1.) Jon - 07/14/2017

I really like the go pro BUT hate the battery life while using my phone via Bluetooth, it seems to only last 30 mins or less.
Garmin came out with a Go Pro killer about 6 months ago called VIRB Ultra 30. This thing looks allot like a Go Pro Black 5 Hero and performs similarly BUT has better battery life, is waterproof down to 40 meters, has ultra HD 4K/30fps video capability, stabilization, voice control and the best thing is that you can put gauges on your video for speed, acceleration, G-forces, bank angle, pitch angle, and a million other options via Bluetooth sensors available.
I bought it specifically for videotaping while on my motorcycle and this one fits the bill. I think it will be used while mounted on my helmet instead of on the bike itself so I can video what I'm looking at.
I made a video coming into work this am to see how it works. The video is 25 mins long but you can get the idea how it looks with a few sensors added in.
Don't pay too much attention to the point where the mount falls off!

2.) bluecat - 07/14/2017

That's nice Jon. Are you going to use it while hunting?

3.) Jon - 07/14/2017

I might, it should be easy to use and might last longer when controlled by the app on my phone.
This could be the perfect way to get a shot of an arrow coming through the backside of a deer's ribcage! Mounted on the ground, controlled by Bluetooth.....uh huh

4.) DParker - 07/14/2017

Wow, that's pretty cool. I like the fact that they've packed it with sensors that you can use to add info to your videos, navigation functionality and even voice control (which is extremely useful when you're driving).

5.) Swamp Fox - 07/14/2017

[QUOTE=Jon;50086]I might, it should be easy to use and might last longer when controlled by the app on my phone.
This could be the perfect way to get a shot of an arrow coming through the backside of a deer's ribcage! Mounted on the ground, controlled by Bluetooth.....uh huh[/QUOTE]


Saw that done on a bear hunt a few years ago. Amazing. A lot easier when you know exactly where the bear will be sticking his head, though!

6.) billy b - 07/15/2017

Uh, I noticed you were doing a little over the speed limit this morning Jon, better watch it:p

7.) Swamp Fox - 07/15/2017

LOL..He does have a heavy foot. I wasn't going to say anything...But he showed that dump truck! :grin:

Somebody might have finally developed an action camera I can get behind. I never could warm up to the Go Pros. I have three of the first gen basic Virbs that I use for fishing. They're somewhat limited as to what you can do with them, but after the first one I got the next two for next to nothing when they went to the next generation.

I like the fact that you can get a nice wide "flat view" here (not fisheyed) and I expect the controls and menus and view screens are much better than what I've seen from Go Pro.

8.) Jon - 07/17/2017

Ok, I speed occasionally in the truck. On the bike, it's not occasionally.
This VIRB is touch screen and voice commands for on, off and snap a picture. This one has 3 modes of video view, wide angle, 1.5x and 2x. I haven't messed with the zooms at all.
We went on a 200mile ride yesterday, it went thru 3 batteries during the ride but got everything. Unfortunately, I had it mounted on top of my helmet and didn't have Michelle look at the viewfinder (which she could have done by just touching the screen) so the entire time all that can be seen is the dash, windscreen and road about 30' in front of the bike. Too bad because when we crossed the canal, there was an enormous container ship approaching, was neat to see. I also had a really cool old guy in a 60's jaguar pace me on the highway, he stayed with me for quite a while too....well into 3 digits.

9.) Swamp Fox - 07/17/2017

How is the menu? What I'm really asking is if any monkey can figure it out (and can you actually read it without a magnifying glass and understand any symbols, LOL). That is possibly the main thing that drove me nuts with at least the first few iterations of the GoPro.

Also, have you tried to do audio with it? I'm sure I can look it up, but I'm interested in normal audio without external mics and performance in wind.

10.) Jon - 07/18/2017

The menu is very simple and easy to use even with my fat fingers. All touch screen and simple.
Well, the audio in 70+MPH wind is not possible BUT if I want to narrate the ride, I can use my Bluetooth headsets that have a microphone so it will eliminate all wind noise. I can't even yell through my helmet loud enough for the unit's internal speaker to hear from the top of the helmet.
I did another video this am with the camera mounted on top of my helmet, same route to work as the first video. Take a look.

11.) Swamp Fox - 07/18/2017

That's impressive.

