GoPro Time Management - Battery/SD

Even with a battery BacPac, I'd still have to do a battery swap if I want to run all day. Maybe even two swaps.

Even with a battery BacPac, I'd still have to do a battery swap if I want to run all day. Maybe even two swaps.

Yes, but half as often.  And with a high capacity one, maybe not at all.

Sorry to sound cynical, but I feel I owe it to you if I can save you the time and frustration on the water.  I learned while using my old Kodak Playsport that trying to change out a battery over and over on the water really detracted from the reason I was on the water to begin with.  It became more about the camera and less about the fish or scenery or being in the moment or.....

Maybe I'll end up filming non stop for the first battery or two worth (1.5 to 3 hrs) then grabbing interesting clips for the remainder of the day until the last battery is toast? I think 2 battery swaps should be plenty manageable if the conditions aren't crappy.

Even with a battery BacPac, I'd still have to do a battery swap if I want to run all day. Maybe even two swaps.

Yes, but half as often.  And with a high capacity one, maybe not at all.

Sorry to sound cynical, but I feel I owe it to you if I can save you the time and frustration on the water.  I learned while using my old Kodak Playsport that trying to change out a battery over and over on the water really detracted from the reason I was on the water to begin with.  It became more about the camera and less about the fish or scenery or being in the moment or.....

Good point about detracting from the experience...

I wish the Limefuel battery for the Hero 4 were already available. The only info I can find on it is from the manufacterer... I'd love to see an unbiased review.

Even with a battery BacPac, I'd still have to do a battery swap if I want to run all day. Maybe even two swaps.

Yes, but half as often.  And with a high capacity one, maybe not at all.

Sorry to sound cynical, but I feel I owe it to you if I can save you the time and frustration on the water.  I learned while using my old Kodak Playsport that trying to change out a battery over and over on the water really detracted from the reason I was on the water to begin with.  It became more about the camera and less about the fish or scenery or being in the moment or.....

Yah!!! What rawkfish said!!! I live to capture that amazing clip. But in a way that's more reason to hit the camera and forget it. I'd buy something triple the size of a gopro if it gave me 8 hours of filming. I've seriously contemplated a housing to tap into my batteries. 32 gig card. Delete every 30 minutes or so of empty clip. And keep going. 

Another reason I've stopped shooting 2.5 hours a whack is it is a SERIOUS PITA to find, exit, store, transfer clips that size.

I'll push buttons to delete clips but I'd rather keep the housing intact. The other route I've considered is buying three of the cheapo gopros. But I shouldn't be THAT lazy. Lol.

Yeah, the real reason I want to keep it running full time is so I don't have to fumble with it when I'm in a hurry. I want it to be set it and forget it as much as possible. Ignoring it for 1.5 hours, spend 5 minutes swapping, ignore for another 1.5 hours, repeat.... That doesn't sound so bad. I could even have my watch beep at me every 90 minutes to make it a complete no brainer between swaps.

I guess I won't know how much of a PITA it is until I try it out this weekend. My new batteries should show up on Wednesday.

Kardinal - When you're running the cam full time, do you use the "tag" feature? I forget what it's actually called, but you can use it to flag interesting points in an otherwise boring clip. For example, you could tap that button after a fish is landed then easily find that spot in the video later.

...Won't do anything to speed up transferring video, but it might save a little searching.

If anyone's interested, I went ahead and emailed Limefuel about their Hero 4 battery. Here's the email string (start at the bottom):

Team Limefuel,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my email.

Regarding the thin wire that will "slide between the battery door and back of the camera"... I'm much less concerned about damaging the wire of a ~$50 battery than damaging the battery door of a $400 camera. Adding a sheath will only make the wire fatter (i.e. more stress on the battery door that already has a very tight tolerance, more potential for damaging the camera).

Something to consider... There are many folks out there who would be happy as hell to have a "backpack" style battery twice as big as the current options (OEM and Wasabi). This would nearly triple the size of the GoPro, but let's be realistic; it would still be a tiny camera. And it would have enough recording time for SOOO many new applications. All night time lapses, road trip time lapses, filming a full day of kayak fishing without missing any of the action (my personal favorite), and SOO many others.

For what it's worth, I personally think there would be ENORMOUS support for a 5,000+ mAH battery that connects to the 30-pin and gets housed inside a redesigned (roomier) waterproof back door. This would be an absolute game changer in the action sports world.

Thanks for your time. I'll be keeping an eye on progress, but I'm opting out of the "thin wire" design until it's been proven effective and safe for the camera itself.

Cheers,

Alex

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 10, 2015, at 7:16 AM, Limefuel Support <[email protected]> wrote:

Type your response ABOVE THIS LINE to reply
alexander.s.bowerman
Subject: [Limefuel- USB External Battery Pack, Mobile Battery Pack] Contact Form from March 09 at 8:08PM
MAR 10, 2015  |  08:16AM MDT
Aram replied:
Alex,

We understand your concern with the current setup of our L38G4. We are still working on how the battery will attach to the GoPro Hero4.
Our current setup is a thin wire that will slide between the battery door and back of the camera. Currently, we are testing sheathings to cover the wires in order to keep them from wearing prematurely.
We are also looking into using the 30 pin port on the back of the GoPro. If we go this route, our battery pack will lose some capacity and record times will be decreased.

There are photos posted on our Kickstarter of our prototypes.
This will not void any warranty from GoPro.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

- Team Limefuel
MAR 10, 2015  |  08:08PM MDT
Original message
Shopify wrote:

Contact Form Submission:

Name: Alex Bowerman
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 5107043889
Body: Hello,

I'm curious about your new Epic battery for the GoPro Hero 4. It looks like there's a thin, flat wire that has to stick out of the GoPro's battery hatch to connect the internal and external batteries. Looking at my GoPro, it seems like the hatch lid already has a really snug fit.

Do you have any closeup pics of how this works? Any word from GoPro about whether this jives with their warrantee? (Or any assurance from you that it won't damage my camera?)

This looks like exactly what I need, but I'm skeptical about pulling the trigger before there have been any reviews or long-term testing of the product.

I look forward to hearin your reply.

Thanks,

Alex

This message was sent to [email protected] in reference to Case #: 35122.
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