GoPro stuff

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The video quality is very good Glen just a little juddery at the beginning like you said but nothing to really notice or worry about, Great video keep them coming
Your photo's also were very well composed considering there size and shape of the Kelpies, specially like the black and white (Monochrome) photo
 
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Cheers Andy. That one is an older one from last year. As I said they look quite good when lit with red lights from the inside but it was surprising how quickly it got light. They are hard to shoot as you need to get close to avoid the pylons and other building going on around them still (visitor centre etc) but as soon as yuou do that you need to go wide angle and distortions set in. Even adjusting the images in Lightroom you still get some strange efffects. Where they are positioned you cannot get a decent head-on view of them. Still, that is a good reason to go back and try again!

The GoPro 4K is only 15 fps which is really too slow to be practical. Even the lorries on the motorway look juddery at that frame rate. The pan was, at least I thought it was, quite slow, so for it to be any good it would need to be static shots only. Stepping down the size gives more options but probably still produces decent images to work with. GoPro 4 has better 4K options as it can go 30fps. 2.7K gives you 50fps which would be a better compromise I think.
 
Hand-held Gimbal

Have the 2 axis gimbal that I made which is fine if a little unrefined. So I got a three axis hand-held device for the GoPro. This works three ways so you get a much smoother video compared to hand held only. The three way also means it is a bit more versatile. All the books and bears are my wife's. The CDs are shared but mine are the good ones so please don't judge! :D



[video=youtube_share;7_jEgKVh1rE]http://youtu.be/7_jEgKVh1rE[/video]
 
amazing effect with the gimball. would like to have it on the dog but that would be not working to have such a "post" on the dog. lol

my new cam had also arrived today. had a quick test and still surprised of the quality. really not bad and it comes with a bunch of adapters. :) more in the dogcam thread lol
 
I'm usually not that bad at hand holding cameras and video in particular. If I am trying to pan I usually move at the waist and keep my arms locked in tight which usually gets reasonable results. However this gimbal gives more freedom of movement and should be good for walking. Need to have a look at how I could mount it for use on bumpy roads for example. Other uses are when you want a higher view point and holding a camera single handed will always make the image softer or with video less stable. Looking forward to testing it out.

I can see how it might be a problem on a your dogs though! The solution could be to get bigger dogs?
 
This is the kind of shot you can get with the gimbal on a boom (not by me).

[video=youtube_share;BmwAnmmJhCg]http://youtu.be/BmwAnmmJhCg[/video]
 
Been playing with the hand held gimbal and have been pleased with the results. It is really good when walking around and really does smooth out the usual movement you get. One of the suggested uses was on a boom. You can use something like an audio boom with a couple of 22mm pipe clips to hold it in place. A boom like that costs about £80 which is a bit more than I would want to pay for occasional use so I was thinking (you were wondering what that noise was?) if the clips are for pipes and I already have some pipe then..... OK, so now the central heating doesn't work because of the missing pipe but look what I did!

[video=youtube_share;9-vRckjZErk]http://youtu.be/9-vRckjZErk[/video]


For something cheap and cheerful it works OK but the pipe is a bit bendy which makes it hard to control and keep steady which is why there is still some movement on the camera. If I could make the pipe stiffer somehow but still keep it light it may be better but as a cheap idea i don't think it is too bad.
 

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Of the neighbours I could spy on we are probably the youngest (and best looking of course too). Even I'm not pervy enough to want video OAP activity! :D
 
Got a Joby GorillaPod suction mount the other day. I got the one with a GorillaPod type arm. I have a few suction mounts that will support reasonably sized cameras including a three cup unit. The single cup units are fine but rather heavy to travel with. Despite having three suction cups the other mount has never felt that secure.

Having seen a couple of reviews of the Joby mount I thought it would be worth a try especially when travelling. This mount really does stick hard. You just put the mount on a surface and twist the red ring until it clicks. It really feels as though it is going to stay there. For use in a static position the arm is fine but when mounted to a windscreen there is a bit of movement so it isn't stable enough. Replacing the arm with a double ended tripod screw enables a normal tripod mount to be used and that is really stable with little movement at all.