"What wind noise?"

From reading a couple of reviews, Garmin's made a few big leaps from even their top model of a year ago. I was half-way interested in investing last summer, but I didn't think they were quite there yet with the model that preceded this one.

I can't remember what my big bugaboo was, but it could have been audio quality, since that's a major weakness of my current set-up. But I'm still trying to find my way around editing and editing software, so it could have been that, too. No sense in spending all the money if you don't know how to do anything with what you're buying, LOL.

12.) Wild Bob - 07/18/2017

So uh, what's in all those boxes in your office???

13.) Jon - 07/19/2017

All top secret of course Bob, hence the security system......
Took a different route today, through all the corn field bordered roads. Unfortunately for law enforcement purposes, I cannot show the video on a public forum......speed limits were broken....by allot

14.) Swamp Fox - 07/19/2017

You're one of those guys who blows my doors off on two-lane roads way out in the middle of nowhere. I don't see you coming and you're past me before I even know you're there.

I'm just moseying along in peace, enjoying America the Beautiful and thinking about nothing, and the scream of the bike going past all of a sudden is like a jolt of electricity. It's going to give me a heart attack and put me in a ditch one of these days! LOL

15.) Jon - 07/19/2017

I rarely do dumb stuff when there are other boneheads around, I have enough problems dealing with my own boneheadedness nevermind worrying that there might be a swampy around

16.) Swamp Fox - 07/19/2017

I'm an excellent driver





but two or three times I've literally jumped when a bike blasted past.

One memorable jolt was up near where you took your West Virginia road trip. Crotch rocket blew past me from behind on a two-lane way out in the wild, and then maybe five minutes later a state trooper flies by. Five minutes or so later I come up on one of the very few crossroads in the area and the biker is lying in the middle of the road, bike ditched, getting cuffed. He came up fast around a curve, evidently, saw the roadblock and "laid it down." I found out later he was wanted for a robbery 20 or so miles away.

17.) Jon - 07/21/2017

Here's a cool view, under the headlight.....until the suspension flexed and knocked the camera off kilter.....

18.) Swamp Fox - 07/21/2017

I think on the basic and next-level Virbs there's a setting to allow you to video with the camera upside down, but then again I'm not sure that pitch and roll or anything like it were part of the readings portfolio of those older models. If you wanted to know your heart rate, though, you were golden. :re:

That's too bad about the GPS. Do you know why it crapped out all of a sudden?

Any way to clamp the camera to the windshield?

19.) Jon - 07/21/2017

Swampy, the video is correct with the camera upside down but the sensors don't know any different. The camera has an auto mode that detects which way the camera is mounted. I'm going to try the upside down mode instead of auto and see if that matters. I'm assuming the GPS wasn't working for a bit since it couldn't get a good view of the sky being tucked up under the bike so far.
I can clamp the camera to the windscreen BUT I'm afraid there's just too much vibration there. I have some other ideas for the front of the bike and a bunch of different mounts to try.

20.) bluecat - 07/21/2017

I detected a rolling stop. :tap:

21.) Swamp Fox - 07/21/2017

Cool. There are some sturdy tube clamp mounts out there if you haven't seen them, and if your bike has anything tubular on it. If you wind up using anything with RAM balls and have any slippage, holler at me and I'll let you know if a fix I'm about to try works or not. Ordinarily I have zero problems with RAM balls, except when weight or extension is too much.

22.) Swamp Fox - 07/21/2017

[QUOTE=bluecat;50187]I detected a rolling stop. :tap:[/QUOTE]


Video distortion...optical illusion....:-)

23.) Jon - 07/21/2017

Rolling stop is the least of my problems! :hb:

24.) luv2bowhunt - 07/21/2017

What do you use the videos for? Is it rolling just in case something happens, like a dash cam, or do you actually watch the videos?


I see guys with the Go Pros and I wondered why they do it or if they watch each ride. Bad enough I have to stare out the windshield for a drive to work, wouldn't want to have to watch it again.

25.) Jon - 07/31/2017

Luv2, if you drove something exciting, you might enjoy the ride. Or, you can be a miserable bastard the rest of your life....your choice.

26.) bluecat - 07/31/2017

lol!

27.) Jon - 07/31/2017

:hb: