Go Pro camera for home inspections?

[Tom Cissell]

My daughter wants to get me a Go Pro camera for Christmas to use for inspections. I am not really interested in video at this time but they do stills also. She is considering the Go Pro Hero 3+. My concerns are that I can find no reference to a built-in flash and they do not offer a flash as an accessory. All indications are it's meant for outdoor use. Secondly they tout an Ultra Wide angle lens. I am not sure this will let me home in on small defects. I do like the remote capability because I end up using a camera pole at times with a 10 sec timer. The remote ability and also the time lapse feature would improve on that. And of course it is durable and water proof.

Does anybody use it as their main camera for inspections? Feedback?

[Scott Patterson]

They work well in low light or light from a flashlight but I would not try to use it in place of a real still camera.

[Tom Cissell]

They work well in low light or light from a flashlight but I would not try to use it in place of a real still camera.

Thanks. That is what I thought.

[Dom D'Agostino]

I own a Go Pro and use it for recreation (non-inspector related) activities. It can be a great little video camera.

It has an app for remote viewing or remote playback, and you can control the functions through the app (or on the device itself with cryptic beeps, flashes and chirps).

The wide angle can be switched to regular in software. The images and video are very detailed and vivid.

There are better, more robust choices for inspection cameras or video cameras. I have never used it on an inspection. If I need, I can mount my digital camera on an extension pole to shoot stills or even video.

Dom.