Jun 152013
GoPro HERO3: Black Edition
- Versatile shooting modes for pros
- More detail in brightly-lit areas
- Wi-Fi built in
- Lighter and smaller
- Reduced fogging in the housing
GoPro HERO3 Black Adventure – Action Camera
List Price: $ 399.99
Price: $ 399.99
Minor Glitches, Major Fun (after you update the firmware),
Gopro Hero 3 Black: Purchase date: March 7, 2013. This is a long review, but I have addressed some technical issues here that may assist you if you have bought a Gopro Hero 3, or if you plan to. I have put mine through its paces for nearly 2 weeks before posting this.
The first thing you must do is update the firmware manually. After several attempts with the automatic process, my Gopro -and many others I suspect- failed to update, and it was never at all apparent that the process failed. After several days of use, the camera began to malfunction. If you don’t get your firmware updated successfully, you are guaranteed to have major problems.
Here is a quick guide on how to manually update your firmware: (If you have a Mac, or are not computer-savvy, check online for more detailed instructions. Lawrence M. Friedman posted a comprehensive how-to on Gethypoxic.)
1. Jot down your serial number (both lines) from inside the battery port. Insert a Class 10 micro SD, battery, and take a picture to ensure your card is good. Ensure WiFi is off, and charge your camera to 2 bars if necessary. (Steps 1-5 on the update instructions at GoPro.com.) At this point, do not connect your Gopro to your PC.
2. Instead, download the update files from Gopro.com onto your PC. To do this, follow the prompts for ‘manual update.’ Complete the registration fields.
3. Connect the camera to your PC & power up. Open your Gopro drive, then move the update files from your PC onto your Gopro. DO NOT put the files into either folder (DCIM or Misc), just place the files next to those folders (root).
4. Disconnect your GoPro from your PC, then turn it back on. This should initiate the update process.
IMPORTANT: Now pay attention to your Gopro LCD display. During the process, look for the message on your LCD that reads ‘updating.’ Your front LED light will flash intermittently. You will soon see a progress percentage on your LCD and the blue WiFi light will turn on. Make sure your progress climbs to 100%, then your camera will shut itself off.
If you do not observe your camera behaving as I described, the update did not work and you will have to try again. If the process fails, do not expect to receive an ‘Update Failed’ message as Gopro claims. The firmware issue is causing huge problems for many users; largely because they believe that they successfully installed the new firmware, but the process actually failed.
After my firmware was updated successfully, I have not experienced any of the major failures that many users have reported. My battery does not drain overnight when turned off as some people have reported. My camera never fails to read its SD card. I started & stopped recording via WiFi repeatedly, and everything worked great. Freezing is the major catastrophic problem common in the negative reviews. I shot video for 45 minutes continuously and never had any lock-up issues during use. I function-tested every option in the menu and never experienced any malfunction, but for one exception.
My camera froze a few times when powering on, requiring a battery rip. I’m not sure what causes this, and it happened only a few times over the past 2 weeks, while I have turned the camera on & off hundreds of times with no issues. Some have theorized that it is related to using the USB charger, or moving files off of the SD card, but I have been unable to determine a common condition that will cause the problem consistently. You can expect to experience this glitch too; it is a very common report on the Gopro forums, and I have friends that have had the same experiences. We are hoping that Gopro will solve this issue with another firmware update. Note: If you are forced to pull the battery, leave it out for at least 60 seconds.
If you’re going to buy a Hero 3, update the firmware manually right out of the box. After that, if you have freezing issues, a defective battery, or buttons that do not work as they should, just take it back to the store for an exchange or refund. Best Buy gives you 15 days. I can’t imagine dealing with any customer service trying to fix a lemon. I don’t get why anyone even tries. That being said, my remaining criticisms are relatively petty, and are being made against a functional Hero 3 Black. The bottom line is that I love this camera so far. It earns 4 stars.
Be prepared for a fast-draining battery. The 45-minute video I mentioned earlier took my battery from 100% to no bars. However, after the 45-min recording, I was able to shoot an additional 28 minutes on fumes (with no bars showing on my battery gauge) before it died. This battery test was made on the 1080/60 setting, without WiFi or Protune in use.
