gopro hero4 black edition lcd touch screen free sample

Early last month GoPro completed their annual October ritual of releasing a suite of new units.  Like past years, GoPro doesn’t tend to make massive upgrades in their units, but rather works to add incremental features and performance bumps.

It’s somewhat rare that I group this many products into a single review.  Sometimes I’ll do two minor variations of the same product in a single post, but I think this is the first threesome I’ve had around these parts.  When it comes to the GoPro packaging though, all three units are pretty similar actually. They all include the following:

– The camera itself (duh) – The battery for the camera – A mini-USB cable – An underwater case rated to 40m/131ft – An alternate/secondary door for the case that allows for better audio – A small stack of GoPro stickers – A small quick-start guide and other paper junk – A flat adhesive mount – A curved adhesive mount – A loss prevention rubber stopper

In addition, the Hero4 Black and Silver also include a little adapter arm for the mounting system to change the direction a bit.  Of course, because everyone wants to see exactly what comes in each package, I’ve included the unboxing for each of them below.  I’ve abbreviated it a little bit though on the Silver/Base just to keep things non-redundant.  Sound good?  Let’s tear apart some boxes…

To begin you’ll find the boxes of the Black and Silver fairly similarly designed, with only the Base Hero slightly different with cheaper packaging materials to save weight and cost.

Here’s what you’ll get inside the Hero4 Black box.  It’s all the items noted above, but one little piece that many people accidentally miss – which is the flat black baseplate that the Hero comes on.  It can in effect act as a handy little tripod, yet many folks simply throw it away.

Next, the standard mini-USB plug that can be used to both charge the unit as well as download photos.  Note that this USB cable (and your attached GoPro) can be plugged into any USB outlet on the planet.

Both the Black and Silver come with the same set of mounts.  You have two adhesive mounts, one being pancake flat, while the other is slightly curved (such as for a helmet).  Behind it are two different mount pieces, one that holds the camera a little further back, while the other has less extension (it’s attached to the baseplate to begin).  Meanwhile they also include a few extenders and direction changers seen to the right.

The bottom opens up identically on the Black and Silver, which is where you’ll place the battery.  There’s a small little button you’ll press that’ll then pop open the door.  It’s a much better design than the annoying battery cover found on previous GoPro units.

The only difference in the box is the case doors.  The Silver edition includes three doors (instead of two), and two of these doors are designed to allow you to operate the touch screen. In the below photo, the two lower doors allow touch screen operation.  The left one is completely open, while the right one has a thin flexible plastic.

Here’s the front of the camera, as you can see, it’s virtually identical to the Hero4 Black.  Though, strangely in my case it actually has a small manufacturing defect on the front of the LCD screen.  It hasn’t bothered me though, and I’m too lazy to deal with returning it.

The 2014 GoPro Hero base unit is packaged slightly differently.  For example it lacks the top plastic ‘dome’ found on the other/past units, as well as the plastic baseplate.  Obviously at a fraction of the price they were looking to cut costs that were unnecessary, which, is completely reasonable.

Below are the components within the box.  You’ll find the two adhesive mounts (flat/curved), but only one mounting attachment piece between the GoPro and the adhesive mounts.  Don’t worry, you still get stickers.

When it comes to size, the Hero4 is identical to that of the Hero3, so there’s no changes there.  It’ll fit into all the same mounts, cases and locations that the Hero3 did.  This is particularly interesting even in the case of the touch-screen display included on the Hero4 Silver.  Of course, if you add a touch/display screen to the Hero4 Black then it’ll increase the size accordingly.

Looking at other units on the market, the GoPro remains the smallest unit with the highest quality video.  No doubt you can look at something smaller like the new Polaroid cube, but with that comes incredibly rough video (stabilization-wise).  While the baseline Polaroid 1080p video isn’t horrible when just sitting still, it’s not at all awesome with any movement at all.  And given the point of an action cam is…action, that’s sorta limiting:

Meanwhile, if you compare it to something like the Sony series of action cams, it’s sorta a wash.  The Sony cams are longer, but thinner.  While the GoPro’s appear a bit chubbier.  Both can go sans-case, though neither should be taken underwater without their respective cases.

Turning to something like the VIRB series, the GoPro is much smaller without the case, though only somewhat smaller with the case.  The VIRB doesn’t require a case unless going deeper underwater (splashing around in a pool is fine).  But, the GoPro is also roughly the size of a Twinkie compared to that of a kiwi fruit (not the bird, nor the New Zealander’s) with the Garmin VIRB.  Note that both the VIRB and VIRB Elite share the same outer shell.

Of course, to some degree comparing sizes with the GoPro is somewhat academic.  It’s well established as a completely acceptable sized unit within the marketplace – with the case.  And without the case the options are pretty much unlimited.

Let’s start off with establishing some of the basics, things that are largely common to all units.  To begin, you’ll turn on the unit by holding down the front-facing button (Mode).  This will get the GoPro ready to record, but won’t start recording:

Each of the units will require a MicroSD card to record to.  These are super-cheap though and can be found starting at about $12 for quality 16GB ones.  The Hero4 Black and Silver support card sizes up to 64GB, whereas the Hero base only supports 32GB. Note that when it comes to speed of cards, it’ll depend a little bit on how you plan to use the units.  For generic 720p/1080p content in the 24-30FPS mode, it’s frankly not going to matter too much how fast of a card you have.  But if you start recording 2.7K/4K footage at full frame rates you’re going to want fast cards to be able to keep up.

For those curious, in the Black/Silver I’ve been using the SanDisk U1 64GB Extreme Plus cards, without any recording issues.  Again, for the Hero base, this would be beyond overkill (it couldn’t use it if it tried).

With the camera powered on, all units have a front-facing LCD screen.  This screen will show you which mode you’re in, for example, video, photo, time lapse, etc…  You can simply tap the front mode button to iterate to the next mode.

New to the Hero4 lineup though on the Black/Silver models is a direct settings button found on the side.  While the button has always been there, it’s been for enabling WiFi.  Now, it’ll do both.  If you short-tap it, it’ll open up the settings menu for just that particular mode.  If you long-hold it, it’ll enable/disable WiFi.  It’s a beautifully elegant solution.

The same is true of photo modes, allowing you to then change how many shots it might take, and the resolutions of those.  It’s without question one of my favorite features of the Hero4 lineup. Of course, you can still dive into the traditional settings menu using the mode button, but now those options on the Black/Silver pertain more to whole-camera options.

