scope cameras or Gopro cameras

[son of dan]

hi guys, 

 

I'm thinking about making airsoft videos when I come back to England for the summer. I was wondering what's better to get, a Gopro, or a scope camera. they both look good, but I don't know which is better; and I don't know what cameras are better quality wise. would appreciate some suggestions. 

 

TIA

[Lozart]

Both.

 

Single viewpoint videos are dull as fuck.

 

That said, it entirely depends on your budget. GoPro and RunCam are the obvious options but there's plenty of reasonable, cheap Chinese knock offs out there that will give you footage, albeit with the image stabilisation of a 5 year old GoPro.

[Guest JinxDuh]

Second both for the same reason. You can definitely do it on a budget too, but with cameras you do seem to get what you pay for. 

[Dan Robinson]

3 hours ago, Lozart said:

depends on your budget

Not as much as he thinks it is  ???????? 

[Tommikka]

Start with a basic action camera, then learn what works for you.

 

GoPro carries the name, and does have the right features and specs which come with the price to go with them 

 

Alternative action cameras are up to the job - all in recent years exceed the ‘quality’ of anything you would be showing them at - YouTube etc 

Old YouTube footage from 15 to 10 years ago which looks like it was filmed with a potato gets highlighted with much nostalgia value and 

 

 

You are dependant on the sensor and chip set. If you’re going in and out of buildings then the ‘better’ cameras will cope better with the change in light conditions - but anything current should cope in a reasonable time frame

 

 

Most important is what you want to do with footage.

Are you making a full film of all your awesome actions, telling the story of your day?

Are you making a click bait kill cam video?

Are you making training feedback footage to review what happened?

Or do you just want to film some stuff and see what you get?

 

The ‘best’ footage is of multiple angles - but means lots more editing.

eg barrel cam - which mostly shows the ground and air, but gives shooting footage

Reverse barrel cam - films you 

Sight cam - which gives zoomed in ground and air

Head cam - which shows where you were looking, but can make people sick when you keep looking left, right etc, and will also show the tree or brick wall that you were hiding behind

Body cam - similar to head cam without the left/right twitching but more bouncy (check the stablisation specs)

Back cam - Strap a pole to your vest and mount a camera that films a 3rd person view 

 

 

Combine a few of those and you can edit a story - for the extra cost of multiple cameras and mounts plus edit time

 

Alternatively forget all of those, get a generic action camera with case and an assortment of mounts.  Try it in different positions and see what you get

 

 

Note that a scope camera is ‘better’ when accompanied by another camera giving a wider view

[Dan Robinson]

Just now, Tommikka said:

making a full film of all your awesome actions, telling the story of your day?

Are you making a click bait kill cam video?

Are you making training feedback f

 

I suspect he's making vids for posterity, so yeah - at least two cameras and possibly one on his aging father who can get his way round an airsoft field pretty quickly for a big fella.

 

Next time you're in Akihabara @son of dan, look in some second hand shops for GoPro 5's and above - or any native similar ones.  You won't get stiffed like you did here on eBay.  Ther ewas an awesome looking second-hand camera shop on the walk from the station to the TamTam shop - on the left side of the road.  Not sure if they'd do that kind of camera - but there would be other's I'm sure.  Might make a nice day out with Jiji?

[EvilMonkee]

Airsoft videos are like watching someone elses holiday pictures.  F*cking boring

[Colin Allen]

4 hours ago, EvilMonkee said:

Airsoft videos are like watching someone elses holiday pictures.  F*cking boring

I have to agree; it is not a spectator sport.

[Tommikka]

Something to give an example

This will just be for some indoor & partially outdoor urban play this weekend and the footage just for posterity 

 

The camera is a generic SJ4000, upside down mounted on a rail mount. (It is set for upside down recording, so unless it resets itself the resulting footage will be the right way up)

 

It’s mounted a long way forward.  Which means it will be out of my hands way when gripping - but it can look like an odd position and won’t capture the barrel for ‘gun cam context’

 

 

@son of danSomething that none of us have mentioned is ‘tethers’.  You should not rely on mounts, something will go wrong - especially when mounted in places out of your line of sight such as head mounts.  Best practice is to use a mount plus secure a tether wire so that if something fails it hangs off rather than falling in a bush

Ignore that I’m not practicing what I preach

Another thing to consider is the lights.  I’ll be in some dark underground areas so  will be trying to remember to put some black electrical tape over the LEDs.  The back screen is an option to black out - the disadvantage is switching off when thinking that you’re switching on.  It does have a WiFi mode so its possible to check on a phone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also in use this weekend is a light 

Lights should of course be off for the majority of the time, not waving around giving away our positions - it’s for searching corners of dark rooms for props & goodies

 

I was considering positioning the touch switch on the grip, and using a chopped up bicycle inner tube over the grip to hold it

But instead I have gone for the elastic band that came with the inner tube and mounted on the side of the rail 

Tape is coming in case of emergency

 

This allows for thumb contact to switch on

 

Try to ignore the barrel.  Those with a keen eye may notice the calibre