Flatter lens for the GoPro!

We are gonna be back at AbleCine later  this week to play with their steadicam as we wait for ours to arrive.  I will post some footage that we shoot at the store as we play around - it should be pretty incredible - shooting at the store that is -- but I am not so sure it will be so steady, we still have to get our training.

But more to the point of this post, our latest addition to the GoPro just arrived - a GoPro Flat lens by BlurFX which will work underwater as well.  I might attach it to the skeleton case - which is more audio friendly than the air tight under water case - as I love to have the audio from the GoPro NOT get muffled for run and gun shooting and as a backup audio track when shooting local live music events for FlyMusicMan.  We usually prefer getting separate audio from a digitial audio recorder and sync it up later as we edit but its nice to have the standalone clips have good audio too - so if you have a lens that has to mount to a case, I am choosing audio over submergibility.  This lens allows you to use standard filters as well.  COOL.  

So this little puppy will definitely give me more creative options out of the GoPro.  And since we are insisting on using 24 fps the GoPro is forced to shoot at 48fps, wide angle only and a resolution of 1280 x 960.  So tempted to switch to 30 fps to get full 1920 x 1080 but I would rather buy a better camera instead of giving up on my beloved 23.976 fps.

I have even considered shooting in PAL, which the GoPro will do 1920 x 1080 at 25 fps and let the internet figure it out.  But then I would be stuck with PAL masters.  (I am in the USA)  Or one could convert the PAL to 24 fps by slowing the framerate by one fps and slowing down the audio by that amount - but you see what I mean, just buy a better camera that shoots the pro format.  Sort of like hating ice cubes in your beer and all you need to do is buy a bigger refrigerator - just do it, beer is life and so is 23.98.

And to that, I have some breaking news about out next camera - it is gonna be great.  STAY TUNED.  A new camera already?  We haven't even started talking about the VIXIA yet.

So this is big.

FLYfx and our quest to "give back" after a great year has yielded some incredible magic.   We started a parallel blog, The Fly Music Man - flymusicman.blogspot.com as you know and after a few nights out shooting we decided to go completely bananas and purchase a Steadicam Pilot from AbleCine in NYC, our new favorite hang out.  Here's a fun little clip showing the basic idea and amazing Steadicam technology. 

We will now be FLYing cameras as well as fx at FLYfx.  We also upped the anti again on our camera collection with the purchase of a Canon 60D.

THERE'S A GOPRO FACEBOOK PAGE - obviously.

Here's the link.  I am sure you already knew this.  So much to talk about, stayed tuned, it's gonna be amazing!

Another youtube find - bird steals GoPro... LOL!

Had to share this.  Apparently a seagull picked up this dude's camera and flew away with it to try and eat it on the top of a nearby wall.  Again, the rugged little GoPro held up just fine.  LOL!!!

I love the sound of the bird breathing, reminds me of my heavy breathing when running with a camera.

How waterproof is the GoPro housing?

So just how "waterproof" is the underwater housing that comes with GoPro?  This YouTube clip says it all.  This dude lost his GoPro and had it returned to him 2.5 months later.  Not only did the camera stay dry, the SD card was completely dry, and the footage was retrieved.  Incredible.

GoPro: The darn thing just looks cool.

I have to say, everywhere I go with my GoPro, people seem to take notice.  This little camera just looks cool.

I keep mine in a soft cotton sack that I then put into a camera case.  Right away I realized that the "waterproof housing" that it ships with will muffle your sound when shooting "above water".  So I quickly ordered the "skeleton housing" which resolves this problem and will give you access to the usb connector for charging or offloading your material - for this reason, for my "above water" use, this is my preferred case.  This case also allows the camera to stay cool in places where heat is a concern.

So what is a GoPro camera anyway?

A GoPro, or in my case, the new GoPro2 is a "wearable" camera, small and tough with some surprising capabilities - you know, right? - (if you don't already know how cool a GoPro is let me know), in my honest opinion it has a few shortcomings - but the new GoPro2 has tons of improvements over the original - and the price did not go up,  Overall GoPro2 is a fun and very capable little camera that will make you smile for sure.

Here are a bunch of ideas, some basic info and my thoughts in general - which I hope will be practical, useful info for anyone considering buying a GoPro.  Maybe not the tech spec rundown you might want but there are tons of dudes out there doing the nitty gritty. After GoPro, I will move on to other Cams.  On deck is the Canon VIXIA HGF10.

The first thing I thought when I first saw a GoPro in person was its size, which was smaller than I had imagined - especially when you take it out of it's housing.

 Drinking a Budweiser tonight, btw.  Make that two.

The Motion Picture Collective User Group.

Just got back from The Motion Picture Collective user group meeting at AbelCine in NYC.  I am familiar with the neighborhood having worked at Technicolor, Deluxe, Berwyn Editorial and Carbon VFX which are all within a few blocks but I had never been to AbelCine before.  I actually did not know that they sold Cameras and gear of all sorts, all I knew was they were hosting a user group - with door prizes - and I was going.  Well imagine my surprise walking in to see all this gear - wow!  Gorgeous and inspiring technology that would widen the eyes of the least techno-interested among us.  I could not resist, I had to take a bunch of pics.

I giggled to myself as I pulled out my little GoPro2 and started snapping away in burst mode - burst mode is when the GoPro takes 10 pictures at a time in a "burst". I love shooting with this mode because it's a great way to make sure I get the shot - especially when you are running hand-held - if I really want to be sure that I get a winner, I will shoot two or three bursts.  You gotta wait for the beep before you can shoot again - heck I have shot 30 bursts of ten, at that point you should just set up a tri-pod.  FYI:  the GoPro makes a series of short beep sounds while shooting in burst mode - I have found that the pics are still firing off after the beeps stop so you want to hold your shot a bit.  Here are some of the selects...

While I was there, I also priced a steadicam system which I am now jonesing for.  (Is jonesing a word?  Let me know.  Apple spell checker says it is not.)

GoPro 2 in the house!

So I could not resist, I had to get a GoPro2.  They doubled the res and made tons of other improvements and are selling it for the same price.  I will dedicate the next few posts to the GoPro2.  Here is a pic from the GoPro2  A ladybug landed on my audio board and was hiding amongst the LED lights - LOL!!!  Can you find her?  (She is between and just above to top lit green LEDs.)  You can't make this stuff up.

I love the low-light grain, very sexy.

Hello World!

Yo!  Welcome to the fly camera dude blog.  We hope to make this fun for our readers with practical hands-on advice for cameras of all sorts.   Here we go!

Oh yeah, there's beer talk too.

I have had several people ask me how I got this shot, what cam, etc.  I AM SO EXCITED THAT PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY FREAKING INTERESTED.  I will spill the beans for y'all.  Thanks for playing!