I want to take really good video on my trip this year. Point-and-shoot-camera video is okay abut the resolution and vid quality is barely acceptable. And while regular video cams take great video, they are not water resistant, so one mishap or surprise rain shower and...

So my question is: Are there other water-resistant cams out there like the Go Pro 5 that take just as good or better video with comparable properties?

I've done some research but would really like some testimonials and opinions. The Go Pro is expensive once you buy all the peripheral additions but do you think it is ultimately the best for the money? I know there are pros and cons to all of them and purchasing depends on the main things you want in a video camera. So, what do you take and what works the best for you?

Thanks

Terry

The Sony FDRX3000 is splash resistant and waterproof with the included case. Way ahead of GoPro in terms of stability, which is the biggest factor that will make your videos stand out from the rest. Optical stabilization in 4k trumps all in my opinion...worth the bit of extra bulk the case adds. Also the fish eye lens effect is less with a higher bit rate.

Great help. That was another thing. I want to get away from as much of the fish-eye as possible. The stability factor is another plus. Water resistant in light rain is great and I don't mind using the case for water-proof applications.

Thanks for your help and testimonial. (You're not a Sony employee are you?) LOL.

Terry

By and older GoPro off Craigslist for penny's on the dollar. This is one of those things that lots of people buy, but very few people use.

I have three GoPros and getting a few more this summer. The new GoPro 5 hero has image stabilization built in to the camera. If that's not enough they make a Karma grip that is basically a camera Trimble.

As far as fisheye you can remove that in post processing if you want.
The GoPro was invented for surfer dudes and ski bums who want to film themselves in action. They needed a wide angle or fish eye to achieve this.

I just got a GoPro Hero Session camera for 3 week trip to the mediterranean. I took over 200 short videos with it and 1500 pictures on my Nikon DSLR camera. I made a video of each port of call I went to. If you want I will send you an example of the video and pictures I took with my GoPro Session camera of birds in my back yard with the Session. Just send me an email and I will send you an example of what it looks like.

The GoPro Session camera is on sale right now for $150.00. The GoPro hero 5 Session camera is $299.00. The GoPro hero 5 camera is now $399.00. Both the Session 5 and the hero 5 have image stabilization. All of the Session and Hero 5 GoPro cameras are water proof to 33 feet without a housing. The Session camera is 1 inch square in size. That's crazy small. It shoots 1080 60 frames a second for 2 1/4 hours on one battery. I shot with 32 gig cards because this is the size of the battery capacity. A 32 gig card will give you about 2 1/2 hours of video.

This summer I'm taking one fishing trip to Canada, one canoe trip to the BWCA and one Backbacking trip to the BWCA. I will be filming these with my GoPro Session camera. I will be shooting shots from boat mounts, canoe mounts, backpack strap mounts, landing nets underwater so I can see the fish going into the net, fishing rod shots, mounts on the bottom of the canoe with a magenta filter to add some blue, and I'm kicking around a Kite mount to get a view high in the sky of the area. Then I will also be taking a few 1000 pictures with my cameras. I then add the video from the GoPro with the pictures from the Nikon into a program from GoPro called Splice. It is a free video editing app that you can get. When I have my pictures and Video the way I want them I add a sound track to it. It sounds like it's very hard to do, but it's very easy. You can download the video, pictures and music and make and edit a video, and post it to Facebook-YouTube or an email on your cell phone, tablet or laptop. Any of the GoPros can be controlled by the smart remote, tablet app/cell phone app so you can see the video as you shot. Again very user friendly and easy.

Gee whiz SV I want to hang out with you.........sounds pretty nifty what you are able to do. I took several videos on my PCT trip and was not particularly pleased.

I suppose I will drag it along again this summer but it will likely be just something to do.

I was about to pull the trigger on the GoPro 5 hero until I began researching the Sony and reading the reviews and comparisons. They both have pros and cons. I'm not confused by all of the data and features but I have to decide what I want the most and see which camera fits that bill.

From what I've seen, both are good cameras and take great video. I think the Sony edges out the GoPro in video color and stabilization, but the GoPro is water proof without the case to 35 feet, has a touch screen for viewing and has a better battery life.

Most of the other features seem to be really competitive and the accessories are mostly interchangeable.

