gopro 7 black or gimbal?

[stefanocps]

hello

i have received as a gift a gopro 7 black. It is really nice and it makes good shot, but for me may be it is not of much use other than to put it together with my xt3

In your experience/opinion gopro 7 footage can match good with xt3 or may be i can replace it with a gimbal?

thank for sharing your opinion

[kye]

A GoPro can be made to look similar enough to the XT3 (or any other camera for that matter) to be used in the same edit, but you cannot improve the quality of its image, so it will always be inferior in things such as dynamic range and colour resolution, etc.  To do this kind of matching you will have to put in a lot of effort in post and have good colour grading skills.

Alternatively, the GoPro is waterproof, can fit in small locations, and has a fixed-focus wide-angle lens, which means that it never has focusing issues and can be placed to get shots you couldn't easily get from the XT3.

In this sense, the GoPro is a different type of camera than the XT3, and has different strengths and weaknesses.

My suggestion is to think about the work you do on the XT3 and consider what would give you the best improvement - a gimbal or a waterproof action camera.

Everyone works differently and only you can really understand how these options would impact your films.

[stefanocps]

thanks kye, your answer is wise and i couldn't totally agree with it. WHile i have in my hand gopro and i have an idea of what to to with it, i never had a gimbal. I know i'd like to stabilize my footage, but not all the time. Being "documentary" oriented it is ok for me not to have stabilized footage in many cases. Also what worry me is the object itslef, the gimbal that would require morte preparation, less control on the camera (i coud not work on focus or exposure while using it..is it?). So mainly i don't know what to expect when working with gimbal, wether i know that the result of working with it would be, not always, nice to have

[herein2020]

25 minutes ago, stefanocps said:

thanks kye, your answer is wise and i couldn't totally agree with it. WHile i have in my hand gopro and i have an idea of what to to with it, i never had a gimbal. I know i'd like to stabilize my footage, but not all the time. Being "documentary" oriented it is ok for me not to have stabilized footage in many cases. Also what worry me is the object itslef, the gimbal that would require morte preparation, less control on the camera (i coud not work on focus or exposure while using it..is it?). So mainly i don't know what to expect when working with gimbal, wether i know that the result of working with it would be, not always, nice to have

I agree completely with kye, only you can decide which route best suits your needs. I have a GoPro and it is awesome for underwater shots and POV shots, that's the only thing I use mine for. Underwater is something I would never try with my other cameras but with the GoPro it greatly increased the production value for my real estate tour videos, music videos, and swimsuit videos. I have the Hero 8 and it has a flat profile option which makes it pretty easy to color grade as long as the lighting conditions were well controlled.

Picking between a GoPro and a gimbal is a bit of an odd dilemma, but if I had to pick one it would still depend upon the type of work that you do. I used to put my camera on a gimbal for everything but lately I've been shooting more handheld, monopod, and tripod. Gimbals are great when you first discover them, but after the newness wears off you realize what a hassle they are and how they are not required for many shots.

 

[stefanocps]

3 minutes ago, herein2020 said:

I agree completely with kye, only you can decide which route best suits your needs. I have a GoPro and it is awesome for underwater shots and POV shots, that's the only thing I use mine for. Underwater is something I would never try with my other cameras but with the GoPro it greatly increased the production value for my real estate tour videos, music videos, and swimsuit videos. I have the Hero 8 and it has a flat profile option which makes it pretty easy to color grade as long as the lighting conditions were well controlled.

Picking between a GoPro and a gimbal is a bit of an odd dilemma, but if I had to pick one it would still depend upon the type of work that you do. I used to put my camera on a gimbal for everything but lately I've been shooting more handheld, monopod, and tripod. Gimbals are great when you first discover them, but after the newness wears off you realize what a hassle they are and how they are not required for many shots.

 

yes your experience is really what i have always suspected: after the first impact gimbals are not anymore so useful because of the hassle and still beacuse lots of time monopod, or even handheld with some shake is better than that electronic stabilization.