For example, this is where you would change the orientation of the camera (Black/Silver/Hero), as well as change which mode the camera starts off in, for example, photo instead of video (Black/Silver).

In the February 2015 update, they also enabled the ability to do automatic orientation.  This means that the Hero4 Silver and Black can now automatically be oriented based on whichever way is determined as ‘up’.  You can also just leave it manually as well.

And, you can enable the ability to automatically shut off after a preset time.  I like 5 minutes, because that’s typically longer than I’d wait around for any action sequence to happen – and usually means that I’ve forgotten about the camera.  Since the GoPro doesn’t save too much battery sitting in standby versus recording – I prefer to keep it off as much as I can.

Also note that unlike the Black/Silver, the Hero base can’t have settings changed via the phone apps, but more on that later. Next, when it comes to actually record something, you’ll start/stop the recording (or photos) by pressing the top button on the GoPro (with the red circle).

And again, to stop it, you’ll just press the same button.  By default the unit will chirp/beep and then the red recording light will blink.  You can change the volume of the chirps.  I do that if I plan to use the unit indoors where the chirps can get a bit annoying (Side Note: I fail to understand why there is a 100% volume, 75% volume, and 0% volume level…but no 25% or 50% level).Outside of course, it’s handy to have the chirps though if mounted on a helmet. With those basics covered, let’s get onto the Silver-only touch screen, and then I’ll cover many of the features individually.

The GoPro Hero4 Silver sports a new addition to the Hero lineup, a touch screen.  While you could in the past attach a LCD screen to the back of units, it always came at the cost of increased space as well as just being sorta clunky.  With the Hero4 Silver though, it’s embedded into the back of the unit while remaining exactly the same size as previous models.

The screen is both there to display what the camera is shooting, but also to act as a touch screen to change settings.  To do so, you’ll press the little red dot and then slide down and hold a few seconds.  This ensures that you can’t accidentally bump it on, like butt dialing, but for action cameras (which, upon reflection could be really awkward).

Once you have it unlocked, it’ll show you a touch menu that you can go into and modify settings for each of the modes.  You effectively get all of the modification capabilities of the front LCD + buttons, with the back screen:

Now of course while recording, you can use this to frame your shots ahead of time and then keep an eye on things while recording.  By default it’ll shut off the screen shortly after recording to save battery. I’ve gotta say, when I first saw the marketing images of the screen I figured it’d be like the Garmin VIRB screen.  In that while the VIRB screen was marketed to look like a orgasmicly colorful experience, in reality it was like 1930’s black and white silent film.

Thankfully, the Hero4 Silver is legit color.  Brilliantly colorful and just as crisp and pretty as the marketing shots look.  It’s a bit tricky to take photos of because of the light differential between foreground and the LCD screen, but, you can get a little bit of a feel for it in some of the below:

And on top of that, it will playback sound as well.  When it comes to a screen on an action camera, this is perfect for me.  Or rather, for my wife.  I actually didn’t use it nearly as much as her – who loved being able to see exactly what she was shooting and play it back without a phone (as was the case with her cannonballs seen later).

Now with all that praise, do keep in mind one thing: For most folks, the screen is merely used for framing a shot.  So while the color is much appreciated, I wouldn’t say it’s a complete deal-breaker.  I’m able to frame shots on the 1930’s style black and white screen VIRB just as easily as the Hero4 Silver.

When it comes to video quality in an action cam, nobody has higher resolutions than the GoPro.  Period, end of story.  Well, at least today. So what does that mean from a practical standpoint?  Well with the Hero3+ Black, GoPro offered 2.7K at full frame rates.  In this case, full frame rates are anything above 24FPS.  Below that and you’ll start to get degradation viewable to the human eye in most situations.  So in the case of the Hero3+ Black, it had 4K footage…but at 15FPS. With the Hero4, things simply shifted.  The Hero4 Black got full 4K at 24/25/30FPS, while the Hero4 Silver got 2.7K at 24/25/30FPS, and 4K at 12.5/15FPS.  So basically, the following happened:

As you can see, I took the 4K video, but then cropped down just a chunk of it to 1080p.  Note that cropping is different than downscaling.  Cropping means you cut some of the image away.  Whereas with downscaling (aka ‘to downres’), you simply convert the entire video down to a lower resolution.  You don’t lose any of the picture, but you just lose quality. To explain some of the differences between the two resolutions, here’s a segment where I had all three cameras mounted side by side.  Here’s the Hero4 Black (be sure to set the resolution to 4K):

Can you tell the difference?  For most on smaller screens – probably not.  But that’s likely just because you’re viewing it on a device too small to notice the differences.  But, this is a key point in deciding whether or not it’s worth the money to pay extra for what is 4K/2.7K over just 1080p resolution found on every other device out there.

Now when it comes to resolutions, keep in mind that while GoPro has action cam dominance today, tomorrow that might change (hence why it’s always good to check out the Product Comparison Tool).  In general, I wouldn’t expect any changes between now and the end of 2014.  But I fully expect that to change starting with CES the first week of January.  CES is the annual and massive Consumer Electronics Show, where everyone in the gadget world comes out with their new stuff.

In addition to high resolution video, the GoPro series can also do high speed video.  High speed video refers to the idea of increasing the frame rate (frames per second) recorded in order to then play it back at ‘regular’ speed and achieve a slow-motion effect.  Take for example 120FPS footage.  It’s captured (wait for it) at 120 frames per second.  But, when it comes to playback, it might be played back at 30FPS, which then results in that one-second moment of action taking 4 seconds to play back.  Thus achieving gloriously smooth slow-motion.  You can see this below with a Hero4 Black and a touchscreen attached.

With these higher frame rates at higher resolutions, you’re no longer having to make sacrifices in quality or frame rates for slow-motion footage. Like other settings, on the GoPro you can modify these within the app, or within the camera itself.  In the case of base GoPro Hero, you’re only getting 1080P-30FPS, or 720P-60FPS. The exact frame rates offered for each resolution I’ve included within the comparison table at the bottom of the review.

So what does this look like?  Well, no better way to test this than a canon ball into a swimming pool.  The perfect way to illustrate slow-motion, in this case with a common 120FPS 720p clip (from the GoPro Hero4 Silver):

Now I could have gone to 240FPS on the Hero4 Black, but that reduces the resolution.  Previous to February 2015 it was WVGA, but now it’s 720 – which makes it potentially a fair tradeoff.  Still, for those wanting to keep it 1080p or higher, you could instead look to slow it down further with the GoPro studio and take the hit on frame rates instead of resolution.  In this case, I went with 20% speed playback.

