Surfing Product Reviews

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The Go Pro Digital Hero Camera is an inexpensive yet well built wrist mounted waterproof camera. Retailing for $79, it’s a cheap and quick way to get instant water shots from your surf exploits. Like it’s 35mm cousin, the wrist mount keeps the camera out of the way until you want to take a shot. A quick swivel action makes the your arm the tripod and the shot quick. The cameras resolution is sub megapixel, which means the photos aren’t going too look to great printed as 4×6 glossys, but are perfect sized for sending to buddies or posting to the web.

The camera does have its drawbacks which we’ve noted below in the “Bummers” section. Expect about 25% of your shots to work and the rest to go in the trash can. The good news is that since it is digital you can fire off as many shots as you’d like hoping you get a few gems. However we found our gems fewer than expected.

Modes/Features:
Photo Mode: 640 X 480 Pixels. (260 photos @ 100Kb file size)
Video Mode: 320 X 240, 10fps, 12 second max (32 @ max)
Self Timer Mode: 10 second self timer

Accessories:
Surfer Ring Clasp (for water)
Ski Glove Clasp (for slopes)
USB Cable
Battery included
Instructions

Photo Management:
Camera comes included with a USB cable. No need to install drivers, your computer will install the camera as if it is a hard drive. Drag and drop photos. When using the camera solo, the only photo management you can do is delete the last photo or all photos. There is no review function on the camera, but a text based display. This is a bit of a bummer for those used to the instant gratification of digital cameras, but it makes the camera simple and robust.

Battery Life
Camera takes 1 AAA battery. The manufacturer recommends Li-ion batteries, especially in cold weather/water. I used a rechargeable Ni-MiH Energizer that was rated at 850MaH. I never ran out of battery but I did recharge between sessions just in case.

Depth Test
Although no formal depth tests were undergone, the camera did work at depths of 20 feet underwater without a problem. GoPro claims it is good to 30 feet and we believe them, the housing O-Ring seems quite robust.

Bummers:
LED: The LED in the viewfinder is not bright enough. The LED tells you when the camera is powered on, when the shot is taken, and blinks when taking video. In daylight out on the water, and especially underwater, the LED is too faint to really see. Not a deal killer, but let’s hope Go Pro improves this on future models.

Resolution: 640X480 resolution makes photos on par with a camera phone. Granted, that is leaps and bounds over anything else in this price range we’ve seen to take water shots. However it leaves the user hungry for more resolution for better shots. With the speed things are moving in electronics I’m sure Go Pro will bump up the resolution of these cams in the times ahead.

Speed: You have to hold the camera quite still when shooting. If you don’t, you’ll see streaking in your shots. This, coupled with the ‘zoom’ below, makes getting shots while surfing behind someone difficult, and was much easier with the 35mm version.

Shutter Delay: The first photos you take after you power up the camera will have a delay of 1 second. The subsquent photos will take much quicker. However, since the camera automatically powers off after 30 seconds of no use, you’ll find yourself with this 1 second delay more often than not.

Zoom: This is more of a trade-off than a bummer. This camera is set with a 70mm lens, as opposed to a typical 35mm lens. This is good for water shots because seldom can you get as close to your subject as you’d like. However what you lose is the ability to take “hip-shots” or other shots where you don’t have time to look thru the view finder. Whereas the 35mm camera would get some aspect of the shot, the Digital version often misses it.

Summary:
We like the Go Pro Digital Hero camera and have a good time taking it out in the water and sharing the photos. However we still think it isn’t 100% “there” yet, and needs a few improvements to be a solid part of a surfers aresenal. For only $79 it’s a pretty quick way to get into taking surfing shots in the water, as long as you are patient and don’t expect Scott Aichner quality.

Where To Buy:

Go Pro
Wetsand

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