GoPro lens not focused well

[Pmerems]

I recently purchased a GoPro 3+ Silver edition and have been very unhappy with the quality of the image. Anything with in a foot or so was in focus, anything beyond that wasn't. After doing a little internet research I found that this out of focus condition wasn't that uncommon. There are a few videos on Youtube that explain how to refocus the lens.

I decided to refocus and here are the results.




So if you have a GoPro and the image doesn't seem sharp and in focus, check out the YouTube videos and refocus it yourself.

[fl9500]

How do you refocus the GoPro ? FOUND

I have Problems to see your Photos

Achim

[N282S]

Lots of youtube videos on this. Basically, you'll need a pair of pliers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnLdpSRMsEs

[Brantel]

Wow, big difference!

[RV7A Flyer]

Seriously? Out of focus *out of the box*?

[Pmerems]

The back of my neck (cropped from photo) was in focus but the infinity focus was off.

Others on the internet have reported a simular problem.

[Spirko]

Originally Posted by Pmerems

The back of my neck (cropped from photo) was in focus but the infinity focus was off.

Others on the internet have reported a simular problem.

GoPro set the focus on the Hero 3+ about 5 feet from the lens because most people use GoPros to film themselves snowboarding, surfing etc. and want the subjects in focus. Enough people complained, so in the latest edition, Hero 4, GoPro set the focus closer to infinity. Now just as many people are complaining the scenery is in focus but the foreground subjects aren't. GoPro is getting burned trying to make the cameras simpler by not having an adjustable focus.

Be careful using this hack to change the focal distance. I was able to adjust one camera this way but destroyed another one because there was more glue holding the focus ring in place.

[Pmerems]

Originally Posted by Spirko

GoPro set the focus on the Hero 3+ about 5 feet from the lens because most people use GoPros to film themselves snowboarding, surfing etc. and want the subjects in focus. Enough people complained, so in the latest edition, Hero 4, GoPro set the focus closer to infinity. Now just as many people are complaining the scenery is in focus but the foreground subjects aren't. GoPro is getting burned trying to make the cameras simpler by not having an adjustable focus.

Be careful using this hack to change the focal distance. I was able to adjust one camera this way but destroyed another one because there was more glue holding the focus ring in place.

Breaking the glue bond was harder then it looked in the videos. The outer ring of the lens barrel gets chewed up a bit breaking the bond. This is all covered up by the outer trim rings that you have to remove first.

My GoPro focus was set to about 1-2ft. The instrument panel (about 3-4ft away) wasn't in sharp focus.

I might actually improve the focus a bit if I were to connect the camera up to a TV and do a real time focus adjustment. I just took video, downloaded it the computer, compared snap shots from the video, made focus adjustments and repeated the process several times.

[Pmerems]

Gents,

If your GoPro isn't taking the quality videos you were hoping for it just might be out of focus. My Hero 3+ Silver was and I just posted a video of before and after refocusing.

The results are significant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw2QB768TqM