I've got a question for the masses. I know we have all seen the hunting videos filmed with gopros where it looks like all the shots were taken at 40+ yards. The problem is they are just such a dang good design! I have been thinking about getting one or two for the up coming season and wanted to see what pointers y'all had. Ideally I would have one strapped to my head and one propped in front of the shooters.

Questions:
How is the battery life? In my limited experience being around them in the field it seems there is a trend of short battery life in cold climates.
Is there a setting on the camera that will eliminate that fish eye lense view?
Do the remotes really work? I've also heard they drain battery life because they use wifi. Would be nice to be able to set one out in the decoys and turn it off when birds aren't working.
Where is the best place to mount/wear them? Seems like the head mount is the best/most widely used.
Are there any accessories that you deem as requirements?

I would like to aid in the discussion but can't. The video quality with go.lros suck so bad I don't use them.

I have fooled around with them. The MAIN problem is that they don't zoom and so birds always look a lot further than they truly are.

You can get the battery extension packs, and they will typically last (for me ) 4-5 hours depending on the amount of filming, # times turned on/off, etc. Cold weather definitely drains the batteries quicker if they are just sitting there.

I tried different position with the go pro. On your head works good, because you can move it to wherever you're looking. But, I also attached it to a pole and moved it around the set to get different views (just have to remember where so you dont shoot it).

I haven't tried an actual remote, but have connected via wifi on my phone to turn on/ off (turkey hunting). Works well, but then you get into a lot of electronics near water for duck hunting....

As for accessories- the waterproof/ floating case, as many attachments as possible. never know where you'll want to attach it to. I especially like tripods/ flexible legged camera tripods that you can wrap around a branch/ set on uneven ground.


Overall- the quality of the videos isnt the best due to not being able to zoom directly in. good luck.

"The MAIN problem is that they don't zoom and so birds always look a lot further than they truly are."

My son has one and the shots he got on film were within 25 yards and looked like Hail Mary shots. Also, I got enough stuff to worry about during the hunt, this only adds complications. However, I do enjoy watching them.

be a hero, go pro

I tried putting one on Dixie's head, she wouldn't have it.

Completely false. The gopro is 1080p hi definition. That's as good as it gets.

you think that maybe he is lumping in the fish eye perspective and making close shoots look like 85 yard shots in the "sucky video quality"? You sound like a pre-teen kid splitting hairs and trying to make everything literal.

I haven't seen any of the footage from one. If they are good they are good. Post up your videos and let us be the judge of "As good as it gets". All the go pro footage I ahve ever seen is fisheye and fstop deficient.

It's more of a farsighted 1080 HD, or is it nearsighted? That always screws me up.

I tried it as well. No problem with video quality, they're just designed for closer action than 30-40 yds. Also tried the remote, my remote decided to go swimming about half way into the morning.

Charlie

Here's the deal. The new models have a fish eye only lense. The older models do not and they have excellent video quality they also have focus to infinity. The new ones do not. So if your wanting one for hunting get the older model not the new "plus models".

And yes 1080p is the best video quality available.

http://youtu.be/CzW_5x1M4Uc

Video quality looks great to me. I'm not sure what your talking about.

marketing tool on the go pro channel, of course its gonna look good...chicks sky diving in bikinis

I agree with you regarding the video quality. Your saying the older models do a better job with distances, say a duck 20 yards out than the new ones?

Yes due to the lense.

Yeah you're right except for the fact that those videos are sent in to gopro from owners for a monthly video contest.

I have hours of footage from pheasant and duck hunts. The quality is amazing. I just haven't had the time to edit any of it yet.

Huck, can you post one for us?

Yeah it may be a day or two because I need to chop them down and figure out how to post them but I will ASAP.

yeah Huck, get ole Jim busy editing...I need real life footage, not chicks in bikini marketing footage

That is what I am saying. The video is of a person a few feet away. If you view a duck at 40 yards it is merely a black dot on the horizon. You say it is the best available, I say it is not. It might be the best available/affordable to us all but not by a long shot the best available. Certain applications allow you to use the gopro and others do not. For quality purposes go pro sucks so far as capturing good quality images while duck hunting. There is a reason websites do better than others. This was explained to me by a marketing firm. YOur customer has to get to good quality footage within second or they will move on. That is why the adds on youtube are so short. If you have a gopro home footage on one site and good quality images from a professional on another, people will leave your site and not go back to it.

Yeah, but Wayne all those black dots can be called pintails and mallards.

The gopro does not have an optical zoom. So yes the birds do appear farther away but that has nothing to do with the video quality. The video quality is great you just cannot zoom in for a closer shot. Thats the reason I do not use my gopro to film the birds in the air but rather the birds up close in the spread. I've mainly used it on the back of my dog to get the dogs view of the hunt/water. You can argue all you want but 1080pHD video is as good as it gets technology wise.

Will you get up close shots of birds 80 yards away…No but you can buy a $5000 video camera and not get that unless it has enough optical zoom to get way out there. At the end of the day no matter how far or close the shot is it is 1080P HD and that is the best video quality there is they don't even make TV's or monitors that can view anything better than 1080p HD.

Be a hero, go pro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F69xtx2q70o

Here is another one. I believe this one is shot in 720pHD but the quality is still very good. If your looking for professional style video of ducks 80 yards away up close and personal you will need several thousands of dollars of equipment and lenses with a very high range of optical zoom to do that and it will still be the same quality as a gopro = 1080p HD, zoomed in.