I appreciate all of the feedback. SV, I would like to see some of your video projects from GoPro. I'll also be looking for the best video editing software. What I use is just average. I'll e-mail you.

Thanks

Terry

Email sent.
I'm just getting into this after a few years away. I'm just a beginner at this with about 20 videos about 10 min long. I'm a rookie filming at 1080 60 frames a second. The newer cameras are light years better with 4K 30 frames, 12 MP camera, video stabilization, auto uploads to the cloud, voice control. Just make sure before you pull the trigger that you are reading a up to date review. What ever unit you choose, I'm sure will give you quality video. Just have fun with it.

check out the sj4000. very similar...alot cheaper.

I just picked up a GoPro Hero 5 Black this past weekend. Purchased the Floaty and Jaw clamp for it so I can just connect it to the bow of the canoe. I'll be taking a bunch of short videos and pictures with it come June 5th. I took it on a short canoe trip down a local river and it worked well. Easy to start and stop recording and GoPro has a very user friendly editing software you can get from their website. After using it once I'm happy with the purchase. My only con is the battery. I've never owned a camera, or anything that records video besides a phone, and it seems like I went through that battery very fast. I'm going to pick up a second battery before my trip in June and bring an external power brick to recharge them.

Josh

I have an older Gopro Hero 4 and now have the Gopro Hero 5. The 5 is the way to go. I use the 5 mostly mounted to the handle bars of my mountain bike. The video quality is outstanding. Last weekend I staged it under the water at a creek crossing. The videos of us riding through the creek were great.

What I like about having the Gopro products is that accessories are available every where. I bought a 50+ piece knock off accessory kit from amazon. I think is was only $20. I was in Bentonville, AR mountain biking and wanted extra batteries. Walmart had them. You will need parts or mounting options from time to time.

REI is offering a $60 gift card with purchase of Gopro 5.

Good Luck

quote Hub: "By and older GoPro off Craigslist for penny's on the dollar. This is one of those things that lots of people buy, but very few people use."

+1 to this. I have two of the GoPro hero 2s that are now about 6 years old and they perform flawlessly. Waterproof, durable, and they record in 1080p at 120 frames/second.

Below is a video that I shot in the BWCA 4 years ago. You can even see at the end of the video, the camera fell off my head when I dove into the lake... Went down to about 10 ft and we were able to successfully retrieve it about 15 minutes later. Definitely some interesting footage!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oObA7MewTY8

quote jwb747: I was in Bentonville, AR mountain biking and wanted extra batteries.
Good Luck"

Man, you were in my neck of the woods. I live next to Bentonville in a town called Springdale. You got to experience a perfect weekend here. We were out hiking.

Terry

Be aware that any stabilization from a gopro is digital, not optically based like the Sony. There is a huge difference. You can also buy the lcd watch screen with the Sony if you would like to frame your shots. I find this a much more useful implementation of a screen for an action cam, as usually you have it mounted in a position where you can't see the back of the camera screen, like on GP5, anyway.

I really appreciate all of your help. You've given me several things to think about before I make my decision. This is exactly what I needed and why I posted my question here. Thanks.

terry

I am using a GoPro copy made by Akaso. and have been really pleased with it so far. Shoots 12 MP stills, and up to 4k video. Video quality is very nice at 1080p. I have not used it in 4k mode yet. There is a moderate amount of fisheye, but I find it more distracting on stills than on anything I have done on video so far.

I'm not too heavy into taking videos, but for the occasional photo/video in wet conditions I got an optrix case for my iPhone that works well.
Have taken underwater videos of the kids without problem, and shots while paddling the canoe and SUPing.. then you also have the iPhone map/gps functionality with you. For $30 I think it fit my needs nicely.

I have and like the YI 4K camera. Less expensive all the way around including batteries and accessories.

This website provides action cam reviews and may be helpful:
http://elproducente.com/

I suggest the sony over the gopro, the fdr 3000 not only has a better lens, it has optical image stabilization in addition to digital, it will look much better than the go pro 5.

Battery duration will not be an issue, you will chew through them with either action cam, I think we took altogether like 10 bateries, and we charged 4 or 6 every night and just rotated them throughout the day, same thing with the memory cards

If you really want some of those professional shots, you will need a gimbal, and sometimes 60fps @ 1080p can be good for those slow mo shots you see everywhere.

