Diving choices (Canon G16 or GoPro hero 4)

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polochick

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Liz
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I'm going diving next month and have two options for photography. On my last trip I rented a Canon Powershot G16 which was fine but slightly slow. Was planning to rent again on this trip, but have seen the GoPro Hero 4, and am tempted to buy that with housing and a hand torch rather than pay the rental fee for the Canon.

Long shot, but does anyone have any experience of the difference in image quality and macro ability of the two underwater? Will be diving in the tropics to a maximum of 40 metres, mostly less. Realise neither is going to be like an SLR (I looked at the cost of housing for SLRs and got a major shock!!) but would like to go with the best affordable option! Thanks in advance!
 
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Bump! Would really appreciate if anyone has any experience of the GoPro Hero 4 diving, am going this weekend so need to make up my mind pretty quickly! Thanks
 
Liz, I'm not a diver but used a go pro 3 on a stick when snorkelling and found the video quality great...surprisingly so!

We also use a G16 for still shots but not tried a waterproof housing.

Probably not much help, sorry!!

George.
 
GoPro Hero4 is a very handy little thing and capable of excellent video.
Screengrabs from video especially 4K make very decent stills.
But it seems expensive unless you are interested in using it for other stuff.

If you do go with gopro some of the ebay bumper accessory kits are good value, for example you'd probably want at least 2 more batteries, floating handle and selfie stick style thing plus ways to mount it on chest etc
Cost mounts up if bought separately especially genuine gopro versions.
Battery soon goes down recording 4K but 1080p/60fps (default) at least an hour
Unless already quite competent with editing I suggest leave it all on auto rather than delving into protune settings.
Protune has various useful options but if not careful you can do more harm than good.
I got a Hero4 in February and still learning how to get the best from it (and had some major muck-ups at first from trying to be clever!)
 
Thanks both for the advice. I have no experience with video editing(!) so was planning on using for stills or videos on standard settings. Cost wise, it's about £150 to rent versus £300 to buy (plus a bit more for some accessories that wouldn't come with the rental). I'm likely to use it again diving, but only once a year or so. Could use it horse riding as well, but probably not often.

4wd said:
I got a Hero4 in February and still learning how to get the best from it (and had some major muck-ups at first from trying to be clever!)
Click to expand...

Do you think it's possible to get a decent result straight out of the box on standard settings? Planned setup would be a small tray, one light and a red filter.
 
I think you'd be OK, it's just out of the box auto can look a bit over saturated or gaudy depending on light of course.
You can still tone it down a bit later if need be.
Stills are OK but with the basic Hero4 you don't have a screen or viewfinder so a lot of guesswork on composing!
You can see live view on the app though.
 
Argh I'd forgotten about the screen in the budget! Right time to work out what else I've forgotten. Thanks again for your help
 
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