So gimbal may be is not what i want really.. gopro a part for the water and pov,and i use these only for my personal video, when in holiday or similar, so it looks to me a waste, and that's why i am looking for somehting to change with. I have little time to do that, and gimbal was my first thought, another could be a nice smallrig with some accessories, though i have different kind of tools for rigging (not so targeted as the smallrig though)..

it is a strange stituation, always thinking to things i need and when there is a moment to choose one..no idea 🙂

[Trek of Joy]

GoPro footage always look like GoPro footage unless you hire the company that does the post work on their promo videos. It great for action cam stuff, and the 7/8 have great stabilization. I shoot most of my stuff from a video monopod or a gimbal, the QR plate makes swapping a snap and I mostly use one lens so I'm not constantly rebalancing. But after a little practice its really quick to rebalance - at least it is with the Weebill. But I wouldn't use GoPro footage as a substitute for an XT3 unless it involved water or POV inside a car - just a situtaion where a larger camera that's not waterproof is impractical. Either way, they're very different, mostly because of the GoPro IQ - I always have one in the bag, but I find I rarely use it when there are better alternatives. YMMV.

Chris

[herein2020]

4 hours ago, Trek of Joy said:

GoPro footage always look like GoPro footage unless you hire the company that does the post work on their promo videos. It great for action cam stuff, and the 7/8 have great stabilization. I shoot most of my stuff from a video monopod or a gimbal, the QR plate makes swapping a snap and I mostly use one lens so I'm not constantly rebalancing. But after a little practice its really quick to rebalance - at least it is with the Weebill. But I wouldn't use GoPro footage as a substitute for an XT3 unless it involved water or POV inside a car - just a situtaion where a larger camera that's not waterproof is impractical. Either way, they're very different, mostly because of the GoPro IQ - I always have one in the bag, but I find I rarely use it when there are better alternatives. YMMV.

Chris

I agree, I never use the GoPro in any situation where I can economically use another camera. With that being said I do think it is possible to hide the fact it is GoPro footage. If you keep the GoPro very level to minimize barrel distortion, only shoot with plenty of light, properly white balance,  shoot using the flat profile and use the WFM in Davinci Resolve to conform it to Rec.709 then apply a final grade on top; people tend to think my underwater and POV footage was shot with my main camera. The problem with most GoPro footage is it is created by people who let the GoPro do whatever it wants in Auto mode.

 

6 hours ago, stefanocps said:

yes your experience is really what i have always suspected: after the first impact gimbals are not anymore so useful because of the hassle and still beacuse lots of time monopod, or even handheld with some shake is better than that electronic stabilization.

So gimbal may be is not what i want really.. gopro a part for the water and pov,and i use these only for my personal video, when in holiday or similar, so it looks to me a waste, and that's why i am looking for somehting to change with. I have little time to do that, and gimbal was my first thought, another could be a nice smallrig with some accessories, though i have different kind of tools for rigging (not so targeted as the smallrig though)..

it is a strange stituation, always thinking to things i need and when there is a moment to choose one..no idea 🙂

I think gimbals still have their uses mainly when you need to follow the talent or want to do advanced movements like crane, dolly, truck, etc....but if these are just for personal or holiday videos I definitely would not get a gimbal. Way too much hassle, throw the GoPro on a selfie stick, turn on HyperSmooth and call it a day. I don't know what your audio situation is currently, but if I were in your situation and money was burning a hole in my pocket I'd probably focus on upgrading the audio, getting a travel monopod, etc....endless options. My monopod gets used more than any other stabilization gear I own. Monopods help both for quick lowlight photography shots to run and gun or travel video situations where you just need a few seconds of stable footage. There's also a lot of advanced monopod movements that make them the most versatile tool I own. Here is one example video:

 

 

[herein2020]

Here is a non wedding related video showing some of the things you can do with a monopod...funny, I've never tried using it like a Glidecam but it makes sense:

 

 

[Trek of Joy]

2 hours ago, herein2020 said:

Here is a non wedding related video showing some of the things you can do with a monopod...funny, I've never tried using it like a Glidecam but it makes sense:

 

I've done that before, just loosely hold it at the base of the head with the leg extended and its pretty floaty like a glidecam. I agree with what you're saying about the versatility of a monopod, makes it easy for quick stabilization, anything high or low, fake crane/jib shots and more. Its funny, I bought the Manfrotto video tripod with the crappy head and pretty much abandoned my much nicer fluid head tripod. I actually sold my big video tripod after lugging it to dozens of shoots and never actually using it. I still find myself browsing tripods when I get the B&H notice one of them is on sale, after using sticks for so long, its weird not having one. I think a better head will take care of that though.

As far as a gimbal, it definitely depends on what you're doing. I'm doing walking stuff at 24p, so handheld is a little too shaky for me no matter how smooth I try to walk. It just makes me more efficient. If you're shooting 60p or higher for slow-mo, there's really no need for a gimbal. But I do like the parallax when you have close elements in the foreground and the camera on a gimbal, its what I like best about drone shots too. Ultimately, its just another tool in the toolbox. 

