GoPro LCD back now available
 

I just ordered one. not a bad deal; $79. for the back, plus 4 different rear case panels. I expect it'll be a week or so before it arrives, however I'll stick up some impressions on it when I get it

$79 but posting one to the uk is ...... $75!

No UK dealers have them in stock yet. Damn!

Ordered mine today as well. Will be a great addition. Can't wait.

-gb-

Paul,
It may be worthwhile to have someone in the US pick one up for you and ship it that way. I live in Canada, and I called GoPro to see if they would ship some other way than FedEx ( I do NOT like dealing with those people), and they will not, regrettably. I normally would use USPS/Canada Post to avoid the brokerage fees they charge.

I'm sure someone in the US could get it to you far cheaper by registered mail...it can't possibly be that big a package

Wow -- this should make using the GoPro a lot easier... now if only B&H had 'em in stock!

90 euro in Greece, available in 7-9 days

They ship from Half Moon Bay. You'll get it a lot quicker if you order direct.

I just ordered it directly from Go Pro on their website.

Daniel Weber

Got mine today. Nice having a screen on the GoPro - easy to use button commands once you get used to it, and a fairly decent LCD. It's cheap - don't expect crazy wide viewing angles or a super-insane-o-bright LCD, but it gets the job done and gives you in-camera framing and playback of videos w/ sound, and images. The included housing backs are a plus, and work nicely. Backs for standard and wrist-mount housings are included for both waterproof and non-waterproof configurations.

Here are a few quick iPhone snaps of one of my GoPros with the LCD BacPac

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoPr...oto%201-18.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoPr...oto%202-19.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoPr...oto%203-17.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9005046/GoPr...oto%204-16.JPG

SWEET!

I was going to make some comment about your having considerable pull to get your hands on one that quickly...then noticed you just down the road from them...

I'm hoping to see my copy early next week. Looking forward to it

Fast!
 

Thumbs up to GoPro on shipping. I ordered the new LCD BacPac yesterday afternoon. They are in Half Moon Bay, which is about 500 miles north of where I am and it showed up this morning! Jeez, that is so fast!

Looks sweet, gotta try it this weekend.

Dan

Ordered mine today, got email it's on it's way. Too bad my gopro is on location, in the virgin islands. Some friends are working on a project down there and asked if I'd send it down to them. I just received 600 gigs worth of footage (on a hard drive), from 4 different cameras (gopro included). In the sunshine of the day, I have to say the gopro holds it's own against the $6000 jvc their using as their main camera.

mine arrived on Tuesday. Its actually a better image than I was expecting for the price...plus the 4 additional backs for the housing make it a heck of a good deal. I've only had time to fool with it a little bit, but I think it's going to make the gopro MUCH more functional in a bigger variety of situations

Got mine a couple pf days ago -- and while I haven't used it seriously yet, yes, it makes a big difference to the usability of the main GoPro unit. I can actually see what it might be seeing as it's seeing it, rather than hours later back in the studio. Of course, the image is tiny, but it's a hell of a lot better than no image at all, and is fine for framing (the only thing you really need with the GoPro) -- one less thing to have to hook up to the DP6...

I ordered mine yesterday. I also decided to get another GoPro while I was at it. They come in mighty handy on many shoots.

It's supposed to ship next week. It'll be nice to not have to take my field monitor everywhere.

for those of you waiting :)

The icing on the cake would be if there was a short lead which would allow the LCD screen to be mounted separately from the camera as a remote monitor facing back towards the subject or just simply in a better viewing position. An owner-pilot of a single-seat sports aircraft I know would be in pig-heaven if this was an option.

just get one of the many small LCD's monitors that are out there and use the camera;s composite or component V out connectors.

Just been chatting to them at BVE. Two weeks for UK stock they told me....

I too went to their stand at BVE on Wednesday and someone there told me they didn't know when the LCD would be available in the UK and that I should email them in a couple of weeks to see.

Question:
right now how doesi the battery last with the monitor attached?
thx

I haven't done a serious timed test yet, but it seems to me that the battery life is reduced by around 25%

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

I bought one right away and then used the camera and the new LCD back on a forklift. I'm producing a series of training videos and one is dedicated to this company's shipping department. The new back really made the experience of getting the camera mounted and recording quick and easy.

When you have a client hungry to get in the middle of the action and get their hands in the way because of the immediate need to capture the footage, this configuration really helped me out. He was able to look at the LCD and understand what the camera was going to see before we recorded any video.

