Oh, hey gang!
Chase here!
Today I want to talk to you about the new and improved GoPro HERO6.
Now despite looking Identical to the GoPro HERO5 in every way, there is a very big difference
hiding inside this little body and that is GoPro’s very own GP1 processor.
They claim it brings double the performance.
That means enhanced image stabilization, improved image quality and higher framerate options
and more.
So, when I think of GoPros, I think of motorcycles.
I ride with Chicago's Premier Open Riding Group, Chicago United Riders and whenever
I go to a meeting Everyone have GoPros mounted somewhere.
So, despite the fact that it was nearly freezing cold day in November, we all met up I gave
them 6 HERO6s to see if the HERO6 could stand up to these claims.
The HERO5 was actually the first GoPro that came with electronic image stabilization.
A compensated 4-Axis, up to 2.7K 60fps.
It cropped the image approximately 10% to do this.
I have these cameras mounted to my wrist and as you can see compared to the 6 it still
has some wobble here and there.
The HERO6 is more stable because the new processor compensates for 6-axis of movement.
It's also available at up to 4K, 24fps which is nice.
It claims to only cropped the image 5%.
Weather have these cameras mounted to my wrists, whether we put them on someone's helmet, or
we mounted them directly to a bike itself. I was very impressed with the results.
And because the HERO5 and 6 have identical bodies, you could still use GoPro’s Karma
grip or even that drone for maximum stability.
So, I checked out the stabilization first, but I was really excited to take a look at
the difference in the new GoPros image quality.
The HERO5 maxed out about 60 Mbps.
But the HERO6 can record up to 78 Mbps and promises higher dynamic range and more robust
colors, I set the cameras their flat profile and Protune during the day and the differences
weren't drastic but they were noticed for sure.
The HERO6’s dynamic range was better.
The blacks had a little more detail to work with and highlights, especially the sky, were
exposed a lot better.
Now it was a mid-November day in Chicago so, there wasn't a ton of color to be seen.
But where it did show up you could see differences there as well.
Even though the HERO6’s flat profile appears more saturated than you normally expect from
a flat profile, there's still detail within those chroma happy areas.
But what's more important is that the HERO6’s color reproduction is a lot truer.
WhenI took them in the post and tried lifting the 5’s saturation to match the 6, the blues
were never as saturated as they should be unless you really crank things up.
The Reds were saturated, but looked really unnatural and anything that was yellowy or
green they all got too chroma happy too easily and lost their natural look.
Now, these cameras have never been low light beasts.
You know, like when you are making a camera that smaller than a deck of cards.
You don't have the luxury of putting a nice big sensor in there to help you and those
darker spots.
But the HERO6 did show improvements over 5.
Its image was sharper and less noisy.
But, I did have to contend with some chromatic aberrations.
I'm thinking it was the really yellow street lights we are under that just threw the color
space off.
I was seeing blue aberrations in the hazy Chicago sky.
And yellow aberrations wherever the street lights touched.
We got onto Lakeshore Drive, where the lights were still white; there’s just not as many.
I started to see those aberrations in the sky again.
Maybe that's just fall-off from the yellow lights that are in the city and the lights
are just the HERO6’s kryptonite.
But I still prefer the 6’s sharper Image in this less than ideal situation.
Knowing that in a more standard low light setting it will probably perform that much
better.
The HERO6 has the same resolution options as the HERO5.
But, it can shoot double the frame rate in each of those resolutions.
So, 4K you're now up to 60fps, 2.7K you’re up to 120fps and at 1080p you can record 240fps.
4K 60fps and 1080p 240fps use the new HEVC codec.
HEVC gives you an image just as good as the AVC.
But, it compresses it down a lot more and you have a much smaller file to deal with.
Even though one is recording images 4x larger than standard HD, at 2.5x the standard framerate.
And the other recording 10x the standard amount of frames.
The file sizes were only slightly larger than their standard counterparts.
I did notice the anything shot at 120fps at a slight stutter to it.
I bring it into Premiere, I interpret the footage as 24fps and it looks like it records
60fps and just doubles the frames.
I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if that's just how GoPro record 120fps.
If anyone has the answer to that question and wants to leave in a comment below I really
appreciate it.
But other than that, all the slow-mo I shot play backed smoothly and the image quality
stayed really sharp and beautiful.
That was my day with the new GoPro HERO6.
I was very impressed with the improvements that the GP1 processor brings and I'm really
excited to see what kind of features it will unlock when they refine it further in the
future.
If you would like any more information on the GoPro HERO6 Please check out it's page
on bhphotovideo.com.
Thank you for watching.