Quetico, 2016
** two more videos at the end

This is a video we made last year with (mostly) the sony 1000, which is the predecessor to the 3000, compared to other videos we have seen online of trips to bwca and quetico, we think the quality of the end result was very high. (we had some additional shots with an av200 (the small brother, also a sony action cam), and the time-lapse shots were done with a DSLR and stitched together in post.

This year we are planning a trip about the same length, but we now have the fdr-3000 and since the codec allows up to 100mbps, we will need about 1TB of u3 memory cards, which is something to consider, you can always drop down to the older codecs used by the 1000 and the go pro and record at 60mbps. this may not apply to you, but in our case we got video of everything, all lakes, portages, and some campsite shots so its several hours of footage.

to be honest, what really makes a video is stand out is the editing, if you notice most shots are a couple of seconds long, which you could even do with a cellphone

Handheld video I made of Halloween last year with the fdr-x3000

Another video with the fdr-x3000, this time with a gimball and the color effect was added in premier

quote Hub: "By and older GoPro off Craigslist for penny's on the dollar. This is one of those things that lots of people buy, but very few people use."

That's what we did and got a crazy good deal.

quote 24kGold: "

quote jwb747: I was in Bentonville, AR mountain biking and wanted extra batteries.
Good Luck"

Man, you were in my neck of the woods. I live next to Bentonville in a town called Springdale. You got to experience a perfect weekend here. We were out hiking.


Terry"

Terry, what a great area. This was our first visit to AR and we were so impressed with NW AR, that we've decided to make it an annual spring trip. We know the biking is great, but how's the Buffalo River?

John

quote jwb747: "

quote 24kGold: "

quote jwb747: I was in Bentonville, AR mountain biking and wanted extra batteries.
Good Luck"

Man, you were in my neck of the woods. I live next to Bentonville in a town called Springdale. You got to experience a perfect weekend here. We were out hiking.



Terry"

Terry, what a great area. This was our first visit to AR and we were so impressed with NW AR, that we've decided to make it an annual spring trip. We know the biking is great, but how's the Buffalo River?


John"

Hey John,

One of the many treasures in Arkansas is the Buffalo River. The crystal-clear water is bordered by towering bluffs as it winds through the Ozark mountains. It flows past historic ghost towns and after a journey of 149 miles empties into some of the best trout waters in the country. I spend as much time as I can paddling, camping and fishing on the Buffalo. It inspires photographers, artists and authors and since it is a national park, is protected in many ways. Wildlife is abundant which includes bald eagles, turkey, bear and a large population of elk. It's one of the nation's best-kept secrets containing great campsites and many hiking trails. The upper end of the Buffalo boasts whitewater rapids with paddling challenges depending on the water height. It is incredibly scenic and popular with day paddlers. The middle section slows down for a more casual scenic float. Small mouth bass fishing is great and camping on gravel bars across from majestic bluffs is a must. The last 25 miles of the river is a protected wilderness area. There are no take-outs on that section so you are committed until the Buffalo flows into the White River.

I know that sounded like a promotional article in a magazine but that's how I view the Buffalo National River. I live only 2 hours away so it is easily within reach of my canoe on a regular basis. People in the area love the Buffalo like so many of us love the BWCA and Quetico. The next time you come here, give me a heads-up. I'll be glad to help you schedule a paddle with a canoe vendor and give you any information you may need to help you have a great experience.

Terry

quote ogarza: "I suggest the sony over the gopro, the fdr 3000 not only has a better lens, it has optical image stabilization in addition to digital, it will look much better than the go pro 5.

Battery duration will not be an issue, you will chew through them with either action cam, I think we took altogether like 10 bateries, and we charged 4 or 6 every night and just rotated them throughout the day, same thing with the memory cards

If you really want some of those professional shots, you will need a gimbal, and sometimes 60fps @ 1080p can be good for those slow mo shots you see everywhere.

"

Great videos. I can also tell you put a lot of thought into some of your shots. Did you use the external monitor with the camera or did you use your phone? I'm on the fence about which to use.

I think I'm sold on the Sony. I know one camera doesn't fit all occasions but I do think my desired features are exactly what the Sony has for my next Quetico trip. Thanks to everyone for your input and time on my question. I will post my trip video later this year.

