Why are GoPros so popular, do I need one?

[wanye]

Originally Posted by KevC

They've bought a new version of the SJ4000 out now with WIFI built in... Brings it more inline with the GoPro features but still at a fraction of the cost.

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yeah, i actually knew that in the back of my head, i just forgot to mention it

amazon/gp/product/B...NTRMXZSYHLD4OS

(adds about £15 to the price)

[W1zz]

Another cheaper alternative to a GoPro is the Sony AS30.

It's currently down at £129.95 on Amazon which is the lowest it's been for a while.

amazon/gp/product/B00F93QDA4

It was over £150 a week ago.

[Orlando 2004]

Originally Posted by W1zz

Another cheaper alternative to a GoPro is the Sony AS30.

It's currently down at £129.95 on Amazon which is the lowest it's been for a while.

amazon/gp/product/B00F93QDA4

It was over £150 a week ago.

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We bought one of these in the Black Friday deals for £99.99. Haven't really had chance to use it yet but will be taking it to Florida in May

[mrmoo123]

I will shortly be going for a GoPro, I'm just going to get the entry Hero model as I doubt I will use it other then when we go to Florida... I'm not getting it to be my main camera though, more so that I can set it up on a small tripod for the parades and fireworks and so I can timelapse rides etc. Probably only use it as an actual 'handycam' when in the pool as its waterproof

[alkel2730]

Thank you for all your help all. I could stretch to a gopro but looking at the alternatives they are great value!
Halfords have got a gopro hero on for £84.99 at the moment.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by wanye

yeah, i actually knew that in the back of my head, i just forgot to mention it

amazon/gp/product/B...NTRMXZSYHLD4OS

(adds about £15 to the price)

See more...

Great advice guys, been toying with the idea of a go pro for ages. We hired one for a skiing trip a year ago and we got some great footage of the kids skiing with it but could never bring myself to spend the cash on one. So this looks like a great alternative. Order going in today and hoping it comes before we go if its coming from China?

[daviewat]

"Every one wants one ! " jeez its like the DSLR explosion all over, folk here about them and think i gotta have that without really knowing what they can do or how they actually operate. DSLR for instance in the hands of oridinary Joe Bloggs, like me and millions of others is a waste of space as A) I never actually print photos , B) have no idea what raw , jpeg etc etc really mean and so on, oh yes and why so much money for a lens ? Just a few of the points that shout a good quality compact camera is all i really need :-)

[archibald]

I completely agree with daviewat up there ^^. I take quite a few photo's, and print them, and get quite a few compliments on them, followed by complete shock when people find out that all the pics are from a 3yr old Fuji finepix 14mp camera. My friends with the fanciest gear seem to take the fewest photos - bit of a generalisation - but by the time they've faffed about the moment has gone!
Go Pro's for recording some sports/events are fantastic - skydiving springs to mind! But wearing them around theme parks seems a bit creepy, intrusive and unnecessary to me.

[alkel2730]

Thanks for your opinions and advice. At the moment I have a Lumix camera, a Sony handycam and I'm after a waterproof camera, ideally video camera with an easy editorial program. All of this is rather bulky, so I was basically enquiring about a way to possibly combine all my requirements into one smaller option. I keep seeing gopro on here and watching videos using that (and similar ones recommended on this thread) and wanted to know more.
I'm more into video cameras to be honest than I am stills, and get many hours of viewing pleasure out of them whereas photos I only look at occasionally, my post was more about the video camera side of things with stills being a bonus but waterproof and ability to edit being quite important.
I've probably done myself a disservice on this thread as I've studied photography, editing and computer programming in the past but it was many, many moons ago so I now consider myself a complete novice as things have considerably moved on since I had anything to do with these areas. However it's possible that given a bit of practice and study, I could be a good candidate to pick it up again, who knows, but if you don't ask you don't know
Thanks again for the advice! I certainly don't intend to skydive anytime soon so there's possibly better options out there for me!

[BigKidUK]

I know its each to their own, but this is my experience in case it helps
We bought a sony action last year, the AS100 after researching for hours (I am a planner ) as it seemed to trump the go pro in a few areas such as having a steady cam built in, being splash proof without a case etc. We used it when we went to Paris, but I didn't manage to get a head strap in time so got a wrist strap. It was too heavy and uncomfortable on the wrist, so we just held it. It was OK, but without a screen to see what you were videoing etc it just didn't really feel 'natural' somehow
Anyway.. fast forward to this year, and the headstrap was ordered for our upcoming trip (a genuine Sony one at an arm and a leg as the one I originally ordered as being compatible was not when it arrived!) and I loaded the camera on to give it a test run, and being as it sits on the side of your head it was much too heavy and cumbersome.. so once again I was foiled! Decision has been made, and we are going to sell it and buy a go pro 4 silver. It looks like it will do everything I could't do with the Sony- and everyone and his wife makes accessories for it too! Now lets hope its not a second expensive mistake but after a stack more reading it seems to have in the main addressed the reasons why I went against it before, so fingers crossed