GoPro has announced the newest versions of their action cameras; the Hero5 Black and the Hero5 Session, as well as their own drone, called Karma. Hero5 Black The new Hero5 cameras have the same basic form and shape as the previous Hero4 models — and will fit existing mounts — but amongst other things they add waterproofing (good to 33 feet), so you don’t have to use them inside a plastic shell if you’re worried that they are going to get wet. The Hero5 Black has the same resolution and frame rate of the Hero4, but adds a touchscreen on the back, […]
by Michael Murie on Sep 23, 2016Polaroid sent over their handheld 3-axis stabilizer for GoPro for a hands on review. In the video below I do a run through of the device along with taking it out for a spin with some test footage. At $180 it’s one of the least expensive gimbals for GoPro, and the shots are impressively smooth. Controlling the camera takes a little getting used to. It works with the HERO 3/3+/4. You can use it with or without an LCD BacPac (it includes a spacer when using it without). I caved and bought the screen because it was getting hard to operate holding a phone […]
by Joey Daoud on Jun 29, 2016One of the little gems I stumbled on in the far reaches of the central hall at NAB last year was Polar Pro, a company that’s been putting out clever GoPro rigs (among other things). I got a chance to put some of their gear to the test on a recent climbing trip in Arizona. Here are my thoughts. ProGrip and StrapMount The ProGrip is a handy mount for the GoPro and remote, making handheld shots a little more stable and adding easier access to control of the camera with the placement of the remote. I loved it. The handle […]
by Joey Daoud on Jan 11, 2016Looking back on 2015, while there were few real stand-out innovations, the advances in the world of cameras and gear continued to march relentlessly forward. Cameras This was the year that Panasonic finally shipped their 4K Varicam 35, but for the indie filmmaker it was probably the announcement of the $4,000 Panasonic AG-DVX200 4K camera — which features a Four-Thirds sensor — that was more interesting. Ideal for run-and-gun documentary work, you might think of it as the GH4 with better audio and a good fixed zoom lens. For the narrative filmmaker, or those that want/need a bigger sensor, the […]
by Michael Murie on Dec 30, 2015Chances are that if you’ve heard anything over the past few years about Leith, North Dakota, it was related to infamous white supremacist Craig Cobb’s attempted takeover of the micro-sized city. Self-proclaimed as “one of the most famous racists in the world,” Cobb descended upon Leith’s unassuming community (population size: twenty-four) in the summer of 2013, attempting to purchase as much land as possible to morph into a haven for fellow white nationalists and white supremacists. What first sounded like a deranged urban legend ultimately became a reality, as families with similar points of view moved in with their swastika flags displayed […]
by Erik Luers on Sep 9, 2015My gripe with most found footage horror films is that the subgenre strips away so many of a filmmaker’s paintbrushes in the name of verisimilitude. Score, editing, composition and lighting are sacrificed at the altar of faux reality. Unfriended strains under some of those same constraints, but the film diverges in the way it uses perspective. Instead of limiting point of view to a single shaky handheld camera wielded by one of the characters, Unfriended unfolds entirely on the Mac laptop of Blaire, a high schooler who, along with five or her friends, is terrorized by the spirit of a […]
by Matt Mulcahey on Aug 13, 2015Today GoPro announced the release of their first brand new camera in nine years: the GoPro HERO4 Session. The reviews trickling in thus far are fairly positive, despite noting the trade offs that accompany a design that is 40% smaller than the current HERO4 line. (For starters, the camera will reorient itself based off a 180 degree axis, but it cannot rotate at a 90 degree angle.) On the plus side, the Session comes waterproof (up to 33 feet) straight out of the box, and has an in-camera microphone that drains as you move from liquid to air. It’s available July 12 for […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jul 6, 2015I know, another company with more GoPro accessories. At first I was skeptical that I’d see something new, but as someone who dives and hikes, just about everything I saw from PolarPro solved a lot of mounting and accessibility problems I’ve had in the outdoors, from keeping the camera quickly accessible to adding extra power. It’s not much of a surprise these are well thought out accessories. Company founder Jeff Overall is an action sports enthusiast himself and was looking for a decent polarizing filter for his GoPro for snowboarding. When he couldn’t find one he made it and started PolarPro during his […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 19, 2015While GoPros shoot great action footage, there’s some effects you may want that can only be achieved through filters. Fotodiox offers a filter set and mount to offer more control over your GoPro image with their GoTough filter adapter and WonderPana filters. I tested out a set with the HERO 3+. The kit really depends on the housing used, so it can work with a HERO3 or HERO4 too and there’s an adapter for older HERO3 housings. The kit comes with a 53mm filter adapter, UV, ND8, and a polarizer filter. Because of GoPro’s auto settings you won’t see much of […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 13, 2015Filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough is in the final days of an Indiegogo campaign for his skater doc, The Motivation 2.0: The Chris Cole Story, currently featured on our partner page. Below, he writes about his use of GoPro cameras for his independent films. Visit the Indiegogo page for more information on his project and please consider donating. GoPro cameras have long been popular in the action sports market and reality television, but have been completely ignored by the indie film community. This should change and here’s why: Recently I needed to film a car scene, where two characters were driving and […]
by Adam Bhala Lough on Oct 16, 2014