GoPro3

[mkoskinen]

Picked up a Hero3 black edition to replace the hero2 a few weeks back. First impression was the size is awesome, remote is cool and the gopro app is fawkin sweet. Took some pics and video at home and the picture quality is much better, pictures and videos don't look so roundish (if that makes sense). Then I strapped it on the bike for a race this last weekend and the battery only made it 46 minutes. Anyone else having this issue?

Mike

[pastajet]

Picked up a Hero3 black edition to replace the hero2 a few weeks back. First impression was the size is awesome, remote is cool and the gopro app is fawkin sweet. Took some pics and video at home and the picture quality is much better, pictures and videos don't look so roundish (if that makes sense). Then I strapped it on the bike for a race this last weekend and the battery only made it 46 minutes. Anyone else having this issue?

Mike

Yep, the battery doesn't seem to have much of a life, and getting it out in the cold makes it worse. And the remote battery is useless, half the time I get ready to use it its close to dead.

[mkoskinen]

Its crazy I liked my Hero2 and the new one has been such a let down. At least its not just me.

[heyyall]

I've recorded 40 minutes in single digits to low teens before. It didn't run out during this. I have had it run out sitting on the shelf when I forgot to turn the wifi off.

As much as I love the app, I wonder if running the wifi with the preview transmitting runs the battery down.

[net wurker]

...I wonder if running the wifi with the preview transmitting runs the battery down....

I would say yes to that.

You could do some battery timing testing, comparing battery times with wifi off vs. wifi on. Get your self a white lab coat, do some science...report results here.

[heyyall]

I would say yes to that.

You could do some battery timing testing, comparing battery times with wifi off vs. wifi on. Get your self a white lab coat, do some science...report results here.

That would make for a nice contribution.

Too bad you didn't suggest that when my middle schooler needed a science fair project. I would have had a lab assistant (i.e., grunt to do all the work).

[mazspeed]

Yes big time. Turn the wifi off when you are recording. It murders the battery.

[distro]

With my gopro black I seem to be getting about 45 minutes to and hour on my batteries @ 1080p and 60fps (wifi off). Camera seemed to act funny last weekend when temps were in the 40s.

Edit: pro tune is on.

[nov0798]

I was able to get 2.5 hours out of my Hero 3 battery, filming in a lower resolution, and wifi off. With wifi on, it lasts less than 1 hour.

[heyyall]

There are two wifi modes: app and keychain device. Has anybody noticed if te key chain mode lasts longer than the app? I would think key chain would last longer since it does stream the preview.

[lanceuppercut]

Yep, the battery doesn't seem to have much of a life, and getting it out in the cold makes it worse. And the remote battery is useless, half the time I get ready to use it its close to dead.

I was having the same issue with the remote battery, and then I realized that the remote was turning on as soon as I unplugged it from a charging source. It would turn off eventually after running the battery down about 2/3. I just make sure it's off after I unplug it now. It lasts a lot longer than the camera battery.

[hybridzeg8]

i used my gopro hero3 to get some video out snowboarding the other day, temps were in the lower 30's. I bought the external battery, and using that and also shutting the gopro off(Only the camera kept wifi on for the remote) every chair lift ride, made the battery life last for atleast 2hours, recording on 1080p. The only poblem i had was towards the end of the night, the battery life was low and the camera was freezing (the read out screen would be stuck on the video picture) along with the remote, after the second time it froze (had to remove the battery to reset the camera) i put it in the truck. Once i got home and it got back room temperture, the external battery was completly dead but the camera battery still had one bar and it powered up no problem and recorded a few more videos. Had the same result with the remote, it still had one bar left once back at room temperture. All in all if your using the app as a viewing screen and dont need the gopro screen, buy the external battery and it should atleast double the battery life.

[hybridzeg8]

I was having the same issue with the remote battery, and then I realized that the remote was turning on as soon as I unplugged it from a charging source. It would turn off eventually after running the battery down about 2/3. I just make sure it's off after I unplug it now. It lasts a lot longer than the camera battery.

Also something i figured out, after the remote was on the charger for like 3 hours i realized it was still dead, next charge i watched it and after its fully charged it stops the charge and turns the remote on automatically clearly something gopro didnt think of

[Lawson Raider]

The Hero HD and Hero 2 batteries last a good amount of time.... I have gone a whole day recording on a battery with those cameras. Heck did the whole Ribbon/Holy Cross trail ride on a single battery charge (3 - 4 hour ride with all the stops and such).

I understand the Hero3 is smaller but would have been nice if they kept the same battery because was pretty nice to have spare batteries that could interchange with my other gopro's. Not sure if I want a camera that the battery bites it after 45 min.

[Shagen7]

I picked up a Juice Pack for recharging when I'm out and about, works pretty good.

