Gopro fun and games!

 

 I've had a Gopro for years, a hero 4 black.  Now to be fair they are great action cameras.  The video footage is sharp and clear and looks great even on a big tv (and I'm not even shooting in 4k)  They also take nice colourfull still shots, if you can live with a wide angle.

 But, yes theres a but.  My camera has to have a waterproof housing (the new ones are different)  The camera itself has NO mount, without the housing you have to hand hold it.  None of these thusands of clever brackets and straps can be attached, not even a tripod mount.

 All this means your using the camera in the housing.... And thats where the fun and games start!

You see the housing is designed to keep out water, sand and general crap, sadly it also keeps out a fair bit of sound.  Now I have a housing with an open back to help the sound, but as the microphone is on the top of the camera I doesnt make a massive difference.

 So I bought a frame, this is a bit like a strap that clips around the Gopro, ok it has bugger all protection but it's better than the housing from a sound point of view, or would be if it didnt cover the microphone.

 Gopro decided not to add a microphone plug socket, now there is an adaptor.  I've tried three different microphones on mine (the fourth mic is coming today, more on that later) and frankly... they dont work.  At least on my Gopro they dont work, the mics work fine on other cameras.

 I went out shooting video last week, loads of footage, me walking past the camera, so called B roll stuff, me talking to the camera, showing equiptment, all sorts of stuff, flattened the battery in fact.  Great!.... Well until I got home and played the footage back.  FFS!  half the footage has the sound ruined by wind noise.  Oh Bugger!

 Now to be fair I live in Wales and it's windy, especially up high where I was, but this was a waste of time.  To add insult to injury I'd shot a few short clips on a Canon DSLR camera at the same time, using just the built in microphone.  They were fine even in the same wind.

 So after a bit of looking on net I've ordered a new vloging camera, the Gopro will be retired for water jobs where sound isn't important.  I've ordered a Sony ZV1, a remote grip and a new microphone, I was tempted to get a new video light (as one of mine is still missing) but I wanted a really small one, and the only one I found had bugger all reviews, so no.

 Anyway the new camera and remote is coming later, the few other bits like batteries, a cage/grip and the mic will come this evening.  Hopefully this will make vldeos better, certainly having a zoom lens will help. 24-70mm 2.8  and a million options including blur the background and product showcase built in.  I'll post a pic later if it all turns up ok.

 Gopro, your great for swiming in the ocean, and falling off a cliff, and your smashing at skydiving, sadly for a video blog on a Welsh hilltop.  Ahhhh.... your crap!