GoPro Smart Remote + Phantom 2 (Non-Vision)

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Has anyone here used the new GoPro Smart Remote? (Not the Wi-Fi remote) It seems like it doesn't operate on Wi-Fi, so it should be ok right?
http://shop.gopro.com/accessories/smart ... E-002.html

I've been considering getting one, because I would really like to snap high-rez photos during flight. I'm currently unable to do that since, well, the GoPro is 100 meters up in the air at the time, and I have no way of setting it to take photos instead of video.

It would also be nice to be able to trigger the record button whenever I want, instead of having to manually press it before taking off every time. I hate having to press it when the Gimbal is in operation, I feel like I'm going to damage the motor every time.
 
It still requires WiFi.
 
Turn the gopro on before you turn on the phantom. Also why would you want to trigger the record button anytime? It takes about two hours to fill up my card and my phantom can only fly for about 20 min. :(
 
I wanted to take 12mp photos with the extra settings that photo mode has available. Sure I could just grab one of the video frames which are shot at 4k, but like it or not, 12mp photos are bigger, and sharper (not to mention uncompressed) than any video you can shoot with a GoPro. It would be awesome to have a way to snap photos when you want from the ground, switch the settings, continue shooting video, without ever having to land and change the settings manually.

The Smart Remote would be perfect for this but if it requires Wi-Fi, well, it's off-limits for us Non-Vision users. Unless there is another way?
 
who said:
Turn the gopro on before you turn on the phantom. Also why would you want to trigger the record button anytime? It takes about two hours to fill up my card and my phantom can only fly for about 20 min. :(

Not always possible. With the H3-3D and GoPro bus connector mod, it may be necessary to turn the Phantom on and then the GoPro for FPV feed. Turning on the GoPro before the P2 results in no video feed for me.

That said, touching the GoPro with the gimbal on isn't going to kill it with a little care. Just don't be reckless.
 
I don't know what Gopro you've got but my Gopro 4 Black doesn't shoot in RAW only JPG and as such the stills are compressed, if I want to shoot some stills I set the Gopro to shoot one off every 10 seconds. As it takes a shot the FPV screen goes black momentarilly so you then know you have 10 seconds to line up your next shot.
 
Who said anything about RAW?
 
Mick Emmett said:
dptcalvin said:
Who said anything about RAW?

You did, "12mp photos are bigger, and sharper (not to mention uncompressed) than any video you can shoot with a GoPro"
Uncompressed = RAW. Gopros shoot in JPG only which is a compressed; not an uncompressed file format.
Let's not put words in my mouth. :)

I agree, though. best bet is to just set the GoPro so it takes a still every 10 seconds.
 
Mick Emmett said:
Oops! sorry, I checked back to see if it was you that posted it, must have got the names mixed up, apologies again dptcalvin.
No worries. :) I didn't see the OP's post about wanting uncompressed shots.

Cheers!
 
My mistake, what I meant is that the bitrate on the video footage straight out of the gopro seems a little low to begin with, whereas the photos are significantly sharper, which is somewhat normal. I guess the only way to take photos from above is to set it to timelapse mode and have it take photos at a short preset interval. So yes, the jpeg's are compressed, but it is a very high quality compression, whereas the video stills just seem kind of meh. Sorry for the confusion folks!
 
I don't know the what the 4 is capable of, but the 3+BE does the simultaneous vids and stills. To enable just set to 1080p@30fps and protunes off. Then go capture settings and look for the Vid+Stills icon. This will prevent the FPV blacking out everytime a still is captured. These are proper photos and not frame grabbed.
 
Mick Emmett said:
I prefer the blacking out, I know I have another 10 seconds to line up for the next shot. I like to be in a steady hover when the shot goes off so there is no blur.

An interesting way of doing it - I hadnt thought of it that way. I can see how that could useful in some situations.

I found the blacking out a bit dangerous when I was flying and relying on an FPV signal. I now set my shots to every 5s and run video+stills together and so get no blacking out. If I position for a shot, I know as long as I am hovering for at least 5s I will have taken the photo.

Each their own though.
 
I have considered doing the simultaneous video and photo, however, the video resolution and framerate is limited. If I'm not mistaken, you can't shoot 4k video + photos simultaneously, nor can you do 1080p 120fps while shooting photos as well. It's limited to 1080p 30fps. I'll have to check to make sure, but last I checked on my GoPro 4 Black, those were the limitations.
 
Prophecies said:
I have considered doing the simultaneous video and photo, however, the video resolution and framerate is limited. If I'm not mistaken, you can't shoot 4k video + photos simultaneously, nor can you do 1080p 120fps while shooting photos as well. It's limited to 1080p 30fps. I'll have to check to make sure, but last I checked on my GoPro 4 Black, those were the limitations.

Not sure of the specifics without checking (I use a 3+ black), but I think you are right that there is a trade off for doing this.

Edit : in case anyone is interested, for the 3+ Black the limitations are as follows:

You can capture Simultaneous Video and Photo in one of the following resolution settings:

1440p 24 fps Wide
1080p 30/25/24 fps Wide, Medium,Narrow
720p 60/50 fps Wide, Medium,Narrow
 
After checking out the specs for the Hero4 Black, and indeed, there are limitations to shooting in Video+Photo mode, as listed here:
Record video and capture Time Lapse photos at the same time. Available intervals are 5, 10, 30 and 60 seconds. The following settings are supported:
1440p: 30, 25, 24; Ultra Wide, Medium
1080p: 30, 25, 24; Ultra Wide, Medium, Narrow
720p: 60, 50, 30; 25 Ultra Wide, Medium, Narrow


So yeah, it is quite unfortunate, and it would seem like the best option is to take off, shoot video at the resolution you want (4k 30, 1080p 120, etc), land, switch to Photo mode/timelapse mode, take off again. It's inconvenient, but it would seem like there is no other option. Maybe they'll come up with an infrared trigger like DSLR's have.
 
Prophecies said:
After checking out the specs for the Hero4 Black, and indeed, there are limitations to shooting in Video+Photo mode, as listed here:
Record video and capture Time Lapse photos at the same time. Available intervals are 5, 10, 30 and 60 seconds. The following settings are supported:
1440p: 30, 25, 24; Ultra Wide, Medium
1080p: 30, 25, 24; Ultra Wide, Medium, Narrow
720p: 60, 50, 30; 25 Ultra Wide, Medium, Narrow


So yeah, it is quite unfortunate, and it would seem like the best option is to take off, shoot video at the resolution you want (4k 30, 1080p 120, etc), land, switch to Photo mode/timelapse mode, take off again. It's inconvenient, but it would seem like there is no other option. Maybe they'll come up with an infrared trigger like DSLR's have.

And in retrospect, the wide/medium/narrow will affect the size of the photo.

I find it disappointing that the 4 black has "double" the processing power of the 3+BE, but cannot do vid+stills at 1080p@60fps or 2.7k@30fps. I hope a firmware update can unleash more power/options.
 
I would not be surprised if a firmware update would allow this, because they've done similar things in the past. Otherwise, it's still possible to hack the gopro and get it to do what you want it to do.
I'm genuinely considering hacking it to get access to the uncompressed RAW photos, and maybe even RAW video. I'm rather quite disappointed in the fact that it's just JPEG photos. They just fall apart when comes the time to do any real editing. Same applies to video.
 

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