Note that the GoPro Studio offers the ability specify the exact moment in time that you switch from regular playback to slow-motion playback by simply splitting the clips.  This allows you to keep at normal speed until just the moment of action, such as this where I kept it regular rates for the first few seconds, then slowed it down when she was mid-air, and then let it get back to half-speed towards the last few seconds.

Further, GoPro has also introduced what they call ‘Flux’.  The idea behind it is a bit smarter interpolation of the frames when slowing down video, allowing you to get cleaner video.  In the above case I used Flux for the middle section of slow-mo, though, it’s not really required since I shot at 120FPS already and there was plenty of slow motion as-is. But it’s more noticeable if you really wanted to slow things down even further than that.

For example, if you wanted to turn what would have been 4-5 seconds at playback speed into 8-10 seconds.  In that case you’d lose so many frames that it might be tough to get smooth video. Note that Flux is all done after the fact within GoPro Studio, and is not something done on the camera itself.  It does not require you do anything on the unit itself.

Ultimately, the Hero4 lineup offers the most diverse options in the marketplace today when it comes to high speed frame rate offerings as well as higher resolutions at those frame rates.

The Hero4 introduced a new night capture mode to the lineup, which aims to compliment the other photo modes found within the unit.  Before we dive into the night mode, it’s probably good to start with a quick overview of all the major modes found on the Hero lineup:

Ok, with those basics out of the way, let’s get to some shots and how I use it.  In most cases, when I’m using the GoPro as a camera, I’m shooting in the highest possible megapixel arrangement with the wide option.  This is because the way the GoPro works is that even if you were to select a medium crop image, it’s simply taking the 12MP wide image and cropping that automatically.  Thus it’s much better to take the higher resolution and do the cropping yourself. For example, below if I wanted just the fish from this GoPro image, I could crop to just the fish and the sea anemone.

But what situations would you want medium over wide?  Well, for those where you didn’t want to deal with cropping.  For example, The Girl (aka, my wife), borrowed the GoPro Hero4 Silver for the day while snorkeling.  She didn’t want the super-wide shots that were coming in on wide mode, and instead preferred the zoomed in aspect of the medium mode.  For her, she’s not going to want to deal with cropping the photos afterwards on the computer or her phone.  She just wants to be able to take them and post them to whatever platform she wants – no editing.

Finally, let’s look at some night shots.  In this case, I used the Night Mode to get a longer exposure with the unit.  I toyed around with a few different exposures (aside from Automatic), but decided that a 2 second exposure worked out the best.  Here’s the un-edited shot from the Hero4 Black:

The GoPro series includes a time lapse mode.  In this mode the unit will take a series of photos at a preset interval, such as every half a second.  You can then take those photos and compile them together to make a video time-lapse. Alternatively, this mode is ideal when you want to simply have photos of/during an event, but don’t know when the moment of action will come (or won’t be in a position to press record).

For example, you might be mountain biking downhill and want to easily capture photos along the way (instead of video).  Just plop it in time lapse mode and it’ll capture photos at the defined interval. Why use this instead of video (and then take a screenshot)?  Well, the resolution is substantially higher with photos over video.  Further, you tend to get crisper photos this way. The GoPro series supports different intervals depending on the model.  Here’s the run-down for the 2014 series:

Next, you’ll need some software to turn these all into a pretty video.  Of course, if you don’t want a video, then you’re just done as-is. For the video, GoPro Studio enables you to drag the photos into the software and it’ll compile it into a video.

There’s two ways of doing this.  The first is to just drag the first photo in the series into GoPro studio (and it’ll do the rest automatically).  Or, you can manually put them all in a folder and then drag the folder in.  Whatever floats your boat:

However, with the February 2015 update for the GoPro Hero4 Black and Silver, it’ll now create that same video for you within the GoPro unit itself.  I’ll discuss that in the next section.

In February 2015, GoPro introduced a new time lapse mode that automatically exports out a video file when you end the recording of the time lapse.  This means that when you hit finish on the time lapse on the camera, you immediately have a video file – instead of a huge pile of photos that need additional processing.  This option was made available to only the Hero4 Black and Silver models, via a free firmware update.

When you look at the configuration options, they’re identical across both the Black and Silver units.  You’ll select ‘Time Lapse’ as an option under the Video settings.  Then within that you can select the interval for how often to take a photo to add to the video.

The Hero4 Black and Silver carry through the capability of being able to control and transfer data from the camera to the phone.  This allows you to use your phone as a secondary display for the camera, or, just a quick way to get photos up to share with friends via social media.  Note, this is not compatible with the 2014 GoPro Hero base unit.

To begin, you’ll need to enable WiFi on your Hero4.  Just hold down the left side button until the blue light blinks on the front of the GoPro.  Then, on your mobile device connect to the WiFi network.

You’ll need to go through a setup of pairing steps before moving forward.  They’re fairly straight forward and ensure that you have a unique name for each unit, and unique password. Once that’s done you can go ahead and open up the GoPro app and then click “Connect & Control” to start the connectivity to the GoPro.

It’ll start on the preview screen, which shows you the exact same view as that of the camera.  You can rotate the phone as well to get a cleaner view.

If you click the little tool icon, you can go into the settings and tweak every camera mode and overall camera settings quickly and easily.  This is great when you are taking iterative shots at different resolutions or frame rates and don’t want to mess with the camera or touch it physically.

Next, you can transfer both photos and videos.  To do this within the GoPro app you’ll tell it to enumerate the files.  It may take a few seconds.  Or, in the event you have a time lapse pile of photos – it may never actually complete at all (as I learned).  Thus, I wouldn’t recommend trying to enumerate it if you just took a few thousand photos.

Overall, while seemingly straight forward and potentially simple, the phone app capability on the GoPro app is actually exactly one of the best (if not the best) out there from an action cam perspective.  Some other action cams don’t allow live preview while recording, for example.  Or, they don’t permit you to transfer files.  Or, the apps are just poorly coded.

The same week that GoPro announced the Hero4 lineup, they in conjunction with Livestream announced the ability to stream your GoPro recordings live to the internet via the Livestream service.  This requires the use of your mobile phone, which connected to the GoPro via the GoPro WiFi network, and then streamed the data out via your cellular data connection.

Initially when I posted this review the functionality wasn’t yet enabled on the Hero4.  So, I did some expirements on the Hero3 instead,  which you can view here. Since then, the Hero4 support has been enabled with LiveStream.

But, instead of trying to cram it all into this post, I’ve written up a HUGE post on live streaming options for action cams.  I cover the GoPro in super-detail, along with numerous other options and apps.