I've tried it on the car door facing forward and on the boot lip and it stayed in place fine. I did use a tether (just in case) but feel that the claims Joby make should be valid. For travel it should be a light weight and small mount that can be used in a variety of places. Worth considering for an action cam or small camcorder.
 

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Been looking for a way to do smooth low level shots or circular shots and found the answer in a dolly. You can mount a camera on it and had push it to get a smooth panning shot or adjust the wheels so it will go around an object. A few quick shots has shown it is just what I want. It is easy to mount a GoPro or any other camera, even a DSLR. On smooth surfaces it is pretty good but I'm expecting uneven surfaces to be a bit rocky. So currently looking at ways to mount either of the gimbals I have to it and see how that works.

Quick video test is here: https://youtu.be/qAMEBO_5a9M
 
I have got about 5 batteries for the GoPro but they never seem to last that long especially if you use the phone app and WiFi. Sometimes lucky to get it running for an hour! When mounted on the windscreen in the car I use a power cable to keep it going and if mounted on the outside also (assuming that the weather is fine) as the skeleton mount is far from weather proof. Even with WiFi off the standard batteries don't last a huge amount of time. What I had been using was an external USB battery pack connected to the camera. This gives a lot longer record time but still isn't weather proof. The trouble with that is it is bulky and a bit awkward with the power cable.

Found this battery pack though which attaches to the GoPro case instead of a back and powers the camera. You remove the normal battery and cover and this fits into the camera and seals to the case. It isn't water proof but is weather proof. Does it work? Yup! Using WiFi and the remote phone app I got about 4.5 hours of use. For a timelapse with no WiFi and a photo every 2 seconds I got 10.5 hours of use. Now need to see how long it will record for with just video and no WiFi.

It is comparable to the GoPro big battery in price but has a much larger capacity. Also has a USB out so it can charge other devices.

Brunton All Day Power Pack - Yellow: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors
 
Was just playing with a couple of GoPro cameras and editing the two different view points into one video. The video is a drive from the local Tesco to near home. One camera was mounted on the front of the car just above the edge of the "spoiler" the other was mounted just above the windsceen.

[video=youtube_share;pCzpGfHlLKk]https://youtu.be/pCzpGfHlLKk[/video]
 
Trouble with video is the editing and processing. You need a fairly powerful machine for anything more than simple edits. Even a decent i7 processor takes time to do more complex stuff. Usually get things ready and let the Mac do it's stuff overnight as it run silent (most of the time) whereas the Windows machine will start wailing like a banshee especially if it is uses the GPU for processing too.
 
As you know I have a gimbal for the GoPro which reall does make a difference when you are walking or running (don't snigger). The video is much smoother and steady. The only problem with it is that you are limited to the length of your arm. I tried a few DIY solutions using plastic pipes but they were not stiff enough which meant they bent and you got a strange floaty look to some of the video.

When in Canada I did take a few shots of us with the camera mounted on a monopod which were not too bad. Never really been into doing selfies so it was nice to get a few pictures with both of us in the frame. I'm not that trusting to give someone my camera to takea photo.

For video though the monopod wasn't that stable so I looked for something that I could attach the gimbal too that would be stiff, light and transportable. I fould these carbon fibre poles that screw onto the gimbal's handle. The resuly is a 2m selfie stick! The poles themselves are really light weight but the stiffness means that they are easy to control. As teh poles screw together you can also use as many or as few as you need to. I have a little holder for the GoPro remote which makes things a bit easier. I've not had a chance to use it in anger yet except a few tests around the house and I have been pleased with them.

The main use will be for scenery shots where everything is pretty static and using the pole will allow some panning to give a different viewing point. It will also enable higher shots that would normally be possible with just an extended arm.

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Because the gimbal mounts the GoPro naked the weather needs to be at least dry(ish) but recently it has been wet, very wet, or oh where did we put the ark sort of wet! Once it is dryish I'll give it a go outside.

Isobel saw it and just did that slight rise of the eyebrow, slight shake of the head look and walked away. :)
 
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