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Hey folks,

 

picked up a Gopro hero3 black 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.

 

I only got about 10 minutes of video . This was over a 2 hour period. That hardly seems reasonable to me.then battery dead

 

So, what are others experiencing? is this just how gopro cameras are? the Gopro is amazing and I really hope there is something I can do to get around this battery issue.

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Hey classic_harris,

 

I have the same camera and what I have found is the battery life initially for the first few charges was disappointing but seems to have gotten better. Also between runs and when not in use, I have taken to putting the camera in a pocket to warm it up. The cold weather sucks the life out of the small Li-ion batteries. Over the last few weeks I have taken a few hours worth of video without any issues. Hope this help you out.

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I have the GoPro 2, and the battery life, while in no way fantastic, is certainly a lot more than 10 minutes. I think I probably get about 1.5 to 2 hours filming.

You should turn off the camera completely with the switch on the front when not filming - seems like it uses quite a lot of battery just in standby. You can pick up spare batteries for about 1000 yen. I usually carry two and use one in the morning, one after lunch.

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there is an option in the settings so that it records as soon as it turns on. It's handy because when you're wearing gloves and it's on your helmet, it can be easy to accidentally change a setting, so you choose the setting you want, and only use the power button.

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The battery on the GoPro Hero3 does indeed suck. I actually ordered 2 extra batteries and a quick charger and am constantly changing batteries mid-day. I just ordered a couple BacPacs - I heard they add considerable life to the crappy stock battery (which is tiny). The Bacpac is pretty big - it covers the entire back of the GoPro and requires a new back door (included). I'll let you know how it works compared to the stock setup - I should have it in a couple days.

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Any idea on how the 3 silver goes regarding battery life? If the battery life is better with the silver I will probably get it instead of the black.

Nooooooooo dont do that, the silvers just the hero 2 with built in wifi, Black has way better quality. Just look at the videos on youtube comparing them.

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Dont charge it via your computer. Use an iphone/ipod port and plug into the USB port of that.

 

 

I have a black hero 3 and it lasted a couple of hours no problem the first time I used it.

 

I did have massive issues upgrading the firmware to use the iphone app and remote.

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Any idea on how the 3 silver goes regarding battery life? If the battery life is better with the silver I will probably get it instead of the black.

Nooooooooo dont do that, the silvers just the hero 2 with built in wifi, Black has way better quality. Just look at the videos on youtube comparing them.

Threre is always going to be something better would you notice the difference really (it's like buying a new TV there is always a better one in the shop but once you get it home it looks fine)

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Any idea on how the 3 silver goes regarding battery life? If the battery life is better with the silver I will probably get it instead of the black.

Nooooooooo dont do that, the silvers just the hero 2 with built in wifi, Black has way better quality. Just look at the videos on youtube comparing them.

Threre is always going to be something better would you notice the difference really (it's like buying a new TV there is always a better one in the shop but once you get it home it looks fine)

 

 

I beg to differ

 

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Yeah I saw that and yes the quality is better but I have seen some great footage and photos from 2's and if this comparison wasn't available you wouldn't notice the difference,

 

When I post my vids and photos noone is going to comment that I should have filmed it with the black edition (apart from you :) )

 

Just post some photos and vid I won't care what they are shot with just show me the snow

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if your going to buy a hero 3 upgrading from a hero2 then you might as well as spend the money and buy the top of the range, the hero 2 is a good camera but the white and silver are just the hero 2 covered in glitter, black is were its at. :lol:

 

Are you in Niseko this year seemore?

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My logic is that everyone is having battery problems. I thought it might have been to do with the chipset in the black and if the silver uses the old chipset, then it could have longer battery life... And if that were the case, im not going to notice the difference, so why pay the extra $$$.

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if your going to buy a hero 3 upgrading from a hero2 then you might as well as spend the money and buy the top of the range, the hero 2 is a good camera but the white and silver are just the hero 2 covered in glitter, black is were its at. :lol:

 

Are you in Niseko this year seemore?

Rusutsu 21-31st Jan if you make the trip over I don't think it will be worth it though :friend:

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My logic is that everyone is having battery problems. I thought it might have been to do with the chipset in the black and if the silver uses the old chipset, then it could have longer battery life... And if that were the case, im not going to notice the difference, so why pay the extra $$$.

I am not having any issues with battery life with my black edition - but I have generally not been using the wifi, so perhaps that is the culprit?

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On a couple of occasions now, I fully charged my gopro battery the night before, popped the gopro in my bag and arrived at the ski area the next day to find the battery almost completely flat! Im not sure the explanation for that - perhaps it was accidentally switched on when packed down into the bag? Anyway, to avoid this I now take the battery out of the gopro completely and pop it back in when I'm ready to use it at the ski area. In any case, definitely pick up a spare battery or two - I didn't get the official gopro one, just some cheap thing from Yahoo Auctions and it works fine - they are hardly a lot to carry around.

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On a couple of occasions now, I fully charged my gopro battery the night before, popped the gopro in my bag and arrived at the ski area the next day to find the battery almost completely flat! Im not sure the explanation for that - perhaps it was accidentally switched on when packed down into the bag? Anyway, to avoid this I now take the battery out of the gopro completely and pop it back in when I'm ready to use it at the ski area. In any case, definitely pick up a spare battery or two - I didn't get the official gopro one, just some cheap thing from Yahoo Auctions and it works fine - they are hardly a lot to carry around.

 

 

I had that once, i found out that sometimes after you take it off charge it sometimes turns itself on, dunno why, usually happens after the battery died and then i recharge and take off...

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