Form factor is obnoxious; best used for forehead-cam.
Mounting options are also obnoxious. Bike clamp is:
- Plastic
- Huge
Casing is expensive and prone to failure. They use the wrong plastic. They use this clear acrylic type plastic which is prone to cracking and all kinds of failure. I can maybe understand making the front out of this stuff, but why the BACK? There's no screen back there unless you get the Backpac. There's some writing on the back but it's not like that's really critical information. They should have used a double clamp instead of a clamp and a tiny metal rod which tears through the casing due to the stress.
The only thing that really needs to be transparent is the status window and the lens; and they should have used glass for the lens instead of plastic. So in reality, the entire camera case is inverted -- the larger portion should be opaque and strong, and the front part can use the transparent stuff.
Just a completely functionally backwards casing design.
The only thing that really needs to be transparent is the status window and the lens; and they should have used glass for the lens instead of plastic. So in reality, the entire camera case is inverted -- the larger portion should be opaque and strong, and the front part can use the transparent stuff.
Just a completely functionally backwards casing design.
They use the same style of plastic, in black, for most of their mounting accessories, and thus those too are prone to failure.
They should really be using the CF type material, like what the old Automag grips are made of, as much as possible.
Thankfully, the spare parts are plentiful; you can even pick up the mounts at local stores like REI and Best Buy now.
Side note: does not maintain focus underwater. Nowhere in their literature do they mention this.
In general, it's a fairly versatile camera, even if the whole setup is a bit on the awkward side. I've taken mine biking, diving, snowboarding, paintballing, and I've even flown it on an RC plane.
Sound quality suffers when it's in the full housing, but this is to be expected.
There's room for expansion via the Hero Bus; they've released the Backpac accessory which is really of limited usefulness (a better option would be a Bluetooth preview/control) -- but it's doubtful they will release any accessories that will really help the cam live up to its full potential. Nobody ever does.
One last note... picture quality of the camera is extremely variable. The quality can be hit or miss. Sometimes it's really good, sometimes it's OK. Unknown what causes this, but if you look around you will see this issue.
In general, it's a fairly versatile camera, even if the whole setup is a bit on the awkward side. I've taken mine biking, diving, snowboarding, paintballing, and I've even flown it on an RC plane.
Sound quality suffers when it's in the full housing, but this is to be expected.
There's room for expansion via the Hero Bus; they've released the Backpac accessory which is really of limited usefulness (a better option would be a Bluetooth preview/control) -- but it's doubtful they will release any accessories that will really help the cam live up to its full potential. Nobody ever does.
One last note... picture quality of the camera is extremely variable. The quality can be hit or miss. Sometimes it's really good, sometimes it's OK. Unknown what causes this, but if you look around you will see this issue.
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