Cheers

Chris

[kye]

The other thing that we're ignoring is that the GoPro is a second camera, and a gimbal is not.

Do you ever need to get a second angle on a shot, or shoot with two cameras at once?

If so, you could use the GoPro as a second angle (obviously a wide angle!).

The other other thing we're not talking about is that if you can sell the GoPro to get a gimbal, you can sell it and get anything else you like.

In that case, you could get a cheaper older second-hand Fuji camera that will take the same lenses as your other camera, and could be used as a second angle, or have a different lens on it and instead of having to swap lenses quickly you could just swap cameras the way that professional stills photographers do by having one camera with a 24-70mm and a second one with 70-200mm.

Or audio gear or whatever else it is you're short of.

5 hours ago, herein2020 said:

I agree, I never use the GoPro in any situation where I can economically use another camera. With that being said I do think it is possible to hide the fact it is GoPro footage. If you keep the GoPro very level to minimize barrel distortion, only shoot with plenty of light, properly white balance,  shoot using the flat profile and use the WFM in Davinci Resolve to conform it to Rec.709 then apply a final grade on top; people tend to think my underwater and POV footage was shot with my main camera. The problem with most GoPro footage is it is created by people who let the GoPro do whatever it wants in Auto mode.

Agreed.

There are rules for GoPros in Hollywood films when people use them as crash cameras.  I hear that contracts with studios / Netflix / etc often have clauses for use of 'lesser' cameras like GoPros where there are clauses for maximum duration of a GoPro clip in the final edit, total number of clips, etc.  

My point about that is that they are actually used in big films, so for us lesser people we can make use of them if we know how to hide it.  

Full manual settings with NDs and proper lighting is the way to go..

[stefanocps]

actually i don't have it to sell, i can give it back to amazon and get back all the money, but i have really few time left

Of course ir right, i can think of any other thing like something for audio for example, i have a tascam dr40 plus a rode videomic, which are not too bad, may be i could add a set of wireless mic, actually one could be enough for interview

Monopod it is a chance, i have a tripod where one leg can be unscrewed and use it as monopod, sometime is annoying doing this, but is is not a real necessity though (the monopod)

whai i am getting convinced is that gopro will be of a very little use for me, though

[kye]

My advice is this:

1. return the GoPro and get your money back
2. put that money into a shoe-box in your cupboard and label it "for fixing film-making problems only"
3. go shoot a bunch of stuff with your XT3
4. whenever you encounter a problem with a real project you're doing, ask yourself the following questions:
   a) can I avoid this problem by doing more prep work?  If so, do that.  If not,
   b) can I avoid this problem by improving my knowledge and skills? If so, try and find information for free online.  If you can't find it for free online then take some of your film fund and buy some training or reference materials.  If it's not about skills,
   c) can I avoid this problem by buying new equipment?  if so, so that.

[herein2020]

11 hours ago, kye said:

My advice is this:

1. return the GoPro and get your money back
2. put that money into a shoe-box in your cupboard and label it "for fixing film-making problems only"
3. go shoot a bunch of stuff with your XT3
4. whenever you encounter a problem with a real project you're doing, ask yourself the following questions:
   a) can I avoid this problem by doing more prep work?  If so, do that.  If not,
   b) can I avoid this problem by improving my knowledge and skills? If so, try and find information for free online.  If you can't find it for free online then take some of your film fund and buy some training or reference materials.  If it's not about skills,
   c) can I avoid this problem by buying new equipment?  if so, so that.

My favorite saying is chase the tech not the tech (chase the technique not the technology). It takes a lot for me to buy something new. I have drawers full of ideas that seemed great at the time and either it did not perform like it was advertised or it just wasn't as useful as it seemed once I owned it. Now it takes me weeks just to buy simple things like brackets.

[stefanocps]

2 minutes ago, herein2020 said:

My favorite saying is chase the tech not the tech (chase the technique not the technology). It takes a lot for me to buy something new. I have drawers full of ideas that seemed great at the time and either it did not perform like it was advertised or it just wasn't as useful as it seemed once I owned it. Now it takes me weeks just to buy simple things like brackets.

exactly

even if i did not buy really lots of doing furing my "career" 🙂 i know that lots of time what i buy i really not going to use

so taking the time and see what really come uo as urgetn is the best way, in spite of the exctiment of buying 🙂