My first post... Does anyone have experience with the new Garmin VIRB Elite HD Video camera? I think GoPro is the standard out there. Just doing my reasearch before I make that purchase...

Thanks for any insight! - Andy

https://buy.garmin.com/en…rb-elite/prod119594.html

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Andy Gardner
Hobie 21SE "Lickity Split"
Cowan Lake Sailing Association
Foster, OH
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I own 3 gopros... a hero 3 black and two hero 2's. There fantastic camera's and gopro has amazing mounts for a variety of shots. Just my two cents

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Saint Simons Island, GA
Saint Simons Surf Sailors

Nacra 6.0NA
Nacra Inter17
Hobie Wave
PSI Laser
AMF Sunfish
--

Plus 1 for the gopro. I use it a lot. Mountain biking, sailing, skiing, my dog, kids, and even videos of hummingbirds and other wildlife. It also takes fantastic pics. Super durable, high quality video, easy to use, and like loganbetts stated above, tons of mounts. Nothing comes close. The slow motion you can get with this thing is awesome. I can get down to 12% of original speed and it is still as fluid as normal. It's Unbelievable.

I did this one last week of my dad. 72 years young and still moving at a good clip :) Nothing worse than snow for videos because it wreaks havoc on white balancing. Still comes out perfect, and I did nothing to enhance it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70A7WfYW3j4

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New Prindle 18-2 Owner
Former Prindle 18 Owner
Multiple Hobie 16s
Boylston Massachusetts
Webster Lake Indian Lake Narragnsett Bay in Rhode Island
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I'll also through out that I fly rc planes with my dad a lot, and I've mounted them on all kinds of planes and even dropped one over a 100 feet and it was fine.

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Saint Simons Island, GA
Saint Simons Surf Sailors

Nacra 6.0NA
Nacra Inter17
Hobie Wave
PSI Laser
AMF Sunfish
--

Ok, you inspired me with all this gopro talk. I had a bunch of bits of gopro vid I took on a light breeze day with my dad and daughter on a small lake. It took about 45 minutes to put the compilation together:

http://www.youtube.com/wa…BJvqq60&feature=youtu.be

The suction cup mount is money for video on catamarans. Just make sure you use a tether :)

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New Prindle 18-2 Owner
Former Prindle 18 Owner
Multiple Hobie 16s
Boylston Massachusetts
Webster Lake Indian Lake Narragnsett Bay in Rhode Island
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Awesome videos ya'all... you guys are talented! So as expected - lots of praise for the GoPro... But anyone out there tried the VIRB?

Cheers - Andy

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Andy Gardner
Hobie 21SE "Lickity Split"
Cowan Lake Sailing Association
Foster, OH
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For all the praise the gopro gets, they have just as equal downfalls. I have wondered for YEARS when a company that makes good electronics to introduce something that could compete with go pro.

They have TERRIBLE battery life in the heat(when you are sailing, fishing, kayaking, etc). They also have complicated menus that are a pain in the butt mostly based on your familiarity with their obscure abbreviations.

I basically limit my use to things on the menu when out in the field; the video setting and photo setting. I set it back at the house for each one then toggle between the two when using it. I do not find it complicated. My issue is my age, I can't see the menu too well without reading glasses.

Battery life can be finicky, although it may be better on their newer iteration. I do carry a spare with me. It is easy enough replace.

Let's put it this way. Watch some TV, all action sports shows, competitions, etc. have these things placed all over the place recording the action. If it is good enough for Redbull and Nascar, it's good enough for me.

