SMALLER FASTER BETTER STRONGER – Go Pro Hero3, it’s here!
With the GoPro HD HERO2 being released what feels like an age ago, and Sony and Contour busting out new rival cameras, they have outdone themselves securing that they’re still top of the market. Packed with built-in Wi-Fi, 4k features and bumping up the frame rate to 1080p, this camera is beasting the market once again. But like any piece of kit it has its pros and cons.
PROS:
- 4K OK! – The biggest change is that the GoPro now has the ability to film in 4K! Now, it may only be at 15fps (frames per second), so is only really good for timelapses as it doesn’t even reach the 25 frames standard, but it’s still a huge impact and improvement bringing professional standard into the market for consumer use.
- Built in Wi-Fi! – With everyone on the Internet 24/7, this is great! It allows you to control settings on the camera via an app on your phone! If you don’t have a phone to work it, don’t worry it comes with a handy little control as well!
- Protune! – This is a great little feature which allows the camera to adapt to its surroundings. Adjusting contrast, sharpness, and colour when you’re shooting in Basic mode giving you raw footage – something for the editors!
- SlowMo It Up! – Now 60fps on 1080p! That’s seriously impressive and means whatever you’re filming, from extreme sports, like dirt biking, to bar spins on your BMX, it’s going to look cool. It even does 120fps at 720p so any slow mo nut is going to want to get their hands on one. Lets be honest; we all love a bit of slow mo.
- Light, Small, Perfect! – With the new Pro being 30 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter, this action camera is becoming more and more easy to use everywhere; switching to a MicroSD card to store data, it’s so light you’re going to forget it’s attached.
CONS
- Pro Low Light; not so Pro! – The new go pro boasts low light boosting abilities but really it just uses gain to brighten it up. However, the picture is just noisy so it’s not really better for any serious filming.
- NO LCD STILL! – With no LCD still unlike pretty much all other cameras, you’re going to have to fork out for the detachable LCD screen which is a lot of money for what you would think of as standard, and if you want control of how your shots are going to look, you’re going to need it.
To be honest, except for a couple of faults, which are still there from the HD Hero2, the only way for this amazing camera is up. It’s a great new release and coupled with some extra bits to buy and is very affordable for what you can do with it. It’s still king of helmet-cams and the only great action camera!
I disagree with a few points made here.
“4K OK” Good for timelapses? I wouldn’t think so. 15FPS is going to mean a lot of waster material and you would be better off using the dedicated timelapse mode at 1FPS or slower to really get something that shows the progression of time.
“Built in Wi-Fi!” This is a great feature but it has nothing to do with the internet so why mention it?
“Protune!” This does not give you raw footage and it does not adapt to your surroundings. It offers a flatter picture profile at a higher bit-rate.
“Pro Low Light; not so Pro!” It’s true that the extra low light capabilities are from increased gain but they will have enhanced their noise reducing algorithms making the image a lot cleaner at higher ISOs.
“NO LCD STILL!” I disregard this feature with the inclusion of WiFi. With most people using these cameras having access to an iPhone or iPod there is no need for an LCD screen when you can review composition and framing with the iDevice.
I hope you don’t mind me sharing my view and I would be interested to know what you think of these points.
It is a lot of wasted material… but it’s not good at a lot else, you can use the timelapse mode but it’s just another option I was just it throwing out there, maybe animation but due to it not exceeding 25fps there’s not a lot else you can do, also the timelapses i’ve seen done with it look great, so it’s worth a play around with.
It’s an all around review Wi-Fi is built in so it’s worth mention just so people know.
Protune, should say something similar to raw, just an error on my part… as for the the actual light increase having used both of them.. it’s not a lot different i feel and still needs improvement, again a matter of opinion having tested both out.
As for LCD, the new app is great, but not everybody has an iPhone or iPod or necessarily wants to use the app, LCD screen is still standard and just for ease and convenience it should really have one I feel.
Not at all! It’s great when people comment there views and opinons and would love you to comment, view and share other posts! Nothing wrong with expressing your views and opinions, after all this post is just my opinion and everyone has there own. Thanks for your comment!
Nevrr mind, people always have there own thoughts