Gopro 2 for still images

Buffman

Buffman

Buffman

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Is it easy to take photos (stills) with a gopro 2?

Im guessing the quality will be better than most smartphones and the small cheap camera I've got? (11mp stills on this versus a 10mp camera... I know mp aren't everything)

I'll also be using it irregularly for whitewater kayaking and snowboarding (a snowboard holiday next year hopefully)

All in I can get one for 100 quid off a friend I'm basically just wanting you guys to justify the purchase to you :p.

Anything else I should know about the gopro 2?
 
Yep, easy to take still and video. I have a fake go pro (hitachi hdsv01u) and with the housing i could operate it with mitten on when skiing. It was only £60 and does 720p at 60fps, pics are also pretty good.

I imagine the go pro 2 is worth the extra £40 - as long as it has the official mounts and housing
 
It'll be very wide angle so not very convenient, I certainly wouldn't use it as a main stills nor expect much more than a good smartphone in terms of quality.
 
I second what Ksanti says.

Although the quality of video and stills continues to get better with each generation of Hero, it's no substitute for a traditional camera. Take Snowboarding for example, if I want to take a decent photo, I'll whip out my smartphone.

The problem with the GoPro is that they work best in really good light, so when you are working with anything less than that, the quality suffers. Then there is the fact that the super wide angle creates huge distortion. It's good at what it is designed for, which is showing a wide POV of your view, or enough to fit you in 'selfie' style, doing whatever you are doing. It's use as a more traditional camera or video camera is compromised because of the area it does exceed at.
 
Hmm thanks for the opinions guys! For what it's worth camera wise I tend to use my phone or borrow family cameras (cheap fixed lens or very small cheap digital camera, unfortunately no fancy Dslr) so as long as ease of use with taking pictures is OK then I think for 100quid I'm getting a good deal.

Any more comments on use? I'm going to have a play with it tomorrow

(obviously the main issue is you can't look back through your photos as it doesn't have a screen on it)

Has anyone tried using an Sd card over 32 gig on it? Think I'll use the micro Sd cards in my phone /tablet with an adapter... (main draw of gopro 3 is that it has micro Sd rather than Sd..)
 
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DampCat said:
Does the GoPro 2 not offer Narrow FOV like the GoPro 3?
Click to expand...

The Hero 2 does offer narrow options, but you have to understand what that is. It's basically cropping the image to achieve that, nothing is happening with the lens itself. I personally found narrow fov to be pointless, so have always kept to the default.


The Craig said:
Hmm thanks for the opinions guys! For what it's worth camera wise I tend to use my phone or borrow family cameras (cheap fixed lens or very small cheap digital camera, unfortunately no fancy Dslr) so as long as ease of use with taking pictures is OK then I think for 100quid I'm getting a good deal.

Any more comments on use? I'm going to have a play with it tomorrow

(obviously the main issue is you can't look back through your photos as it doesn't have a screen on it)

Has anyone tried using an Sd card over 32 gig on it? Think I'll use the micro Sd cards in my phone /tablet with an adapter... (main draw of gopro 3 is that it has micro Sd rather than Sd..)
Click to expand...

If spending £100 on a camera you are going to use just when snowboarding or rafting is no big issue for you, then yes, its a good buy, as they are great for that purpose. Video is where it excels, but you can set it to basically just take photos periodically.

One thing worth baring in mind though is that you will want more things to go with it. Spare batteries are pretty much a required purchase. Then you may also want different mounting options depending on your usage. For example, the chest mount is good for rafting, as it will show better what you are doing than a floaty head mount.

Has all the information about supported card sizes:
http://gopro.com/support/articles/software-update-release
 
I just bought a Hero 3+ Black, but I'll echo what everyone else is saying: it's much better for video (which is what I use it for) than it is for stills. Even though I have the 'best' GoPro, the still images still leave a bit to be desired IMO - it's just too smeary, kinda on a par (or even a bit worse) than the JPEGs from my old 10MP Canon G7 point and shoot. However, the ultrawide lens is pretty fun and I can actually see myself using it for stills in really bad weather - none of my cameras are as rugged or can be used in such a wide range of situations as my GoPro. Here's a snap from today, Photoshop does a nice job of correcting the fisheye effect:

1NRlL8T.jpg
 
Thanks for the help guys got today! It's got 2 batteries already also and everything I need bar some curved helmet mounts. Also thanks I was wondering how it managed to change from a wide view...

As for photography I won't use it frequently mainly for playing about!

Also its kayaking I do not rafting! :p (need to buy some curved helmet mounts to get it on helmet, if you use chest strap it's a terrible POV)

Will be using it tomorrow hopefully in a snowboarding dome (inside fake snow). Will maybe get a few stills up from the video (unfortunately I won't be doing anything impressive!)
 
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