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GoPro Hero4 Black Review: You're Not Ready for It

Anshel Sag — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 00:50:45 +0000

The GoPro Hero4 has long been awaited by consumers as the company’s affordable 4K camera. And when they announced the GoPro Hero4 Black, a lot of people were excited to finally get their hands on a GoPro that can finally do 4K at 30 FPS as opposed to a semi-slideshow 4K 15 FPS which the GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition was capable of in the previous generation. So, they increased the camera’s capability of recording 4K video from 15 FPS to 30 FPS and somehow they are now claiming that this camera is now worth an extra $100. Yes, it does have an improved Wi-Fi chipset that has better signal and consumers less power, but none of that is really relevant if the only thing consumers can measure is the 4K video performance. GoPro has always released new cameras and their latest and greatest was always $399, so a 25% price increase is going to be hard to chew for some.

We go into this review of the GoPro Hero4 looking to see how it performs overall as a 4K video camera, photo camera, and an overall action camera.

In terms of specifications, the GoPro Hero 4 has the following hardware specs and video recording format capabilities.

Specifications and Features

In terms of specifications, the GoPro Hero4 Black, weighs a tiny 3.10 oz or 88 g camera only and 5.36 oz or 152 g with housing. It has dimensions of 41 x 59 x 30mm, which are identical to the GoPro Hero3 and Hero3+ that came before it. It comes with a 3.8 VDC, 1160 mAh Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery which GoPro states will get up to 1.5 hours per charge. These are the estimated battery life times depending on the camera settings (shown below) and whether or not Wi-Fi or the GoPro app are being used.

GoPro Hero4 Battery Life

Capture 12MP Photos at 30 fps
Ultra Wide Angle Glass Lens + SuperView
Camera Housing Waterproof to 131′
Improved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 Connectivity
Interval Capture for Time Lapse
Protune Mode for Video and Photo (manual exposure, exposure compensation and temperature)
One-Button Operation with QuikCapture
Auto Low Light and Night Photo Modes

GoPro Hero4 Video Resolutions

For those curious, Superview is GoPro’s own way of stretching their 4:3 footage into a 16:9 ratio in order to more properly fit the screen in playback.

The camera itself also has MicroSD, Mini USB and micro HDMI connectivity in addition to the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi which it uses for the remote and GoPro App (Android or iOS). The MicroSD card slot only supports microSDXC memory cards up to 64GB, which is really enough for almost anyone seeing as you can record up to 2 hours 10 minutes of footage on the camera before you run out of memory card space based on our testing. The biggest disappointment, however, is GoPro’s decision to continue to use the archaic standard of Mini USB which pretty much died with the Blackberries of 2008-2010. Yet, in 2014 GoPro is still launching brand new ‘cutting-edge’ products with Mini USB, they should really be ashamed of themselves. Why? because nobody and nothing uses Mini USB anymore and having a mini USB cable is a chore and might as well be a proprietary connector because so few things use it nowadays. If anything, GoPro should have adopted microUSB a long time ago and should now be moving towards USB Type-C which should be a smaller connector and have higher bandwidth capabilities and industry-wide availability than mini USB (which is by default USB 2.0). So, instead, you have to take out your memory card in order to properly transfer 4K footage at a reasonable speed because USB 2.0 and mini USB are capped at 30 MB/s and most UHS Class 3 memory cards are 60-90 MB/s read. Basically, the mini USB connector on the GoPro Hero4 is a huge mistake by GoPro and possibly the biggest fault of this device.

Packaging and Accessories

When you buy the GoPro Hero4 Black you get:
Rechargeable Battery for HERO4
Standard Housing
Skeleton Backdoor
Curved Adhesive Mount
Flat Adhesive Mount
Quick Release Buckle
3-Way Pivot Arm
USB Cable
Limited 1-Year Warranty

Watch the video below to see what that looks like, or look at the picture below that to see exactly what it all looks like in one photo.

GoPro Hero4 Standard Accessories

On the next page, we’ll discuss our experience with the GoPro Hero4 and include some video and photo samples as well.

The post GoPro Hero4 Black Review: You're Not Ready for It appeared first on VR World.

GoPro Hero4 Black Review: You're Not Ready for It

Anshel Sag — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 00:50:45 +0000

We go into this review of the GoPro Hero4 looking to see how it performs overall as a 4K video camera, photo camera, and an overall action camera.

