Looking for an "action" camera... GoPro or not?

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GeordieStew

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Hi all

I've got some trips away planned and some wildlife photography hide visits.

Considering buying an action cam to put on a small tripod to record any action I may want to watch later on. Doesn't need to be broadcast quality.

GoPro HERO11 looks to be about £350-400.

Are there any decent alternatives?
Approx how much storage would I need to record for 6 hours?
Can any action cams run off an external USB power supply? (I'll be stationary so weight isn't really an issue)

Thank you in advance!
 
I use gopro 7 black...on my 64gb card set at 1080 / 50 fps i get 3.50 hrs .. however i use 2.7k so I can zoom in later and that gives me 2 hrs .. so bigger card easy to work out

if using on a tripod an 11 might be overkill but the battery is supposed to be better

not sure if that helps but i was bored :)
 
Action 3 from DJI is pretty good and has much better battery life than gopro, you can connect a powerbank or PD charger by USB-C to more or less keep them going indefinitely.
£309 on Amazon they were £280 a little while ago so if not in a rush watch prices for a while.
The original Osmo Action is good too and now available under £200
I think a 256GB card might be enough to record 4K for six hours but 2.7K would be more manageable and 1080p is fine for most things.
 
I'm not sure any GoPro has a battery that lasts more than two or three hours. I still use a GoPro Hero3+ and that battery lasts just about two hours; I use it for recording cycle excursions. I did have to buy two new batteries over the years, one of which doesn't last very long but the second replacement lasts longer than the original did when new. When I was researching into buying a new camera for better battery life I was rather disappointed with the results; none of them last for what I want, hence I stuck with the devil I knew. I don't know if the new ones are any different from mine but certainly in the case of the GoPro 3+ you couldn't use the camera while it was charging so -- referring to post by 4wd, above -- I couldn't charge from a power bank while using it.

If you find one that has a very long battery life, come back here an tell me about it, I'll get one too.
 
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I use a Hero 9, i have the side door that has the usb opening, ive shot 15hr timelapses just by plugging a power bank into the usb slot through the opening. When i finished the power bank was down to 35% and the GoPro at 98% that was a 10000mah power bank. It just kept the GoPro topped up, it was taking a shot every 5 seconds.
 
ScottT said:
I use a Hero 9, i have the side door that has the usb opening, ive shot 15hr timelapses just by plugging a power bank into the usb slot through the opening. When i finished the power bank was down to 35% and the GoPro at 98% that was a 10000mah power bank. It just kept the GoPro topped up, it was taking a shot every 5 seconds.
Click to expand...

Juts save me doing the math.. how big was the mem card please ? :)
 
ScottT said:
128gb, dont forget i was just taking still images around 4500 of them.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeagh I have never tried a timelapse but have a project at the back of my mind... very early thought stage :)

PS Did the GoPro get hot.. was this indoors or out (relative)
 
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ah5168 said:
You can buy an accessory door from go pro that allows you to plug in a USB C connector so that you can run it off a power bank.
Click to expand...

You can just take the door off... You only need the accessory door if your expecting rain... Indoors or covered you dont need.
 
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