SOLOSHOT3 review - great, when it works

Quick summary: when it works it does a pretty good job. But thus far, it hasn't worked every time.

As some of you will know, the SOLOSHOT3 was delivered very late. I ordered mine in August 2015 and received it last October. It is still missing some features, but it can perform its basic functions right now.

I ordered the Optic65 so it could zoom-in while surfing. Unfortunately its range is 600m and where I normally surf I am 1km off-shore... But recently I have been surfing at a beach and it worked OK. But the Optic65 provides great depth-of-field - the islands that are way off in the distance look quite close.

I tried a bunch of land-based tests - set it up, went walking and running with the tag and it followed me 50% of the time. When it didn't I would either track but without me in frame, or it would just day dream and film random stuff.

The other day I took it to the beach, set it up, went for a quick surf, but it did not work - but I did get some good footage of other people ;)

And finally, I tried again and it seemed to be tracking me OK, so I stayed out a little longer, and it worked. And it did a good job - see below.

Unfortunately, you get to see how you really surf... I was on my Speeed for he first time in a long time (my brother in law wanted to try it), and the surf wasn't great, so with the excuses out of the way it did track me even when moving "quickly" across the wave.

One big downside is the tag that you put on your arm (that the camera tracks) has the tiniest display, so unless you have very good eyesight you cannot tell if it is tracking or recording you. You are supposed to press a small "+" button to start recording and press it again to stop. But I knew I would lose track of whether it was recording or not, so I recorded everything. (And their editing software hasn't been released so I used another program.) The sound is just what the camera heard - so turn your volume down...

The battery life is not great either. I took an external USB battery and used it to recharge the camera and tag.

Anyway, I hope to try it more over the next few days so I will add more comments later.

I had Solosho3 25X, same as you receive 1 moth ago. Same issues some times track pretty well and later just loses and film all the people around.

such is not so bad in some point the camera point in a group on girls ... jeje nice

Yessss, about time someone wrote an honest review. I have been wanting to buy one for years but wanted to see what they were like after all the issues of the first 2 gens.
Everything online is from people with a commercial interest so good to finally hear it from a consumer.
The quality in your video is very good, I would be happy with that, but only working 50% of the time would just bug me. I hear there will be some updates soon so hopefully that will sort some of the issues out.
Hope they get it sorted soon, I think its a great idea & I would use it alot.
If a drone can track with the touch of a screen, it does seem old school for all this wrist band and syncing stuff you still have to do.
I'll buy one for sure once it works 90% of the time

After this review I went out and brought one .but for my 12 foot barrels ....
Take it back

The key point on soloshot3 is the ability's of the camera not only tracking you, if they supposed to zoom you and take a first plane while film you.

but also depend where you located the soloshot3 vs your locations, I believe the weak part is the tag, I think does not have a good antenna for the GPS signal and is really easy to loose and then the system get lose you position.

what I note every time you fall or dive into the water the TAG lose the signal. Or in some point the TAG just lose the signal and that is.

Also is you see the website they are working on the indoor TAG or systems

The soloshot3 they are really close to find the perfect setting but is look and the end they need to redesigned his TAG with a robust antenna to minimize the lost signal.

For now as mentioning once is work delivery a good film of you, for you can obtain the same result you gonna need a camera man just focus all time in you and take await all the distraction in order you can obtain the same results.

Also is gonna depend the frequency of the waves on your surf spot, is the frequency of the waves big you will a better chance to obtain good results.

Good stuff buddy

Hi

only two sessions with the soloshot and 65 zoom. First was a bit disappointing and seemed to track but just out of or just in the frame. Contacted support and they very quickly responded with the following suggestions:

"Please make sure that during initial calibration and for the first few minutes of tracking, the Tag is at least 25 ft away from the Base (this was recently implemented since it improves the rate of tracking success). Also note that moving horizontally side-to-side in front of the SOLOSHOT3 helps the unit get a better lock initially than moving to and from the camera.

You can view step by step instructions below.

1. Power on the Tag

2. Power on the Base

3. Check Tag and make sure there is no line through the GPS icon

4. Place Tag at least 25-30 ft away from the Base

5. From the home screen on the Base, select Track

6. Click the blue track button and begin tracking (select activity if prompted)

7. Begin Calibration

8. Head back to the Tag immediately and walk a few steps left to right from camera (not to and from)

9. After calibration the Base should be pointing at you, tracking, and recording. You would also see a green blinking LED light.

10. Remain at least 25 ft away from the Base for several more minutes. Minimum distance will eventually decrease to around 10 ft.

11. Use medium field of view as tight increases the chance of error."

"Please note that night filming might affect tracking. We did introduce some features that aid with night filming with a recent update. These settings work best in 1080p30, so I would definitely recommend that setting during low light."

the second trial yesterday was much better following these recommendations.

These are actually couple of clips from that session.

Bob

Thanks Can'tSupenough

Man, you are making those waves look great! The quality of the video impressive. (I envy your surfing in shorts. I was in my winter suit today and I was still a bit cool. ) What settings were you using?
I am interested in how you are securing it to the ground.

Cheers

bob

Thanks CSE

That looks perfect. All the beaches that I surf are sand except one. In general the beaches here a safe for leaving gear unattended. That said I had my paddle stuck in the sand as a marker and I was prone surfing. Early in the morning alone. I watched a guy walk over to my paddle and pull it out of the sand and start walking away. I came in and ran after him. He said he thought it had washed up..........ya and stuck straight up in the sand!!!

cheers

Bob

I got a Soloshot3 recently and after some frustration got it working well on the third attempt and was happy with the results. I still need to figure out a way to keep it from shaking in the wind though.

Thanks Robert

much appreciated. Good footage. Thanks for leaving the windy bits in. Did adding weight to the little hook on the centre of the tripod help with stability? If so how much weight are you applying? Any other ways of mitigating wind shaking?

cheers

bob

That's pretty clever Casso and good result . Reinforces what I said above about play in the pan head , even eliminating the tripod you still can't stop the shake , that's a big nail in the coffin from me.

Thank you Casso, I had the same thought, mount the camera directly to the railing and then make a wind cover, the bucket is a great idea.