In terms of specifications, the GoPro Hero 4 has the following hardware specs and video recording format capabilities.

Specifications and Features

GoPro Hero4 Battery Life

GoPro Hero4 Video Resolutions

For those curious, Superview is GoPro’s own way of stretching their 4:3 footage into a 16:9 ratio in order to more properly fit the screen in playback.

Packaging and Accessories

Watch the video below to see what that looks like, or look at the picture below that to see exactly what it all looks like in one photo.

GoPro Hero4 Standard Accessories

On the next page, we’ll discuss our experience with the GoPro Hero4 and include some video and photo samples as well.

The post GoPro Hero4 Black Review: You're Not Ready for It appeared first on VR World.

Watch GoPro's New Hero4 in Action in 4K

Anshel Sag — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:21:49 +0000

GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) today announced its GoPro Hero4 Black and Hero4 Silver as well as its new Hero budget camera.

However, the big deal was that GoPro had finally released a camera that could really do 4K video at 30 FPS and that’s exactly what the GoPro Hero4 is capable of. And in typical GoPro fashion, the company already has a promotional video showing you, in 4K, what this new camera footage looks like. The great thing is that GoPro has uploaded this footage in 4K, so if you’ve got a 4K TV or a 4K monitor you should be able to view it in its full 4K glory. If you watch the video, you’ll also notice that the GoPro Hero4 is used in a lot of drone flights for this video, which makes the 4K seem all that more impressive.

While it doesn’t make much sense why GoPro didn’t call it the Hero4K, there’s a good chance that we could see the company releasing an updated version of the Hero4 that isn’t called the plus edition but rather the 4K edition. Except, that will possibly confuse consumers as to whether or not the Hero4 has 4K capability or not. This is a clear marketing and branding opportunity lost for GoPro, which is a bit unfortunate, but they may redeem themselves somewhere else later on. Also, this camera will sell for a whopping $499, which is $100 or 25% more than any camera GoPro has sold before.

Another thing to keep in mind with the Hero4 is that it still has a microUSB 2.0 connector, which means that the data throughput on the GoPro Hero4 is still very low for a camera capable of outputting 4K video files. As such, it may actually take quite a bit of time to pull video files from the camera and you may be better off taking the memory card out and putting it directly into your computer. Additionally, still using miniUSB means that you have to keep a miniUSB cable around for charging the damn thing because virtually no devices nowadays (other than GoPros) use miniUSB.

The post Watch GoPro's New Hero4 in Action in 4K appeared first on VR World.

GoPro Announces 4K Hero4 Black, Silver and Hero Cameras

Anshel Sag — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:10:52 +0000

GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) today finally announced the much awaited Hero4 line of cameras, which had leaked earlier this weekend.

Everything that you see there is essentially correct, with the exception of the availability date which is now October 5th, not October 8th. Additionally, GoPro is not launching just the GoPro Hero4 Black and Hero4 Silver, but also a budget camera simply called the Hero. The official announcement came today, revealing GoPro’s full lineup of cameras ranging from $129 all the way up to $499. Yes, GoPro has decided that the new GoPro Hero4 Black will actually sell for a much higher $499 retail price, a solid $100 higher than GoPro’s most expensive cameras. Traditionally, GoPro’s Black editions have been the most expensive cameras and they have never sold for more than $399, but for some reason (being a public company may be one of them) GoPro has opted for the $499 price for the black edition and done away with the free ($80 value) Wi-Fi remote.

Some features not mentioned in the leak include the ability to capture 12MP images at 30 FPS and the plethora of custom and manual camera modes for both still and video, including a not-quite-uncompressed video mode to allow for a more fine tuned video for those looking to have more control over the final look of their videos. GoPro has also improved the Wi-Fi performance (hopefully adding 5GHz capability) and added Bluetooth so that users don’t have to lose their Wi-Fi connection to connect to the camera, which could possibly lead to a streaming GoPro in the future.

The GoPro Hero4 Black (right) and GoPro Hero4 Silver (left)

Yes, the GoPro Hero4 Black becomes the first camera in the world to shoot 4K at 30 FPS for under $500 which does make it an impressive feat all on its own.