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New Prindle 18-2 Owner
Former Prindle 18 Owner
Multiple Hobie 16s
Boylston Massachusetts
Webster Lake Indian Lake Narragnsett Bay in Rhode Island
--

The Go-Pro is the standard for sure, but if you do not want a Go-pro, get a Contour. They are popular with my group and are certainly easier to use than the Go-pro.

http://contour.com/

I have both the Contour and the Go-Pro's, and use them hard. Contour's are nice and are similar feature for feature. I like the bullet design of the Contour much more than the box Go-Pro's. As for GoPros, I have over 600,000 vertical this season to date using the Go-Pros. The batteries s-u-x. Cannot even get through a day even when turning standby off, turning wifi off, and not using the remote. The other issue I have is the waterproof case buttons will sometime hang up, which is a major buzz kill when you can't turn it off. On the other hand, GoPro and third party companies have every know mount and gizmo imaginable. They have tremendous market penetration and a well deserved brand. GoPro's are my choice for scuba diving.

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Philip
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The Garmin looks sweet and I like the gps feature but I am a gopro man also, probably a sucker for all of the marketing that they have had in place "the world's most versatile camera" and seeing them used all over the filming industry. BUT the popularity has grown and made the product continually better and better and more versatile. I have to back up the battery life conversation though. I'm still on the Hero2 but that is by far my biggest complaint.

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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My recent experience with gopro. Very happy..
Some comments:
- When I mounted it at the top of the mast (second video), I changed the field of view, to the smallest if I remember well. Very useful to have the wifi and use the iphone app (in a waterproof case) or the remote of the camera. Having one huge video file is not practical, you will want to start and stop the recording at least. (though I think wifi impacts energy consumption).
- Check the mounting accessory at the first video, first image.. It's just a hole on the cap with the tripod mount accessory (plus a proper bolt at the other side). Worked perfectly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24R_BmTW64U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pelqd5CKUgI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgQxIS0TDDM

Cesar,
The Contour also has GPS.

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Philip
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Oh, nice. I must of looked at them before that or just overlooked. Either way, seems like a nice addition.

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
--

Had a closer look at the Garmin Virb's brochure, the IPX-rating of the Garmin is 7. That's not sufficient for cat-sail videos. Here's a quote from their brochure

Quote

VIRB Elite is rugged and waterproof to IPX7 right out of the box, meaning the device will withstand incidental exposure to water of up to 1 meter in depth for up to 30 minutes. For all activities that involve water immersion, the optional Dive Case is required. The Dive Case increases the waterproof rating to 50 meters and features a flat front lens for clear underwater imaging.

That raises some questions;

-What are the extra costs for the "Dive Case" ?
-What are the mounting-possibilities for the "Dive Case" ? Bet they can't beat GoPro.

-What is the influence of the "flat front lens" for above water footage ?

I use 2 GoPro's , H1 and H2. The H1 is only in use for my "speedometer".
The H2 is more then sufficient for home-made catsailing videos.
Batterie problems can be solved with numerous after-market replacements.
Common mistake made is shooting a 32 gigB card full in Hi definition, and
blame the batterie for stopping the camera.

$400 - $600 is 2 Gopro's H2 on graiglist....
Add the countless amount of mounts and parts either original or after-market

André



Edited by catmodding on Mar 15, 2014 - 04:25 AM.

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Tornado (80's Reg White)
Prindle 18-2 (sold)
Dart 16 (hired and hooked)
13 mtr steel cutter (sold)
Etap 22, unsinkable sailing pocket cruiser.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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I have a Virb Elite and tried it for the first time on my Dart18 today... I have been using it as a general sports cam.. running, cycling and all good results.
I was also pleased with my previous cams...
- Kodak Sport ZX5 was OK... also waterproof, but completely the wrong shape... any waves knocked it over and difficult to see the menu... even for simple stuff like "start recording". Broke the screen while sailing a Topper. (dropped my dagger board on it)
- ION Pro was brilliant.. fully dive waterproof out of the box and much less fiddly than GoPro. Good pictures but strong fisheye distortion. Unfortunately lost after attaching to my dog's collar... not securely enough!!

The reason I didnt get a GoPro next is that my son has one and I know they are good... but wanted something with GPS... and the VIRB lookes very capable.

