Good Spearo HD Camera (UK)

[artiz]

I got the gopro hd 2, since the 120fps version was released the price of the hero 2 has dropped significantly.
I did splash out and got the gopro dive housing. But it was worth every penny

What you get with these cameras is quality and reliability, excellent picture quality, 60m of waterproofing (10m like many others, simply isn't enough in my opinion)

The camera has been nothing but brilliant. Here is a video from a poor vis day but you can see the sharpness of the image. No fish taken, I'll upload some footage of recent bass soon enough

GoPro Dive Housing test - YouTube

Re - the camera looking like a microwave and being hard to manoeuvre underwater - poppycock, its iconic looking I think, and unless you mounted it on the muzzle (foolish for so many reasons) you won't notice its weight. You get what you pay for is my philosophy, and I have not been disappointed

Thanks for your thoughts. Can I ask you how much you actually paid for the whole set up?

 

[scottwilson]

Spot on Watermandrew

Ive recently bought the hero2 with dive housing delivered it cost £239. Money is tight these days for me but I waited 4 months to save the money up for the camera and its AWESOME.

Its not bulky you hardly know its there. Ive mounted mine on my mask and have to keep checking its still there. Ive mounted the hero3'2 onto my gun and again you hardly notice it.

Quality is awesome, even better plugged straight into the Blu ray player.

It beats my Sea&sea 1200hd camera which is designed for underwater and cost me close to £400 . It handles low light which is important in the UK and is simple to use With "ONE BUTTON" video option . Battery life is very good and coupled with a 32g card its all you need for a days diving.

10/10 in my eyes.
If you on a budget then buy a cheap camera if you can wait a while and save the money then get a hero2 for sure.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwNYCdinjsE&feature=player_embedded]Spearfishing flounder - YouTube[/ame]

 

[artiz]

I got the gopro hd 2, since the 120fps version was released the price of the hero 2 has dropped significantly.
I did splash out and got the gopro dive housing. But it was worth every penny

What you get with these cameras is quality and reliability, excellent picture quality, 60m of waterproofing (10m like many others, simply isn't enough in my opinion)

The camera has been nothing but brilliant. Here is a video from a poor vis day but you can see the sharpness of the image. No fish taken, I'll upload some footage of recent bass soon enough

GoPro Dive Housing test - YouTube

Re - the camera looking like a microwave and being hard to manoeuvre underwater - poppycock, its iconic looking I think, and unless you mounted it on the muzzle (foolish for so many reasons) you won't notice its weight. You get what you pay for is my philosophy, and I have not been disappointed

Spot on Watermandrew

Ive recently bought the hero2 with dive housing delivered it cost £239. Money is tight these days for me but I waited 4 months to save the money up for the camera and its AWESOME.

Its not bulky you hardly know its there. Ive mounted mine on my mask and have to keep checking its still there. Ive mounted the hero3'2 onto my gun and again you hardly notice it.

Quality is awesome, even better plugged straight into the Blu ray player.

It beats my Sea&sea 1200hd camera which is designed for underwater and cost me close to £400 . It handles low light which is important in the UK and is simple to use With "ONE BUTTON" video option . Battery life is very good and coupled with a 32g card its all you need for a days diving.

10/10 in my eyes.
If you on a budget then buy a cheap camera if you can wait a while and save the money then get a hero2 for sure.

Spearfishing flounder - YouTube

Thanks for your input Scott.

I'm at risk of repeating myself too much on this thread and I have already been criticised quite a few times but I think your kind of missing the point here.
I suppose the thread should really have been called 'Cheapo Spearo HD camera'.
Having said that, personally I'm not really that interested in photography either underwater or above so the point of this review was to tell others who may be in the same financial situation as me about the cheapest, smallest underwater camera with the best resolution which I could find.
If I had a couple of hundred quid spare a new gun would be first on the list, followed by a new wetsuit and so on with a camera coming pretty much last.
Most of my kit has been bought second-hand anyway because for the last 4 years I have been living on a measly student allowance after going back to University - not a sob story just keeping it real. I'm sure there are plenty of fellow passionate spearo's out there who are even worse off than me.
Over the last couple of years I have seen some amazing stuff without a camera and when you tell family & friends you know they don't believe you so instead of an important book for Uni I bought an underwater camera!!!

Last year I met a spearo who was out on his Kayak when the weather changed really quickly, he'd left his very expensive gun (with GoPro) unsecured and arrived back on the beach with neither. He was out there for the next 3 days searching for it???

