[Lard Almighty]

My Hero 3 White (with waterproof case included) cost $200. However, I did have to spend extra on accessories. The camera only comes with one battery, and if you plan on shooting more than about 2 hours at a time, you will need to buy extras (after-market batteries are cheaper and last just as long, at about $10 apiece). If you want a head- or chest-strap mount, that will run you another $10. A memory card is not included, so you will have to buy one. Prices for Micro SD cards are always coming down, but they are still about $0.50 to $1 per GB, and 1 GB is good for about 10 minutes of video, so you’re probably looking at a 16 or 32 GB card.

On the subject of performance, while I love my GoPro, it has its limitations. For one thing, it cannot zoom in. It also has a wide-angle lens that makes things look very far away. For example, a bald eagle sitting in a tree 50 feet away may look larger than life to you, but will barely show up as a speck on the video. Also, the audio capture is horrible, and that’s with the standard case; it is nearly nonexistent in the waterproof case. It will pick up your voice just fine if you are wearing the camera, but any sound more than five feet away will be muted, getting progressively more so the farther away it is. You will need an editing program to boost the sound (and cut the clips together if you want). GoPro has their own free program you can download. I have never used it (I have Adobe Premier, which runs about $50), so I don’t know how good it is.

Hopefully this will help you make your decision. I love mine, but it’s not right for everyone. If you’re just looking for home movie-style recording of memories, it will certainly do the trick. If you’re looking for professional fishing show quality, you will be disappointed. If you do get one, we’d love to see some of your videos!