The Hero4 Black and Silver include ports that you can use to stream both audio and video off of the device.  The ports are standardized, which means it’s fairly easy to utilize them (in comparison to some action cameras that have funky proprietary connections).

The first port you’ll find is the mini-USB port.  The primary use for most people will be charging the GoPro as well as transferring photos/videos to a computer.  Those are both fairly straight forward scenarios in that the GoPro will simply show up now as an imaging device on your computer (this is actually a change from previous lines, where it enumerated as a standard USB device):

But the mini-USB port is also capable of transmitting and consuming non-digital audio and video to other devices.  For example, you can connect the 3.5mm stereo audio connector cable to it, and then plug a microphone to it. Note on the audio connector, that this is only supported on the Hero4 Black/Silver (and older Hero3/3+ units).

Additionally there are some microphones that are only supported on the Hero4 Black Edition.  So you’ll want to double-check their compatibility list if you’re using a separate mic. Alternatively, you can utilize one of two different composite video cables.  One that includes the 3.5mm mic input, and one without it.  In either case, quite frankly most people won’t be doing this as it’s pretty crazy low resolution these days.

Lastly for the mini-USB, it can actually be used by some remote viewing systems directly.  For example, on the First Person View (FPV) system I have for my DJI Phantom2 unit, it plugs straight into the mini-USB port and transmits that video, no HDMI required (Note: At the moment, with the standard Zenmuse H3-3D system, this doesn’t quite work yet due to a bug on the Hero4 and/or Zenmuse).

Next, we’ve got the micro-HDMI port.  This port enables you to playback video and photos straight to a TV using an HDMI cable.  Note though that your regular HDMI cable likely won’t work here, since most HDMI cables you have around the house are standard HDMI connectors are both ends.  The micro-HDMI connector is on the GoPro end of the equation and much smaller.  You tend to see this also used in some tablets, such as the Microsoft Surface’s and some Android tablets.

There’s a fundamental reason why you see Hollywood shoot with the GoPro, and the core of that reason is ProTune and the flexibility offered within it.  ProTune is one such feature that has long been leveraged in GoPro units to offer more flexibility in editing afterwards.  It’s sorta similar (though not exactly) to the way that higher end photographers primarily shoot RAW photos for the ability to better tweak photos afterwards, people also shoot GoPro video with ProTune so they can easily tweak it afterwards.  When I talk to ‘tweaking’ I’m referring to the ability to drive change easily in things such as White Balance, ISO, Sharpness and more.

For example, virtually all of the photos you see here on the blog (not just in this post, but all posts) I shoot with higher end cameras in dual JPG/RAW formats.  This allows me to clean them up in Lightroom and make any color/lighting corrections as required.  The same applies here with GoPro cameras using ProTune with the GoPro Studio. Now this doesn’t actually just apply to video in the case of GoPro, but also to photos.  So you have that same power there too.

Now, GoPro notes there’s no downside to enabling ProTune.  It won’t make your images/video ‘require’ additional tuning.  So you might as well enable it and then decide later if you need it in post production. A better question is whether or not having (or not having) ProTune is a deciding factor.

The GoPro 2014 series all include waterproof cases that protect the unit down to 40 meters (131 feet).  This is pretty much the max for what a standard openwater PADI/NAUI certified diver would go to (by a little bit).  And of course fine for snorkeling and other random pool activities. In the slim chance you’re diving deeper than that, you can get a more hardened case that goes 60m (197 feet). In my case, I didn’t have any dives on my radar for this time period, so it was just limited to snorkeling and pool time.  In both cases, I had no problems.

Since the change a few years ago to the flat glass on the dive housing you’ll no longer have any issues with focus problems out of the box.  Here’s some non-edited images from the unit (Hero4 Black):

Now what is notable is that there’s no water protection issues using the touch screen capable case underwater at least at snorkeling/pool depths.  However, you won’t want to try and use the touch screen underwater as the pressure will make it impossible to use.  Instead, just use the regular buttons on the side/front/top to change any settings or take any photos.

Note that while I didn’t use any of the corrective color filters, you can get such filters, especially if doing diving with the GoPro, which will help correct the colors a bit.  For snorkeling and pool shots, you can easily adjust them in the GoPro Studio as well, though I find that leaving a bit of the blueish tint at shallow depths tends to make the images pop a bit more.  It’s when deeper that you lose the colors that you want to use the filters.

Finally, in the event you’re doing a lot of water sports, you may want to look at picking up the floating door accessory.  That will keep the GoPro afloat in the event it departs from your grasp.  If you’re just doing snorkeling or in a pool it’s a bit unnecessary, but if you’re constantly out on openwater it’s probably worth it.

When it comes to battery life, the Hero4 series took a bit of a dive at the top end unit.  In previous generations you’d get about 1hr 30 minutes of run-time at the highest recording settings.  Now however, the Black unit gets only about 65 minutes at the highest settings. Which isn’t to say that battery life went down across the board.  No, if you go to more minimal settings – such as 2.7K 30FPS on the Silver, it’s clocking in around 1hr and 50 minutes.  Yet, on the Black it still only gets 1hr 10mins at that setting, despite sharing the same battery.  The majority of settings for the Black put it in the 1hr 5min to 1hr 10min range, with only 720p 120FPS extending it up to 1hr 50min.  All of these though assume WiFi is off.  Both the Hero4 Black and Silver share the same 1106mAH battery.

Meanwhile, continuing the trend of apparently cheaper units getting better battery – the 2014 Hero base units can hit 2hr and 45 minutes at 1080p 30FPS, more the twice that of the Hero4 black at 1/4th the cost.  Go figure.

Now, about the only complaint I have about said Hero base unit is that because of the non-detachable case design I’ve found it’s easier for the unit to get turned on during travel in a bag than the Black/Silver out of their cases.  And unlike the Black/Silver, it doesn’t have the option to automatically turn off after a period of inactivity.  Thus, I’ve had more situations where the Hero base is out of juice when I go to use it.

In my testing with the battery life on the Hero4 Black, I found it got just a few minutes below the specifications.  Though, I also found that even while in standby you’re unlikely to get too much more battery if left on (but not recording), which is a bit different than other action cameras on the market that do a much better job in standby.

Now one accessory I have found handy though is the dual battery charger.  It connects via standard mini-USB cable and then will charge your GoPro batteries.  Note that it works best with a 2AMP USB port, such as those found with an iPad or other tablet.  So if you use just a regular amperage USB port you’re likely to get slow charge times. When you insert the battery in, it’ll show orange for charging, and green for completed.  Note though that it can be easy the first time to not push the battery in all the way and think it’s doing something.  The simple rule is if there’s no light, it’s not doing jack.

Now, here’s a bit of a secret though: While the above charger is nice…it’s also overpriced.  So instead, I bought the below dual-charger from Wasabi Power which costs only $23 and that includes two Hero4 batteries.  Seriously.  Pure awesome.

When it comes to accessories, there’s no greater selection than that with the GoPro lineup.  Heck, even other action cams now include GoPro adapter mounts, simply to be able to tap into the massive range of accessories and mounts found within the GoPro lineup.  The majority of mounts that most folks will use will likely be 1st party mounts made by GoPro, but there’s still a huge array of 3rd party mounts by other companies that are oftentimes far more interesting.

1) GoPro 3-way Pole: This came out last winter and instantly became my favorite accessory.  As you can see from the below animated image I put together, you can twist/mix/fold/unpack/pack it up a crapton of ways.  I can use it as a tripod, or as a selfie pole, or just to get a better angle and extend my reach.

In my case, I bought the DJI Phantom 2 last winter and have been experimenting with it to get cool shots and videos. From a setup perspective, I use the GoPro Hero4 with the DJI Phantom 2 in conjunction with the Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal.  This gimbal is really the special sauce that allows silky smooth footage.  Proof of that comes with the fact that the wind was never less than 10-15MPH during my flights in New Zealand.

There were two H3-3D gimbal versions out there – the first gimbals require a slight modification to not bump the side settings/WiFi button on the Hero4, whereas the second generation is molded just a hair bit differently and doesn’t require any modification.  Luckily I have the second version.

Note that both the Hero4 Black/Silver work just fine in the mount, but the Hero base edition won’t because it can’t be removed from the case. While I have a first person view transmitter for the system, I don’t tend to use it too much, instead just flying within line of sight and by feel.  I flew remote control and real planes when I was younger, so I have a bit of experience there in the aviation world.

Of course, with a gimbal video is the name of the game.  While down in New Zealand over the past few weeks I was able to get a number of shots put together. Here’s one session I did just after sunrise on an isolated black sands beach with the Hero4 in 4K/24p mode:

You can use the below comparison charts to see how each unit stacks up against each other.  In the below chart I’ve just set it for the three GoPro units for 2014.  However, you can easily dive into the comparison database to see how older GoPro units stack up, as well as some competitor units.  You can mix and match and create your own charts there.

Best video quality money will buy in an action cam: For those in this category, there’s simply no question it’s the Hero4 Black.  Specs alone dictate this, and thankfully the camera backs up the specs from a delivery standpoint.  There’s just no other action cameras on the market today doing 4K at full frame rates (Correction: There’s apparently this camera, but it’s pretty wonky being two separate pieces).

Of course, the real question is – does this matter?  For most people, probably not.  You’d likely be hard pressed on today’s screens to tell the difference between 1080p and 4K, let alone 2.7K and 4K.  Still, for the reasons I outlined in the 4K section above, there’s certainly value in such a camera.

An all around action cam: For this, it’s tricky.  On one hand the GoPro Hero4 Silver is solid, but at the same time, it’s also a bit overpriced compared to other offerings.  They effectively bumped up the price to $399 from what was sub-$300 before.  At that price you’re paying double something like the VIRB Elite or Sony Action cams, but of which have more features/functionality (i.e. sensors like GPS, altimeters, etc…).  Sure, the Hero4 Silver can do 2.7K video at full frame rates, but for most people, that won’t matter.

A budget action cam:This is where things get really interesting.  GoPro dropped the bottom of the price floor with the $129US price point.  That’s an incredible price, especially for such a quality cam as the Hero base.  At the same time, Garmin more or less countered with VIRB units now at $129US, and flirting every few days with $99US.  The VIRB base unit is more functional in every possible spec category than the 2014 Hero base (or equal in those not exceeding).

Mount considerations: There’s no question that GoPro has the most mounting options out there when you include 3rd party mounts.  But I wouldn’t let that be the deciding factor.  Virtually every other action cam on the market includes a GoPro mounting adapter, so that kinda becomes a wash.

Availability of accessories: When it comes to finding spare parts like a battery pack during a trip, you’ll find no wider availability than GoPro parts though.  In every airport on this planet and in just about every terminal of those airports, you’ll find GoPro parts.  I was blown away over the past month as I travelled to find that Hero4 parts and cameras were easily accessible in all sorts of random places around the globe, airport or just shopping plaza – mere weeks after launch.

Editing Tools: GoPro’s offering is good (not great, but good), and makes it relatively easy to edit videos.  On the flip side, you can edit GoPro footage in most other software video apps – many of them free.

Mobile Apps: When it comes to phone apps, GoPro’s is far and away the best.  While most allow you to change settings, not all other companies allow streaming of content or transferring of photos and videos, all quickly and easily.  This can be a major benefit when you’re trying to get content somewhere quickly and share it.  Further, the quick turning on/off of WiFi via a solid button press on the Silver/Black is awesome.  It’s just quick and painless.

Hero4 Silver Touchscreen: This is cool, no doubt, but at the same time, for my particular use cases it’s less important.  Usually if I’m mounting a camera to a bike or to my helmet, I can easily check framing via the GoPro mobile app display.  And the same goes for playback via the phone app.  On the flip side, my wife loved the screen and much preferred having that unit over the other GoPro’s, purely because of the screen.

Battery: While the Hero4 Silver and base have good and competitive battery life, the Hero4 Black’s battery life is just downright bad.  Only an hour?  It’s somewhat ironic as the target audience for that model is likely to shoot more video than the lower models.  Still, you can relatively easily solve that with extra spare batteries.

Ultimately I’d say the decision to go Black will simply pivot on whether you care about 4K video or not. Ultimately, you’ll have to balance the pros and cons of each of the components, along with price, and figure out what unit works best for you and the set of circumstances you’ll use it for.

Like previous years, GoPro has continued to raise the bar on action cameras from a specification standpoint – in particular, within the resolution and video/photo quality department.  That aspect alone will no doubt make it a must have for those wanting the best video quality money can buy in an action cam.

Meanwhile at the budget end of the spectrum, they’ve forced other companies to slash prices to compete with the new $129US GoPro Hero.  While this unit isn’t as full featured as other competitive products that are now priced the same or less, it is a rock solid option.

