Just when you thought it was time to release the Hero 4 they bring out the Hero 3+, I should have know it was going to happen 
the price of the hero3 blacks dropped big time so I decided to get a spare, but 3 days later they bring out the 3+ Which is smaller, lighter, better battery life and sharper picture.
They just keep making me buy new toys
Bet the 4 comes out before Xmas.
usually the reason why you get big price drops on products is because a new versions / replacement is around the corner. That said I don't see anything in the Hero3+ that would warrant upgrading from a Hero3.
30% better battery? I understand that's because there is a new capacity battery which is apparently backwards compatible anyway
faster wifi? Who uses Wifi that much anyway
sharper lens? That needs to be seen. Most of the professional footage I have seen wouldn't really look that different even if the lens was sharper. Remember it's a piece of plastic junk... not quite the same as that $15000 wide angle Zeiss you'll find a professional film camera
new low light feature? It's a tiny sensor ... how good can low light get. My guess is they simply apply some dodgy internal noise reduction... that can always be done in post anyway...
smaller camera? It's not like it's a bulky piece of junk to begin with.
I am guessing these small incremental upgrades are mainly due to increased competition.
Wake me up when they have a camera that doesn't keep fogging up every 5 seconds.
And to think I finally bit the bullet and just bought a Hero 3 Black last week. Now there's a new model instead. 
Oh well I'm sure it will be ok for my own use (when I learn what to do with it).
They seem a pretty awesome little camera.
Cheers
Marty
i am getting some pretty professional looking results (photo timelapse and Protune graded video) from my Go Pro 3 black.
Its funny when i get professional high end cameramen look at some of my time lapse animations and heli footage and go- wow! how did you get that shot and what camera is that off?
fact is - if you get Go Pros to a position where your light is nice (helis are great at this) and you are getting a speccy view of your subject then they work brilliantly. Stabilise the cam and have the option to go to slo motion and percieved production value goes thru the roof!
1080 p medium FOV with Protune (a high bit rate flat picture profile) is a real sweet spot - especially at 50p. Throw a tone mapped grade on it and kapow - the picture has pop and most of the barrel distortion is gone.
one of my faves as an example of this
(weak/ no story but a great exposition of the look)
Reflex : is the time lapse a feature of the go pro 3 or do you have to do it afterwards ?
Just asking cause I was checking that camera : "Isaw" and it has a built in timelapse feature.
(cheaper, more accessories and a manual zoom for still shots)
saw this demo on FB, done locally no editing a part from music and writing
Pretty sure the gopro doesnt have a 'timelapse' feature / function. its a post production task,
only a 5sec option as well, not a 3sec.Select to expand quoteseanhogan said..
Reflex : is the time lapse a feature of the go pro 3 or do you have to do it afterwards ?
Just asking cause I was checking that camera : "Isaw" and it has a built in timelapse feature.
(cheaper, more accessories and a manual zoom for still shots)
saw this demo on FB, done locally no editing a part from music and writing
The 3+ silver edition seems to be quite improved, now offering 60fps at 1080p and 120fps at 720p.
This would give a new option to those who want a cheaper camera but with good specs.
Select to expand quotedivaldo said..
Pretty sure the gopro doesnt have a 'timelapse' feature / function. its a post production task,
only a 5sec option as well, not a 3sec.seanhogan said..
Reflex : is the time lapse a feature of the go pro 3 or do you have to do it afterwards ?
Just asking cause I was checking that camera : "Isaw" and it has a built in timelapse feature.
(cheaper, more accessories and a manual zoom for still shots)
saw this demo on FB, done locally no editing a part from music and writing
by timelapse i am referring to the process of taking stills and using them as frames of video you can tell the camera to take a still shot every 1,2,5 10 or more seconds.
You can then easily take these shots and turn them into an image sequence. each stills frame is very high quality and super hi rez compared to a frame of video you can then animate within the massive amount of pixels that the stills give you for some very cool effects
- and the wide angle works in your favour as you can get some cool moves here are some of my examples - i really like the NZ snow timelapses in the second half
Select to expand quoteReflex Films said..
fact is - if you get Go Pros to a position where your light is nice (helis are great at this) and you are getting a speccy view of your subject then they work brilliantly. Stabilise the cam and have the option to go to slo motion and percieved production value goes thru the roof!
Couldn't agree more with this. GoPros are so incredibly light sensitive ... but if you get some nice light, you can get some really amazing shots out of them. That's why all the snowboard/ski GoPro videos on the web look so good cause it's so bright in the snow.
I was kinda hoping the 3+ would be BIGGER with a bigger sensor ... :-P
Select to expand quoteReflex Films said..
...percieved production value goes thru the roof!
Ah, the magic of tricking the viewer into believing! It's all in the perception, not the reality.
GPH3+ is not any smaller - only the waterproof casing is, which has a lower submersion rating. Just buy a the new 3+ casing for your old GPH3 along with the battery.
GoProHero3+ has an increased price tag of $529.
Too much for a disposable camera that uses software trickery to make footage look good.
Nobody has been able to give me a firm delivery date "sometime before Xmas they say". GoPro said the same thing last year for GoProHero3black but they weren't readily available until February.
