GoPro HERO5 Black and Session Announced

[Di0 1]

Hello Folks,
so after the last year being underwhelming for GoPro, it seems they finally pulled the trigger and announced their new line of toys: their droid "Karma", and their HERO5 lineup.
Specifically, a Black and a Session camera.
They will be released on Oct. 2nd. Starting price for the Black will be $399, which is a nice price tag compared to the "old" black.
Key features that might be relevant for skydiving are:
- one button control, if done right, it could alleviate much of the pain of using a gopro on an helmet
- 4K @ 30fps (some people might consider this a bit of a bummer, but I think it's actually quite reasonable for the size/price of the camera)
- 2.7k @ 60fps, 1440P @ 80 fps
- GPS
- Video Stabilization (curios to see what's this about, if it's a software-only trickery, hence not that useful, or an actual real sensor stabilization, and how well it works)
- better night performance and reasonably better overall video quality.
- Video rate output at 60Mb/s

Some people might criticize these new gopros for their lack of "innovation factor", but I think that's the normal hot-air critique than any big dog player gets on a new release (see Canon and their 5DmkIV), but on the long term their products generally seem to fare much better in the market, after the initial underwhelming reviews, and prove themselves to be much better "rounded" options than most competitors.
I believe this GoPro to be no exception to the rule and, personally, for the price I think it offers a quite nice set of features, I don't see myself upgrading from my HERO4 immediately, but probably at the first price drop or good offer I find, yeah, it will be a nice addition to my current camera gear.


Alright, uninformed discussion on, folks, what do you guys think while we wait for the first, actual, hands on reviews?

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[gowlerk 2,072]

Quote

Alright, uninformed discussion on, folks, what do you guys think while we wait for the first, actual, hands on reviews?

I like it. It means the price of used GoPros will drop. Then I can upgrade to a Hero 3 for cheaper than I could yesterday. But then I'll need to upgrade my glove for the newer form factor as well.

Or, you could say I'm underwhelmed by it all. Or maybe I'll just go Nikon! But some coincidence they just announce details on 3 new action cams today as well.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[degeneration 5]

Di0

- Video Stabilization (curios to see what's this about, if it's a software-only trickery, hence not that useful, or an actual real sensor stabilization, and how well it works)

I imagine if the stab is available in 4k mode, then it is not likely to be electronic? Unless the sensor is reading at higher than 4k for the buffer around the image? Interesting to see how it compares to the Sony's especially as the new Sony cams have B.O.SS.

Edit: Just read a bit - it is electronic stabilisation, but apparently it is "professional grade".

Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

[boardumb 0]

For me my money is going to go towards the sony x3000. That BOSS is just way too nice compared to anything else out there, but maybe this EIS "professional grade" will prove me wrong, but I doubt it.

[Di0 1]

gowlerk

I like it. It means the price of used GoPros will drop. Then I can upgrade to a Hero 3 for cheaper than I could yesterday. But then I'll need to upgrade my glove for the newer form factor as well.
Or, you could say I'm underwhelmed by it all. Or maybe I'll just go Nikon! But some coincidence they just announce details on 3 new action cams today as well.

I agree. One reason I'd like to stay with gopro (or rather, "gopro-shaped" cameras) is that I already have invested in an helmet that has the front mount for a "box" camera (I don't know how else to explain that shape), and a top mount for a DSLR camera. I love the helmet and I'd rather change cameras around it than the helmet to switch to Nikon or Sony.

degeneration

Edit: Just read a bit - it is electronic stabilisation, but apparently it is "professional grade".

Meh. "Professional" grade means absolutely nothing, unfortunately unless it's either a physical stabilization on the lens or the sensor, I doubt it will be any better than what it is already achieved using editing software? Right now I am prone to consider this as a simple marketing gimmick.

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[Di0 1]

boardumb

For me my money is going to go towards the sony x3000. That BOSS is just way too nice compared to anything else out there, but maybe this EIS "professional grade" will prove me wrong, but I doubt it.

We can only hope, the more options the better for us all, for sure the sony fdr-X-3000 is a mighty camera and that lens stabilization seems to be pretty darn effective. A videographer at our DZ showed it to me and I was wowed. If it wasn't for the form factor, it'd be a no-brainer.

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[johnmatrix 21]

The Sony FDR-X3000 does look very interesting.

The GoPro 5 Black doesn't look to be much of an upgrade on the 4 Black, though I'm keen to see how the added stabilisation looks.

[ThighMan 5]

My question is if the time lapse photographs are going to be 12 mb? I love how small the GoPro's are and if the size of the pictures is larger, editing can be a whole lot better also. I'm still "NEW" on the camera front (contour on the side of a G-3 cookie and a GoPro session on the front). I like the video of the contour but I'm looking for a better "PICTURE TAKER" for personnel pictures during a jump.
Once I find out if the New GoPro takes a larger picture, I'll more than likely move up to the newest version. A better solution would be to make the firm ware on the Session take a larger picture. Not sure if it can happen but this way I would not have to invest in another camera... Oh well.

Airborne
Blue Skies, No Wind
Feet and Knees Together

[Di0 1]

Hypoxic gives us a little something to talk about.

https://gethypoxic.com/blogs/technical/gopro-hero5-for-skydiving

On the stabilization method:
"Image Stabilization - [...]. The HERO5 lineup has a gyro assisted, electronic image stabilization (EIS) which apparently takes your "Pk-son's" away when flying head up. Remember EIS is a crop technique but their patented method looses phenomenally less than other EIS systems we've seen. On the Sony cameras, the EIS also killed the bitrate. From what we've seen, this is not the case. Just a note that image stabilization is limited to 2.7K as it needs some of the sensor to "Crop.""

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[Maxx 1]

Not impressed. It's basically a new housing and a software update. Imagesensor is the same as the Hero4 Black.

If you want to stay with GoPro your Hero4 is still perfectly fine. If you want to go next level with mechanical stabilization you should move to Sony.