The good stuff...
Very clear picture, and when you turn on fisheye reduction, very square.
Full GPS, and Virb Edit combines video, map, heading, speed on the screen automatically.
Massive battery life... 3 hours today and not yet run out.
It is fairly waterproof out of the box... went swimming with it with no problem... but wouldnt want to dive or put in the spray line of fire from the bow of the Dart.
VERY good image stabiliser.. it uses accelerometers.. which is much more sophisticated than any of the others I have seen.
The bad...
Some buggy software and have needed to reset... but its still very new (GoPro was like this initially) and there have been some fixes which appear to have solved the problems.
Much heavier than any of the others. Not a problem on the boat, but causes vibration on a handlebar mount on a bike.
Not sure if the dive box is a pro or a con... it adds to the weight... but is certainly fit for purpose, and the flat front lens means proper focus underwater. Mounting is very similar to GoPro.

Hope these comments help!!

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Dart18
Topper
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Get the GoPro!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fUEa7FRpCA



Edited by creative on May 26, 2014 - 07:42 PM.

even though it's about impossible to get steady/valuable footage while skippering a catamaran for most, don't discount the head strap mount's value

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V-ZQcycPFE



Edited by MN3 on May 27, 2014 - 05:25 PM.

looks like the newer Garmin VIRB now is waterproofed to 50m now without the dive case...has anyone checked out a newer version? Also, Sony has an action cam, then Contour and a coupe of others. Any updates from folks who have been able to compare them to GoPro's would be great to hear about. Seems the Contour and SJCAM are the price beaters for under $100.

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Marek
1992 Prindle 19
1981 Prindle 16
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Baz Darby did a nice job on " Tripoint Ocean Race 2015 on Prindle 18" on youtube except the battery ran out early (4 hr race). Pete



Edited by pbegle on Sep 10, 2015 - 03:59 PM.

This was all shot on a ViRB this summer, great camera. Very steady.

https://youtu.be/ZaYFpBReBvQ

I've owned and destroyed two Go Pros by careless handling in wet environments. In the second incident, I used the open back to allow sound to get through, which I consider critical to most videos I make. I recently purchased a splash proof Sony AS-200 @ $269 after watching some comparison videos on youtube and am so far pleased with the results. I no longer worry about use around water and it has decent sound. The battery at 1080P 30fps is around 2hrs of recording and will do 1080P 60fps, 720P 120fps. It also has wifi control, live video feed and GPS among its many features.
Some negatives-
It would be nice if it vibrated when turning on. The audible on/off tone is weak to non-existent at certain ambient noise levels and a recording light is useless when mount on a helmet. The tiny lcd window is a bit of a pain like the GoPro, but small size comes at a price. For deeper underwater shots a separate case purchase is required.

What can sound do for you- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeEN77NJdfE

just add music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTPRNHCjbwU

one issue with GoPro cam seems to be that some models have problems with larger size SD cards (64GB) that don't have really high write speeds.. I have a Hero3+ and already lost a SanDisk Ultra and Extreme XC card...then recently switched to Lexar 633X cards they recommend and while that one seems a bit better it still fragments recordings into shorter clips.

Has anyone of the users using other action cams also had this issue? It seems it's mostly wwith Hero3 and up models and there mostly @1080/30fps so if you turn down the resolution the problem seems to disappear...a bit odd when you consider SanDisk makes highly rated SD cards..
Anyway, just trying to get an idea whether this issue is GoPro specific or also exists with similar high res action cams...

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Marek
1992 Prindle 19
1981 Prindle 16
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I posted about my new Virb Elite last year... and have used it extensively since then and can only sing its praises... the software got better... and the only issue I run into is with battery charging... it gets confused and you have to let it run right down and then fully charge and all is well again.

The Virb Edit s/w has also developed... see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu2u_4n8p6k for an example of Dart 18 sailing with the GPS overlays.

Garmin have just launched a new version of the camera... but I will have to wait till I break or loose mine before I could justify buying... what I have does the job well.

