GoPro Time Management - Battery/SD

What's up, NWKA?

I'm curious how you guys manage your GoPro battery and SD card usage on the water. Since I can't get out quite as often as I'd like, I usually try to milk each trip for at least 6-8 hours on the water. Accounting for pedal time out to the fishing grounds and back, time to rest my legs, eat lunch, etc, I figure I'm fishing for about 5-7 hours. Now I'm trying to put together a strategy for getting the best possible footage with the least amount of hassle on the water.   

I've got a Hero 4 Silver, with the following specs listed by GoPro:

*1:55 worth of continuous footage from one battery at 720p 120 fps. (I'm going to assume 1:30 just to be conservative)
*4:22 worth of footage from one 64GB SD card. I only have the single 64GB card, and can't justify another $100 for a new or higher capacity card at this time.   

The way I see it, there are two extremes and a whole spectrum of options in between...

1) Run the camera full time. For my longer days, this would mean AT LEAST four battery change outs and one SD card change out. Battery change outs should be easy enough on the water, but I'd rather avoid messing with a teeny tiny SD card. I'm also a little worried about saltwater spray, wet fingers, fogging, etc, if I open up the housing when I'm offshore in the salt.

2) Leave the camera off (but in "one button mode"), and manually start and stop filming when I hook a fish, see something interesting, etc... I could potentially go all day on one battery and one SD card, BUT, I would stand a good chance of missing key moments (whale breaching right off the bow, ferocious salmon takedown, etc).

So how do you guys manage your GoPro run time?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

~Alex

You can thank me later.




https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/limefuel/gopro-hero-4-hero-3-extended-battery-pack-limefuel

Yeah, was gonna mention something like that too. I always use the battery backpacks for my GoPros. I use the one button mode for my over-the-shoulder mount and I use WiFi for the camera in front of me. I usually don't have to worry about battery change outs with this system and I do miss getting some cool stuff on video but not much. I'll probably end up getting some of the new ultra high capacity options in the future. Memory card space hasn't ever been an issue for me but that may change if I don't have to worry about battery life as much.

Huh. That thing looks pretty badass.

Do you have any personal experience with Limefuel batteries?

I love my hero 2 for this reason.  2.5 hours on a 16gig SD card and one battery.  I tyoically carry 4 batteries and an extra sd card. 

A few personal observations.

1) Absolutely hands down the best video footage I have are of candid moments that require an "always on" camera.

2) I have enough equipment that I can run the camera consistently all day but yet I only do that about 25% of the time.  The main reason is it still is a PITA to change up the batteries and SD cards and once I do open op the camera on water, there is a 50/50 chance it fogs up if the sun is out. 

3) What usually happens is I will leave the camera on if things look fishy.  But if the weather is crappy and I know I don't want to open the camera housing, I just start shooting once hooked up.  I've lost probably 3 kings over the past few years dinking around with the camera after hook up.  If I get down to the final hours of fishing and i don't have any interesting, I will just turn the camera on for the final minutes remaining. 

4) Familiarize yourself with deleting the video on the gorpro.  When I am more motivated, I leave the camera on all the time.  When something exicting happens, I stop it atferwards.  That way I just look toward the end of every saved clip.  If I go a half hour with nothing, I turn it off once and deltee the empty clip.  That way, I may have to change batteries but I rarely have to deal with changing the SD card. 

High resolution and fast frame rates are great.  But for the average users and average uses of gopro footage, I wish they would focus on longer battery life rather than 4K stuff at least for now. 

Thanks, Kardinal.

About the fogging... Sounds like that could be a royal pain in the ass... Do you use those little anti-fog strips or any kind of antifog solution? Any idea what makes it happen some times and not others?

I cut little strips from a paper towel and shove them  into the sides and back of the GoPro while it's in the housing. This has eliminated the fogging issues for me. Try it for yourself!

I cut little strips from a paper towel and shone hem into the sides and back of the GoPro while it's in the housing. This has eliminated the fogging issues for me. Try it for yourself!

shone hem 

I'm thinking "shove them".

Shone hemming is a secret technique that I have developed. 

If you shone hem a pair of pants, do you end up with shorts?

I went ahead and ordered a couple spare batteries and a charger off Amazon for $23.99 (Wasabi Power brand).

Next trip out I'm going to try running the camera full time and see whether changing batteries every hour and a half or whatever is too much of a pain.

It's a pain in bad weather and when the bites on. It's ridiculously easy on a calm sunny day when the bites not on...so I have heard.

It's a pain in bad weather and when the bites on. It's ridiculously easy on a calm sunny day when the bites not on...so I have heard.

Sounds about right.

I went ahead and ordered a couple spare batteries and a charger off Amazon for $23.99 (Wasabi Power brand).

Next trip out I'm going to try running the camera full time and see whether changing batteries every hour and a half or whatever is too much of a pain.

If you're only using the standard size batteries and no battery backpack or something similar, I can tell you what conclusion you're likely to arrive at.