Camera for Honeymoon

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Discussion

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

111 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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Hey folks

My fiancée keeps talking about us getting a GoPro for our honeymoon. She’s using that as a generic term for ‘something that will take good photos, videos and can be used in and around water’

I know nothing about either GoPro as a brand or whether there’s a better alternative under a different guise. I haven’t had an actual camera other than on my phone in many years.

Can anyone recommend anything? Ideally no more than £250 second hand as we’ll probably never use it again....needs to take decent quality stills and HD video and be able to be used in water (presumably via a waterproof housing but again I know nothing about cameras these days!)

Thanks for any pointers!

Fordo

1,547 posts

230 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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There are plenty of alternatives, but good thing about go pro is there are accessories everywhere.

- Gopros, and most action cameras, are very wide angle - this works well for mounting on someones head, or on a mountain bike. For good looking photos - not so great.

- Gopros are fiddly to use, use lots of batteries, and some of the more basic ones don't have screens.

Id say put the money towards a decent phone, as quite a few mobiles are waterproof. A decent phone will take good video, and good stills, and won't be as fiddly to use as a gopro. Plus, added bonus is you can upload photos to facebook and social media much easier.

Id only go for an action style camera, if your going to be using it for action type stuff, like strapping to a surfboard.



justin220

5,422 posts

210 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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Yeah I would avoid a GoPro if you want to take photos, as they are pretty awful. They are great for the video/waterproof/action type things though

Heartworm

1,931 posts

167 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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justin220 said:
. They are great for the video/waterproof/action type things though
Good for a honeymoon then?

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

111 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
quotequote all
Thanks guys. Looks like GoPro should be avoided then as other than a bit of shallow snorkelling we won’t be doing much in the way of action sports etc.

The camera on my iPhone 6 is ok but not brilliant. I don’t really want to change my phone hence looking at a dedicated camera device.

Any options in the compact camera range that will do a reasonably good job of stills and video and can be adapted for underwater use?

nitrodave

1,262 posts

144 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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How long are you away for? For a little more than your budget I got a Nikon D3300 slr camera with a couple of decent lenses. I was away for a good few months on our honeymoon and used the first couple of weeks reading and learning how to use it properly. Took some great shots for the rest of the trip and have no regrets with it.

Really is a great bit of kit and very capable.

We also just used our iphones as the camera and video recording is pretty decent on them. It was very easy to back the pics up from our phones too.

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

111 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
quotequote all
Only 2 weeks. I’m a former SLR user but it would baffle her and I don’t want anything too bulky really for ease of sticking in a pocket or whatever.

anonymous-user

60 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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Can you not just borrow one from someone? So many people I know just have a GoPro kicking about. They aren't that bad for photos.

If you want to spend some money, then I have heard that the Olympus TG-5 is a pretty good bet. £100 over budget though.

sgrimshaw

7,389 posts

256 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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If you can't stretch to the Olympus TG-5, then Ricoh WG50 should do everything you want at a considerably lower price:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ricoh-WG-50-Waterproof-Di...


wildoliver

8,947 posts

222 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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I'd say it's a good excuse to get a decent waterproof compact which you will use plenty when you get back and an action cam which you will only use occasionally but are great when you do.

opieoilman

4,408 posts

242 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
quotequote all
I'm a fan of the action cameras for photos, I use mine loads with my kids and I'm quite impressed with how the shots come out (when the conditions are right).





Okay, they aren't a high end DSLR in a waterproof housing, but the Sony AS30V I used to take those shots cost £120. I've just sold that and bought a Thieye E7, and I've not had much chance to use it yet, but it seems a little better (no shots from that camera on this computer to show an example). The Thieye was only about £70, so if I was you, I would think of getting one of those, or something similar and a compact with the remainder of the budget. I've used the Sony far more than expected in the time I've had it, mainly as a photo rather than video camera. I have used it to video mountain biking and surfing, and it's been good for that as well.

LuS1fer

41,535 posts

251 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
quotequote all
This seems to be a good deal with a new model out and it's waterproof and only £144 but you get a far more limited spec compared to a normal camera.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePix-XP120-li...

If underwater shenanigans isn't totally necessary, then the easily carried Canon SX720HS is under £200 (Currys) with a massive 40x zoom and you can get the 25x zoom SX620HS for under £160.

Panasonic TZ80 is also a little more expensive around £260 but has more of an effects menu.

The last thing you want is to lug a big camera round.

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

111 months

Tuesday 12th June 2018
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Thanks all, plenty to ponder!

Weslake-Monza

461 posts

189 months

Thursday 14th June 2018
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The Olympus Tough (TG-4) was over my budget when I bought it but I'm glad I did. It worked well underwater or on the beach and takes a reasonable snap. The real bonus for me is that it has really good Macro ( for butterflies and bees, flowers, etc)

Craikeybaby

10,633 posts

231 months

Thursday 5th July 2018
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I think I used my GoPro more than my DSLR on honeymoon!

They key thing that hasn't been mentioned, is that if your wife wants a GoPro, it is usually less hassle to get what she wants, rather than something that may be "better" or cheaper.

The new Hero is probably a good bet, as it doesn't need a case for use underwater. Or if you have more to spend, I'd advise going with one of the larger Hero models, rather than a Session.