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Shawn Lee
October 31, 2013 14:05
I like it!
I'm a professional videographer and photographer so I'm used to the technical aspects of setting up cameras. However, this was a cinch. I followed the directions to set up the camera and apply the software update from the web site and have had NO issues at all with this camera. Photos, video, wifi remote, all works fine as advertised. I also am able to hook up my camera and suck it all into my Apple iMac without a hitch. I've only had it a few days so I'll update when I work with the photos and videos more and kick the camera around a bit. This is a SMALL camera and I'm going to love keeping this in my pocket in addition to using it for POV and aerial applications. The low cost vs. high quality of this unit is hard to beat.
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Ben Teasen
October 31, 2013 14:04
not below zero
I've had this camera since December and have taken it on 3 snowboard trips since then. Just like almost every review on here, my camera froze (only when being turned on) a few times and I had to take the battery out to reset it. The battery life was terrible that first trip, could only use it for the morning runs and then put it away at lunch. When I got home after that first trip and viewed the footage it was awesome, SUPER clear. I thought the freezing was my fault but found out it was a big complaint. I liked the camera footage too much to return it. On my second trip (about a month later), I brought it again but this time I didn't want to deal with the freezing when turning it on, so between runs I would stop recording but not turn it off while taking the lift back up. This solved the freezing issue, but the battery died so much faster. After that I decided to buy some more batteries (got the Wasabi ones, AWESOME deal btw). So on my most recent trip (about 2 weeks ago), I brought all three fully charged batteries and didn't turn the camera off all day (except changing out the battery when it died), and the three batteries lasted me the whole day (about 7 hours of snowboarding: only recording about 2.5 hours of that).
All in all, this is an amazing camera that takes some awesome footage when working correctly. I know its expensive and I shouldn't have to do these little things to make everything run smoothly, thats why I took 2 stars off the review. I updated the most recent firmware that was released a couple of days ago, but haven't had much time to play around with it. I'm going on my honeymoon in July and going to be doing some snorkeling. At that point switching out the battery isn't going to be an option, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully all problems will be fixed by then -
Jordy
October 31, 2013 14:00
dissapointment
After doing the GO PRO update, I took 5 different videos and all were frozen every second. There were no interruptions in audio, just the video was broken and frozen. This product is a piece of junk.
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Jorge Diego Caballero
October 31, 2013 13:59
Hello from Mexico
This is my first GoPro, I do weddings so at first I got it as a toy and to record some mountainbike rides, but now that I have it I can think of a lot of uses for my GoPro at my weddings.
Vast video modes, I just love it. -
Vladimir Vladimirovich Tuporshin
October 31, 2013 13:57
Just perfect
Awesome product. Camera technology/optics excellent, great form factor. I have personally experienced none of the product issues (eg, freezing up) that seem to be the source of negative reviews. Perhaps the newest release of firmware fixed all of that stuff--all I know is that mine has performed perfectly.
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Amadeo Giovanni
October 31, 2013 13:56
Not pro but good
I found thi s camera to be lacking a lot of featues like my Nikon. Now I did not expect a full size camera but this reminded me of those little spy cameras you could buy on Cortland Street.
Those cameras were ten bucks not 400.
I also have NO patience with online user manuals.
This is a tiny camera, IMHO not for fat fingers. -
Justin Timber
October 31, 2013 13:55
Which edition better
I decided to spin the roulette wheel on this camera - it seems the odds of getting a working one is about 50/50 - and got a dud. As soon as I received it, I updated the software as implored. After getting about 15 minutes of footage, the camera started showing a temperature warning and shut off... every single time, a few seconds after turning it on, regardless of temperature, whether or not it was plugged into the computer, WiFi on or off, and regardless of the battery I was using (I bought some Wasabis as well). The card used was a Transcend Class 10 32 GB.
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Colly Newbaum
October 31, 2013 13:53
Camera is amazing
It is so small, and it has amazing vibration dampening. I strapped this onto my quadrocopter and it works really well as a way of creating amazing movie scenes. It is also very robust. My quadrocopter did a free-fall from 8000 feet, landed in a 50 foot cedar tree. The GoPro fell to the ground and was still recording when I found it !!
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Teodoro Lolo Fernandez
October 31, 2013 13:52
White edition
I've gotten the white edition since this is all I will need and the price was right. I got it with the backpack. Went ahead and updated it manually according to others instructions and haven't had a single issue since then. With the backpack lcd, I'm getting about 2hrs of recording time on 1080p 30fps with the lcd on. One thing to keep in mind, I never connect the device directly to the laptop, instead I remove the micro SD card and use an adapter to transfer content to the laptop. I've tested it for about two months before I got a head strap mount, bike mount, additional flat adhesive mounts since the product appears to be very reliable contrary to many comments I've read. My friend has the same white edition and has been using it the same way I am and had no issues either. Overall I'm more than satisfied with the quality, durability, and reliability of this product, I'm really glad I bought it.
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Alexey Petrovskiy
October 31, 2013 13:51
Go and download a new firmware
After reading so many bad reviews pointing out so many glitches in HERO3, I was a little hesitant when ordering the Black Edition. I work in the technology industry and figured that the problems are not hardware based but more on the software side and can be fixed with a firmware update. I was right and GoPro released a firmware update just after I placed my order. As soon as I received it, I charged the battery and manually installed the latest firmware which is v3.0 at the time of writing this review. I have used it for longer periods and everything works without any of the issues others have faced.
GoPro now recommends some specific microSD cards as some previous issues including random freezing were related to bad/slow memory cards and not the HERO3 hardware itself. Everything works perfect and videos are recorded in the highest quality when you use the recommended microSD cards but with the new firmware, the camera can detect if you are using a different card and while shooting in 4K, 2.7K and Protune video modes may result in a reduction of the data stream rate from 45Mb/sec to 35Mb/sec. I bought the recommended Samsung 64GB pro card and everything works perfect!
I ordered the Black Edition along with several accessories (protective covers, GoPro extra battery, Wasabi power pack and suction cup). I mostly use it to record my drag racing videos and the video and picture quality of Black Edition is excellent.
If you are holding back because of all the bad reviews, I can confirm that the problems are gone as long as you have the latest firmware and are using a recommended microSD card.