When it comes to action cameras theres a lot of competition these days, and GoPro isn’t
the top dog anymore.
But I feel GoPro is trying to stay competitive by lowering their prices, and streamlining
their Hero line up by essentially killing their Hero Session.
This is the new entry level Gopro Hero, and lets see how it compares to the Hero5 and
Hero6.
Ok, if we were to line these cameras up from oldest to newest it would go Hero5, Hero6
and then Hero, and this is going to matter in a little bit.
But price wise the 2018 Gopro Hero retails for $199.99, the Hero5 is now typically on
sale for $249.99 and the Hero6 retails for $399.
If you want to pick either of these cameras up I’ll have links in the description below
and if you use the links it really helps out the channel.
Check them out cause you never know when a sick bundle comes out.
All of these GoPros have the same chassis across the board, they all take a micro SD
card, they all use the same removable battery, they all have a USB C port and a micro HDMI
port, they all have a touch screen on the back and they all have an LCD screen on the
front.
Literally the only way to tell these GoPro’s apart is by their names next to the lens and
when the LCD screen on the front powers up.
What set these cameras apart are their internals and capture settings.
Obliviously these cameras have many capture settings to choose from, but these are the
most important ones I want to talk about.
The 2018 Hero Session has a maximum capture setting of 1440, 60 frames per second, wide
with stabilization turned on, BUT at a 4:3 aspect ratio.
If you want a 16:9 aspect ratio then the best the Hero can do is 1080 60 with stabilization
turned on.
The Hero5 has a max capture setting of 4K 30 frames per second, wide, BUT without stabilization.
The best image you can get from the Hero5 with stabilization turned on is 2.7K at 60
FPS.
And finally the Hero6 has a maximum capture setting of 4K 60 FPS wide, BUT thats with
stabilization turned off.
If you want stabilization turned on (and thats kind of the selling point of the hero6) then
the best the Hero6 can do is 4K 30 FPS in either wide or superview.
The 2.7K and 4K videos captured with these GoPro’s have been downresed to 1080P, but
shooting in 4K or 2.7K gives you a sharper image and you can also zoom in on subjects
in post without loosing too much quality if you’re posting in 1080P.
And like I just mentioned, what really sets the Hero6 apart from these other two cameras
is its stabilization.
The Hero6 has GoPro’s in house designed GP1 chip which manages to digitally smooth
out your video much better than the Hero, and Hero5.
Gopro’s digital image stabilization is even better than Apple’s optical image stabilization
in the iPhone 8Pluse and iPhone TEN.
And you’re also going to notice throughout this video the Hero6 consistently has better
color saturation among these 3 cameras.
Where as the Hero has the muddiest colors here and the Hero5 has slightly better color
than the Hero, but not as good as the Hero6.
All three of these cameras also have 3 field of view options to choose from, theres a wide
field of view mode which is good if you’re going to be filming in a cramped space, but
you are going to get a lot of distortion in your video, theres a medium field of View
which crops in on the image so the distortion isn’t as bad, and theres a linear or narrow
mode, which crops in on the image even more and reduces your field of view even further,
but theres little to no distortion.
But in my testing I did notice the 2018 Hero cropped in on the image a lot giving you an
excessively narrow field of view which might be too narrow if you’re going to be filming
in a small area like lets say a car but you also don’t want that warping fisheye effect.
When I first tested the Hero6 a few months ago one of my biggest grips was the microphone,
its sounds a little muffled.
And even after a few software updates it still does.
Now you’re hearing me through the microphone on the hero5, and for the most part… the
microphone on the 2018 Hero sounds the same as the microphone on the Hero5.
Personally I think the microphones on the Hero and Hero5 sound better than the microphone
on the Hero6, but you can always just adjust the levels of the Hero6 in post.
Remember when I mentioned earlier in this video that the Hero5 was the oldest camera
here?
Well that kind of matters when it comes to using the touchscreen.
I just cant help but notice using the touchscreen on the Hero5 isn’t as snappy or as fluid
as using the touch screen on the Hero6 or 2018 Hero.
Its not a huge difference, but it is noticeable.
Where as in general I have an easier time using the touch screen on the two newer cameras.
All three of these cameras also connect to GoPro’s mobile app, and the GoPro’s connect
to your phone via wifi.
But only the Hero5 and Hero6 take advantage of the 5 gigahertz band where as the 2018
hero uses the 2.4 gigahertz band.
This small detail means that if you’re using your phone as a view finder, you are going
to experience a much more significant delay and choppiness with the entry level Hero where
as the feed on the Hero5 and Hero6 is constantly smoother and has much less latency.
Also if you wanted download a video off of the Gopro Hero5 or 6 its going to take much
less time than if you were downloading a video off of the entry level Hero.
And finally, all three of these GoPro’s have voice commands so you can simply just
tell them to start recoding, amount other things.
“GoPro Start recording” and this feature works very well on every camera.
“Gopro Stop Recording””Gopro Turn Off” But in order for the voice commands to work
on the Hero5 or Hero, they have to already be turned on.
Where as you can tell the Hero6 to start recording even if its powered off.
“gopro start recording” this feature does cost you some battery but you can turn it
on or off depending on your needs.
Action cameras in general have proven themselves useful for when you want to get a shot, but
using a full sized camera isn’t particle or possible.
You can cram or mount these tiny guys almost anywhere and they can take a beating.
Gopro isn’t as dominate as it used to be, but they are trying to stay very competitive.
But personally I think Gopro’s new entry level GoPro Hero is just too entry level.
I just feel that the max usable capture setting of 1080P 60 FPS and the dull colors isn’t
worth the $200 price tag.
I say spring for the Hero5 if its on sale and if it only means paying $50 more.
But I still can not deny the Hero6’s digital image stabilization is truly amazing, but
its only worth getting if you’re somebody who regularly works on higher production quality
projects.