You will likely need a backup battery plan, such as spares with a wall charger. There is a great kit on Amazon for $29 made by Wasabi, or the Gopro battery Bacpac (which I have never…
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|Buyer Beware! GoPro Hero 3 Contains Issues,
Beware that the GoPro Hero 3 is either not production ready or their Quality Department has dropped the ball. I am currently on my first replacement unit and will have to either return this or obtain another replacement, the issues are the following:
First Unit Issues (Latest Firmware Update)
- Unit kept freezing
- After a day, unit stopped detecting SD card.
- Performed all trouble shooting (i.e. hard restart, reformatting of SD card, pulling out battery, updated to latest firmware), but the unit was just bad.
- The unit had to be replaced.
Second Unit Issues (Latest Firmware Update)
- The replacement unit did not suffer the same issues as the first unit.
- But contained the battery drain issue when the unit is fully off (WiFi turned off as well).
- No matter how many times I recharged the battery, the battery would be dead by the next day even with the GoPro off. Please note that this is not normal for this unit and my prior unit did not suffer this issue.
At the end of the day, it seems that the issues that I have been experiencing above align with numerous complaints on the Gopro forums and the internet. In addition, the GoPro customer service line has been backed up so bad it is either a 45 minute wait or they can’t take your call at all.
I do believe this product is the best camera on the market, IF YOU CAN GET ONE THAT WORKS PROPERLY. I am a supplier manager/buyer at a Fortune 500 Company within the tech industry and I can tell you that either this product is not production ready with the amount of issues, or the GoPro Quality Department has really dropped the ball.
So if you end up purchasing this unit, I highly advise testing the unit prior to going out for the first time and see if you have a working unit or not. If you don’t get a good unit, be ready to deal with a lot of replacement units until you obtain a properly working unit.
My last piece of advice is defer from buying accessories until you know you have a properly working unit. I ended up purchasing $150 worth of batteries, mounts, and cases in which I cannot return if I do choose to fully return the unit for my money back.
I feel that this is 5 star product, but it only receives a 1 star rating because of the poor performance of their quality control. This type of experience is one that I wish I could email the CEO of the company and make him aware of what a lot of people are experiencing and prevent units from leaving their facility like this. With the multiple complaints online and numerous people calling the customer service help line, it seems that their is not a cause and corrective action for these issues within their company. My original unit was prior to the Amazon Christmas sell out. My current replacement unit came after the restock,having to return this one as well, it is obvious there is still issues with their Quality Department catching these units prior heading out the door.
Again this the best product out there if you can manage to get a unit that works properly. Hope this helps.
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|May 30, 2013 6:31:08 PM PDT
First off, our apologies for the long overdue response. We only recently obtained the ability to provide input through Amazon’s review system. We are truly sorry to hear about the issues experienced with your camera as well as the replacement camera received shortly thereafter. The issues described should have been fully resolved for quite some time now. Should you encounter any further issues please do make sure your camera is running the latest firmware version as there have been a number of updates released since the time of the initial posting
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to our customer support team.
Terribly battery life!!! GoPro a bad company?,
We bought two Hero3 black edition cameras, used them this weekend with great video quality but terrible battery life and if you plan to use the wifi feature you will need to buy extra batteries or the battery back pack(I assume that is why they make it). We used the wifi iPhone app on one of the hero3 cameras and the battery was drained to almost empty in 30mins and the other hero3 camera we didn’t use the wifi feature and it lasted longer but not as long as expected(comparing to our other herohd and hero2).
The GoPro App has its own set of bugs but it works great for previewing a shot before you are set to record. The 4 or 7 second lag in the video previewing is alittle annoying but you get use to it.
Now here is the biggest problem and why GoPro as a business has bad business practices.
We tried to post this same review (but 3 stars and minus the go-pro being a bad company part) but they have refused to post it! We did not violate any of the rules they have when posting a review on their website. The review was rejected because of the simple fact that it was a 3 star review of their product…
I will now be looking towards other Motorsports cameras because of their lack of customer support and shady business practices!
Pros:
* Much better video quality then previous GoPro Hero’s
* Built in WiFi
* Comes with remote
* GoPro App
Cons:
* GoPro refused to let me post this review on their website!
* Terrible customer service!
* No Battery life!
* Preview lag and Bugs in GoPro App
* No Suction Cup when you spend $400.00
* No wall charger when you spend $400.00
I will continue to post this review on as many review websites as possible because of the way GoPro has handled this matter!
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