Okay looking to invest in a gopro for some surf action and wondering what to go for. Is there a big difference between the newest gopros and earlier models? Looking at the Hero 3+Silver at this stage but all suggestions welcome.

I think if I was buying a new GoPro I'd buy the new 4 in silver..

I use the old GoPro 2 and get pretty good results so things like angles, lighting and editing are more important than the camera IMO..

The 3+silver should be great..

Mate, I have a hero 3 white and also a hero 4 silver and the 4 does beat the older model with quality of footage hands down but does chew the battery quicker, even with the rear screen turned off. Im not sure of the resolutions for the 3+ but if you have the choice try to make sure it has 960 by 60 fps. It has awesome clarity while not filling your memory card, great for stills too and also is "taller" and doesn't cut your head off especially on shorter boards. Hope this helps

Select to expand quote

yt04 said..
Mate, I have a hero 3 white and also a hero 4 silver and the 4 does beat the older model with quality of footage hands down but does chew the battery quicker, even with the rear screen turned off. Im not sure of the resolutions for the 3+ but if you have the choice try to make sure it has 960 by 60 fps. It has awesome clarity while not filling your memory card, great for stills too and also is "taller" and doesn't cut your head off especially on shorter boards. Hope this helps

Is it actually taller or is it just narrower? You would have to look at the output of two cameras side by side pointing at the same subject to know for sure. I'm assuming GoPro cameras have a native record capture of 16:9 aspect ratio and they compromise the recording information for the 960 (4:3) setting. However I could be wrong, it may be a native 4:3 ratio that cuts top and bottom of frame to offer 16:9 for the 720 and 1080 settings.

Woody, I'm not exactly sure as being a true Aussie bloke, I never bothered to read the manual. I believe (please tell me if I'm wrong, only way to learn), that the 4 can select different resolutions all the way to 4k and the 960 is equivalent to 4:3 which is way better imo for surf footage as you don't waste it on wide edges while being "short". When on my shorter boards I can barely get my head in the shot with the hero 3 and I'm only 5'9, but the 4 does it easy and looks great. Cheers

I just found this on the gopro site and it's a breakdown of hero 4 silver resolutions. Perhaps somebody a lot more learned than me can enlighten us. Cheers

I'm a Gopro pig and have a bunch of them from hero , whites , blacks 3 & 3+ , Silver 4 & Black 4. The new silver 4 is the killer , so easy to use great image stabilisation and super hi res and great colour & really sharp. The Black 4 is for guys like me who want to milk vision but honestly the GP4 Silver is the one. Check out this video I shot last week in my boat with the GP4 silver on a pole I was hand holding whist driving. Super stable and great colour and the under water footage is amazing. It's way better than the GP3+Black. I'm nothing to do with Gopro it's just good gear. Play it in HD to see the sharpness.

This video is shot in Pal 25p 2.7K Superview.

Just a thought... I have a silver 4, but I also have a plain hero. There is a huge price difference. What do you want to do with the video you create?

Per the previous posts, the black can produce amazing results, the silver is pretty darn good - but the hero is cheap and for what I do with my vids (look at them on my computer screen and maybe post to Vimeo) the Hero does an adequate job. I bought the hero so I had the option of using two at the same time (e.g. one on the paddle and one in my mouth or on the nose of the board) and so that I had a backup (my old gopro is at the bottom of Picnic Bay!).

(Note that the hero, among other limitations, does not have a removable battery, and you can't replace the case.)

Have killed 3 go pros......one hero basic snapped the mounts and escaped......one hero basic drowned after closing catch opened after high speed impact........one go pro 4 silver drowned after similar hard heavy fast wipeout.......just adapting a $40 720 p 30fps camera to a paddle mount at moment......could be cheaper
When I buy another go pro will be using stretchy cable ties to help keep the opening door shut

Thanks gizzie, I haven't heard of the door coming open before and definitely a good idea to use another strap as backup. I've broken a few mounts when landing on the camera but haven't broke the camera as yet, touch wood!

I whacked a GoPro with a paddle once when surfing. The door half opened, but by some miracle the camera did not get wet...

The new GP4 cams have a smaller case and new clip , its a much more snug fit.

Select to expand quote

Piros said..
The new GP4 cams have a smaller case and new clip , its a much more snug fit.

It was my GP4 Silver - but I gave it a fair whack!