Terry

quote jwb747: "

quote 24kGold: "

quote jwb747: I was in Bentonville, AR mountain biking and wanted extra batteries.
Good Luck"

Man, you were in my neck of the woods. I live next to Bentonville in a town called Springdale. You got to experience a perfect weekend here. We were out hiking.



Terry"

Terry, what a great area. This was our first visit to AR and we were so impressed with NW AR, that we've decided to make it an annual spring trip. We know the biking is great, but how's the Buffalo River?


John"

Here is a video I did of our trip on the Buffalo River last year, we back packed up stream then floated back down. This footage was taken before I had my Sony x3000. I believe I used a Go PRO 4 and an RX100iv.



Buffalo River

quote Diego: "

quote jwb747: "

quote 24kGold: "

quote jwb747: I was in Bentonville, AR mountain biking and wanted extra batteries.
Good Luck"

Man, you were in my neck of the woods. I live next to Bentonville in a town called Springdale. You got to experience a perfect weekend here. We were out hiking.



Terry"

Terry, what a great area. This was our first visit to AR and we were so impressed with NW AR, that we've decided to make it an annual spring trip. We know the biking is great, but how's the Buffalo River?



John"

Here is a video I did of our trip on the Buffalo River last year, we back packed up stream then floated back down. This footage was taken before I had my Sony x3000. I believe I used a Go PRO 4 and an RX100iv.



Buffalo River "

Great video footage and editing. Thanks for posting it. I float that area and love it. I never thought about hiking up river and floating back down. What a great idea.

Terry

Okay, I pulled the trigger last night on the Sony FDRX3000R. I also purchased 4 extra batteries. I've never bought anything like this before so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it lives up to the reviews and videos I've watched.

I do have one other question for those of you who shoot a lot of video.

Is there a difference in micro SD memory cards when it comes to shooting quality video and if so, which cards should I buy? Preferences?

Terry

Hi Terry,

I would spring for the ~100mbps microsd cards, if you want to take advantage of the xvacs format, if you want to save money you can record at 60mbps and get cheaper ones.

I use samsung pro+ in the 128gb variants and the evo in 256gb, both are capable of 100mbps of xvacs, even if it says ~90/95 in the spec sheet. Or you can shop around for a different card that is class 10 u3 compatible.


For batteries, consider that they last around an hour shooting video, so depending on how much you intend to shoot see if you need more batteries or not.

Also, at 100mbps, a 128gb card holds ~ 2 hours and 40 min of footage. or 4 hours and 40 minutes at 60mbps.

As for an external monitor, we did not have one, the lens on the action cams is usually pretty wide, so we just eyeballed it, we turned off all extra functions of the camera: GPS, Wi-Fi, etc to save a few minutes of battery life.

quote ogarza: "Hi Terry,


I would spring for the ~100mbps microsd cards, if you want to take advantage of the xvacs format, if you want to save money you can record at 60mbps and get cheaper ones.


I use samsung pro+ in the 128gb variants and the evo in 256gb, both are capable of 100mbps of xvacs, even if it says ~90/95 in the spec sheet. Or you can shop around for a different card that is class 10 u3 compatible.



For batteries, consider that they last around an hour shooting video, so depending on how much you intend to shoot see if you need more batteries or not.


Also, at 100mbps, a 128gb card holds ~ 2 hours and 40 min of footage. or 4 hours and 40 minutes at 60mbps.


As for an external monitor, we did not have one, the lens on the action cams is usually pretty wide, so we just eyeballed it, we turned off all extra functions of the camera: GPS, Wi-Fi, etc to save a few minutes of battery life.
"

Awesome. Thanks, that's what I needed to know. I know that some cards are better for shooting high resolution video and since I'm new to this I thought I better ask. Why limit the video quality of a great camera with an average memory card. Thanks again!

Terry

I would spring for the ~100mbps microsd cards, if you want to take advantage of the xvacs format, if you want to save money you can record at 60mbps and get cheaper ones.


I use samsung pro+ in the 128gb variants and the evo in 256gb, both are capable of 100mbps of xvacs, even if it says ~90/95 in the spec sheet. Or you can shop around for a different card that is class 10 u3 compatible.
"

Woah!!! Dang, they ain't cheap. LOL.

Terry

another option is to use a smaller fast cards, and at night using your cellphone pass it to a bigger, slower, cheaper memory card.

