GoPro HERO3+: Silver Edition

CUSTOMER REVIEW



GPH3+ Silver Edition (1.09 firmware):



I'm writing this review in a rather disappointed mood. I bought this camera for both action shoots and time-lapse no-scope astro-photography.



Some Observations:

* The camera is tiny: much smaller and lighter than the pictures would let you believe. It comfortably sits on the palm of your hand.

* Wi-Fi is a battery vampire. In my tests, it will cut published battery life in about half. And unless you have the live view BackPack, you are going to need it together with the GoPro app.

* Without a heavy investment on accessories/harnesses/handles/leashes, you will find yourself with a $300 paperweight, for all action videography intents and purposes.

* The ultra-wide has quite a bit of barrel distortion at the edges, but this is normal for this type of lens.



The disappointment:



As mentioned above, I had two purposes in mind for this camera: 1) I wanted a good under-water and action/rugged video and still camera to tote along when we go on family trips. 2) I like doing no-scope, time-lapse astrophotography and this is where this camera falls flat on its face. I ran several tests with good light and "night" light. time-lapses of clouds and of stars. And anything out in infinity came very soft, even at the center of the frame. This was a disappointment because my bud's GP2 takes much, much, much better pictures and time lapses than this much newer model. Then as some suggested, I took still pictures of myself and people standing within 10-15 feet were also soft-focused and not in a good way. Another disappointment that I mentioned above is that Wi-Fi will suck the life out of the battery really, really fast. On a full charge, I took about 32 minutes of video and about 17 still pictures before GP3+ battery dies on me.



All in all, these issues are simply too important for me and am returning the camera as we speak.



via Amazon Best Seller V2 copy copy http://ift.tt/1iHhw8O