GoPro Hero3 is junk

[Finlay]

I just got a Hero 3 black edition as a surprise early Bday present. It's nice and the packaging is very well done.

The camera itself.... not so much. After doing the firmware update, the camera locked up while shooting some video. I've spent two hours and it's basically a brick. I'm waiting on GoPro to respond to my email, but I doubt there is any real recourse except to return it.

GoPro's marketing department is sharp and very good. Their engineering - well, that blows.

 

[jsexton]

Unfortunately that seems to be a very common issue with all of the GoPro Hero 3 cameras. It happened to me with a silver edition too

 

[ZMagic97]

Sorry to hear about this. I have an original one and haven't upgraded due to a lot of people being unhappy with the new models.

 

[Leipo]

had the same problem with my 64gb SDXC sandisk card: my GoPro froze and completely killed the memory card

now with a 32gb SDHC sandisk card everything is still working so far *knocks on wood*

What memory card were you using? as i suspect the newer, larger SDXC cards to be incompatible with the GoPro

 

[Corey]

I still have the 2, but I got my older son the silver 3 for his birthday, but he has not used it yet.
It will be for his bike, and I hope they have the firmware worked out by then.

 

[Finlay]

I've got 5-6 cards in my various devices, and none of them worked. Like you, I had a 64GB Sandisk card that we bought with it.

The card is fine - my phone, tablet, computer - they all can use it with no problems. The thing would freeze just charging from USB and GoPro Customer support is slow, and basically useless.

Damn shame, it seems like it would be nice.

 

[Chi-Town]

They changed the max card size down to 32gb shortly after they were released because the cameras had an issue with the larger cards. Make sure you have a class 10 / U1 card to start with and do the firmware update right out of the box. I suggest doing the firmware update manually to eliminate possible computer issues.

I have 12 H3 Blacks all functioning properly by following these steps.

 

[t4rman]

They changed the max card size down to 32gb shortly after they were released because the cameras had an issue with the larger cards. Make sure you have a class 10 / U1 card to start with and do the firmware update right out of the box. I suggest doing the firmware update manually to eliminate possible computer issues.

I have 12 H3 Blacks all functioning properly by following these steps.

This is good to hear. I have a hero and hero 2 that are working well. The hero2 has been flawless so far.


Im wondering what you are up to with 12 hero blacks! :Wow1:

 

[cruisertoy]

I have a hero and it works fine. My guy at work with a new hero 3 has had nothing but issues with his as well. Constant freezing up. Sounds like gopro should be scrambling to figure this thing out.

 

[Finlay]

I got the replacement from Amazon. So far, this one seems to be working better than the last. That said, it's still locked up a few times and we've had to pull the battery to recover. We've also had to format the SD card twice because it's gotten corrupted by the lockups.

Customer service at Amazon says I've got a week to see if I want a refund. I dunno yet. I really like the camera, except for the part where it turns into a brick - and customer service at GoPro is terrible. We're talking Cable Company levels of terrible. They really need to fix their firmware.

That said, I made a harness for the doggie :


I should maybe make a gyro stabilizer for it, hehe. Later, though. I need to get the truck ready for OX.

 

[Cody1771]

i've had no issues with mine, i'm running a 16gb card, hasnt froze up on me once yet.

 

[Butch1979]

We are starting to have problems with hero 3 also. We updated software and we are still having problems.

 

[ETAV8R]

I've been thinking of getting a GoPro finally for a quadcopter set up but after hearing all these complaints I am in no rush.

 

[Finlay]

When the camera works, it's pretty sweet and really amazing. It's just so frustrating to attach it to something, go drive around or whatever, and then find that it locked up 45 seconds into it and never recovered. Also, the WIFI really chews up the battery -it seems to get about 30-45 minutes max with the wifi on. It will go for at least 2 hours with the wifi turned off.

 

[off-roader]

I had similar problems with their wifi remote but their support team has been excellent even though it happened right after Xmas/new years when lots who got them as presents would have been making support calls...