@redassnavajo I brought along both a GoPro 4 Black and a GoPro Sessions on our safari last summer.
First, the sessions has an internal battery that is NOT removable. The regular gopro has a removal battery (I brought 4 batteries out with me every day).
A couple of thoughts on both-
-I like the sessions better than the regular gopro due to size and being waterproof, so no need for a clunky case. With that said, I primarily used the regular gopro on stalks. My wife and I filmed each other and would usually film the entire stalk. Most stalks were longer than 50 minutes, so the sessions had to be used sparingly or the battery would die.
-I personally recommend the gopro over other camera types for one big reason- editing software. By owning a gopro, you can download FOR FREE Gopro Studio, which will handle all of your editing needs. GoPro Studio is super easy to use, you can learn to use it within maybe 20 minutes of use. The downside is that GoPro Studio really only works with footage shot on a gopro. If you use other video cameras, you'll need to use some of the other software out there- I'm learning Resolve right now (also free, but not as user friendly).
-The comments about the zoon are correct- gopro doesn't zoom. Either gopro is best used for close up shots of your hunting party as the stalk, as you drive around, of your camp, etc. Animals are difficult to distinguish on the gopro, even if relatively close (50m will still usually look like a smudge in the grass unless its an elephant). If you want good shots of animals at a distance, you'll want to also get a camera with zoom- but realize, if you're the hunter, the last thing you want to do is mess around with zooming in a camera and stuff like that. Either have your hunting buddy do the filming or hire a professional.
-Hiring a professional is highly advised. Our guy edited a great hunt video together using both his footage and our gopro footage. I recommend talking to your outfitter about this. Some of the bigger outfitters like
@Limcroma Safaris have in-house cameramen that are VERY reasonably priced and do a great job. Henk Jacobs of Bush Bros Productions did our video. His brother Riaan was our PH. Limcroma set everything up for us and it all worked out great.
-If you're going to get a gopro, I recommend getting a gimbal mount (stabilizer) and some extension rods. the gimbal greatly stabilizes your video and the extension rods allow you to get some really cool angles, like panning around everyone standing in the back of the truck, cool dirt-level shots of people walking during a stalk, etc- your imagination is the limit. The gimbals aren't cheap but the final product makes it worth it. I use this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Dismantling-...8&qid=1486039400&sr=1-9&keywords=gopro+gimbal
-I recommend you film in the highest quality your videocamera can handle. You can grab still frames from the video during editing that are just as good as photos.
finally,
***Don't forget to wipe your lens before you start filming- every time! I failed to do this for a few days and about half my videos have a slight smudge in the middle of the frame- very frustrating
If you have any questions, let me know. I'm still learning and experimenting with my video cameras, so I can let you know about issues I ran into during use.
