GoPro have just announced their brand new GoPro Hero 6 Black – their top of the line monster action camera with a hefty price tag and a hefty list of features.
…but what does the new GoPro offer to us mountain bikers?
Say yes to SlowMo
The new GoPro is all about slowmo … if you’re filming clips for social media it’s like taking a bazooka to a knife fight.
The camera shoots 4K footage (nothing new to GoPro) but now does it at 60 frames per second, making it (on paper at least) higher spec than most dedicated video cameras or DSLR cameras with video. The 60fps means that you can shoot smooth, crisp slow-mo without any judders and is a big step up for professional filmers, let alone the aspiring amateurs.
If 4K at 60fps isn’t enough you can bump your footage down to a still massive 2.7k and shoot at 120 frames per second, or at 240fps in 1080p.
Don’t forget … the much cheaper GoPro hero Session is just £150 and can shoot at 6ofps at 720p, with a smaller sensor. The footage won’t be as sharp, especially in low light, but … for instagram and youtube it’s a great camera. For laps of the Bike Park with your mates, it’s ideal.
Twice the performance of the Hero 5 using GoPro’s new GP1 chip
By ‘performance’ GoPro means image quality and stabilisation. The new chip has been 3 years in the making and has been built (Verge tell us) as a response to the rough year GoPro experience in 2016. They’ve developed the chip specifically for GoPro, rather than using the same technology as the competition and are pushing to create better quality, faster footage from tech that’s specifically designed for their hardware.
Again, if you want the best of the best of the best footage of your lap of the Verderer’s trail, you’re in luck.
Waterproof to 10m without an extra case
No more ugly, fiddly waterproof case. You can submerge the Hero 6 to 10m without any additional accessories – meaning that it’s more than capable of the types of conditions us mountain bikers experience. Again though, the smaller and cheaper GoPro Session does the same thing.
Better low light
A huge one for mountain bikers who spend most their time in the woods. Most cameras boast awesome resolution and footage quality, but rely on bright sunlight for great footage.
GoPros new sensor promises the best performance ever at night or in poor light … Something that will help massively if you’re looking for great quality in all conditions. This is genuinely a great feature that will make your footage less grainy.
Easier, faster data transfer
The Hero 6 uses 5GHz Wi-Fi to transfer footage from camera to your smart phone and is reported to come with an instant-offload feature to make backing up easy.
Transfer of footage should be faster and easier than before … something we’re looking forward to after long day’s of filming at races. Given most of us edit clips on our mobiles, this should be a super useful feature.
Voice commands for hands free recording
You know that annoying thing of having to remove your GoPro, fiddle with the settings and remount it on your helmet? You can now use voice commands for easier, smoother, less faffy riding. Not exactly a game changer but it should be the whole thing a bit easier.
Get ready to banter your mates as they all start shouting “GoPro record!” at the tops of trails!
So … should you buy one?
The new camera packs in some pretty meaty upgrades that – if you can stomach the hefty price – will create stunning mountain bike footage.
But … do you really need a £500 professional standard camera mounted to your head?
If you’re on a film crew, you’re a journalist, you’re filming track previews or you’re a semi-professional athlete then the answer might well be ‘yep!’. It’s a great investment in creating awesome quality, pro-standard footage that will look as good full-screen as it will on a mobile.
That said …For anything less we’d recommend the cheaper Hero Session or the older Hero 5. Both will save you a bit of cash, are easy to use and still shoot stunning video clips.
Just let us know if you get one and we can borrow it, yeah?
