GoPro

[Keith_Menard]

I have this love hate relationship with GoPro...I bought the Hero 3 black and felt like a beta tester it was so bad. Upgraded to the Hero 5 at some point, can't really use it for waterski coaching because at 15 off it is just too far away. I snowboard in the off season and my lord is the battery life AWFUL in the cold.

 

Then there is that whole thing that i bought a few shares of their stock way back when and constantly watch the red ink in my portfolio...but...

 

Has anyone tried out the 8 yet?

[John Brooks]

@"Keith Menard" I use a Go Pro 4 regularly and it works great on the pylon. I also have a GoPro 2 that works well and interchange them. What settings are you using? I use the Medium FOV, usually 60 FPS and can pick up all rope lengths with great clarity.

[mmskiboat]

I have a 7 and with ios it works well. The HyperSmooth stabilization (in camera) is very good and supposed to be even better on the 8. [edited as the 8 should be better]

[Rob]

I would recommend against using any version of a GoPro for filming from the boat, especially if you're trying to analyze your skiing; something with a zoom lens on it will be much better for this purpose. If you need to use it for some reason then using medium FOV will help somewhat.

 

Version 7 has amazing image stabilization as mentioned. I held it filming while I was running once and the video it captured was very impressive - almost unreal how stable it was. I assume the 8 will be just as good but interesting that mmskiboat says the 7 is better. Battery life is abysmal on every version of a GoPro I've ever used. This includes the original (HD), v2, 3 black, 4 silver and black, v5 and 7 both black.

 

My experience with the 3 was the most disappointing and you summed it up perfectly - felt like a beta tester. The 7+ solves most if not all of those problems.

[Tom351]

Like @Rob says- the GoPro is just not the right tool for the job...unless you get a modified one:

https://www.back-bone.ca/product/h7pro/

it is expensive and does not even come with a lens. But it would be the perfect camera for pylon mount.

[mmskiboat]

@Rob Sorry I made a typo the 8 is supposed to be better in many areas based on reviews that I have read.

[BrennanKMN]

I was given a GoPro Hero3 as a gift. Fist time I used it it fell in the lake. That was a hard thing to tell the guy who gifted me a $400 camera and I lost it a week later...

I stuck it to the front of my ski and even used a rope to secure it just in case. The plastic mount that came with it snapped in half on a wake crossing. I watched it tumble across my ski and into the lake. Ever since than I haven't really been a fan. They're too expensive for their use case.

 

There are so many alternatives now I don't think I could ever justify the cost for an original GoPro anymore.

[UWSkier]

For video of my sets, an old phone (pre-OIS) with the Wakeye app works great.

 

For shots of ski sets from the handle end, I just have a cheapie FauxPro from Amazon. Been pretty impressed with the image quality of it and if I drop it in the lake, it's only like 50 bucks or so.