The corporate can also be streamlining its lineup, so for the Hero 8 sequence, we’ve got solely the Hero 8 Black, and no Silver or White variants. In India, the Hero 8 Black is priced at around Rs. 36,500, which is roughly the identical worth that earlier Black-series GoPros have launched at.
It’s time to take a look at the brand new options of the Hero 8 Black and see if this new model is value shopping for over the Hero 7 Black.
GoPro Hero 8 Black design
The Hero 8 Black encompasses a acquainted button and show structure however with some massive tweaks. The digital camera is definitely a tad thicker in width and general quantity than earlier fashions, however the digital camera lens barely protrudes outwards now, making the gadget much more pocketable. The lens additionally will get Gorilla Glass scratch safety, and GoPro says it’s twice as resilient to scratches than earlier than. We hope this declare is certainly true for the reason that lens on the Hero 8 Black is now mounted and never replaceable, like with older fashions.
You get the same-sized monochrome show on the entrance as earlier than, and a color touchscreen on the again. One of many three microphones has been repositioned to the entrance of the digital camera for higher audio recording, and the GoPro emblem is now embossed on the rubber cladding as an alternative of being printed. The flat sides of the digital camera have a distinct design too. There’s no rubber lining anymore; as an alternative there’s now a single water-sealed flap on the precise for the battery, microSD card, and USB Kind-C port. The Hero 8 Black additionally loses the Micro-HDMI port which was current on older fashions.
(Clockwise) The GoPro Hero 8 Black in comparison with the Hero 7 Black; the battery compartment; the foldable mounting fingers
The one flap on the precise may be very handy and we have been in a position to entry the charging port even with the digital camera mounted typically. The most important and most overdue design change although is the built-in mounting fingers on the underside, which fold flush with the physique and keep in place magnetically when not in use. This additionally implies that you don’t want the (typically) annoying plastic cage any extra when it’s good to use this digital camera with some equipment. The mounting fingers really feel well-built and are backwards suitable with just about any present GoPro mount.
The detachable battery has the identical capability as that of the Hero 7 Black however is distinguished by some blue accents on the contact finish. There are additionally two pink standing LEDs this time as an alternative of three, and they’re formed like tiny dots. We didn’t get the complete retail field for our overview, however if you happen to have been to purchase one, it’s best to anticipate it to incorporate a mounting buckle, a curved adhesive mount, a USB Kind-C cable, and in some international locations (not India), a free 32GB microSD card.
One other new characteristic debuting with the Hero 8 is the flexibility so as to add mods to it. GoPro has created three mods at launch known as the Media Mod, Gentle Mod and Show Mod. These are equipment that connect to the Hero 8 Black, if you happen to want to use it for skilled video productions and even vlogging. The Media Mod is a housing which snaps onto the Hero 8 Black and encompasses a built-in shotgun microphone, a 3.5mm microphone port and an HDMI-out port. It will also be used as a base upon which you’ll add the Gentle or Show Mod.
The rear show on the GoPro Hero 8 Black is similar because it predecessor
The Gentle Mod has a string of LED lights with a brightness of 200 lumens that may be connected to the Media Mod or any GoPro mount. The Show Mod encompasses a flip-up display screen for vloggers, and must be connected to the Media Mod. We didn’t get the prospect to attempt these mods ourselves, however it appears attention-grabbing to say the least, particularly if you happen to’re trying to make use of the Hero 8 Black professionally.