The company is also releasing the GoPro Hero4 in multiple “mount” editions for both the Black and Silver with a standard, Surf (water tight housing and surfboard/SUP mounts) and Music (open clamp and mounts for high quality audio capture). As mentioned in the 100% spot on leak, the Hero4 Black will be the only camera that gets 4K video at 30 FPS and the Hero4 Silver will essentially do everything that the Hero3+ did but with the addition of a touch screen on the back for easier direct input.

GoPro Hero4 Surf and Music

GoPro also quietly added the GoPro Hero to its lineup, giving them a camera for essentially every price point. This camera sells for only $129.99 which makes it the most affordable GoPro camera ever and helps expand the company’s potential audience even more widely. People no longer have to look for used GoPro cameras in order to be able to afford them and if they can get the price down to $99 it will hit a sweet spot that virtually none of their competitors can even dream to compete with. Of course, with this significantly lower price ($129.99 vs $499.99) you lose quite a few features.

Namely, it will only do 1080P at 30 FPS and 720P at 60 FPS, making it a less attractive action camera than the Hero4 Black which can do 1080P at 120 FPS but it does open up these cameras to an even broader audience than ever before. It also does take 5MP stills at up to 5FPS, which is nice for anyone looking to take some GIFs or time lapses. It still comes with the famous waterproof housing and wide-angle field of view, but it does not have a screen on the back or any wireless functionality.

Will this last forever?

GoPro has made some incremental improvements to its high-end cameras, finally bringing 4K 30 to the GoPro Hero4 Black camera and a touch screen display on the Hero4 Silver. While there is going to be great debate about whether or not GoPro’s $499 price, which is a 25% price increase ($100) over the Hero3+ ($399) is justified, GoPro simply does not have any competition in this resolution or price point. Nobody can match its features and pricing, even though a major crop of competitors have started to pop up. At $499, the GoPro Hero4 Black is still the cheapest 4K 30 FPS camera that also happens to be incredibly compact and small as well as waterproof and durable. Of course, the $399 price would have very likely resulted in more people buying the Hero4 Black, but perhaps GoPro believes that $499 is not too high for the market they are trying to capture. Because keep in mind, there are a lot of fairly happy legacy GoPro users that have been waiting for a reason to upgrade and a lot of them may have not been anticipating a $499 pricetag when upgrading.

The good thing for GoPro is that it has expanded their line from $129 to $199 to $299 to $399 and $499. The company essentially as got a product for each $100 price bracket, which makes competing with them very difficult. It is expanding its audience both upwards and downwards, potentially giving it a customer base far larger than anyone could have anticipated. After all, $129 for a 1080P video camera that is also rugged and waterproof really isn’t that bad but they may find it more difficult to compete in the low end than they do right now. What GoPro needs to be careful of is getting too expensive and out of reach of the audience that knows them and can afford them. GoPro didn’t get big because they were in countless movie productions, they got big because virtually anyone could afford them and they were associated with extreme sports and fun.

As of right now GoPro’s stock just closed up 11.24% on today’s announcement (and Friday’s leak) which represents an increase of $9.23 and a final price of $91.33, triple where it was at the launch of its IPO only 3 months ago.

The post GoPro Announces 4K Hero4 Black, Silver and Hero Cameras appeared first on VR World.

GoPro Hero4 to Launch October 8th This Year?

Anshel Sag — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:07:27 +0000

Remember all of those rumors of the imminent GoPro Hero4 with the 4K capability? Well, it looks like the guys at Petapixel were able to get a scoop from a source that has given the world the full specifications of GoPro’s (NASDAQ:GPRO), newest camera.

GoPro, as many of you know recently became a publicly traded company with its IPO launching at $30 and now sits at over $80 a share without any new product announcements. Obviously, GoPro was going to wait until after it went public with its IPO in order to launch the GoPro Hero4 with 4K capability (30 FPS).

GoPro Hero 4 Black – Image Credit Petapixel

The previous versions of GoPro’s cameras did do 4K video, but only at 15 FPS which is effectively a time-lapse or a slideshow. With 4K 30 FPS capability, the GoPro Hero 4 promises to be the most affordable 4K camera on earth. However, Petapixel states that their sources have not given them final pricing. But if you look at GoPro’s historical pricing, the company has not priced any of its cameras over $399 and it is unlikely to do so with the new GoPro Hero4.

