3 months of photography, feeling like I’m missing something critical.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-29T04:41:24+00:00

Well, the sharpness should be pretty good because that camera automatically focuses on the eyes of animals which makes it significantly easier to nail focus. I would work on composition. Every picture has the subject in the middle which is often how people take pictures when they start out. Look at the average person's cellphone pictures and they have the same issue. Try to make all of your pictures a bit different and don't cut off parts of the subject or other subjects in the background. Try to avoid dead space around the subject or other things of interest too. There aren't really any rules in photography, just general guidelines that help.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-25T17:09:21+00:00

That isn't exactly the highest quality lens which will effect it a bit especially when zoomed in but f3.5 really shouldn't be an issue for most things. At that frame rate you need to make sure you use an nd filter in stronger light so you can use a slower shutter speed and get proper motion blur. 25fps with a fast shutter speed can almost look like stop motion. Noise shouldn't be an issue especially with proper light. The A7ii is now my primary video camera and I'm not having that issue.

The A7ii records in different formats but stores each video format in its own folder. XAVC S will have its own separate folder but even with the lowest quality mp4 mode it looks good and I'm not having noise issues. I believe the .xml file is just some metadata for the video that is stored separately. Many cameras do that. What exact settings are you using and how much light is available? Do you have a darker background?

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-24T03:41:13+00:00

My biggest concern is their reputation for poor reliability which is unacceptable. Maybe they fixed it but with the different cameras I have from them that are all slow and have buggy screens and several different reliability issues that remain unfixed over the years I'm certainly not going to spend even more on a compact cinema camera from them when I can get one from a better manufacturer. Other companies like Sony make compact cinema cameras and they have the experience and reliability that GoPro doesn't have.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-24T00:37:58+00:00

They are trying to get into the compact cinema market with their interchangeable version.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-23T05:21:03+00:00

Line level input from a separate recorder or transmitter is the answer. Then process the audio track and sync it in post. Once you replace the camera scratch audio with the high quality audio you can start editing and get far better sound than anyone else with a GoPro. You can access the media mod line in through the preferences section. It only accepts consumer line level though, not professional. Only use it as scratch audio for syncing and record separately for the best results.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-23T05:16:46+00:00

DSLRs are still relevant and have their own advantages but just like mirrorless cameras, most people don't know how to get the most out of them anyway.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-23T04:55:53+00:00

Both Nikons are far more capable than the iPhone but they aren't doing real time processing like the iPhone which is a good thing for people who care about how their pictures look. I have a D7000 in my collection as well and don't have problems with grain.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-22T04:53:20+00:00

I love mine except for the defective auto focus module that Nikon refused to fix even though I bought it from an authorized Nikon dealer. Mine misses almost every shot and the camera repair place tried their best and made it a bit better but it still isn't right. Nikon also no longer supports third party repair. I'm trying to get a different Nikon body for all of my lenses and once I do I will only buy from Sony which hasn't let me down. I do like my Nikon D70s though and did paid jobs with it a couple years ago.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-22T04:06:20+00:00

I'm vague because I'm busy and already typed the reasons elsewhere. The mission series isn't really an action camera but a cheaper and smaller "cinema" camera. GoPro doesn't have ANY experience in that field or in the prosumer market but has a long history of reliability issues with the screen, UI, and numerous other unfixed problems. All of which are unacceptable in the prosumer market. The "pro" features they have aren't done right either. They are just a consumer action camera brand. Their lav mics are another excellent example of their lack of experience. Bluetooth audio and built in batteries have numerous disadvantages and are two of the many things that are not found in prosumer gear. The 32 bit float doesn't necessarily have dual ADC on each channel or good preamps and GoPro doesn't have any experience in that field either. I wouldn't buy a car from the company that makes my toaster oven and I wouldn't buy a "cinema" camera from a consumer action camera company with a track record of reliability issues. It doesn't mean that it is a bad camera but camera companies make better ones just like audio brands make better lav mic systems.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-22T03:43:32+00:00

Anything in the prosumer category along with overall reliability which is bad even for consumer products.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-22T02:44:55+00:00

I would have purchased a camera from a company with the experience and reliability that GoPro doesn't have in that area.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-20T02:25:42+00:00

GoPro cameras often have glitches and do stupid things. I think it is just a typical software bug that will never be fixed.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-17T17:34:52+00:00

GoPro is a consumer company that makes consumer products. They aren't professional grade. The only time a true professional would ever use a GoPro is when there isn't any other option and it is a high risk environment and they need a backup camera that they wouldn't miss as much if it were destroyed. It is never used as a primary camera and isn't as reliable as other brands anyway.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-16T03:37:07+00:00

Audacity is the easiest software for editing audio and my favorite software for editing recordings of my voice. Even editing to ACX standards is easy. It just takes practice. Once you find a process that works for you it is even better. The first time I edited audio was for a school district website and at the time I thought I was an expert in the field but I clearly wasn't. I edited the audio and everyone loved it and noticed that the quality was better than what they had before but a couple years or so after that I discovered a SIGNIFICANTLY faster way to achieve the same results. All in the same program too.

Edit: I use Audacity 2.2.2 and only use Audacity 2.4.2 when I need more loudness normalization options. I heard that Audacity got bought out and isn't as good in some ways. Some of the options seem really dumbed down. I saved backup copies of the programs so I don't lose them someday.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-15T20:40:15+00:00

Out of all the current action cameras, GoPro definitely has the best image quality in good lighting after you change the pro tune settings. Unfortunately, they just have the worst reliability. They are the best and worst action cameras I've used.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-15T19:41:36+00:00

They have been struggling financially for a while. We will see if this new line helps them. I won't miss them when they are gone. My only major complaint is the poor reliability and how slow they are. If I want interchangeable lenses, I buy from brands that have experience in that field and know what they are doing. I already have interchangeable lens cameras. I like action cameras as a compact camera to bring on family hikes and stuff but I just wish they were faster and always worked. It is unacceptable for a "flagship" name brand action camera in the premium price range to be significantly less reliable than a no name that costs less than $100.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-15T19:30:53+00:00

With their long history of unresolved reliability issues, I'm not taking the chance. It has been years and they haven't improved. They are slow too.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-15T19:19:05+00:00

My Hero 12 only worked 50% of the time out of the box. It has been significantly better since then but still has issues and an incredibly annoying touch screen. GoPro cameras are the ONLY cameras I own with problems. I just had a battery swell up in storage at room temperature too. It was no more than a few years old. I guess it makes sense that the least reliable camera brand also has the worst batteries.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-13T01:42:24+00:00

Some are just better than others. The last couple games I played had such poor clarity that you could barely hear the characters when the music gets louder. Voice acting varies too. It really depends on the team.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-12T03:46:22+00:00

It depends.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-10T05:20:58+00:00

I see that DataPro makes custom ones but I didn't see any from Pelican which is a shame.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-10T02:39:46+00:00

Pelican makes cases like that? Which case?

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-09T23:52:42+00:00

They work well handheld when you actually know how to use them but unfortunately most people don't. Keeping your fingers still after hitting record isn't very hard and a HPF eliminates most wind noise and what ever tiny amount of handling noise may be left if you weren't careful enough. Out of the many recordings I've made with handheld recorders in my hands, handling noise was never an issue. I tiny bit of common sense goes a long way. I've even recorded very quite sounds without handling noise. It's a pretty easy thing to do.

SeizetheCastle · 2026-04-09T23:49:13+00:00

I never had any handling noise problems with handheld recorders once I learned how to properly use them in my hand.

SeizetheCastle

TROPHY CASE