HERO3 White Edition

I've had * Hero 3 White * Hero 4 Silver * Hero 7 Black * Max (1) * Hero 12 Black and I still have all but the 3 white. The 3 white was the only 'bad' one I think, one where the camera really didn't live up to the hype for me and hence I upgraded quite quickly. As for my favourite? In the context of when they came out the 7 felt the most incredible, it really was a big jump with the stabilisation. But I probably shot most of my coolest footage on either the 4 Silver or the Max, just because of the time in my life I was using them and the novelty of 360 footage at the time.

Agreed with your first point (but I think, since the Hero 3, I have used my cams once in the dark) Agree with the second point but I like to use the best options available to me, no matter what brand it may be. If that means using insta’s software to edit my GoPro footage then so be it. But then, you went full Tropic Thunder…

Plus one for the action cams. I don't know about the knockoffs, but there's plenty of GoPro knockoffs with durable cases. And you can find a used GoPro Session in the $60 range. Even a Hero 3 is still a decent option over a toy camera.

I have you beat, I'm still using a GoPro 3, lol. I keep thinking I want to buy a real camera but I just don't. Went diving last weekend and someone from the dive shop brought a Divevolk for iPhone. It was reasonably descent but not great. He didn't have any lights and we were diving in 3 to 6 meters of water. Looked very grainy compared to someone who had a DJI Action 4. Personally, I am thinking about the DJI Action 5 now. I looked at the Action 4 but in a side by side comparison I found: * Action 5 did 240 minutes, Action 4 was only 160 mins * Action 5 had subject tracking, Action 4 did not * Action 5 has an OLED display, Action 4 has LCD (I prefer my dive computer with OLED over older LCD display, so probably similar for camera) * Action 5 has a built-in pressure gauge and 47 GB of storage, Action 4 has no built-in pressure gauge or storage * Action 5 is 40 MP resolution, Action 4 is 9.98 MP If I didn't go for the Action 5, I'd probably look at the Action 3. It is similar to the Action 4 but cheaper.

I have a Gopro Hero 3 I got off FB Marketplace for $50, it's not fancy, but it records at very good quality and, it was cheap. Any Insta, Gopro, or DJI camera you can get used off Marketplace will work just fine

Exactly this. I bought my first GoPro (a Hero 3 I think) as a cheap way to get into underwater photography. It was okay, but the footage was not that exciting, so after a couple of trips I upgraded to a 7. This was a total disaster, since the camera would glitch and stop recording video after just a few seconds. This fall I decided it was time to give it another try since they had made the 13 body waterproof, the housing sturdier, and added interchangeable lenses. Well the lenses make it not waterproof anymore so fortunately I didn't invest in those, and the footage I got doesn't look much better than what I shot with my 3. Suffice it to say that the GoPro is not an acceptable camera for scuba diving.

I have a hero 10 black. Before that had a hero 3 and a session. I’ve always felt like GoPros are annoying to use. Just brought mine outside today for the first time in a while with a full battery, shuts off first 5 min because it’s too cold 🤷‍♂️