GoPro Hero3 battery life sucks or user error?
 

Hey folks,

picked up a GoPro Hero3 Black edition the other day and took it out for a day of riding. The only thing I have to say about the camera right now is that the battery sucks for both the remote and the camera.

Weather was in the 30* range yesterday. So not super cold.

The remote:
I had it attached to the zipper on my jacket pocket. I tucked it inside so it wouldn't be flapping around and also not directly exposed. At the second chair, I went to go fire it up and the lcd only got to "low battery" and never fully came on. I figured it was because of the cold. However, I gave it a charge last night to see how it would work at room temps. One thing I noticed is that when I unplugged it, it automatically turned on and started searching for the gopro. I came back about two hours later and it was done. does that sound about right to anyone? seems like a not very long time to me for a day of riding. I don't want to have to turn on/off the remote everytime I record something. Seems to reduce the convenience of having a remote.

The camera:
First off, there was a little user error here. I had switched modes to burst mode and was kicking off the 30/1 sec photo burst. Very much to my friend's dismay as he hit a couple big drops to start the day. All I had were stills looking at him before dropping in. I did a bout 10 of those before realizing something was up. So I got it into video mode at 1080. I only got about 10 minutes of video after that. This was over a 2 hour period. That hardly seems reasonable to me.

So, what are others experiencing? is this just how GoPro cameras are? I would get about 4 hours out of my contourhd. I truly wish the Contour Roam was a higher end camera. I reallly like the convenience of the on/off/record slider in terms of batter management. Featurewise the GoPro is amazing and I really hope there is something I can do to get around this battery issue.

I barely make a day with 2 batteries on my hero2. Im not shocked the hero3 battery life isnt much better.

I've just gotten a GoPro 3 Black... I've got the original battery + 3 extras. Haven't ridden a full day yet, going out tomorrow!!

Not your fault, the Hero3 battery isn't holding well for most people, specially when you use the higher resolutions. Here are some test results from someone on another board testing the Hero3 Black:


Hope it helps!

GoPro is notorious for having terrible battery life in general. You are much better off bringing extra batteries so you don't have to worry about having enough time to film what you want to film.

YUP!!! Even with the battbac on my GP Hero I, & turning it off @ the bottom between recording, (...this is on SE MI. 90 sec.-3min. downhill bunny run blues & blacks BTW!) I needed 2-3 extra batteries to get thru the day! Need another 2-3 to get my Hero II thru a day!!!

I know, I KNOW!!! What a "Gapper" & Why bother with a GP, let alone 2 on this shit??? Gimme a break, I'm a NooB & didn't know any better!! (...besides, nobody I know would have believed I was doing as well as I was without Proof!!!) :)

...Aww who am I kidding?? I just like looking' at myself!!!! :laugh: :dunno:

the WiFi has it's purpose at times, but it's gonna be a battery killer for your phone and camera. I don't want a device in order to control my device...

Here is my solution: Drift HD Ghost | Drift Action Cameras
and with the two-way remote, "am I on" is no longer the question.
+ Camera Power: 1700mAH rechargeable lithium-ion battery (included) (DC 3.7V) = 3 hours

Went boarding today.
Only changed batteries twice, one didn't even die - I changed it over at lunch so I wouldn't have to do it again.

Pretty happy with the result.

how did you manage the battery though (if you did)? was it on the whole time? did you turn it on/off in between recording?

I was just checking out that Drift, but even they list the battery life as just 3 hours. that's 50% longer than what I got, but It also doesn't have 1080/60fps. That was the biggest draw for me to go with the GoPro. highest 60fps was at 720 and I was already getting that with my ContourHD. I realy wish the Contour Roam was a higher end camera. I think I'd rather have the Drift over the contour with the 2" screen. Heh, my dSLR only has a 1.8" screen (Canon 20d).

In the end, the 1080p/60fps is a really big draw. Apparently also a big draw on power. :s Ok, so the power solution for the camera is to have multiple batteries. Any thoughts on how to prolong the charge on the remote since the battery isn't removeable? One thing I was thinking about doing was putting the remote on a lanyard and keeping it tucked in my jacket. That way it stays warm. I really think the cold did it in. I'm curious how long an iPod Touch will stay powered in the cold. Eventually I'll be able to use that for the remote.

thanks for all the responses. I'm not a frequent visitor here and need to figure out how to make sure I receive updates.

What do you use to edit?
How much slow-mo do you actually use in your videos?

For all the talk about fps, most video editing programs (like iMovie) don't even take advantage of the extra frames unless you know how to conform the files in advance. I personally stopped doing slow-mos in my edits, as I feel if it's not 1000fps Cineflex it looks cheesy. My 10 cents...