Tuesday, November 20, 2012

GoPro HD Hero 3 Panoramics

The latest addition to the GoPro family brings some impressive specs to the table.  For any sports enthusiast who wants to capture all the action, this lighter, smaller camera is extremely powerful.  I won't bore you with these stats, as there are plenty of other reviews on the new to educate you.  I plan on using it for not only capturing sports, but for aerial photography as well.   The HD Hero 3 has the same 12 megapixel image size, but has better low-light performance.  Without any wind to capture aerial images from my kite, I went down to the train station in Round Lake Beach for a quick Pole Aerial Photography session to test out the new Hero 3.  Unfortunately, RLB doesn't have much as far as photogenic scenery, and the cloudy and dreary day didn't help for my test.  Using the new Frame mount for the GoPro, I was able to attach this to my carbon fiber rig and do some rotational shots to capture a good panoramic.

52 images stitched together with Autopano Giga

My biggest complaint with the Frame mount is that is doesn't fit all of the previous model backpacs.  Most notably the battery backpac.  GoPro made a huge mistake by not making all of their add-on backpacs the same depth.  This means that you have a ton of extra back doors lying around for different backpacs.  The Frame mount will set you back $39.99 for a piece of plastic.  For me it is worth the weight savings to have this mount, but think that GoPro should be rewarding its' customers and not trying to rip them off.

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