The time has come to move up with GoPro. I’ve had my trusty Hero 3 Silver since the start. It’s been everywhere with me, but as my experience and ambition has grown, it’s been struggling to keep up.
GoPro or DSLR?
I’ve been umming and ahhing over what’s next. Do I get a compact DSLR, a full fat DSLR or stay with GoPro. If I stay with GoPro, then what’s best? Session or Black?
You’ve got to think about how you’ll use it. I’m inevitably an activity first, camera second kind of guy. Lofting a heavy DSLR round with me though would yes out perform a GoPro, doesn’t give me the flexibility of chucking it in your pocket and if you never use it, you haven’t wasted energy lugging it around. S’all good!
So that ruled out DSLR, but then if I continue you my rational of maximum convenience, then the GoPro Hero 5 Session is the one. It does everything you realistically need. You’re not a production house. However even after 3 or so years of using my GoPro Hero 3, not having a screen did it in the end. Worth the extra doh? Yup.
When it comes to whipping it out of your pocket to grab a snap before the sun passes over the hill, faffing about with getting your phone out, turning on wifi and using it as a view finder is hassle. Even now I get it wrong occasionally and end up missing half the shot when I can’t be bothered with the hassle.
So, GoPro Hero 5 Black is the one. At this point, I do have to give a big shout out to GoPro – cheers!
What am I going to try first?
- Sun. With the vast improvement of the image sensor from Hero 3 to 5, capturing something like the below has been high on my priority list. There is something about capturing some good old sun flair that seems so attractive. No matter what you’re doing, it’s always going to look good.
- Night and low light. Its been the one big feature that the Hero 3 really limited your creativity on. Capturing silhouettes, the night’s sky or the ambience of the evening has been on my list for sometime.
- Burst mode. Aka shutter speed. I like my mountain biking, which is generally a reasonable high speed bumpy affair. The slow to medium shutter speeds on my GoPro Hero 3 hindered you no end, as after attempt after attempt you produce blurry shots. So with up to 30 shots a second on the GoPro Hero 5 Black, the time has come to stop the action like never before.
I’m sure i’ll find plenty more on the Hero 5 above and beyond merely having a screen and a better sensor. Voice control will at least be a welcomed rest bite to having to get on and off the bike when capturing.
So 2017. You’ve kicked off with some pretty shoddy weather, though now I’ll soon have a new tool in my arsenal, that may not be such a bad thing.
Peace out.