[themacalu]

Just got my GoPro 3 today.. getting pretty worried with all the negative reviews on mtbr and the public apology that the CEO posted on the GP FB page.

[MhzMonster]

I would say yes to that.

You could do some battery timing testing, comparing battery times with wifi off vs. wifi on. Get your self a white lab coat, do some science...report results here.

I was curious to see how much less the battery run times were at different recording modes on each GoPro cameras. My Hero3 Battery BacPac should show up tomorrow, hoping that it increases battery life significantly. The test were side by side with them sitting on my desk, continually recording until the battery drained and it stopped recording. I have not had any lock ups, glitches, card issues with either camera yet. I hope this helps.

Model Battery Runtime File Size Recording Mode
HERO3 OEM 1h 07m 14.0gb 1080p 60 W
HERO3 OEM 1h 04m 13.7gb 1080p 60 W
HERO3 WAS 1h 01m 13.2gb 1080p 60 W
HERO3 WAS 0h 58m 13.2gb 1080p 60 W
HERO3 OEM 1h 49m 13.0gb 1080p 30 W
HERO3 OEM 1h 47m 12.9gb 1080p 30 W
HERO3 OEM 0h 58m 12.7gb 1080p 60 W WiFi on
HERO3 OEM 0h 59m 12.7gb 1080p 60 W WiFi on
HERO3 OEM 1h 31m 16.7gb 1440p 48 W
HERO3 WAS 1h 20m 15.3gb 1440p 48 W
HERO3 WAS 1h 32m 25.7gb 4k CIN 12 W
__________________________________________________ ___

Model Battery Runtime File Size Recording Mode
HERO2 OEM 2h 16m 13.8gb 1080p 30 W
HERO2 WAS 2h 02m 12.9gb 1080p 30 W
HERO2 OEM 2h 11m 13.4gb 1080p 30 W WiFi on
HERO2 WAS 2h 11m 13.4gb 1080p 30 W WiFi on

HERO3 = HERO3 Black Edition (latest firmware)
HERO2 = HD HERO2 (latest firmware)
OEM Battery = GoPro OEM Manufactured Battery
WAS Battery = Wasabi Aftermarket Battery

[hybridzeg8]

^^^ some good stuff to know!!

[mazspeed]

I would also like to see with the battery backpac on, to see how those times increase. Thanks for the effort to do that MhzMonster. I have the LCD screen for the old hero and it works on the 3, but doesn't seem worth it at all. I wonder why Gopro didn't go with a bigger battery to start with. I think the remote works for a lot of people, but it just seems like a battery kill.

[MhzMonster]

The Battery BacPac for the Hero3 arrived as I was leaving for work today. I plan to let fully charge overnight and test it tomorrow morning. I'll update my post above with the results.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

[heyyall]

That's great data coming together above. It is remarkable how much the recording time varies based on capture settings. In a way it makes some sense, but a ~50% reduction in recording time by going to 60 fps is striking.

[Shagen7]

Thanks for the info MhzMonster, can't wait to see what you get with the Battery BacPac.

[net wurker]

I was curious .....(bunch of data),,,,,

Science!

[MhzMonster]

... I have not had any lock ups, glitches, card issues with either camera yet. I hope this helps.

Yep, I must have jinxed myself by saying that.

Either GoPro Hero3 Battery BacPac is defective, or the Hero3's expansion port on the back of the unit is bad. With both units fully charged I tried running a test and when I came back a few hours later to check the results, it only recorded 41mins. So, I repeated the test with the OEM GoPro internal battery and got similar results with 44mins of run time but noticed that both of the batteries were not fully depleted. So I decided to fully charge them again and babysit it, around the 40min mark it beeped a few times and shut itself down. I looked at the display and it was flashing the over temp icon.

To add to my sudden bad luck.... During the battery runtime tests using the WiFi remote, I just used the one I had for my Hero2 HD simply because it was already charged up. So I never bothered with the new remote that was packaged with the Hero3 since they are identical. While I was charging them both up, I noticed that the LCD on the new remote looked strange. The LCD has a vertical strip almost in the center that stays blank - will not display any LCD ink. Defective right out of the box.

Tomorrow I plan to exchange the Battery BacPac at BestBuy and try it, if it still overheats then I will either get the Hero3 replaced or just get a refund for it and the Battery BacPac and keep my Hero2 HD, I'm not sure which I'll end up doing.

[BigLarry]

Model Battery Runtime File Size Recording Mode
HERO3 OEM 1h 31m 16.7gb 1440p 48 W

In contrast to your tests, I am consistently only getting ~30 minutes of run time at 1440, 48 FPS. (Maybe the "1h" is a typo?) I ended up buying four batteries for my rides.

I'm in CA with temps in the 50s F. I do forget to turn off the WiFi after adjusting with the GoPro Android app, but WiFi doesn't seem to affect much in your tests.