A few weeks ago, I wrote a promotional review on the new GoPro Hero 6 Black. The review was first listed here; http://improv-mag.co.uk/gopro.html
So, what’s good?
Let’s start out honestly, this is the first GoPro I’ve purchased since the Hero 3+. So off the bat, this is a major upgrade. Why haven’t I upgraded previously? Well…because my GoPro Hero 3+ was ‘just fine’ and, more importantly, I never really felt like an upgrade was worthy of my hard earned cash.
Something rang different this time though, maybe I was just swiped along with the GoPro event hype – but after just seeing a few base stats about this new unit, I was excited. To the point where I dropped the full RRP on one, on release day.
Was it worth the hype? Absolutely it was. The colour profiles, custom-filming settings and quality of that 4K 60fps is insane, regardless of the format. But for something that fits into the palm of your hand…wow.
I’d be lying if I said I knew all the functions like the back of my hand, of course I don’t…yet. With anything with a large UX jump, regardless of how easy that UX is…you need time to adjust and become a proper pro-user.
So is it worth the price-tag? Well…here’s what I’ll say, I think it’s worth the difference over the Hero 5 Black. Why? Because in a few years time, I can see this unit still being a performance master, while the previous edition may start to wane slightly. In terms of image quality and options they are very similar…only high-end production users will regularly be able to benefit from 60fps 4K and the like. So on those grounds, it’s usefulness to the regular action-cam user is negligible. But their new proprietary processor really does feel like it’s here to stay. And when you’re already spending quite a lot, adding that bit more for longevity seems worth it for me.
Check out my Top GoPro Cameras:
So, what’s bad?
Well, at the time of writing we’re only just coming up to two-weeks since release. And I’m already on my second unit. That sounds shocking, I know. I haven’t had to purchase it again, GoPro customer services and the services of the store purchased from were very helpful and happy to swap out my original camera as it seemed faulty from the off.
What happened? Well, on it’s debut, attached to my mountain bike, I experienced a lot of freezing up and erratic behaviour. With a bit of confusion I contacted GoPro customer services and they advised that the SD card I was using was a little less than ideal, and they wouldn’t be able to really advise on any issues as this was likely the cause.
So, cue myself off to buy the greatest SD card I could find – grabbed a SanDisk Extreme ‘Works with GoPro’ branded model and started shooting again. The first few ventures seemed okay – but I was doing short recording sessions on (relatively) low quality settings.
A few days later I wanted to capture a hiking experience via time-lapse photography. The intention to take a photo every 10 seconds for the duration. This did not go to plan. And when I say the camera started acting very erratic…I mean it might have taken 10 photos (max) before having somewhat of a meltdown. And this happened repeatedly.
Back on to the very helpful at GoPro support, and they determine…it’s a problematic unit.
Now, this is my only criticism of GoPro’s aftersales, and there is a way around it, but their default action for any issue camera is to have it sent back and repaired or replaced. Now, for a very expensive, brand new action camera. Having to send it off for a repair isn’t really acceptable. When paying that much, I expect immediate action and replacement – not having to wait for a diagnostic. Now fortunately, because it appeared faulty out the box, returning it to the store of purchase was an option – so that’s what I did and within an hour of my final report to GoPro customer services, I had a new camera. And this one, is as epic as promised.
Check out my Top GoPro Accessories:
Anything else you should know?
Yes – those new high-end recording formats, anything new from the Hero 5 Black, are encoded differently. Only newer computers and smartphones are able to process these properly. If your editing equipment is more than a year or so old…you might have a tough time utilising these options…so that is worth considering.
Do I have any regrets?
Regrets? No. Could I have saved myself a load of money? Maybe. A Hero 5 Black, although it would’ve done a very stellar job of what I want, was not an option. The price gap wasn’t big enough to warrant buying something already outdated. A Hero 5 Session, however, at around 50% of the price of the Hero 6 Black, is very appealing. This smaller form and relatively powerful unit does keep sneaking into the back of my mind. And you know what, in a few months, I may buy one in addition to my Hero 6 Black. But the usefulness of the screen makes for such a marked update over my original Hero 3+ – I really do have no regrets at all.
In addition to my original review, I also wanted to add a bit about what the GoPro Hero 6 Black does in the context of bikejor. A common issue I’ve found with action cameras, and GoPro’s in particular, is that they aren’t exceptionally good at keeping good colour profiles in low-light conditions. As appropriate running times for bikejor are typically early morning, evening and during the winter months – light is already at a bit of a premium. Add on to that, that a lot of training occurs in forests, with thousands of trees mitigating further light quality…we’ve had a lot of poor quality videos.
This isn’t the fault of the products as such, it’s just not their primary focus. With the Hero 6 Black however, consider the game changed. Below are two stills taken from video shot in the same location, around the same time of day, and with roughly the same light quality.
Whilst it is difficult to appreciate if either of the above snap shots are indeed of any actual ‘quality’ what so ever – overall, the final output simply seems to be leagues ahead.
I have seen complaints that the colour profile appears over saturation, or a little unrealistic – and you know what – it probably is. But, you can turn it off – by default a special ‘GoPro’ colour profile is applied, you can revert to ‘normal’ if you so wish. And, more importantly, what are we, as dog enthusiasts want from our footage? Is it to show natures true beauty? I’d say it’s unlikely…just think about how much mud that means. We want to capture our fun in the way we remember it. Do I recall those runs being dark, dank and gloomy as the first snap suggests? Hell no! It doesn’t actually matter what the weather was doing, or wether we were having a relaxed jaunt, or setting PB’s left right and centre…we just remember that it was a colourful, exciting and happy experience.
If the camera manages to capture that essences with a few tweaks to reality, then hey, I’m all for it.