The next year will no doubt be interesting to watch for GoPro, especially going into CES with what will undoubtedly unleash a slew of new action cameras into the market.  With GoPro pushing prices up $100 on their two top units, I’m not fully convinced that the bulk of consumers will follow to the higher end.

I think their base model is brilliant, but selling the Silver model at $400 will be a hard push to the mid-market.  Meanwhile, at least until new competitors get out there, the Black model will likely hold (and rightfully so) the top spot for the upcoming winter.

I’ve partnered with Clever Training to offer all DC Rainmaker readers exclusive benefits on all products purchased. You can read more about the benefits of this partnership here. You can pickup the GoPro units through Clever Training using the links below. By doing so, you not only support the site (and all the work I do here) – but you also get to enjoy the significant partnership benefits that are just for DC Rainmaker readers. And, since this item is more than $75, you get free US shipping as well.

Additionally, you can also use Amazon to purchase the GoPro units or accessories (though, no discount). Or, anything else you pickup on Amazon helps support the site as well (socks, laundry detergent, cowbells). If you’re outside the US, I’ve got links to all of the major individual country Amazon stores on the sidebar towards the top.

­Seeking a better way to capture high-quality surfing stills, Nick Woodman created a 35mm film wrist camera while on a surfing trip. That makeshift still camera inspired him to create the GoPro in 2002, which went on to dominate the action cam video marketplace and becoming the video camera for the “selfie” generation.

But in recent years, GoPro has turned its attention to the pro market. The company hasn’t turned its back on extreme sports, but it’s building high-end cameras that can capture footage worthy of broadcast. One particular model is the flagship, the Hero4 Black – a tiny camera that can shoot in 4K.

Update on May 19, 2017: The Hero4 Black has been discontinued and replaced by the Hero5 Black, a stronger camera with a waterproof exterior, touchscreen, voice control, image stabilization, and a slew of other improvements – for $399. The Hero4 Black, however, can still be found for sale, but for around $100 more, the Hero5 Black is a far superior model. The Hero4 Black is still a great camera, and if you can find it for less than $200, it’s a good buy.

The Hero4 Black (originally $500, but can be had for$299 at B&H) is being used to capture broadcast-quality footage of various sports, from the National Hockey League to the Tour de France and Red Bull-sponsored extreme sports. It’s also being used for filmmaking: its small size allows cinematographers to easily shoot high-quality footage from tight corners, and do so cheaply when compared to pro video equipment.

The Hero4 Black’s sibling, the Hero4 Silver (originally $400, but also discontinued), is one of our favorite action cams to date. The Silver is a Full HD camera that has nearly all the features of the Black, plus a rear touchscreen LCD. But it can’t shoot 4K (at least not at the level the Black can). So, if you’ve been thinking about getting a GoPro, should you splurge for this top-of-the-line model that can shoot at higher resolutions? Or could consumers do just fine with the Silver and save some money for accessories? Here’s why you might want to.

The Hero4 Black and the Silver are almost identical in design and function. You can read our Silver review to find out what the Black’s design, features, and usage are like, but the big differences between the two is that, as mentioned, the Black shoots 4K at 30 fps; has faster frame rates throughout video resolutions (720p, 960p, 1080p, 1440p, and 2.7K); lacks a rear LCD (more on that later); support for external microphone with analog-to-digital conversion; and has a higher bitrate (up to 60 Mbps versus 45). Otherwise, it uses the same mounts, underwater housing, and battery; has Wi-Fi/Bluetooth (the latter is used for standby); ProTune for fine tuning the settings; Night Photo and Night Lapse modes; and GoPro’s Studio desktop editing software.

Most GoPro users are pretty content shooting footage in 1080p (as they should be), as well as capturing images they can immediately upload to social media instead of color grade. The Silver and Session cams, as well as the entry-level Hero models, should suit most users’ needs. But for shooters who want to create 4K content, you need to go with the Black. There are advantages: It has 2x the performance of the Hero3+, including 4K capture and 120-frame-per-second (fps) rate in 1080, but more importantly, the Hero4 Black delivers superior image control. Note: the Silver can technically shoot 4K but at 15 fps, but GoPro doesn’t promote this and, from a performance standpoint, the Black is more powerful. Another big plus: Shooting at a higher resolution allows you to downscale (more on this below).

Compared to the Hero3+, the first improvement we noticed while setting up the Hero4 Black is that the battery is easier to remove. But with twice the processing power, you’re going to need quite a few extra batteries or a high-capacity portable USB battery for an all-day shoot, especially if you’re shooting at higher resolutions and using wireless. The 1,160-mAh battery lasts around an hour, by GoPro’s estimates.

The Hero4 Black comes with a standard housing, skeleton backdoor (for access to the camera), rechargeable battery, curved adhesive mount, flat adhesive mount, quick-release buckles, three-way pivot arm, and Mini USB cable.

A big omission is a built-in monitor. Even though it’s not the flagship model, the Silver Edition contains a useful, built-in touch display that allows you to make changes on the screen rather than through tiny monochrome front-panel LCD and the Mode and Record buttons on the camera.

We realize previous Hero cameras also didn’t have built-in displays, and although it’s disappointing the high-end Black doesn’t have one, you can attach GoPro’s LCD Touch BacPac ($80) to the back of the camera if you want to frame your shot and make changes via the touch screen. From our tests, however, the LCD Touch BacPac isn’t as responsive as the one embedded into the Silver, and you’ll need to purchase an optional backdoor to accommodate the LCD.

You could, of course, bypass the optional LCD and use your smartphone or tablet not only for live view, but also to easily change settings. Wi-Fi does eat into battery life, but so will the LCD Touch BacPac.

Even though 4K is a great feature many professional users are happy to have, having more image control – especially in regards to latitude – is a more valuable feature. GoPro has done an excellent job in implementing “pro” image controls for post, especially if you’re incorporating GoPro footage into a professional timeline with digital motion picture cameras, such as an ARRI ALEXA or Sony F55. Consumers, however may never even bother with these controls, but they are there, should budding YouTube creators want to dabble with advanced video production.

In shooting 4K with the Hero4 Black, there’s a learning curve to master that’s different from previous Heroes. There are now a total of 47 different resolution and frame rate combinations.

If you’re working within an editing timeline with other cameras (i.e., incorporating GoPro footage with those from another camera), the first thing you’ll want to do is capture in Protune, a feature that gives you more options, especially in post. Protune ups the bitrate, increasing it to approximately 60 Mbps to give you less compression artifacts. It also gives you more manual control over white balance, color, and sharpness.

