1st attempt with GoPro Hero3 Black Edition

Hi Mazcan,

Its actually not video footage which would normally be shot at something like 48 frames per second. It is a series of time lapse photographs taken at 5 second intervals. Normally, the camera would be stationary and the subject (say a sunrise) would moving. There have been some spectacular landscapes posted here, which with a bit of practice I hope to do.

Hope this makes sense.

Skull

You can choose from wide and narrow view with either video or stills, the later avoids distortion in the corners but has obviously a limited field for this sort of drivelapse.
Also, the closer the stills are taken (1 or 2 seconds apart for example) and smoother the outcome of the video.
This is an example of 1 frame per second:

Hi,

I've got the black gopro as well and I use it for kayak fishing. Of course haven't caught a decent bloody fish while its been on yet.

Action cameras are usually set up in fixed positions or attached to the body. The lack of a viewfinder is a trade off to having them small. You can get an Lcd back for around the $100 mark but it will drain the battery fast. Best off to use the gopro app and confirm your shot is ok from a fixed position. There are links to the app on the gopro website.

PradoMad,

These cameras are a bit different from your home video camera. They are action cams designed for extreme sports. The default setting for video is wide angle which is what gives you the fish eye effect. All you have to do is point it in the general direction of your subject and, chances are, they will be in the shot. So, it is possible to strap the camera onto your head or car etc and be relatively sure it will capture what's ahead of you. Once you have the footage on your computer, it is easy to crop the parts you don't want. It is just like cropping a still photo but it applies it to the whole video clip.

There are view finder add ons you can buy to make it more like a normal video camera but the cheapest is the iPhone app which gives a preview screen see what's in the frame (assuming you have a smartphone).

If you want to shoot holiday snaps, I'd stick to a conventional video camera. The GoPro is really only if you want to do strange things, like mount it under your car or on your mountain bike.

They have a cult following among the young ones for capturing extreme acts of stupidity. They also seem to be increasingly popular among the greying for things like sunsets.

They also have an extensive menus system so it can be set like a normal camera but it is not intuitive and the lense is fixed (no ability or need to focus).

Hope this helps.

Skull

Thank Scull; most informative.
JS.

Sorry; I meant to say Skull.

Set the images at the lowest resolution and take the frames as far apart possible but not too much. Taking the shots 5 or more seconds apart makes the final timelapse confusing and unwatchable. Remember that the battery will run-out before the memory card is full, unless you plug the camera via USB cable to the cig lighter socket.
To show you an example, this clip was made over a distance of 200 Km and was driven in 2 hrs exactly (enough for battery and sd card to do the job). The frames were taken 5 seconds apart, this is the result: