Lately I've been using my Nikon Coolpix to take pictures and videos. To me, it did a really good job, the video came out clear and wasn't very shaky. But apparently it doesn't hold up very well to my abuse, as today I turned it on and the screen was black, the lens wouldn't register anything. It did this once before and I'm very sad as I love this little camera to death and love taking pictures of the dogs weekly, if not daily, but the time has come and it has died. I just bought it in December of 2012 I believe. I really don't want to be spending $100-$200 on cameras every 6 months. I like to take a lot of videos of the dogs biking, and at the dog park, and was looking into the GoPro. Has anyone used one? How is the video quality? Is there a true difference between White, Silver, and Black edition, as I really don't have a lot of extra money and would like to get White Edition which is the cheapest? Also how does it take pictures? I need something like my nikon coolpix, that can take decent pics and videos, but don't really have enough information on the GoPro to feel comfortable buying it yet.

For video I am loving my Contour HD camera with GPS- I can video my entire runs with my dogs and the quality is nice- plus the map availability lets me see our distance, speed, elevation changes, etc. Unfortunately it has 2 settings, video OR still shots. In photo mode it just takes a photo every how ever many seconds its set to and that's what you get. I double up on my media sources and use my Contour for video and my Nikon AW100 for stills while on the trails-

HuskyMom09 wrote:

For video I am loving my Contour HD camera with GPS- I can video my entire runs with my dogs and the quality is nice- plus the map availability lets me see our distance, speed, elevation changes, etc.  Unfortunately it has 2 settings, video OR still shots.  In photo mode it just takes a photo every how ever many seconds its set to and that's what you get.  I double up on my media sources and use my Contour for video and my Nikon AW100 for stills while on the trails-  

Although I would like all the fancy gadgets, my budget is about $200 or less right now. I am $450 behind and slowly paying it off (damn cars..) and still have my monthly expensives, its going to take me about six months just to save up for a $200 video camera, and I'm fairly impatient and am wanting one as soon as possible to be able to take videos and pictures now, and upgrade to a better one when I've got more money. But would you say the Contour is pretty good as a brand? I was looking at the Contour - ROAM2 Action HD Camcorder - Black for $200. Edit backtrack - the reason its going to take me a while to save is because I have other purchases such as two etsy tags since Yuki ate Cloud's I'm ordering as soon as I've got spare money, two alpine trail harnesses I'm ordering this November for Yuki and Link for bikejoring, and I need to order Cloud and Link lupine collars with 2ft leads as I've been planning on ordering those for a long time and have not gotten around to it. My main concern is getting a camera that also takes good pics as this will be my main camera above anything else, but I would also like hands-free video for when I go biking.

So its between the Contour and the white GoPro at the moment.

I kid you not , I was in target yesterday eyeing up a new life proof camera for about $180. Supposed to be shockproof waterproof freeze proof and crushproof. I can't remember what brand it was but there was about four of them competing with each other And all of them were under $200. I don't know if the target in your area has them but I Would check it out and see what they have. You might be able to get some good ideas or at least a starting point

KibaHope wrote:

I kid you not , I was in target yesterday eyeing up a new life proof camera for about $180. Supposed to be shockproof waterproof freeze proof and crushproof. I can't remember what brand it was but there was about four of them competing with each other And all of them were under $200. I don't know if the target in your area has them but I Would check it out and see what they have. You might be able to get some good ideas or at least a starting point

Thanks yes we have a target and I've bought pretty much everything from them, from my iPod to my phone. The only two things I didn't get from them was my laptop and camera.

That's probably the Nikon AW-110. Freeze proof, water proof, shock proof...perfect for husky life That's the one I have and I am so happy with the quality of photos it takes and really for the price you couldn't get a better deal with all it has to offer in protection

HuskyMom09 wrote:

That's probably the Nikon AW-110.  Freeze proof, water proof, shock proof...perfect for husky life  That's the one I have and I am so happy with the quality of photos it takes and really for the price you couldn't get a better deal with all it has to offer in protection

Does that offer video? I had a nikon coolpix before and thats what my bikejoring videos were on, it was pretty good quality too! I REALLY loved it, but it died after only 6 months so apparently I abused it too much Mine was

It does do full HD video- haven't used that feature much but if its anything like the still quality it will be good!

HuskyMom09 wrote:

It does do full HD video- haven't used that feature much but if its anything like the still quality it will be good!

Ooh, and it holds up pretty well on your runs then? I would like the Contour with the GPS in the future especially as we go on longer runs by atm I'm looking to spend $150-$200 on something that will take pics and vids and hold up to my abuse, meaning it may bang around a bit while on my bike lol!

Yes it holds up very well with everything I've thrown at it! From the cold temps of west Yellowstone to downpour rain in spring Idaho!