With Protune engaged on the Hero3+, you were able to capture in a “Raw” mode. Although it wasn’t a true RAW file, it captured a flat, neutral image that gave you more dynamic range for color grading. For the Hero4 Black, Raw has been replaced with Flat, although it’s the same principle in terms of gaining more dynamic range in shadows and highlights due its log curve. For advanced users, it’s very similar to Technicolor’s Cinestyle profile for Canon DSLRs.

Although the ability to shoot in 4K is great, shooting at 2.7K/60p or 120 frames at 1080p is just as impressive, especially for capturing action. This writer often shot in the 2.7K mode at 60p and then downscaled the files to 1080 for a finished project. Something to note is that the Hero4 cameras can only shoot up to 30 minutes, before it stops and starts a new recording; you may lose some footage during that downtime.

Our testing included shooting in Native White Balance, Flat profile, ISO at 400 for daylight, 1600 for daylight interiors, and 6400 for night interiors. We also set Sharpness to Low to have more control over image sharpness in post. (Default settings for the camera without Protune is ISO 1600, High Sharpness, and GoPro Color.) Another feature we really like on the Black is the SuperView setting (also available in the Silver model), which takes the 4:3 aspect ratio and stretches to 16:9, giving you extra room at the top and bottom of the frame. This feature is great, especially when shooting with the camera mounted to your body while capturing fast action that doesn’t contain important details on the horizontal edges of your frame.

We performed all of the menu settings through the GoPro app on an iPhone. The mobile app, which is also available for Android and Windows Phone, functions as a live video remote as well as a monitor for framing a shot. It was much easier navigating through the app rather than through the buttons on the camera, and you’re able to frame before shooting without noticeable lag time. GoPro has really improved pairing with the camera to their mobile app, as well as control over settings within the app.

GoPro has also greatly increased its still photography power with the HERO4 Black, and the most impressive new feature is the burst mode. You can capture up to 30-stills-per-second (up to three seconds) at 12-megapixels per frame. This amounts to 4,000 x 3,000 in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is pro-quality in terms of size. RED, the cinematography camera maker, has always promoted its Epic Dragon as a hybrid stills/video camera and the Hero4 Black can actually be placed in this category, although as a more low-end version. What’s also new with the Black is you can apply Protune in stills mode, giving you better control and color information, and GoPro has added new nighttime modes as well.

Judging image quality on a POV action cam can be tricky, especially when comparing it to a large sensor, interchangeable lens DSLR or motion picture camera. After all, the Hero4 Black’s sensor is small and its fixed lens is inferior to DSLR lenses. But with a powerful new processor, the Hero4 Black really excels in 4K. Even when downscaled to 1080, we noticed that the Hero4 Black contains more detail and color information then any POV camera we’ve tested. (The Hero3+ and Hero4 capture 4K but only at 15 or 12 fps, which is pretty unusable.) When shooting with Protune with the Flat color profile, you really have the opportunity to seamlessly cut your GoPro footage into a mixed camera timeline with good color grading.

Although GoPro has its own software, GoPro Studio, experienced video pros, like this author, will prefer to perform ingesting and grading in their non-linear editing system of choice. For a night shot in 4K, we sent the clip to SpeedGrade and employed a GoPro-3200K-SL look profile. Back in Adobe Premiere Pro we added a touch of brightness and contrast, as well as a touch of orange to the midtones and highlights. Because we shot in the 4K SuperView mode, we added a Lens Distortion effect that eliminated the “fisheye” look. If you don’t have the time or tools to grade in post, the best setting to employ is GoPro Color, which delivers the same color you capture with Protune turned off, but still maintaining additional image control. The Hero4 Black may look like a simple camera, but the example we mentioned shows how sophisticated the camera can get.

Some of the most breathtaking shots we’ve seen in the past few years have been shot with GoPros, but it’s important to remember that the GoPro is best used as an action camera rather than an A-camera on a narrative film. So why buy a GoPro when your mobile phone can do the job, right? This is true for casual video shooters but in our opinion, a GoPro is a proactive imaging tool rather than a reactive device like a cell phone. Because of the amazing mounting options, with a GoPro, you normally set up a terrific shot or sequence with your GoPro way in advance (proactive) rather than pulling it out to capture something that is already happening with your phone (reactive).

The Hero4 Black has a one-year warranty, and GoPro will repair or replace the product if there are any manufacturing defects. GoPro also has a 30-day guarantee: If purchased from their online store, and if you’re not 100-percent satisfied, you can return it for a refund. Just remember you have to buy it through GoPro’s online store to qualify.

While the Hero4 Black has been discontinued, you can still find it for sale and Hero4 models are still popular with users. But before considering the Hero4 Black, the only question you should ask yourself is whether or not you want to capture 4K. As we’ve stated earlier, 2.7K or 1080 will suit the majority of users’ needs. (When this writer carries his GoPro around, I usually have it set up to capture 1080/30p footage with GoPro Color, which is the default, out-of-the-box setting.) But if you’re a working pro, or if you’re looking to future proof all of your content, the Black is a no brainer. It’s only a matter of time when all content will be moving to 4K, especially online. But if you’re a casual shooter, an important thing to remember is that your 4K files are going to be much larger since you’re dealing with four times the resolution of 1080. Because of this you’re going to need more MicroSD cards, as well as more computer storage.

All in all, we would still highly recommend the Hero4 Black for consumers, but unless you can get it for cheap, you may want to consider spending a bit more for a Hero5 Black. With that said, bven if you’re not a pro-level shooter, or adept at color grading, the ability to capture motion in glorious 4K is a worthy investment since your footage will eventually live online from here out. It’s always better to downscale footage now than upscale it in the future.

Update on May 19, 2017: The Hero4 Black has been discontinued and replaced by the Hero5 Black, a stronger camera with a waterproof exterior, touchscreen, voice control, image stabilization, and a slew of other improvements – for $399. The Hero4 Black, however, can still be found for sale, but for around $100 more, the Hero5 Black is a far superior model. The Hero4 Black is still a great camera, and if you can find it for less than $200, it’s a good buy.

The Hero4 Black is the company"s flagship camera targeted at pros and anyone who wants the best damn video you can get from an action cam (more on that later) and is willing to pay for it. It costs $500 in the US, £370 in the UK and AU$649 for the folks in Australia.

Owners of the Hero3/3+ Black will notice some subtle but important changes with the Hero4, the biggest being the new battery compartment design. It no longer slides in the back, but drops into the bottom, which works just fine and makes swapping them out easier. However, this required a battery redesign as well, which means you can"t use batteries from previous models.

