WA
88 posts
Help needed. I am looking at buying a sports camera for some videos while surfing. I have seen a new camera called Intova Sport HD but havent heard much about them other than what the guy at the shop told me and not sure if he is bias as he is selling them. Can anybody tell me about the Intova or any info on the GoPro Hero3 black edition or the Contour +2. Any advice would be welcome about the better one to pick... Thanks
NSW
1731 posts
If you'll be using it in the surf I wouldn't consider anything but a GoPro, it has the best waterproof housing and has the largest variety of mounts which means more angles and different shots. Some people prefer the contour for riding etc as it has a lower frontal profile but honestly I don't think anything can match the Hero3 at the moment for video quality and variety of use.
WA
2599 posts
^^^ +1
I've got the original gopro and it's excellent. If you've got the coin for the Black edition, you've no doubt got coin enough to throw one my way, too. Cheers.
QLD
120 posts
About 8 years ago i bought a cheapish waterproof Intova camera, and the quality was pretty low. Was cheap at the time for megapixels it had. Shame on me, but i bought another Intova on the advice from a diveshop. It was supposed to be good quailty, blah, blah, blah, and at 5 or 6 megapixels, it was also quite ****e. The images were quite grainy even in high resolution. It was better than my first Intova, yet not that flash. A $50 Fuji or Kodak camera had better images.
I've got a gopro3 now and it's awesome in so many ways from the quality of the pictures to the versatily of the mounts and accesories. If you got a gopro you won't regret it. You might spend a bit on extra on mounts with a gopro but considering the angles you can shoot from is worth it.
The only thing I didn't like about the gopro is the fisheye effect with the still pics.
Intova cameras: 1 star
Gopro hero3: 5 stars
NSW
41 posts
Pass on the GPH3Black edition and get Silver if you get GoPro.
Black burns through the batteries (under 50min) and is overkill with features you'll never make use of.
I don't rate GoPro as a usable camera but as a surfboard cam it works ok. Personally I use Drift HD Ghost for surfing. Since it's water and shock proof and is the most versatile of all POVcams - mostly because it doesn't need a housing.
Sony is great for surfing but be aware the housing tends to fog because the camera runs hotter than any other so you will need antifog strips.
Contour+2 also requires a case so anti fog strips again are required.
Replay XD will soon have a divecase, of all HD POV cams this is the best bang-for-buck, smallest and lightest has no fish eye effect or video wave. The price puts many off ReplayXD (starts at $179) but the quality and performance is broadcast rated.
VIC
1121 posts
If you want a camera for pictures first and foremost, but want to be able to take some video as well, then look at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT4 (also known as TS4). Its water proof, shock proof etc...I have used it windsurfing (mounted on the mast) and it does a good job. Panasonic have recently released the TS5 which is the new model, they can be had for around $400 and record at 1080p/50 fps which is damn good. Wont be as good as go pro for video, but really not too bad, and its an excellent still's camera. The new model can also be remote controlled with wifi.
NSW
1089 posts
i own a go pro n just bought an olympus tough TG-2 with the fish eye lens n the another tele converter lens. go pro has very limited uses they are good but u have to be so ****in close alll the time otherwise u look tiny
VIC
1121 posts
Yeah I would get the Olympus TG-2 as my second choice, but these are the disadvantages:
only 30fps/1080p
no wifi
slightly bigger and heavier
5 shots/sec burst vs 10 shots/sec
less shots and video record time on a battery charge vs pana
NSW
41 posts
I've always liked Lumix, Panasonic make dam fine image sensors.
Have owned a few Olympus tough cameras - they were alright.
The downside of P&S was always lower fps for video.
TS5 doing 1080@50fps could be a game changer. I would probably recommend that over GoPro but need to do some research.
I must point out that with GPH3black you can digitally zoom in on 2k, 1080 & 720 (post production) before losing quality thats noticeable. You might be small in the captured footage but with this ability it can counteract that.
2K is just cropped 4K, 1080 is a further crop and so on. Because the camera isn't using it's resources on the extra resolution it can devote it to capturing more frames per second.
None of that is a good reason to buy GoPro though.