GoPro Hero 8 Black specs and software program
The Hero 8 Black makes use of the identical GP1 processor because the Hero 7 Black, however the firm says it has managed to squeeze out a bit extra efficiency by remodeling a lot of its software program algorithms. This new mannequin additionally will get the flexibility to shoot 4K at a 100Mbps bitrate, LiveBurst, NightLapse Video, and a tweaked person interface. The digital camera nonetheless makes use of a 12-megapixel sensor with a wide-angle lens and f/2.8 aperture. It weighs round 126g, is rugged and waterproof as much as 10m, and has built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The interface has been redesigned a bit to make it simpler to entry capturing modes and views. The Discipline of View possibility is now known as Digital Lenses, and allows you to choose between SuperView, Extensive, Linear, and Slim. Nonetheless, it’s good to do that earlier than capturing as you continue to can’t change views whereas recording. You additionally get customized presets for various capturing types, with the flexibility so as to add your individual. As an illustration, inside the Video menu, you’ll be able to add a number of presets for slow-motion, 4K, and 1080p capturing, every with its personal customised stabilisation setting, perspective, and extra image tweaks via ProTune. This protects loads of time, and we discovered it to be extremely handy.
The GoPro App permits you to change the settings of the digital camera and management it, through your smartphone
One other new characteristic of the Hero 8 Black is HyperSmooth 2.0, which is alleged to supply even higher digital stabilisation than earlier than. There’s additionally a Increase toggle, which may be activated at almost all resolutions, and crops the body a bit extra to permit for a better stage of stabilisation. There’s TimeWarp 2.0, which may now robotically set the time interval for hyperlapse movies primarily based on how briskly you’re transferring. You can too manually change to the common velocity briefly for some attention-grabbing results.
The Hero 8 Black expands the scope of usable options in any respect resolutions. HyperSmooth can be utilized regardless of the decision now, together with with slow-motion movies. It will probably nonetheless shoot at as much as 4K 60fps, similar to the Hero 7 Black, however it now helps extra views resembling linear and slim at extra resolutions. Curiously, the minimal capturing decision is now 1080p, because the 960p and 720p choices have been eliminated.
The digital camera syncs with the GoPro app on Android or iOS, which helps you to replace its firmware, management it remotely, and arrange live-streaming to Fb, YouTube or RTMP (real-time messaging protocol). Movies can now be live-streamed at 1080p, as an alternative of 720p. The app additionally has GoPro Quik built-in, for creating mini films out of your clips. You may select from quite a lot of themes, and add soundtracks and textual content to your movies. The app additionally introduces a brand new characteristic known as Horizon Leveling, which solely works with footage shot by the Hero 8 Black and the Hero Max. This allows you to ‘straighten’ your footage, so it’s on the identical stage with the horizon.
GoPro Hero 8 Black efficiency and battery life
The brand new cageless design is one thing we instantly appreciated concerning the Hero 8 Black. It’s loads simpler to swap out the battery or just plug in a charging cable with out at all times having to take the digital camera out of no matter you might have it connected to. It robotically corrects the orientation of the video, relying on the way you’ve mounted it (sideways or the other way up) earlier than you hit the file button. The digital camera nonetheless will get pretty sizzling after about 10-Quarter-hour of steady recording however it by no means shut off even with extended recording. We dunked it below water too and it continued to work simply nice.
The contact response of the digital camera’s essential show is sweet, and menus responded properly to swipe gestures in our expertise. There have been just a few instances that we observed the UI getting just a little sluggish when making an attempt to open the gallery or the settings, however this wasn’t a constant concern. The built-in presets make switching between totally different video recording profiles seamless. In video mode, you get shortcut toggles within the viewfinder itself for slow-motion or to allow Increase mode. You may digitally zoom in by as much as 2x in video, picture, or timelapse mode, however solely at decrease resolutions. Our voice instructions have been recognised properly and this was helpful for capturing a shot, switching modes, or turning the digital camera off whereas we have been performing some exercise.
Shot with HDR mode on the GoPro Hero 8 Black (faucet to see full-sized picture)
Shot utilizing Night time mode on the GoPro Hero 8 Black (faucet to see full-sized picture)
When capturing below good mild, resembling pure daylight, picture high quality was excellent. The tweaked HDR setting in picture mode helped the digital camera seize gorgeous photos, which appeared noticeably higher than the photographs we took with the Hero 7 Black. Colors have been punchy, the extent of element was good, and burst mode labored properly. Low-light photographs have been strictly common, besides once we used the ‘Night time’ mode, which let us set an extended shutter velocity (as much as 30s). Particulars have been nonetheless just a little murky, particularly when checking photographs zoomed in to one hundred pc, however in any other case, low-light pictures have been usable.
