Which action cam? (GOPRO etc)

[T_S_M]

I'm going on holiday in October and plan to do a lot of snorkelling/diving while I'm there. It would be nice to catch some of it on video/photo.

Is a GOPRO the default choice for a reason? I've seen a Hero 12 for £299 but there is also a DJI Action 3 for £209. Is it worth spending the bit extra for the GOPRO?

Thanks

[miniman]

Admittedly it’s only a Hero 8 Black but I find the battery life utterly useless.

[StevieBee]

GoPro have cornered the market for add-ons which makes them the most versatile of any of the action cameras out there. There's no end of attachments and gizmos that expand what it can do, none of which are particularly expensive.

They're reliable and in my opinion, have the best image quality.

The battery life on all of the action camera's isn't particularly good compared to full size cameras. They're doing an awful lot of processing with a very small battery so there's going to be a trade-off somewhere. If this is going to be an issue, there are things you can do such as film in HD rather than 4K, disable in-camera stabilisation (you can sort that in post) and switch off the display. Or just buy a batch of additional batteries.

Personally, I'd go for the GoPro (I've got the 5, 8 and will soon be getting the 12 which is a remarkable bit of kit).

[T_S_M]

StevieBee said:

GoPro have cornered the market for add-ons which makes them the most versatile of any of the action cameras out there. There's no end of attachments and gizmos that expand what it can do, none of which are particularly expensive.

They're reliable and in my opinion, have the best image quality.

The battery life on all of the action camera's isn't particularly good compared to full size cameras. They're doing an awful lot of processing with a very small battery so there's going to be a trade-off somewhere. If this is going to be an issue, there are things you can do such as film in HD rather than 4K, disable in-camera stabilisation (you can sort that in post) and switch off the display. Or just buy a batch of additional batteries.

Personally, I'd go for the GoPro (I've got the 5, 8 and will soon be getting the 12 which is a remarkable bit of kit).

Thanks for the detailed reply!

A long battery life isn't essential, and I can always grab another battery as a spare if needed.

Think I'll spend the bit extra and go for the 12.

[Crudeoink]

I've had several GoPros but my last purchase was an Insta 360 X3. I had too many failures with GoPro's overheating etc and got fed up. They havent really innovated IMO and the software isnt great. I havent encountered a failure with the Insta 360 X3 yet and it capturing 360 video is very, very useful for the kinda stuff I do ( Enduro Riding, Trail riding, karting etc ) If the camera moves on its mount it doesnt matter, its always capturing everything. If something funny or whatever happens behind or at 90º to the camera, it captures it. The Insta can use the same mounts as the go pro (Has a standard 1/4" camera thread on the bottom) so i can use all my exisiting Go Pro mounts which is useful.

[mattyn1]

Another vote for the Insta 360 - I see there is an X4 out now but we used an X3 for our States trip. So easy to use - dont worry about composition - the software seems simple enough (I have loads of footage but no time to do anything with).

Using as a still camera seems simple too, and of course as a flat normal vid camera. It is the future!

[SteveKTMer]

I'd recommend the GoPro with a waterproof case, the later the better. The 11 gained 10 bit colour and higher internal bandwidth which gives more detail, the 12 is probably a little bit better and there's apparently, a new one coming out next month. What makes the recent GoPros so good is the hyper-smooth and horizon levelling, probably the best there is at the moment although the insta ace pro seems to have caught up from what I've read.

GoPro will be releasing a new 3d camera shortly too and that's likely to wipe the floor with Insta, they've delayed it for 18 months at least so expectations are very high. The price will be higher too I would guess, than the Insta 360 x4.

Whichever one you choose, get the best quality Sandisk or similar memory cards, my early trials with acton cams were often spoiled by the cheap memory cards they came with. People blame the cameras but I believe it's often cheap/fake or just slow memory cards which often cause problems.

[mattyn1]

That's a good point about SD Cards - my X3 has been a bit picky - SanDisk Extreme 256GB worked well, 128GB didn't, Ultra 128GB did with the 256GB not.

Can't speak for the GoPro but if you go Insta 360, then extra batteries are a must - if you are recording in 360 HDR then the battery life is quite short. I bought two extra batteries in a charger case - non Insta360 but worked seamlessly.

[mikeh501]

im converted to insta360, not just the 360 camera but their action cams. dont forget your not just buying the cam, its the software apps which are just as important and the insta ones are great.

[KobayashiMaru86]

Found the latest GoPro decent but extra batteries are a must. Non genuine off Amazon work fine. There's lots of options I may never use but it's as detailed or as basic as you want it. Timelapses are cool.

[malks222]

i’m using a gopro 11, and really like it. it’s fairly intuitive, loads of ‘how to’ videos to get the most out of features etc….

I’ve found the battery life to be fine, but i don’t tend to do any long filming, usually just short clips (a minute or 2 tops)

also really like the gopro ap for simple editing and they also make really good automatic edits (they just go off and make an edit with all there effects and stuff)

also check out ‘DC rainmaker’ on youtube, he does great in depth reviews of all the action cams!

[T_S_M]

I picked up an Insta360 X3 in the end. Haven’t used it properly yet as we go away in a few weeks, but trying it at home it took some figuring out. Not having to “aim” it took some getting used to

[mattyn1]

T_S_M said:

I picked up an Insta360 X3 in the end. Haven’t used it properly yet as we go away in a few weeks, but trying it at home it took some figuring out. Not having to “aim” it took some getting used to

A good decision. My first effort on holiday...



Now I have a lot to learn with the editing skills and techniques but was quite pleased ... made the video on the Mac obviously using the insta studio app. We had a car mount, but I bought cheap from Amazon, and it was crap! We had the camera on the small 1m stick - but using the 3m stick at other locations gave a lot of people selfie stick envy!!

Get decent SD Cards, more batteries (filming 5k60 they don't last very long), and decent mounts if that's your thing.