Just put it on its highest resolution and fps. Higher resolution = clearer picture, higher fps equals smoother video.

I think fr memory I used 1920x1080 at 100fps but filmed in irregular format, ie WMA instead of MP4/mpeg... That was on gopro 2. Looked nice played on 40" tv...

yeah thanks will keep that chart handy but still lots of references to roller shutter, sensor noise and aliasing....hmmmm

why doesn't it have a mode for say "sport" which could include all fast moving variable light setups that probably 90% of people buy a gopro for.

I shot this on the black edition with settings - 720 at 120 fps. Used a helmet for the mount.

nthscb- nothing wrong with that and if I can get that good a footage straight up I'll be happy...but whats the point of having super duper hd camera and recording in 720? Just thought if it has all this ability why not use it? Not concerned with data storage as clips will be short and have 32gig card. Is the staggering in the slow mo from the editing/compressing or is that how it recorded? I only want to add music, maybe some basic transition effects and jack **** else-what program did you use to edit?

deanrobi-footage will be for myself and will watch on computer and decent large hd tv. Your advice makes me think its just going to be a matter of experimentation-both settings you like are "recommended for tripod or fixed mounting" according to gopro manual....do they consider stuck to a moving humans head as fixed mounting-who knows

I agree with warehouse on the huge file sizes. No need to go the all-out on the setting, you'll just end up spending so much time rendering and importing and exporting. For general use I'd use 720p with 60fps, which is still HD, that will give you heaps of memory and battery life too! If your doing slo-mo jack it up too 120fps.

Thanks for all that, hadn't started to consider the issues of huge file sizes created and battery use.

Good advice warehouse cheers. Between what you've all suggested I think 1080 60 for general use, 720 120 for slow mo and 720 60 if I want to get maximum battery/memory card economy. That'll keep me busy for a while.

As for editing I'm going to see how much/little the GoPro CineForm Studio can do and go from there. I would have just used windows movie maker but it requires conversion of gopro footage....may still go that way and do something similar to this mountainbikemayhem.com/helm-cam-video/edit-gopro-hd-videos-free-and-easy

I'm not an apple person so if anyone has a suggestion for a simple to use editing program different to above for simple editing love to hear it.

The dirty secret is that Go Pros are quite useless unless you consider the post side investment as well - you may as well be using a $100 knock off.

720p is more than hi res enough if you are going to web

The xtra frame rates (anything above 25p) are awesome but are a waste of time if you dont have the correct editing software to reconform your 120 fps to play back at 25p - which gives you 5 x slo mo - (1 sec recorded lasts 5 secs on screen)

Imovie and windows movie maker just throw out the extra frames and use 25 p - so you generally wont get to use the frames created to make that beautiful slo mo.
Hence all the crappy slo mo you see on the web with the stuttering frames where people thought they were using the higher frame rates but the free software just ignores the extra frames.

You need final cut x , final cut studio, Premiere Pro etc etc to take advantage - if you dont have these then just shoot at 720 25 p and be done with it. - these more professional packages give you the benefit of being able to work with transcode mastering formats like Pro res

There MAY be a Cineform / Mpeg streamclip workflow to capture and render out reconformed movies - but these workflows often depend on you having the intermediate codecs - which having Final Cut / Premiere gives you.

If all this sounds complex - (it is) - and its the full story that most people dont get when buying a video camera.

Final Cut X is excellent value at around $300 dollars online if you are apple esque.

I had some of the first go pro 2s in Australia (i ordered 4 of them) and have found that over the years i just tend to use them as locked off tripod wide angle timelapse options these days - MOST (but not all) mount shots are a waste of time - - like the nose mount (unless its a SUP where you can get the camera away from the riders feet)or helmet cam (unless you are tracking someone ELSE)



Treat them like a normal video camera and there are tons of options to have fun - i did a trip to Japan where i ONLY used a go pro (amatuer snow boarding action alert)



If you have a steady hand Go Pros are great for hand held dollies / handheld steady cam work as the wide angle tends to iron out the bumps.

Great post Reflex has answered a few of my questions regarding stuttering on other people's posts. I have been using Final Cut Pro and getting some great slow- mo, especially in the snow.

I have been having a few small issues editing gopro footage on my Mac book air but going to update this week to a more powerful Mac book pro which should help solve the problem.

Cineform is not much good for other than very simple changes to colour etc

Good post reflex films. I like your comment about the dirty secret - very true.

I just found a video tutorial on how to do slow mo using the free cineform software for GoPro. It utilises the faster frame rates before final editing can be done in imovies etc.
Found here:

People buy GoPro because they believe their buying the best.
Simply, GoPro is over hyped and over sold.

GPH3black is designed with pro setting so amateurs buy it thinking they have the best camera, fact - it wont suit 90% of customers needs. I bought one for pro jobs but now wont use it because as a pro camera it doesn't do the job.
For anyone looking to buy GoPro get GPH3silver. (my advice is consider another brand).

All we need for action sports is max 720p and high frame rates. 480p does the job fine but the public are infatuated with HD.
If you insist on HD (whatever HD actually means) and want to crop or stabilise footage shoot on 1080, 960 or 720. If you are terrible with a composition shoot on 2K.

With the GPH3black I shoot 960@50fps. Protune off (so I don't have to fiddle with editing).
I've happily cropped 720p to 576p as a zoom and stabilise function then exported as 1080 with good results on a 50" 1200p 100hz monitor.

But as said don't prefer GoPro.