In fact, the primary attraction continues to be video. Stabilisation with the brand new Hero 8 Black was noticeably higher than with the Hero 7 Black. Utilizing each cameras set on the identical decision concurrently, the Hero 8 Black produced visibly higher stabilised footage in comparison with the older mannequin. Colors and particulars have been additionally barely higher. Utilizing ‘Increase’ mode, we obtained even smoother outcomes, Even with all of this, we didn’t discover any of the distortion or artefacts that we often discover as a byproduct of digital stabilisation.
GoPro motion cameras have by no means fared too properly in low mild and it’s just about the identical story right here. Footage shot at night time was just a little grainy and the stabilisation wasn’t too aggressive, with a view to forestall extreme distortion. Attributable to this, slight shakes have been noticeable however video was nonetheless decently stabilised. Till GoPro upgrades its cameras with a bigger sensor or a wider aperture, low-light video goes to proceed to be its Achilles’ heel.
We tried the opposite modes too, and so they have been enjoyable to make use of. The brand new TimeWarp 2.0 mode gave us some fairly attention-grabbing hyperlapses, and the flexibility to modify forwards and backwards from common velocity to hyperlapse gave us some good artistic freedom. The brand new Night time Lapse video mode produced decent-looking timelapse movies in low mild. LiveBurst buffered video so we may seize a brief 4K video clip which began just a few seconds earlier than we hit the shutter button. After this, we may use the clip as is or export a desired body as a JPEG from the GoPro app. The GoPro app may also auto-download clips from the digital camera now and again, so your media is able to be considered or edited. You can too have the clips auto-backed as much as the cloud, you probably have a subscription to GoPro Plus.
We discovered the battery lifetime of the GoPro Hero 8 Black to be much like that of the Hero 7 Black. We managed to shoot 4K video for about 45-50 minutes on a single cost. Once we interspersed video capturing with different issues resembling recording TimeWarp clips and stills, we have been in a position to stretch that to about an hour and a half, or typically just a little extra. Usually, with GPS and Wi-Fi enabled, and with us solely capturing just a few quick clips, the Hero 8 Black lasted for about half a day. If you happen to’re going to be utilizing this digital camera extensively for capturing high-resolution movies, having a spare battery can be useful.
Verdict
It may not look it from the surface, however the Hero 8 Black is sort of a big improve over the Hero 7 Black. The brand new built-in mounting fingers alone is perhaps cause sufficient for some individuals to improve. GoPro has additionally made noticeable enhancements to picture and video high quality, and the brand new interface with its presets and shortcuts is even simpler to make use of. Technically, many of those new software program tweaks ought to come to the Hero 7 Black too, since they share the identical processor, however it doesn’t appear as if that may occur.
The Hero 8 Black is just a little on the costly aspect, however that is the value you’ll must pay for staying on the reducing fringe of motion cameras. The Hero 7 Black will proceed to be bought as a inexpensive different. It’s at the moment obtainable on-line for round Rs. 26,000, which is a fairly good worth for what it gives.
If in case you have a Hero 6 Black or older, the brand new Hero 8 Black can be a big improve. The improved picture high quality, new design, and adaptability of mods makes this new mannequin properly definitely worth the funding.
Value: Rs. 36,500
Professionals
- Adaptable design
- Waterproof, rugged physique
- Wonderful video stabilisation
- Excellent picture high quality in good mild
- Intuitive interface
- Strong companion app
Cons
- Low-light efficiency might be higher
- Priced a bit excessive
Scores (out of 5)
- Construct/ design: 4.5
- Picture high quality: 3.5
- Video high quality: 4
- Options/software program: 4
- Battery life: 3.5
- Worth for cash: 3.5
- Total: 4