Want to buy Gopro camera need advice?

Hi, I'm looking at the Gopro camera. They look nice and simple and pretty strong. I urban explorer allot. And iv seen videos of Gopro cams going under underwater. So I have a few questions about the camera. Hero 2 and hero 3. Hero 2 looks like it does horrible compaird to the hero 3. But iv heard tons of bad reviews in the hero 3. Also how good does it capture dark with flashlight only most phones. Not Compairing. So don't worry. You barley see even when there are 4-5 lights in the area. And battery life how is it. And over all which camera should I pick. Sorry if there are a few typos. I'm at work on my iPhone. Just trying to get this question out there.

First and foremost, realize that the GoPro (and it's competitors; Contour, Sony Action Cam, etc) are designed for specifically one purpose - to take action video of close up 1st person activity.

They are not sufficient for photo use, only video. In fact, some of them can't even take photographs.

If you want a general purpose camera to take photos and/or video, this is not the answer. But if you have the specific purpose of 1st person action video, these cameras do quite well.

1st person action video means you typically mount the camera on a helmet, handlebars, skateboard, etc, and are taking photos of what you see in the foreground; up close stuff. They are no good for distant objects due to their very wide angle lenses.

And they all distort to a degree; as they have somewhat of a fisheye effect.

The low-light capability of these cameras are not very good either.

If these cameras meet your needs, then consider the Sony Action Cam. It is more comparable in quality to the GoPro 2, however, it is less expensive than the GoPro 2 or 3 (unless you get the Wi-Fi version, then it is somewhere in between), has better audio, low light performance, and image stabilization (although it is digital stabilization only), and the lens can shift from 170deg to 120deg, but this is done digitally.

So while the Sony may or may not meet your needs, at least look at the Contour and Sony offerings before making your decision for the GoPro.

You will want to go with the GoPro Hero 3 Black or Silver Edition. The Black edition is there best quality camera that films better in low light conditions and has more film settings. I currently own the GoPro Hero 3 Silver edition and it is awesome. I upgraded from the hero 2 which is very similar to the Hero 3 Silver. It all depends how much you want to spend. If low light filming and having more frames per second settings (which is great for slow motion) is important to you then you might want to look at the GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition. With any GoPro camera you are going to want to buy extra batteries as one battery lasts 1.5 to 2 hours depending on the settings you are filming with. All cameras come with waterproof housings and are extremely versatile with the GoPro accessories and attachments. Hope this helps check out the links to learn more. Goodluck