Go pro silver or tough camera .. .

[BassMoore]

Hey guys I'm looking for feedback on the go pro silver edition .

My dad has offered to purchase this for Christmas for me as we both want to take some videos

I'm looking for guys who use this and what are their opinions.


I'm skeptical to buy this because I know the newer touch cameras can take better videos and pictures and are wifi and have mounts



What is everyone's opinions .. Get the go pro. Or go with the tough camera

[Sun]

That's a tough call...I don't have a go pro, but I did struggle with making a similar decision last year. I decided to go with a tough camera instead of a gopro. I can tell you some reasons why I prefer my Olympus Tough camera over a go pro, though.

-I don't have much free time, and I don't want to be spending my free time going through videos to cut out the boring parts of a trip.
-I see a lot of marvelous things while I'm on the water, and I want to be able to capture those views as I see them. I can do that more easily with a camera secured in my PFD than with a go pro mounted on my head like the Google Streeview car. The other option is to have the gopro mounted behind me or in front of me...but I still prefer the accessibility of the camera in my PFD.
-When i bought the camera I felt like $300 spent on a camera would give me better picture quality than a $300 video camera would give me video quality.
-The tough camera has a video mode, which works well enough for the times when I do want to shoot video.
-I take my camera everywhere - not just on the water. Weddings, family outings, parties, etc. I might look a little silly trying to take pictures with a gopro.

With all that said, I think I have had one occasion where I wished I had a gopro. I tried taking a video of myself fishing when we were in a school of redfish, but it took a while to put my camera in video mode, mount it on my panfish in front of me, and then to get the camera aimed in the right direction. It kind of worked...I was actually surprised by the quality of the video - however it wasn't far enough in front of me to get the shot I wanted. But that was just one trip out of an entire year of fishing. I am not yet convinced that I need a gopro.

[firemunkee]

Nice write up Sun! My sister-in-law has the tough tg1 and while she doesn't fish we did take it one cruise and had extensive use of water shots, under water, action, scenery, etc., and I would say it matches Sun's testimonial. It performed great as a digital camera, and did have impressive video quality. Considering whether you want to take more of photos vs videos is a good point.

[JohnE]

After a lot of deliberation, I pretty much decided the same as Sun. I would rather have an awesome camera that I will occasionally use for videos than a dedicated action cam. I'm not that interested in spending a lot of my free time editing videos.

I now have the Nikon AW110 and I'm probably going to keep it...unless I see the panasonic or olympus go on sale for closer to $200--in which case I will take the aw110 back to Costco. Thought about an action cam for a while, but the only advantage I see is the built in remote. The new panasonic, olympus, and nikon will do pretty much everything better than the Gopro H3 black. They are all rated higher, and surprisingly the new version--H3+ Black--is rated lower than its predecessor, while the silver is a lower end model.

Will probably post a report with pics from the new aw110 after my trip this weekend.

Here are some side-by-side comparisons:
http://snapsort.com/compare/GoPro-HE...-Coolpix-AW110
http://snapsort.com/compare/GoPro-HE...-Black-Edition
http://snapsort.com/compare/GoPro-HE...Tough-TG-2-iHS

[kuljc]

I have a friend that bought a go pro after he was debating a lot between camera and gopro because he wanted video, and it can still take good photos.

But for me personally I'm going to get a olympus TG-2. Waiting to see if there'll ever be a sale or if the price will go down a bit before next season. But my main focus was an underwater camera I could take snorkeling and scuba diving, and also take kayaking. The AW110 doesn't hold up well in underwater, and from many reviews starts breaking after the 4th or 5th use underwater (but for kayaking I've read it's great). The TG-2 seems to work better and hold up well underwater. The GoPro works well underwater with the case, but without zoom, I'd prefer a camera.

Not sure what else you wanted to do, but I've been reading up a lot about the cameras in the past couple weeks. So just giving you my brain dump.

[Turtle135]

I have no personal experience with this camera but somebody posted it on another forum (I thought it looked pretty cool, maybe another player in the game).

Drift HD Ghost Action Camera

http://store.driftinnovation.com/cam...FU_NOgodsjgAtg

[JohnE]

I wasn't sure about the aw110. Some bad reviews on underwater use, but I think most of these people are just not using it properly. Lots of people say it works great underwater and holds up well. This guy's review helped me decide to give it a shot: http://edkphotography.com/blogsite/t...w-nikon-aw110/. Plus it is $130 to $150 cheaper than the panasonic and olympus right now, both of which are way overpriced.

I will test out the aw110 and return to Costco if I have any problems.

I was also looking at Drift before. There are actually quite a few other action camcorders from Sony, Polaroid, JVC, Contour. You can get a pretty decent one for less than $150 these days.