The conspiracy theorist in me says GoPro did this to force you to buy new batteries at $20, £16 or AU$34 a pop and a new external charger (though Blue Nook has its non-OEM Wasabi packs ready to buy).

While recording with the Hero4, you hit the button immediately after that cool moment happens and it"s tagged so you can find it fast later when viewing in GoPro"s free mobile app or desktop Studio software. It"s not the first

When not recording, this same button accesses your settings menus. The menus on past models were a mess, but GoPro made things a bit easier by making everything sensitive to which mode you"re in. That means if you"re in video-capture mode and press the settings button, you"ll only get the settings options for video.

The front activity lights have moved from next to the lens to along side the tiny monochrome display (that really needs to be backlit, but isn"t), but otherwise the camera is the same size as the Hero3/3+ so you can use housings and mounts for those with the Hero4.

Compared to the Hero3+ Black, it"s the same package with one exception: the GoPro Wi-Fi Smart Remote isn"t included. The remote was redesigned to take advantage for the new HiLight/Settings button, too, so while an old one will work, you"ll have to spend $80, £60 or AU$119 for the updated version.

If you don"t want to lay out money for the remote, you can change settings, preview and review and transfer content using GoPro"s mobile app. Just connect the Black via Wi-Fi directly to your smartphone and you"re set. Bluetooth has been added to the Hero4 to make reconnecting faster and easier. The app can also be used to update the firmware on the camera, which is much easier than the old procedure of loading up a microSD card.

That"s less than GoPro"s estimate of 1 hour and 5 minutes and 55 minutes for the same conditions, so expect somewhere in between those. Also, the lower the resolution and slower the frame rate, the longer you"ll be able to record.

The possible resolution and frame-rate combinations seem nearly endless and I"m just talking about straight-up video. Add in stills and time-lapse options and you"ll quickly find there"s no shortage of things to experiment with. I could list them all out here, but you"re better off popping over to GoPro"s specs page for the full details.

Again, the big edge the Hero4 Black has over the Silver is its recording resolutions, faster frame rates and higher bitrate. If you need the best video, the Black is the one to get.

GoPro talked up the availability of manual controls for photos and video, but the adjustments are still pretty limited. Switching on the camera"s Protune option enables recording at its highest bit rate of 60Mbps.

Protune also lets you set color to either GoPro"s color profile or Flat, which is a neutral color profile that makes post-production easier; select a white balance for your lighting conditions; pick an ISO sensitivity limit of ISO 400, 1600 and 6400 for video and ISO 100, 200, 400 and 800 for photos; adjust sharpness and exposure compensation (+/-2EV); and control of shutter speed for the new Night Photo and Night Lapse modes.

Above is a sample video shot with the Hero4 Black, edited and exported with the company"s free GoPro Studio software. (Note: There is no audio until the last 25 seconds of the video.) The quality is fantastic and the low-light and night scenes are particularly great given the size of the camera and its sensor.

The Black"s biggest shortcoming is the lack of electronic image stabilization. However, you can record in 4K and crop in to help tame shaky video. In fact, unless you have a 4K display, the capability to crop in and still be a full-HD resolution is the big benefit to having 4K available.

If you want the GoPro with the best video quality, the Hero4 Black is definitely the way to go. You can pick on the blocky design, the battery life and the features, but the video is still the best in the category.

That"s Prolost Flat for GoPro. And note that, in the HERO4, these settings can also be applied to stills. This requires a separate trip into the settings menu, as each shooting mode now remembers its own settings.

If you"re only an occasional GoPro user, it"s easy to get bit by getting a setting just slightly wrong. On that tiny screen, you may well miss a small detail that can render your footage significantly less awesome. For example, I took some advice and set my minimum ISO to 400 for one of our activities. But there wasn"t enough light for ISO 400 and 60 fps, so my HERO4 Black had no option but to slow its shutter to 1/30, meaning I didn"t get 60 fps at all, I got 30 smeary frames per second in a 60 fps stream. I won"t make that mistake again, I hope, but there is a learning curve here.

The choices of aspect ratio, resolution, and frame rate, and how they all interact, can be confusing. And the default setting is a new mode that I don"t like at all, yet still managed to accidentally use a few times. It"s called "Superview," and it uses a full-sensor capture which is then stretched to fill a 16:9 frame. The stretch is biased more toward the edges, like a terrible setting on a terrible HD TV (or a crappy HD upconverted movie on cable). GoPro sees this mode as a way to get maximum coverage and fill modern TVs with no fuss in post, but if there was a button to wipe this setting from my GoPros, I"d press it. Instead, it"s the default, which means we"ll see a lot of it. The Aspect Ratio Police are going to be busy.

The image quality is about what you"d expect. There"s compression artifacting, and noise, and everything you"re accustomed to from GoPros past. These are the kinds of problems that drive me crazy in my own GoPro footage, yet never seem to bother me in other people"s. That’s because, to get back to my initial observation, the GoPro is the ultimate content-is-king camera. If what you’re shooting isn’t interesting enough to power through some macroblocking, you’re using the wrong camera.

That’s it. That’s the worst I can say about the GoPro HERO4. In the past, one might have been able to find an angle from which to balk at the price of a GoPro, but the entry-level Hero, at $129.99 USD, eliminates that complaint.

A GoPro has its own look. It’s a difficult camera to evaluate in the context of “cameras,” because it speaks it’s own language so strongly. If you try to intercut it with other footage, you can expect many non-camera people in your audience to recognize “a GoPro shot” when they see it. In a historical epic, this would be a risky move. In a Jeep commercial, it could be as natural as lens flares and sky gradients.

The GoPro look is not mandatory though. At some resolutions, you can opt for a cropped field of view, for a less crazy-wide image. And the fisheye distortion is actually quite easy to dial back in post, using either the Lens Distortion effect in Premiere Pro, the Optics Compensation effect in After Effects, or the Lens Distortion tool in Magic Bullet Looks.

The last time I used a GoPro for filmmaking, I embraced the signature look. When an audience sees that telltale barrel distortion and poppy palette, they know they’re about to see something really cool, that really happened. I used this to my advantage as I gradually escalated the mayhem in

The GoPro Studio software comes with template projects, pre-populated with professional footage, over which you can drop your own shots for a shortcut to a ready-made video. One of the samples stands out, because instead of Olympic snowboarders or bikini-clad surfers, it’s nothing more than GoPro CEO Nick Woodman playing in a pool with his kids. There’s one shot in that template—just a simple moment of his boy jumping into the water—that is so infectiously ebullient that I literally gasped when I saw it. I real