GoPro is an excellent example how your day should look like. It is shuttle, smooth, clear, stable and more of adds life to your days. If you are a kind of person who likes to keep track of your day to day life, like to look back how your day went or just can’t afford the price of the bigger professional video cameras, the GoPro is your companion for life. GoPro is a perfect action camera, action in a sense is that you can just turn it on and start recording your life in HD quality from a camera just is just enough to fit in your palms. GoPro with the newest addition to the family, GoPro Hero 7 Black is set to overcome all the stereotypes but setting new benchmarks in terms of quality and functionality that you get from a small handheld action camera.
The from factors look similar to the previous version of GoPro i.e. GoPro Hero 6 with some added alteration. The GoPro though being called Black used to have the color choice of grey or silver, but this time around, the company has also worked in fixing the wrong they have been doing regarding the cosmetic thing, giving you black that it is actually black.
GoPro Hero 7 Black Specs, Feature and Performance
GoPro launched its newest and latest action camera in its line up with the aim of improving the customer satisfaction and improve their relationship with each other. The camera might look similar to its predecessor, but it has lots of functionalities hidden beneath. GoPro has been in touch with its customers more than any other companies. The new functionalities like Gimbal like stabilization, HyperSmooth Live streaming drives it towards the very top above its Chinese competitors. It has a Karma Grip built-in that eliminates the need to buy a grip externally.
GoPro Hero 7 Black Specs
The specs for the GoPro Hero 7 this year are similar to its previous version. So, you still get a 12MP camera up front which allows you to shoot up to 4K resolution at 60fps. It cannot be complained though as it had been great in the previous version alone. So rather than bragging about the specs, let’s dive into its features.
GoPro Hero 7 Black Features
GoPro this year has received something that is great for the action cameras so small. The features are as follows:
HyperSmooth
As we know that GoPro is engaged with the customers more than any other company has ever done, this year around too, they listened to the needs and wants of the customers and included feature something like HyperSmooth.
The company said that it was extremely difficult to achieve that feet, but it seems they have managed to pull that off in just time. The result of that hard work is HyperSmooth, a combination of hardware and software, that provides great stabilization. It isn’t an optical image stabilization as you might have expected, but it is something that works harder than the optical image stabilization to correct the stabilization of your video.
It is combination of hardware and software algorithms that crops 5% percent of your video roughly, but does a great thing at stabilization. Opposed to the optical version of the stabilization, Hero 7 Black predicts your movement and corrects for the shakiness of your camera to deliver some the great stabilizations that can be achieved with the most premium gimbals out there in the market.
HyperSmooth works in most resolutions and framerates, but once you reach 1080p of 2.7K resolution at 120fps, it won’t be available for you. Shooting at 60fps will just be enough and great for most of the users out there. When compared to the HyperSmooth to the regular stabilization, at a glance you can distinguish which one is from which device. The quality isn’t there enough to beat the Karma Grip, but it won’t be any wrong to say that it is comparable with an advantage being that it is built-in the camera. It is a boon for the rugged action camera users with not having to buy an external gimbal which alone costs as much as you would pay for the camera.
TimeWarp
You might hear of the slow motion video, you definitely have heard of the time lapse, and now there comes TimeWarp, a combination of the HyperSmooth with time lapse. It is described as the “magic-carpet-ride” from the company, that’s some great marketing theme for the camera. You can speed up the video from 2x up to 30x depending how long your video is. Though being a cool feature itself, it is not the highlight for the camera.
Also Read: Top 5 DSLR Cameras For Photography
Live Streaming
For the first time ever, you receive something you have always been wanting to have in your camera. The hassle of transferring the video to the computer and then sharing it or just the inability of going live from the action camera is eliminated by the GoPro Hero 7 Black with live streaming feature. It’s pretty easy, you’ll just need to connect your camera to your phone, select the Live streaming mode, log into the platform you want to go live and the network with the option of connecting to the hotspot of your phone to use its data. As easy as that and you are up and live. You can only stream up to 720p but with weaker connection, you can select 480p as well with some delay in the transmission.
New UI
New camera brings you new user interface which is simplified and is easy once you hang with it. You can get into modes just with few taps the interface got new touch to zoom and the ability to work in portrait mode. You’ll find short clips within the video mode which lets you choose the length of the video which will be helpful if you want to keep your children from eating up your storage space and the need to clip the video afterward suitable to the platform that you need to post the video to. You can highlight moments on the camera itself while viewing the video on the camera. You have the functionality to control your camera with your voice as you had before. Some of the features are laggy in the beta software version, but the moment the final version arrives, its going to be the smoothest of all.
GoPro Hero 7 Design and Build
It won’t be any shame or disadvantage to say that Hero 7 looks exactly same as the previous version. It can be an advantage if you are a regular user and don’t like swapping everything around with new cameras. If you like your setup and don’t like switching the with newer ones every now and then, then Hero 7 being same as previous version will make you happy because it will fit all your setup and accessories with no trouble at all.
The camera is pretty rugged and durable as we all now how GoPro are built and what for. You get a water proofing up to 10 meters without any case. A 2-inch display on the back and small monochrome display up front displaying the basic details are perfect to have.
GoPro Hero 7 Black Availability and Price
A new addition to the existing line up with added functionality generally means an added cost of few to 100s of dollar todays world. While there are smartphone brands that charge $100 for just providing a phone that seem to be degraded more than having any added functionality, Hero 7 Black price has been kept down.
In UK, the price down is literal as Hero 7 Black costs £20 cheaper than Hero 6. You can buy the Hero 7 Black in UK at £379 but remains $399, the older price for Hero 6 in US.
If you don’t have budget that big, don’t you worry, you can buy different models at different price as below.
| 4K Hero 7 Silver | £279/$299 |
| 1080p Hero 7 White | £179/$199 |
| Hero 7 Black | £379/$399 |
GoPro Hero 7 was released on 27th September with pre-orders going on.
Also Read: Top 5 Best DSLR Camera For Video
Conclusion for GoPro Hero 7 Black
As for the conclusion, the feature looks promising. The company has been truthful for keeping the design similar with no strings to hide. The features are worth trying specially with the HyperSmooth functionality that is just amazing.
Owning an action camera will eliminate the need to have a separate phone just for the live streaming purpose with the quality of stream no so great. You would definitely wan to have the camera with you all the time if you have been an active videographer who loves to capture their life.
Also, as per the pricing, company has stated that they have put into the efforts of £300 worth while providing the camera at the deducted price of £379 in UK. So. it might be a noteworthy upgrade. But at the end, it all comes up to your own preferences whether you want to have that added features.
Watch this exclusive video from WIRED YouTube Channel about GoPro Hero 7 Black vs. Hero6 vs. Sony X3000