It's just more stuff you have to carry and more battery juice you will use.

Best thing about the GoPro 5 (probably can do this with any camera) is instead of trying to get great pictures of fish just take some film with it. You can then use the software to grab unbelievably good stills from the footage. Instead of having a fish out of the water for a minute trying to get a good shot, just take 15 seconds of footage holding in a couple different positions and you will have everything you need for a great pic. Quality is amazing. Far better than any point and shoot pic, plus you have the benefit of getting amazing videos out of it as well.

quote NorthwoodsHeaven: "Best thing about the GoPro 5 (probably can do this with any camera) is instead of trying to get great pictures of fish just take some film with it. You can then use the software to grab unbelievably good stills from the footage. Instead of having a fish out of the water for a minute trying to get a good shot, just take 15 seconds of footage holding in a couple different positions and you will have everything you need for a great pic. Quality is amazing. Far better than any point and shoot pic, plus you have the benefit of getting amazing videos out of it as well. "

Great advice. After learning how to use this camera as well as good editing software, my next purchase is going to be a drone. I have several projects to work on and drone footage would greatly enhance the presentation.

Thanks again,

Terry

I have the WASP 4K and I like it a lot and it doesn't come with a GOPRO price tag. It's housing is waterproof, (I just got done with a trip were it rained half the time with no issues). 4K video is amazing and so are the photos if you have monitor's that can show it. (the quality is still there you just may not be able to see it with the old monitors).

It has a no shake option, I can load it with a 64 card so plenty of space to record, and comes with enough adapters to get you started.

I really like mine.

Nomad.

Okay, I told everyone when I made a video with my Sony action cam I'd post it. I returned from Quetico a couple of weeks ago and just finished editing a trip report video. I'll post it here and also in the trip report section.

By the way, I love this Sony. It takes incredible video. However, it's not as clear as I hoped when I uploaded it onto YouTube. But I hope you like the video anyway.

Terry Quetico 2017 video trip report

I'm really ignorant about cameras but I just wanted to say that I bought a DBPower EX5000 action camera last year because I couldn't afford a GoPro. I read a lot of reviews and thought it might be okay for a beginner. The Amazon reviews are 76% 4 and 5 stars. I've only used it a couple of times and it seemed pretty good but I'm really not knowledgeable enough to elaborate.

https://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-Waterproof-Battery-170-Wide-Fisheye/dp/B072J4CBK6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500735582&sr=8-2&keywords=DBPOWER+EX5000

quote 24kGold: "Okay, I told everyone when I made a video with my Sony action cam I'd post it. I returned from Quetico a couple of weeks ago and just finished editing a trip report video. I'll post it here and also in the trip report section.


By the way, I love this Sony. It takes incredible video. However, it's not as clear as I hoped when I uploaded it onto YouTube. But I hope you like the video anyway.


Terry Quetico 2017 video trip report "

Nice video!

As for the image clarity when uploading to youtube, you should be able to get better quality by tweaking your export settings. Try working on your timeline at 4K and export at that size as well, enable max rendering depth, and export the video at around 100 mbps. You should see improved IQ. For reference, when I export a 5 min file, it is close to 4GB in size.

Even if some of your clips are only 1080, up-scaling to 4K before uploading to youtube you will see better image quality because YT will use a higher bitrate.

quote ogarza: "

quote 24kGold: "Okay, I told everyone when I made a video with my Sony action cam I'd post it. I returned from Quetico a couple of weeks ago and just finished editing a trip report video. I'll post it here and also in the trip report section.



By the way, I love this Sony. It takes incredible video. However, it's not as clear as I hoped when I uploaded it onto YouTube. But I hope you like the video anyway.



Terry Quetico 2017 video trip report "

Nice video!


As for the image clarity when uploading to youtube, you should be able to get better quality by tweaking your export settings. Try working on your timeline at 4K and export at that size as well, enable max rendering depth, and export the video at around 100 mbps. You should see improved IQ. For reference, when I export a 5 min file, it is close to 4GB in size.


Even if some of your clips are only 1080, up-scaling to 4K before uploading to youtube you will see better image quality because YT will use a higher bitrate."

Glad you liked it. I will tweak all the settings on the next video. No sense in having a great video camera and getting an average upload. Thanks for the info.