It appears the GoPro will continue to record up to 2hrs when used with a 4gig SDHC card. I'm testing this further at the moment and if all is well I'll confirm the details. Obviously you will need to have quality batteries to achieve this like the Eveready rechargeable in 800 or 900mAh.

Cheers Rambo

It's works, but like i said hang 5 and i will confirm the details after a bit more testing. Officially, the GoPro is not supposed to write to a SDHC card as they are Fat32 and the Gopro writes as plain FAT or Fat 16, but so far it has written 3.66gig, all video.

R

Greattttttttt I can bore you all for longer now??
Robboooooo pfftttttt

rambooc1 said...

Still testing and probing

More testing and less probing, please Rambo.

So the ones that don't work after 3.8Gb - does that mean none of the footage is useable and you have ruined a whole session?

Ok, anyone who has a 4gig card that would like to do a bench test for extended video footage, please do so and post the card brand here and whether you were successful or not. You will need to use fresh batteries and the card needs to be cleared of any residual footage or data from other cameras (your point and shoot cam etc....). If need be, reformat the card to FAT32 in your PC which is it's proper format.

I've yet to find out why this is working beyond 2gig in one file size, as that is the accepted limit of the FAT format, but it is and that is great for those extended sessions beyond 54mins. However, for short sessions i would definitely go with the 2 gig card for reliability.

Not tried it yet with 8 or 16gig cards, don't see the point as the batteries run out before then, but you could always hack a 3volt Li-ion battery to fit inside the Gopro

Cheers Rambo

Futher.... i now have in my possession the 8 Gig firmware update patch file and just testing it now..... standby.

Also from my contact @GoPro

Let me know if you have any questions. If you need anything from us, feel free to email me directly. Also, new stuff will be coming later this year and it will blow minds!


Hope all is well!


xxxxxxxxx

Hehehe, i know what's coming and it wll move things into a whole new era of picture quality.

Cheers Rambo

DavidJohn said...

Tell them we need a Go Pro that can be switched from standard to wide angle view all in the one camera.. Can you see that being possible?

DJ

Not likely DJ, one of the things that has made GoPro so successful and versatile, is it's simplicity, fixed focus, full waterproofing and incredible mounts. Professional photographers just don't "get" this camera, they knock it for all the reasons that work in our favour. We don't need adjustments, just mount the bloody thing, push the button and record reasonable quality video.

What you can expect but this is not official, is an optional medium size wide angle model of about 90 -120 degrees (more suitable for Motorsports etc), HD @720p, improved exposure, longer record times and improved audio.

They have gone about as far as they can with the original little camera, and it has produced some really fantastic videos over the last few years. My feature video rambos-locker.blogspot.com/2008/05/another-day-in-paradise.html (was on the GoPro website front page for 3 mths and had over 100,000 plays) is still a bench mark for what can be done with this little cam, the quality still amazes me. When they sponsored me back in 2007 there was only a couple of us using them (you can see the early vids on my site) GP Cammar was the other sponsored guy mauisurfreport.blogspot.com using them for Windsurfing. Once the MotorSports people got hold of the cam it really took off sales wise and GoPro were caught by surprise and now it's gone back to Watersports being a big market for them.

If GoPro keep being innovative with their mounting systems and keep the camera affordable and basic to use, they will continue to be the most popular Sports Cam in the world.

BTW, I've never made a buck out of any of this but i do kick myself for not taking up the Aussie Distributorship when it was offered to me a couple of years ago. I just love the little cam and what you can do with it. It even crossed the Bass Strait with me in April.

Keep supporting them, they're good guys.

Cheers Rambo

Thanks for the info Rambo, is there a 4gig mini SD that will work in an adaptor? That way I can also use it in the Olympus waterproof.

One more benefit of the firmware upgrade is the Auto Exposure setting has been improved for bright conditions, this means you will have better detail in the darker parts of the footage and less blown out highlights. But the 4 gig continuous video file is the kicker

Cheers Rambo

Casso said...

rambooc1 said...

The firmware is easy to install just drag and drop from your desktop.

Sweet. Got a link for that? Drag and drop it to where?

It's almost ready for release.....won't be long.

You just drag and drop the file to the root directory of the card on your PC or card reader, put the card into the GoPro and press a couple of buttons in a sequence. The card will then load the new firmware and flash the LED when finished.

Cheers Rambo

byronmaui said...

Rambo pardon the stupidity but do you do that to every card?

Aloha

Byron

No only once, the card carries the software to flash the firmware in the GoPro, that software can then be deleted from the card.

Full instructions

To perform the upgrade to your GoPro WIDE (this will not work with our older 3mp HERO cameras):
- Download the attached file (Please note, you do not need to open this file)
- Put a blank SD card in your camera
- Connect your camera to your computer
- Drag the file onto the top level of the card (first window when you open the card)
- Once the file loads onto the card you can disconnect the camera as you would normally do.
- (If you have a card reader, you can use it to load the file instead of the above steps... up to you)

NEXT, with the camera powered off and the SD card with firmware file inserted, perform the following sequence:
USE NEW OR FULLY CHARGED RECOMMENDED BATTERIES (Lithium or NiMH)
Press the power button
Release the power button then quickly press it again while simultaneously pressing the shutter button (do not release these buttons yet)
Hold both the power and shutter button until the red light begins to quickly flash
Once the red light begins to quickly flash, you can release both buttons and the camera will continue to flash which signifies that the firmware is uploading (this will take 5-10 seconds)
Once it is finished loading its new firmware the camera will turn itself off

The camera will now have the new firmware version uploaded which will have the following benefits: improved Auto Exposure processing to help in the extreme bright lighting conditions of snow covered slopes, and you can now record up to 4GB in one file.


Cheers Rambo

2 hours of go pro video of old guys exhibiting their inner selves - spare me.

oliver said...

2 hours of go pro video of old guys exhibiting their inner selves - spare me.

Actually, going to Indo and will mount it on various craft with various riders-could be a little more interesting than your jaded supposition suggests.......

I mainly use the go pro in conjuction with headzone helmet to help the kids and myself out with foot position, paddling posture seeing how the board is actually performing on the water eg are the fins allowing the board to turn with their light weight, rails working the way they were expected to etc and for that it is a really great tool.

You have a point with the self expression comment, the sport is in its infant stage and people are still having fun (god I hope that lasts) and being reborn as grommets wanting to share thier experiences. I guess to some its quite boring, maybe even offensive! To others it allows them to see anyone can do it and I believe thats important!

To watch Nesha's face read casso's comments " great filthy cutback Dolphin" and see her face beam, it stoked her out for at least a week. That sort of encouragement is GOLD as Rich would put it!

Isnt the point of the forum self expression??????

Phill