame (halved in size to post). They're nice cameras, although it keeps blanking out for a few seconds every time I slash across the lip of a 10ft monster. For the fogging, I just keep mine in a small plastic ziplock bag with silica gel in it when I'm not using it to keep the inards dry. GoPro inserts sound ok though.
I made this rig from left over bits of foam to strap onto the centre strut. Has an FCS plug in it, angled slightly so that it points straight down in spite of the strut angle. You can also use it to strap the camera to your forearm.
During construction...
By the look of that patch of grass on the sand hill in the back ground that pic is at redhead 
ok i just bit the bullet and brought a go pro surf HD, with a spare board sticky thing so i can put it on a few boards..
So the unit doesnt come with a SD card... what is the best one to buy? should i go as high as a 32gig or is 8 enough? if i want to shoot a whole 3 hour session on it would be better to get a bigger one yeh?
Also Laurie are you definate that the camera fits in the kite cam rig in the go pro housing?...as i will buy one this week if so?
cheers guys
look forward to start using it!
where do i buy a wrist holder they have taken it off the go pro web site?
p.s what other cool holders have people made?
I don't remember where I was last week!
Here's a pic from the GoPro strapped to the forearm. Video frame again, but full size.
The wide angle has a few disadvantages (mainly you have to be very close to see anything, and it makes waves look tiny, and you get the sun in every other shot), but a lot of advantages too. It's normally hard to aim with the camera on your head or arm, and you get a lot of shake, but with nearly 180deg view you can't miss. Also you get a lot of light in the lens (like a magnifying glass) so you get deep depth of field and fast shutter speed (ie no blur)
Ok, here's my 2 cents worth..
The GoPro - HD versus SD - I actually preferred the SD for video because it allowed me to edit almost immediately while the HD has 30fps and 60fps frame rates and it makes it very difficult to play with. You need a fast PC, good Ram and possibly a very good editing program.
As far as photos are concerned, I like the 170W - see photos below. I used to have a normal SD Gopro but always had the wide angle. I upgraded because of the HD but while I don't ecatly regret it I wish I also had a normal angle. Shouldn't have sold mine.
Having a GoPro versus a Camera mounted on the kite.. I have an Option W60 and I am seriously happy with it. You will need to 'deshake' the movies just as per Camrig.com instructions. I bit the bullet and bought the Camrig 3 (soft case) and never looked back - bets money I ever spent. I'll leave you with a few photos from my March trip to Kailua, Oahu.
You be the judge on which camera is best for photography. For video I still prefer the GoPro HD.
GoPro, lines mount Version 2..
Optio W60, Camrig Kite mount
All my files were corrupt when I first used it until I did something weird which worked.
1. make a really small movie (10 seconds or less)
2. Open the small movie
3. Put the small movie in the same folder as one of the massive ones you make while doing sport (3gb+)
4. Now try the massive movie, it shouldn't be corrupt anymore
Hey sir V, where did you buy your line mount? or did you make it? if so how did you make it???
Not that clever 
There are several home made mounts and the best I've seen is from Robbo. But I bought mine - version one - from these guys:
www.hugedomains.com/domain_profile.cfm?d=kitehero&e=com
They now have version II, which I also bought from a mate that purchased 2. I like version II better because it has a lower profile and better attachments anyway.
Remember to use a makeshift safety leach to attach the camera in case it breaks when you stack 
hey sir V, did u get it sent over from the USA, from kitehero or is there somewhere in aust that stock them? i have sent a few emails off and no one seems to stock them in aust...
Hey sir V,
I have a few questions re: the line mounting. (some great pics there and interesting perspective).
Is it easier for a good resolution shot form a so-so camera compared to the extra distrance from a kite mount? (There are bargains on Pentax W80's at the mo, but they are not cutting edge and are actually suggested to be inferior to W60 predecessor)
Are those line mount shots above with your Pentax or the Go pro?
Are the lines shots with the wide version of Go pro and/or pentax set at 28mm? There is a bit of fish-eye going on but it's still ok. (Not to be confused with pink-eye - that is not good! )
How far in length from the bar is the camera sitting? It looks like +5m but is probably closer to 1-2m? (The extra wide fishy affect?)
Does the lines or buckle end up 'grabbing the attention' of the camera's auto focus a fair bit?
Is there any way to angle the mounting to be aiming a bit 'forward' of your normal wave riding posi, to see down the line a bit more?
Do you like pina coladas?