The one thing that I need to practice on is putting the camera's mounting configurations together so that when I have a situation, I can quickly arrive to a solution on how to mount it.

I had to put my camera on the cage of the Forklift, but the cage had this big square tubing. I took a maffer clamp and stuck a mount onto one flat area of the clamp. It worked out really well. This way I didn't feel like I wasted one of those stick mounts to the forklift.

G. Wilkins

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

I have a couple of Manfrotto nano clamps that I attached a GoPro mount to one, and the other I use the tripod mount on a Manfrotto coupler.
It's a nice, flexible clamping system that goes on and comes off really quickly, holds the camera very securely to just about anything you want to clamp it to. I agree, the LCD back makes it MUCH more useable in many situations

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

The LCD screen is 4:3 - fine for the GoPro in its stills mode. So is the image letterboxed when in movie mode - or is it horizintally compressed or worse truncated?

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

it letterboxes any 16:9 HD signal for the correct aspect ratio, 960mode is full frame.. hint : your lcd vf loupe can come in handy

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Next week my cousing is going in FLoridda, would he find the lcdbackpacon the stores or should him order online?

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

I'd order online to be safe. I heard they should start showing up in retail locations late this month, but...

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

I had a chance to test it out this weekend. With the vented back and 90 degree sunny weather the screen overheated after 20 minutes and shut off. When I turned it on again it said "lcd overheated, turning off in 5 seconds" then it would turn off.

Not that happy with it's performance and it has zero usefulness in any sort of light, but it is useful as a quick review screen.

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Matt - you say the screen has 'zero usefulness in any sort of light'. You mean sunlight washes out the image? ANY sort of light?

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

I much prefer an external monitor if i need to frame with the Gopro.

I'm not into this BacPac thing at all, the only thing i see it useful for is to frame up a shot, remove it and don't even use the extended housing at all.

It just adds weight, size, sucks power, increases heat (the GoPro with BacPak we measured at 45C) and has the potential to shut your camera down at any time during recording.

I prefer to use this if i need to frame, it has av in, av out, it's own battery and charger, records 480p to a 16Gb mini SD and comes with a tiny button camera for surveillance use. The screen brightness is as good as an LCD on a Canon HD camcorder. All for $100.

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/4222/egale.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7885/egale1.jpg

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Tom, the screen is washed out with bright sunlight, even when shaded with a hand I was unable to see it. Nevermind that it gets so hot and shuts itself off anyways.

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Here's the awesome bright image from this little monitor. One photo take with a very bright light shining on it the other with the light down low.

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/6175/mon1w.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/3415/mon2z.jpg

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Is anybody having trouble getting the lcd to come on? I think I downloaded the latest firmware. How do you tell if you have the firmware upgrade?

Dan

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Before I downloaded the correct update, if I plugged the LCD backpack in, and tried to turn on the camera, all I would get was a clicking sound, coming from the tiny speaker. Camera wouldn't turn on, and light on front would kind of blink funny, like a little bulb that was starting to turn out. Once the proper firmware update was installed, the LCD screen fired right up, no problems.

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Jeff

What is the correct firmware? I downloaded v01.01.54.zip What firmware do you have?

Dan

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

You can identify the FW by taking a photo and reading the EXIF data in any decent photo editor, or if you have windows 7 just right click and go to details.

If you need to revert to an older firmware,the download link is listed and identified below.

31/08/2010 V02.05.11 (One Button Video, Upside Down, PAL 25/50, etc)
30/01/2011 V01.01.46 (LCD BacPac)
01/03/2011 V01.01.50 (Battery BacPac)
04/04/2011 V01.01.54 (3D)

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Ian

I downloaded the one for the 3d camera. so all I have to do is download 30/01/2011 V01.01.46 (LCD BacPac)
Does it replace the other firmware? I really appreciate the help, I have the balloon fest shoot starting Friday.

Dan

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

well i think it is the LCD and not the camera. I tried three different firmwares and none worked. If you have any suggestions let me know. thanks

Dan

Re: GoPro LCD back now available
 

Dan,
If you have any other version on the SD card except version 01.01.46 ( that's the one to enable the LCD backpack), plug the card into your computer, and delete them. Once you've updated the software from the card, you are supposed to delete the BIN file from the card if it doesn't disappear on it's own.
The first time I tried to update my gopro, I neglected to eliminate the BIN file from the SD card, and it hung the camera. ( I believe it was trying to read two firmware versions at once)