Off-topic: GoPro Sport Videos

It’s not science, but it could be used for science, if I had to chase down fossils or something. Since that’s not really an option, I’ve been using my GoPro Helmet Hero (the original, non-HD version) to capture some cool things but haven’t had a chance to blog. Here’s a video from END-IT, the Extreme North Dakota Iceman Triathlon, back in March. The disciplines were nordic skiing (doubletrack classic for the most part), cycling (some of it on snowmachine trails), and trail running. Per the END Racing creed, there was a bit of adventure thrown in. At the end we had to sled down a hill and run back up three times.


I ended up getting second overall in this race, which is far beter than how I had expected to do since I’m not a strong nordic skier. If you watch the raw footage, you can actually see where I messed up tactically–since I was wearing a camera on my head, I had to switch mounts twice (once between the ski and cycle legs and then once again between the cycle and run legs). If I hadn’t wasted that time, I may have been able to win overall–but then you wouldn’t have this cool video now, would you?

Since I haven’t posted about this camera before, I’d like to say a few things. I love it for what it lets me do, but it could be designed slightly better. A lot of people complain about battery usage, but I’ve been having success lately with rechargeable NiMH AAs rather than lithiums. It would be great to have more of an indication from behind whether the camera is recording or not, and recording without a date on the files is annoying. Also mentioned by others is the amount of recording you can do at once; I applied this firmware update and haven’t had any problems (it will let you record for twice the normal time in one file and use a larger memory card). I honestly think it’s a great little camera; it’s rugged and waterproof, it records video, it’s fisheye so you can see a lot more, and you can strap it onto yourself in a variety of ways. Thumbs up.