The GoPro Hero4 will, however, come in two flavors: the GoPro Hero4 Black and the GoPro Hero4 Silver. The difference between the two is that the GoPro Hero4 Black will feature the 4K 30 FPS video functionality while the GoPro Hero4 Silver will feature the touchscreen back for easy button-free, remote-free operation.

GoPro Hero 4 Black – Image Credit Petapixel

The GoPro Hero4 Black will be capable of frame rates of 4K at 30fps, 2.7K at 50fps, 1440p at 80fps, 1080p at 120fps, 960p at 120fps, and 720p at 120fps. Petapixel notes that for some reason, 240 FPS has been removed, which could signal a possible ultra-high frame rate version of the GoPros in the near future. The Black edition will also be capable of capturing 12 Megapixel images, which isn’t bad at all for a pocket camera. The new GoPro Hero4 Black will also have double the dynamic range and the ability to mount into existing GoPro mounts, meaning that GoPro isn’t making consumers buy new mounts again (like what happened with the 3+).

GoPro Hero4 Black Back – Image Credit Petapixel

GoPro Hero4 Silver Back – Image Credit Petapixel

The GoPro Hero4 Silver will not feature the 4K 30 FPS upgrade that the Black edition has, but rather adding the touch screen functionality and many of the other camera improvements brought with the GoPro Hero4. While it may be unfortunate for some, the other improvements will still be welcome by many. Realistically, though, the GoPro Hero4 Black appears to be the camera that everyone’s been waiting for.

Since this isn’t an official announcement and there is no exact pricing, this should still be treated as a rumor. But there’s a very good chance that because this camera is launching before the holiday season GoPro could have a very strong 4Q this year and that may push GoPro’s stock over $100 before the camera even hits the market.

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GoPro Hero4 Coming This Summer?

Anshel Sag — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:29:36 +0000

As many of you have probably been anticipating, GoPro’s Hero 4 is the much awaited update to the already wildly popular GoPro action camera that so many people already coveyt. The current iteration, the GoPro Hero3+ was what many expected could or should be the GoPro Hero4 solved many of the problems that the GoPro Hero3 had, however, it didn’t really improve the overall resolution or framerate of the camera. According to DGISE the new GoPro Hero4 will be released this summer using the already well-known Ambarella SoC that’s already been capable of 4K video encode and decode for quite some time.

However, a lot of people were pretty disappointed with the improvements of the Hero3+ over the Hero3 because it felt like such a long time without any significant improvements. But then, in February we got our answer. GoPro announced that they would be going public as a company and filed for an IPO which ultimately meant that the company would launch the new camera after their IPO in order to ensure a good boost of the shareprice and the company’s value. There’s no doubt that once GoPro releases this camera it will be able to do 4K and will probably do it for about $400 which would make it the cheapest 4K camera, ever, and probably for a long time. This clear technology advantage would likely mean that a lot of people with older GoPros would probably upgrade to the new GoPro and they would also win over a lot of new customers as well, with this new 4K featureset and incredibly reasonable price. Even the cheapest smartphone that can record 4K will cost you $600-$700.

According to the rumor, the new Hero4 will be able to do 13 megapixel stills in addition to the 4K video at 30 FPS, the current holy grail for any camera system hoping to achieve the highest level of quality right now. In addition to that, it is rumored to be capable of 1080P at 120 FPS and 720P at 240 FPS, which means that even if you don’t think you want or need the 4K feature, you can still get some impressive slow motion video capture at 1080P. The camera will also have the ability to capture stills while recording video, which is a great feature for anyone looking to pull stills from a very well shot video.

There is no specific price set for this camera, but I’d expect it to be around $399 with all the bells and whistles and that it would launch shortly after GoPro’s IPO becomes a reality. So, simply watching GoPro’s business should indicate to us when we can see the Hero4. Sure, its risky to do things this way, but I just don’t see them rationally waiting this long to do a Hero4 with 4K video playback and launch it BEFORE their IPO. It just doesn’t make any sense to anyone that knows how well these guys have done for themselves with this camera system. I would also expect to see some new features in the Hero4’s software that will focus on GoPro’s focus on media creation and not just selling hardware to consumes and extreme sports enthusiasts.

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