Last Friday whilst in Cambridge I visited Jessops and was seduced into buying a GoPro 7 Silver for what appeared to be a reasonable price. Well I had not got myself an Xmas pressy so I thought why not? I could have got cheeper on the net but I decided to stick with Jessops as the advice was fair, reasoned and quite knowledgeable. Not something that you can get with an indifferent Webb Site.
So what was the reason for my purchase? Well I have been musing one of these for some time, I think that I started this musing around the version 4! So a slow burn project. My need is to have some better Vids than I take using the phone or my Compact Camera and just chucking them on the net, also getting seriously into iMovie. I have used iMovie in the past as the Video linked below will show, but on an upgrade struggled with it big time. Clearly I just needed to spend time with the iMac and a boring 2nd of January was just such a day. One of the things that I intend to make is a Training Video for new Operators and perhaps some existing ones on how the DR works and should be run. Certainly as a YouTube Vid new comers will be able to watch and at least not arrive blind as it were, relying on their memory for all that I let them know on my pre running briefing. There is a fair bit to take in and we all have only so much Quick Ram.
So the first project was to make a Camera Compatible Wagon. Now the GoPro being quite small is much easier to sort in this regard. In the Box when bought are a couple of Stick on Gizmo’s that allow the GoPro to be put on and taken off a smooth surface. Thus one of these would be the starting point of the project. One of my Swiss 4 Wheel Flats Wagons was chosen as the carrying Vehicle as all of my Bogie Flats have an end load securing fence. But first I needed to be certain that having the GoPro in front of the wheels was not going to cause any lack of stability issues where said GoPro would sit on the Wagon. Thus I broke out the scales, the GoPro with base scales out at 155g thus having a few spare lumps taken out of a Train Line Loco one scale at 135g, I reasoned that one of these at the other end should sort things out.
Below can be seen the removable platform that I quickly made up this morning. The base is 20mm Foam Board with Gaps for the do-hickories that hold wood loads in place. By having these gaps and the Top with a full length of Hips at 10mm the platform is quite stable. I cut out a small spot out of the Hips for the weight to sit and stuck the Gizmo in place first drawing a line to ensure that it points directly forwards. The Foam and Hips were stuck together with UHU.
Note I have felt tip marked the orientation of the platform, there are bits that it would not sit flat on that needed clearance underneath.
Finally with the GoPro mounted.
I have done a quick Test Vid and have found that there are some compatibility issue with my iMac. These have been resolved by loading the Cips direct from the Micro SD Card, opening them in QuickTime and saving. Thus these clips can be imported to iMovie for editing and making up a movie. There is nearly always a work around with these issues, just takes time to work them out.
So thus far what are my views? Well the GoPro is a well designed little beast, solid and even water proof. I will certainly be using that feature to try for some underwater clips of Newts in my Pond although that has no relevance here, it means that a bit of Rain will do no damage. I kind of wish I had gone for the Black as this has a removable Battery. Additional Batteries with these devices are a worthwhile investment and it does raise the issue with mine of how long will the battery last? But these days assuming no silly abuse a good few years seams a reasonable bet. However the Black was likely to set me back a further £100 and the series 8 Black another Ton or so on top of that. So I reckon my first foot in the water at just under £200 is a worthwhile punt. At least the Test quality looks superb.
More to come as I get used to the beast and try a few vids.
So what was the reason for my purchase? Well I have been musing one of these for some time, I think that I started this musing around the version 4! So a slow burn project. My need is to have some better Vids than I take using the phone or my Compact Camera and just chucking them on the net, also getting seriously into iMovie. I have used iMovie in the past as the Video linked below will show, but on an upgrade struggled with it big time. Clearly I just needed to spend time with the iMac and a boring 2nd of January was just such a day. One of the things that I intend to make is a Training Video for new Operators and perhaps some existing ones on how the DR works and should be run. Certainly as a YouTube Vid new comers will be able to watch and at least not arrive blind as it were, relying on their memory for all that I let them know on my pre running briefing. There is a fair bit to take in and we all have only so much Quick Ram.
So the first project was to make a Camera Compatible Wagon. Now the GoPro being quite small is much easier to sort in this regard. In the Box when bought are a couple of Stick on Gizmo’s that allow the GoPro to be put on and taken off a smooth surface. Thus one of these would be the starting point of the project. One of my Swiss 4 Wheel Flats Wagons was chosen as the carrying Vehicle as all of my Bogie Flats have an end load securing fence. But first I needed to be certain that having the GoPro in front of the wheels was not going to cause any lack of stability issues where said GoPro would sit on the Wagon. Thus I broke out the scales, the GoPro with base scales out at 155g thus having a few spare lumps taken out of a Train Line Loco one scale at 135g, I reasoned that one of these at the other end should sort things out.
Below can be seen the removable platform that I quickly made up this morning. The base is 20mm Foam Board with Gaps for the do-hickories that hold wood loads in place. By having these gaps and the Top with a full length of Hips at 10mm the platform is quite stable. I cut out a small spot out of the Hips for the weight to sit and stuck the Gizmo in place first drawing a line to ensure that it points directly forwards. The Foam and Hips were stuck together with UHU.
Note I have felt tip marked the orientation of the platform, there are bits that it would not sit flat on that needed clearance underneath.
Finally with the GoPro mounted.
I have done a quick Test Vid and have found that there are some compatibility issue with my iMac. These have been resolved by loading the Cips direct from the Micro SD Card, opening them in QuickTime and saving. Thus these clips can be imported to iMovie for editing and making up a movie. There is nearly always a work around with these issues, just takes time to work them out.
So thus far what are my views? Well the GoPro is a well designed little beast, solid and even water proof. I will certainly be using that feature to try for some underwater clips of Newts in my Pond although that has no relevance here, it means that a bit of Rain will do no damage. I kind of wish I had gone for the Black as this has a removable Battery. Additional Batteries with these devices are a worthwhile investment and it does raise the issue with mine of how long will the battery last? But these days assuming no silly abuse a good few years seams a reasonable bet. However the Black was likely to set me back a further £100 and the series 8 Black another Ton or so on top of that. So I reckon my first foot in the water at just under £200 is a worthwhile punt. At least the Test quality looks superb.
More to come as I get used to the beast and try a few vids.