My goal for a long time was to make a harness for Tika that I could attach a GoPro directly atop the head. So when she would tear through the woods I could watch it later from her perspective.

Sadly the Gopro Black 2 was so riddled with problems and wifi issues I abandoned the thought all together.

I do hear the 3 was much much better, but unless you are doing extreme sports you can find comparable for less

~Chris~

Your camera should still be under warranty, I would contact Nikon and see. They usually have a year warranty. The go pro is really great if you get the HD version. My friend uses his while ATVing and it goes through mud and everything.

HuskyMom09 wrote:

Yes it holds up very well with everything I've thrown at it!  From the cold temps of west Yellowstone to downpour rain in spring Idaho!

Thanks! I'm going to look into it as I was very satisfied with my old nikon except for its quick death

Tika wrote:

My goal for a long time was to make a harness for Tika that I could attach a GoPro directly atop the head. So when she would tear through the woods I could watch it later from her perspective.

Sadly the Gopro Black 2 was so riddled with problems and wifi issues I abandoned the thought all together.

I do hear the 3 was much much better, but unless you are doing extreme sports you can find comparable for less

~Chris~

That would've been so cool with Tika!

Lynn.Karpati wrote:

Your camera should still be under warranty, I would contact Nikon and see. They usually have a year warranty. The go pro is really great if you get the HD version. My friend uses his while ATVing and it goes through mud and everything.

I never buy warranties so I doubt it, lol.

I think Lynn was referring to the factory warranty that came with the camera not an extended warranty.  Try this, I have a Kodak easy share that will go black occasionally and what will get it going again is to take the batteries out and put it on a shelf for a few days.  Then put new batteries in it and it might start back up.  I've done it more than once and had it work.  If not than go find that Ashton Kutcher guy grab him by the wedding tackle and tell him to give you another camera:lol!:

Hughie wrote:

I think Lynn was referring to the factory warranty that came with the camera not an extended warranty.  Try this, I have a Kodak easy share that will go black occasionally and what will get it going again is to take the batteries out and put it on a shelf for a few days.  Then put new batteries in it and it might start back up.  I've done it more than once and had it work.  If not than go find that Ashton Kutcher guy grab him by the wedding tackle and tell him to give you another camera:lol!:

I will try the battery thing, it died once before like that and when I took the battery out and put it back in, it worked.

Yeah I was referring to the factory warranty. They should be able to replace it if it stopped working if it hasn't been over a year yet.

FWIW, my boyfriend has the GoPro Hero2 and it does great. I've used it for drag racing and he uses it for driving around town/biking. It holds up very well! It has a little bit of fish-eye, but it looks kinda cool.

It can take pictures too, but you have to be in the 'setting' for it. There isn't a screen where you can preview your pictures, so you're kinda in the dark about it til you look at it on the computer lol. He got his about 6 months ago and it was less than $200. He put his on the handle bar of his bike and it was pretty crisp in daylight! Sound quality is great too.

It looks like you have a lot of options!

http://www.amazon.com/GoPro-HD-HERO2-Outdoor-Edition/dp/B005WY3TI4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372743121&sr=8-1&keywords=hero+2+go+pro

He got his cheaper at best buy. They're usually expensive, but it doesn't hurt to check!

Lynn.Karpati wrote:

Yeah I was referring to the factory warranty. They should be able to replace it if it stopped working if it hasn't been over a year yet.

I don't have the receipt anymore and not sure if the store could look it up, I know it was paid on my card and at my work you can look up receipts by item number and credit card name but not sure if they can. Unfortunately I had kept the receipt the first couple months but then my mom did her 'do you need this do you need this' throwing away all my crap and the camera box with my receipt was one of those things.

VintageJeans wrote:

FWIW, my boyfriend has the GoPro Hero2 and it does great.  I've used it for drag racing and he uses it for driving around town/biking.  It holds up very well! It has a little bit of fish-eye, but it looks kinda cool.

It can take pictures too, but you have to be in the 'setting' for it.  There isn't a screen where you can preview your pictures, so you're kinda in the dark about it til you look at it on the computer lol.  He got his about 6 months ago and it was less than $200.  He put his on the handle bar of his bike and it was pretty crisp in daylight! Sound quality is great too.

It looks like you have a lot of options!

http://www.amazon.com/GoPro-HD-HERO2-Outdoor-Edition/dp/B005WY3TI4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372743121&sr=8-1&keywords=hero+2+go+pro

He got his cheaper at best buy.  They're usually expensive, but it doesn't hurt to check!

Definitely something to keep in mind, thank you

Ive got the GoPro Hero 3 silver and absolutely love it. I use it from hiking to serious abuse when whitewater kayaking and snowboarding. Its also nice it has wifi and you can change every setting from your smart phone. the time lapse mode is pretty awesome aswell.