David East: Stills photography with a GoPro

Suggestion to DPR: Post the pictures with no commentary or explanation. Let them stand on their own merit. No mention of who, what, where, when or how.

Read through a few comments here and. The critiquing is rather amazing when it comes to photography and how the art form of it is many times lost in the perfectionism that is also lost on almost everyone except those of us that have indeed become perfectionists through the lens. I have to say, there is fine line that as far as definition goes reveals what I would define as a snobbery that spoils the viewing. So. I take the shots at face value and try to open my mind and quit reading certain folks posts. Yea I lean towards that crisp sharp edge
too, but I avoid that sharp edge when it comes to a great shot that some jealous critique sets up. What turns me a bit green is the travel the time and the locations, and courage to follow the art form in SPITE of those who live in bitterness.

A lot of people on here are complaining about a crappy lens, distortion, not many MP, etc. All four of the pictures above are probably WAY more interesting than the pictures that I and most of you have taken in the last month. With our 36mp camera and 2k dollar lens.

It IS about the pictures not the camera and lens. Money does not buy talent. Carry on.

I admire your perseverance, DPReview, but I fear that you're banging your head against a brick wall.

You have to accept that this site is dominated by pixel peepers and gear-heads. There will be almost no comments compared to a press release confirming the price of a new Sigma lens, and, of those, the top rated comments will soon be about how they could take a 'better' photo with a P&S or how the photos would be 'better' if taken with a DSLR.

To the majority of this site's audience, 'better' means sharper. 'Realism' is king - even when that 'realism' is so sharp, its levels hammered in PS and HDR'd to within an inch of its life, that it actually ends up a less true representation of its subject than any of these photos.

Ask the average DPReview commenter which photo is 'better' - 'Boy on bicycle' from 1932 or the resolution test chart of the D800E.

The majority will choose the latter....

Meh.

Images look a little soft in the corners.

Perhaps he can clean it up in LR.

(sarcasm)

"although not as technically sound"????
are you kidding me? this is phone camera quality (if it can be called that).
this is worthy of phonecamera news, nothing more.

mook360, what do you feel is inherently more beautiful or different about these images compared to any other fisheye/ultra wideangle photos? The subject matter isn't particularly novel, nor is the lighting and/or mood evoked. Just wondering about the basis of your comment.

what's up with those hipstagramstyle retouched snapshots? could you feature my nokia c2 retouched pictures just because they where taken with a old cellphone? or is there something special with this surfercam, marketing strategy?

Wonderfull images ! wonderfull places, fantastic use of his camera.
Creativity wins over technics.

To all of those who respond here and say stuff about gear, resolution etc.. and not about the photography of this cool dude and his art... u r just technicians. that's all. the photos are beautiful and different.

I sometimes use my Hero 3 black to get remote stills for some corporate work. Now, understand that these still have limited usability in terms of what one might customarily expect...think earlier camera phone shots. But like GoPro can not replace a RED, the stills can not replace those from say, a D800. The files do need more post processing as can clearly be seen here, but it is a start since the number one reason to use a GoPro for anything is alternate POV with a small and light footprint and for peanuts compared to a larger motion system.

So before you argue quality or it replacing a DSLR, think iPhone and how it has progressed, it will get better.