So I bought a GoPro ...
... and these things are magic.
If there's anything that says "You live in the future, man", it's a camera half the size of your computer mouse making video at resolutions almost unheard of five years ago.
Ever since the HD Hero came out in 2010, I've wanted one. No idea what I'd use it for, but it seemed so cool. All those action shots of professional athletes flooding the internets whetted my appetite.
And now it's mine. It's finally mine! Mwahahaha.
As a responsible adult I waited for the right moment to buy the new toy. They aren't expensive, but at $300 for the mid-range version, they aren't super cheap either. Of course, in Slovenia the same package costs about 400 euro, so currently being in the US helped a lot.
I bought the GoPro for two reasons:
- I wanted to take cool shots of last Sunday's paintball game between everyone at Dwellers. But I didn't because there was nowhere to mount the camera.
- August Longboard Roadtrip. Need I say more?
After a few days I couldn't take it anymore.
Stuck a mount on my helmet, connected my phone to the camera, and went for a cruise around Stanford and Menlo Park to "make a video of the area for my friends and family back home". Bollocks, just wanted to play with the toy!
But the video turned out great. If way too long.
It was dusky when I went out, but the 170 degree angle and fancy camera settings I will never understand made the video even brighter than reality. Since when don't cameras need obscene amounts of light to make quality video anymore?
Despite its size the camera feels surprisingly heavy on the helmet. Then again, it is encased in a waterproof shell that will withstand practically any impact you throw at it. And you can still click all the buttons!
But my favorite feature is the wi-fi. The GoPro can create a wi-fi hotspot that you connect to with your phone and use an app to control the camera.
You can see the preview - there's even a delay that makes it useful when the camera is on your head - turn on recording, adjust all the strange settings and turn the camera on and off.
There's even a feature that makes the camera beep so you can find it when it jumps off your head and into some bushes after a gnarly crash.
You don't want to see the two videos I made of Stanford, they're long and boring, so here's a video of me falling on a hill near Xerox Parc and chasing the longboard down the hill when it ran away.
