Using a Go Pro in the parks. Tips?

Twinprincesses

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 30, 2005
i got a Go Pro for Christmas and was hoping I could just use this as my only camera. I really do not want to wear it on my head or chest but wanted to know what other accessories would be good to use in the parks. I know selfie sticks are not allowed but I saw a very small handle that attaches and was wondering if that would be allowed.

Thank you.
 
One thing I will warn about a GoPro is that they are GREAT for video, but kinda lousy for still shots. I would recommend taking short videos of things and then you can cut out a frame from that crystal clear video to use as a still. A newer GoPro might be a little better with stills than the one I have used. Also, the LCD backpack is a must!
 
My husband brought ours on our last trip and got some really fun videos. He used the hand held attachment on the rides and walking around and it worked out well.

He also had a clamp that we attached to our friends stroller which let us get some group shots when there weren't photo pass photographers. I'm not sure which model it is (it's his toy), but we got some good stills as well as video. It definitely does better in normal lighting though, dark shots were tough. We experimented with using our cell phone to uplight a bit & that helped a lot.
 


Don't bother with a handle, you're making a camera designed to be small for action activities a big bulky thing. Just hold it in your hand with a small lanyard around your wrist (90% of video I'm sharing was taken this way) and you can easily stick it in your pocket when not in use.

Also keep in mind Go Pros have "fish eye" lenses and are designed for first person view with a superwide view of what is around you. Great for action shots but not so great for some still images or far away action.

Here's one I did. A couple of shots were done on a stick before they were outlawed but again 90% in my hand.

 
My husband used a wrist mount our first trip and then just the short handle last trip (which he preferred). We only take video with it because the still shots are pretty bad. We also clamped it to the stroller a lot for shows, parades, and fireworks.
 


Also consider one of those flexible mini tripods. as long as you get an actioncam one and not a dslr model you can use them like a handle but you also have the option to put the camera down and wrap it around something to hold the camera.

Handy if there is anything you plan to film that may not require you to hold it or you dont' want to look through it. Plenty of spots around property that you can easily get the camera a good view. Parades, fireworks and projection shows there is trash cans, poles to wrap it around, pecos bill has some taller walls/fence to set it on, wrap it onto a stroller/wheelchair if you have one (but handlebar mount is better for that for ensure it stays attached with moving around and someone in the chair/stroller to bump it around.

and the dual use as a handle makes less to carry around with you.
 
Also keep in mind Go Pros have "fish eye" lenses and are designed for first person view with a superwide view of what is around you. Great for action shots but not so great for some still images or far away action.




I agree...I don't think GoPro cameras are a good idea for the sole camera on any trip but if you at least had a camera phone you should be okay. Here is one we did last year with only iPhone pics and a GoPro (and of course memory maker)

 
My son has a go pro and I never even thought of having him bring it. I worry it could get damaged/lost on rides. I will definitely look into accessories for protection in the next week or two before we leave. It's weird because my husband has a video production company so he doesn't like to film our vacations in anyway(becomes work thinking of shots lighting ect) but might be super fun for my kiddo and we'd have more than pictures.
 
We will have our iPhone too. Ours is a hero4 so it says it takes good stills. We are going for the weekend next week so I will give it a try and see how it works out.
 
We will have our iPhone too. Ours is a hero4 so it says it takes good stills. We are going for the weekend next week so I will give it a try and see how it works out.

I recommend pulling it out and finding out now if you like the stills from it. don't forget to try different lighting so get some day, some cloudy and night near a street light tests (and have someone walk parade speed in the street light so you know if you can get some motion in the dark photo). nothign worse than coming home and finding no good photos but your phone for 2 or 3 of them were the better option.

Our last trip I had a huge DSLR and I was so sick of lugging that thing around.

I hear ya.. I actually pick and choose what I carry in the parks. some days it's just my phone. some days it's not. I tend to favor less when I know there is going to be a lot of rides.. but I tend to favor the better cameras when I know we're jumping in for the entertainment (like coming back in for the fireworks after a resort break, just bringing the camera that works better for that during that small part of the day).
 
It isn't great for still shots. My DH drilled into a brim of a baseball hat to attached the go pro. It's a pretty sweet set up and we get a lot of comments on it (I should probably go into production with it and make some money, lol). It's of course a head mount but not the ugly black strap one. We used it on our last disney trip and our recent vacation to Cayman. The go Pro was great for videos of rides and shows and water activities (if in the waterproof casing). Our DS loved wearing it in Epcot and it was kind of a neat perspective. You can download the app and use your phone to take still pictures with go pro and if it isn't in the right position for the specific shot then just use your phone cam while its out.
 
We are going on a quick trip this weekend so I will try it out and of course I will have my Iphone too. I mean honestly how many of the same shots of the castle can I have. It will be fun experimenting with it.

I really wanted the Go Pro for our cruise last year but better late than never. I was messing around with it this weekend and I think it will be neat making videos with it.
 
I really wanted the Go Pro for our cruise last year but better late than never

Man we loved ours on our last cruise. When we last sailed Disney we didn't have one yet but it was certainly the trip that sent me online to buy one as soon as we got home. This one is from Royal Caribbean last February.

 
Also, one thing that helped was we brought our laptop and each night after a day at the parks we uploaded all our pics and vids to clear the go pro for the next day and then charged it over night.
 
As everyone else said great for video- sucks for stills in the parks. Also as everyone else said it is awesome for cruises, even the stills. We brought ours on a Royal Caribbean and got such great footage that that was the only camera I brought into the parks for the 2 days post cruise. Major regret. I got no good footage and zero good stills. I think because it is more close range in the parks vs the landscapes in the islands and the fisheye ruins the forced perspective the parks try to create.
 
Man we loved ours on our last cruise. When we last sailed Disney we didn't have one yet but it was certainly the trip that sent me online to buy one as soon as we got home. This one is from Royal Caribbean last February.



did you make that video with Quik?
 

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