I hope I have put this review into some kind of context now.

 

[scottwilson]

I hear you loud and clear mate as I stated in my last sentence about been on a budget

Its this comment that got me "the bullet camera is ideal for our uses and so much better than big bulky GoPro type cameras which obviously impede maneuverability underwater" so I thought I would put my 2 pence worth in as I actually own one these "bulky" gopro types and they brilliant.

but enough of that. The problem you having with that camera could be something as simple as the memory card. cheap cards can play havoc with cameras. I have spent a small fortune on sd cards which land up been nothing more than fakes, they glitch out, the video stutters and sometimes they just stop working. Buying a good quality original card which is quick makes a massive difference.

The video that bullet cam takes is decent, is there not a firmware update available on the manufactures website???

 

[scottwilson]

they have an update for your camera ( If I have the right one )

Bullet HD Firmware Update

Its a start and might fix the problem

 

[Sean Keenan]

Scott Hi

Could you give me a quick rundown of the one button function on the Hero 2?

Just made a great little homemade mount for my Rob Allen and out this Saturday at Portland.

Regards
SEan

Spot on Watermandrew

Ive recently bought the hero2 with dive housing delivered it cost £239. Money is tight these days for me but I waited 4 months to save the money up for the camera and its AWESOME.

Its not bulky you hardly know its there. Ive mounted mine on my mask and have to keep checking its still there. Ive mounted the hero3'2 onto my gun and again you hardly notice it.

Quality is awesome, even better plugged straight into the Blu ray player.

It beats my Sea&sea 1200hd camera which is designed for underwater and cost me close to £400 . It handles low light which is important in the UK and is simple to use With "ONE BUTTON" video option . Battery life is very good and coupled with a 32g card its all you need for a days diving.

10/10 in my eyes.
If you on a budget then buy a cheap camera if you can wait a while and save the money then get a hero2 for sure.

Spearfishing flounder - YouTube

 

[artiz]

they have an update for your camera ( If I have the right one )

Bullet HD Firmware Update

Its a start and might fix the problem

Outstanding Scott many thanks. Not that tech savvy after all!

 

[scottwilson]

Hi Sean.

When you activate the function the buttoin in the fron is the only one you use.

As soon as you turn the camera on it starts recording. press and hold the button again and it stops recording and turns off. It beeps as you turn it on and then beeps again when you turn it off ( the beeps are different for each)

great function.

 

[artiz]

Its this comment that got me "the bullet camera is ideal for our uses and so much better than big bulky GoPro type cameras which obviously impede maneuverability underwater" so I thought I would put my 2 pence worth in as I actually own one these "bulky" gopro types and they brilliant.

Scott,
I think I appreciate your irritation at my comment here and whilst not wanting to offend further... are you saying like Watermandrew that there is no noticeable affect on your gun maneuverability with the GoPro attached?

 

[artiz]

I'm sure I'm going to irritate the GoPro owners club again but it really is as plain as the camera on your head... or wherever you attach it. GoPro's are without doubt an excellent sports/action camera but in my probably overstated opinion a bit too big for spearfishing. (You could get a couple prawns at least in that portable microwave???)

Since updating the firmware with Scott's much appreciated advice this bargain underwater HD(720p) camera has been faultless and I've changed my mind completely. I highly recommend it. It's neither 'iconic' or expensive to lose and it really makes no difference at all when attached to your gun, you may have to fiddle around with those attachments it comes with, including a bit of DIY (see previous posts)... but more as a preference rather than essential. Although I wouldn't encourage it I have also taken it below 10 meters (33 feet) without a leak. All in all a top little underwater HDish camera and although not up to the high resolution standards of the GoPro it still takes a decent 720p video for Youtube uploads - again see previous posts for examples. I hope I have gone through all the problems both technical and user error, so that others now don't need too... and 'NO' I'm still not selling them but perhaps I should?

Luck & Light
​

​

 

[scottwilson]

Sounds like you are one very happy customer glad the firmware has done the trick, nothing worse than spending ur hard earned cash on something that doesnt work.

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Macmackeral25]

If you buy a go pro from America it works out at £80 , that's for the go pro he hero naked if you want I can post a link

 

[artiz]

If you buy a go pro from America it works out at £80 , that's for the go pro he hero naked if you want I can post a link

Please Do Macauley, I'm hoping 'works out at' means postage included though?