The GoPro 3 is an impressive camera when you look at cost, size and capabilities. Now, I would never use this camera for interviews or a main camera with b-roll, but for $400 this makes an amazing C camera and opens some doors for new ideas and shots. Let’s break down a few of the features.

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SIZE AND MOUNTING OPTIONS

The GoPro fits in the palm of your hand and weighs about as much as your iPhone. Awesome. This means you can mount this camera anywhere and don’t need much to keep it in place. The housing even allows you to shoot underwater. This is unbelievable. No extra gear is needed to do it either. One of my favorite mounts is the car mount. You can get some really cool angles of city and landscapes without drawing too much attention to your self. There are tons of other mounts for mountain bikes, road bikes, body mounts and helmet mounts. This can add production value to an otherwise boring shot on a tripod. My favorite mount of all would have to be the one on our remote control helicopter. Within 10 minutes we can be up and flying the camera around. Amazing.

QUALITY

How good is the GoPro? We would need to look into what you are trying to get out of it. If you want to shoot it as a main camera then it will disappoint. If you want some car mounted shots or underwater footage without breaking the budget this camera will work great. Put it this way, Shane Hurlbut is shooting his newest feature film, Need for Speed, and using GoPro3s to get some of the shots. You have a ton of options in terms of frame rate and and quality. In HD mode (1920×1080) the GoPro 3 allows you to shoot at 24, 48 and 60fps. You can also bump up to 2.7K and shoot at 24fps. What I really enjoy is being able to shoot in a flat profile to give you more options with coloring in post production.

HOW CAN YOU USE IT?

If you are looking to add some adventure to your video or spice things up with unique angles, time-lapse or even aerial footage, you will want us to have the GoPro on set. This is a tool and it isn’t right for every project but when the right project calls, the GoPro can really excel.

Here’s a demo of some of the shots we have gotten with the GoPro3