GoPro Hero 3+ Black Action Camera -- Burst ModeBecause of some of the great videos that have appeared on this forum, I’ve taken an interest in action video cameras. I have used my Nikon 100sw to take videos of my mini spray skirts in action; but, now I’ve taken the leap—I purchased a GoPro Hero 3+ Black. One thing that helped me get over the hump was the book “How to Use GoPro Hero 3 Cameras” by Jordan Hetrick (
http://www.amazon.com/How-Use-GoPro-Her ... ords=gopro) I’ve had my Hero 3B+ a little over a week, and one thing it did was get me out for 3 day-sails during that period. Of course, I took lots of video, but that needs some work before it can be presented to this forum. What is so appealing in the Hero 3 camera is (1) solid, waterproof housing, (2) seemingly unlimited ways of mounting it, (3) a wide variety of shooting modes, and (4) WIFI capability. One mode that intrigued me was
the burst mode. It is capable of taking 30 still shots in 1 sec. Think of that if you could catch a dolphin coming up beside you, or those loggerhead turtles that poke their head above water but dive the instant they see you.
I put the burst-mode capability to work photographing a great egret, also known as a common egret or white heron. This egret lives near my local launch and sometimes hangs around. I got these pictures, actually 30 pictures, but I have only shown the first 6 here. They were captured as the egret took flight. There was a strong wind coming over my right shoulder towards the egret. It is interesting to see him rotate in flight to take advantage of the wind to push him further from me. These were the first 6 pictures, taken in 6/30 second. You might think, “Those are nice pictures of that bird.” Yes, the Hero 3B+ did very well, but there is more to the story. Here are the pictures.
Those pictures are not the originals. Here is the burst-mode original of the previous picture, the 6th picture. This original was typical of each original, and it shows at once the strengths and weaknesses of the Hero cameras: (1) they have a wide angle, fisheye lens, so you get a very wide point of view (POV). You don’t miss much with this camera, and the fisheye lens does not distort badly. (2) The focus is good, near & far. That is all to the good. On the other hand, the camera
does not have an LCD to help frame your picture or video. Frankly, the camera is so small, it would be tough to fit a useful LCD on the it. Its small size & light-weight are a real plus. In this case, as the egret lifted off, I quickly pointed the camera, pushed the capture button, and got 30 pictures.
As you can see from the original above, the camera was tilted. I used Photoshop Elements to straighten and crop each original to get the 6 close-ups. You can see the approximate crop outline in the original.It is amazing how small the GoPro Hero 3B+ is. You can lay 3 of them side-by-side on a US dollar bill. The camera is usually used inside its waterproof case (good to 40 meters under water). Frankly, I would be very skeptical of some action cameras “waterproof” claim. For example, the new Garmin Virb action camera is waterproof to the IPX7 spec (1 meter under water for 30 min), the same spec as Garmin’s handheld GPS units. I learned many years ago that an IPX7 spec will not protect electronic units from dying after getting repeatedly splashed by saltwater.
With the routine dousing our AI/TIs take, I don’t think an IPX7-spec device is going to last long if not protected by AquaPac/Drypak type bag.When using the 3B+, I miss the superzoom capability of my Canon 30is camera. The Hero action cameras have no zoom. On the other hand, the Hero 3B+ has so many modes and other capabilities, and the videos are generally very good (see Abisal12 video postings), so I plan to get a lot of use out of it.
Keith