You will see from the video that the south coast of England (Shoreham is just west of Brighton) tends to be a bit choppy... this is a fairly typical day.... difficult to get the speed up unless the wind swings around to the east or north... but when it does... we have some fun.

Tim

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Dart18
Topper
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the GPS data integration is a really cool feature of the Garmin VIRB...a friend of mine uses it for cycling and there it picks up speed/GPS too. It looks like from your clip you also can display current heading and tracks all from the GPS signal..

twardglo40

I posted about my new Virb Elite last year... and have used it extensively since then and can only sing its praises... the software got better... and the only issue I run into is with battery charging... it gets confused and you have to let it run right down and then fully charge and all is well again.

The Virb Edit s/w has also developed... see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu2u_4n8p6k for an example of Dart 18 sailing with the GPS overlays.

Garmin have just launched a new version of the camera... but I will have to wait till I break or loose mine before I could justify buying... what I have does the job well.

You will see from the video that the south coast of England (Shoreham is just west of Brighton) tends to be a bit choppy... this is a fairly typical day.... difficult to get the speed up unless the wind swings around to the east or north... but when it does... we have some fun.

Tim

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Marek
1992 Prindle 19
1981 Prindle 16
--

I have had an older version Go Pro and a Sony Action camera. I am now using a AEE S71, it takes really good video. I mostly use it to pull stills off video for work but its great for kayaking, canyoneering, and sailing too. I have a lot of white water kayaking friends that have been using AEE cameras with really good results. Quality gear and much cheaper than the big brands. My computer cannot handle the 4K files so I use it in 1080 x 30fps.

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Geno Hacker
Lake Isabella, California
Supercat 20, 1/2 of a B-Lion, H18, P16, H14
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I have two action cams I purchased on ebay

Coleman Conquest2

Coleman Bravo2

I also purchased a Double Power Pack 2260mAh…eable Battery w/ Housing
for both of my action cams.

Monoprice.com also sells the MHD Sport 2.0 Wi-Fi® Act…ive View RF Wrist Remote which I think is the same as the Coleman Conquest2 but did not verify it had the Ambarella chip in it that the Coleman has. The Dive Case For MHD Sport 2 holds the Coleman cams I have. I have a couple of extra cases because I found it easier to transfer the camera than to unmount the housing and remount it to a different spot.

Monoprice.com also sells a Cam Floaty. Which I mount either behind or under the action cam housing, just in case the camera falls in the drink.

I like the live wrist controller/viewer these cameras have. It helps in adusting the camera to the mount. Plus I can controll when I am shooting and confirm it is recording. Looking at the wrist LCD, is like looking at your cell phone in bright light. Both of these cameras will shut down if you have not taken a photo or video in the last 15 minutes, so being able to snap a photo from the wrist controller/viewer I am able to keep the camera from shutting down.

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Prindle 18 w/ wings, Prindle 16, Prindle 15, current
Hobie 16 in rebuild
2 Hobie 18 past
NACRA 5.2 past

Saint Cloud, Florida
member Lake Eustis Sail Club
http://www.lakeeustissailingclub.org
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The first Hero (version i) came with a warning not to use anything larger than 32 gigs
i don't recall that warning in the hero 3

I personally like the hero 3 feature that breaks up long shoots into smaller video files, makes it much more manageable to download a few files vs having to download 7 gigs for 10 seconds of great video but i see both sides of the coin

marekli

one issue with GoPro cam seems to be that some models have problems with larger size SD cards (64GB) that don't have really high write speeds.. I have a Hero3+ and already lost a SanDisk Ultra and Extreme XC card...then recently switched to Lexar 633X cards they recommend and while that one seems a bit better it still fragments recordings into shorter clips.

Has anyone of the users using other action cams also had this issue? It seems it's mostly wwith Hero3 and up models and there mostly @1080/30fps so if you turn down the resolution the problem seems to disappear...a bit odd when you consider SanDisk makes highly rated SD cards..
Anyway, just trying to get an idea whether this issue is GoPro specific or also exists with similar high res action cams...