[charlieru]

It all depends on what you want to do. I usually carry one of each. The GoPro because of the convenience of recording videos and the camera to snap pictures of the catches as well as any other subjects that are to nice to be photographed instead of being recorded. My philosofy is "Don't go broke buying these gadgets unless you are going to be making videos for the whole world to see or taking pictures for magazines" I just like to go out to fish and paddle, the rest can be documented as simple as possible.

[JohnE]

I can't afford both. The new tough cameras will shoot vids about as well and as easily as the gopro or other action camcorders. I can see the advantage of having the dedicated video camera since it seems like a pita if you mount the cam on a pole and then want to remove it to snap photos. I have come up with an idea to mount a flexible camera arm on a track with quick-release knobs to slide it into position for videos and bring it in close for snapping pics. Should be able to do it with one hand. Don't really see the need for both a camcorder and tough cam if the system works out the way I want it to.

[DOGFISH]

It is really apples and oranges. For the original dilemma, I would probably go for a tough camera. I continue to take stills with my Sony camera, while the GoPro cameras are taking video. If you are not doing both, the tough camera would be more utilitarian.

Of course for next spring, I am going to try the Garmin Virb Elite. It looks to act and operate more like a small video camera. I have had very good luck with my GoPro cameras, just want to try a new camera. Photos and videos are great. However, the more I get into that sort of thing, the more it takes away from fishing. That is another concern.

[BassMoore]

As of right now I'm going with the soby pov hd 30. For video n either a nikon or sony tough camera for under water.

But I've watched many videos n read many reviews. Sony seems to be running away from go pro with its video recording capabilitys cause go pro to aoon release a go pro hero 4 gold.

And sony is 175$ cheaper

[charlieru]

I can't afford both. The new tough cameras will shoot vids about as well and as easily as the gopro or other action camcorders. I can see the advantage of having the dedicated video camera since it seems like a pita if you mount the cam on a pole and then want to remove it to snap photos. I have come up with an idea to mount a flexible camera arm on a track with quick-release knobs to slide it into position for videos and bring it in close for snapping pics. Should be able to do it with one hand. Don't really see the need for both a camcorder and tough cam if the system works out the way I want it to.

JohnE

I could not afford my GoPro either. Do what I did, ask "Santa Claus" for an action camera. That's the way I came to own a GoPro..We are never to old to make Santa's good boy list HO! HO! HO!

[JohnE]

JohnE

I could not afford my GoPro either. Do what I did, ask "Santa Claus" for an action camera. That's the way I came to own a GoPro..We are never to old to make Santa's good boy list HO! HO! HO!

Ha, but that is how I am getting the aw110. Just opened my present early to make sure I like it enough to keep it. I am going to put this thing through some extreme tests to make sure it can hold up...if not back to Costco it goes. They take everything back--just have a 90 day limit on electronics.

Now, I think the bad reviews about the waterproof abilities of the aw110 are a result of people not realizing the limitations of the camera and/or not using common sense. Seems like most of the complaints are from people who used it in tropical places snorkeling. The most likely problem is that the camera can't be exposed to temps over 104 degrees for extended periods of time. Those people probably left it on the beach in a bag and caused problems with the gasket material. They may have also got sunscreen or little bits of sand or other debris on the gasket when changing battery or memory card. It might not be the best choice for snorkeling in tropical places because of the 104 degree limit. I am sure the gasket material on other brands are subject to similar problems. I don't plan on snorkeling or even using it in very hot, tropical climates but will keep in mind the limitations if I do. Now, I do plan on using it in extreme cold temperatures on snowboarding trips...so compromising the gasket from very cold temperatures worries me more.

From all the research I have been doing lately, the aw110 seems to be the best bet currently for a tough camera on a budget...hard to beat for the price ($200 @ Costco with case and 8gb memory card or just under $200 on amazon).

I think I might also go that same route and get both eventually. Might go for the JVC addixion or one of the other less expensive cams to start out with...I don't need the absolute best quality in the world, but may eventually upgrade if I get into videos.

[firemunkee]

My sister-in-law dropped her tough in the sand multiple times and took it snorkeling and she hasn't had any problems with it.

[buzz]

I have a GoPro Hero2 and love it. That being said, if I had to choose between taking a still camera or video recorder with me it would be the still camera hands down.
All one has to do is look at Snaggedline.com. What do you see more of here? Photos or video?

Video recorders are usually mounted in a fixed location whereas most folks keep their still camera handy for recording their pullage and the occasional scenic shot.
Get yourself a reliable waterproof camera for now. Worry about the video after you have already missed several awesome fights.

This might help... Waterproof Camera Group Test - June, 2013