GoPros are a true wonder of the modern age. There is so much technology packed into this tiny action camera. But now more than ever there are so many options to choose from. So why buy a GoPro? Here are 21 things to love about GoPro’s. These will give you some hands-on insights into what makes these such a neat little action camera.
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Huge Range of Accessories
The range of GoPro camera uses is mind-boggling. You can attach a GoPro to virtually any part of your body. Likewise, you can attach it to virtually any part of your car, bike, board, boat, or whatever. All you need is an accessory.
GoPro market an impressive range of genuine accessories. These will cater for practically any purpose you can imagine. They make sure you can video any kind of action using their vast accessories range. And if you’re not too fussed about GoPro quality in your accessories, just look toward the after-market range of gear.
Waterproof to 40m
The GoPro Hero5 was the defining moment for the GoPro action camera range. This was when GoPros became 100% waterproof without the need for a case. Prior to that, you had to use a special case to keep the water out of your action camera. Now your standard GoPro is waterproof up to 131 feet (40 meters). Now that’s impressive!
Time-Lapse & Time Warp
When on holidays in some beautiful exotic location, there’s nothing I love more than setting the up GoPro on a GorillaPod and pointing it at the setting sun. A GoPro time-lapse sunset is a special experience and a unique way of recording your holiday.
The GoPro Hero7 Black introduced Time Warp, which is Time-Lapse on steroids. Time Warp builds in the awesome image stabilization features of the GoPro
The result is the ability to record stable footage whilst walking. It’s a great way to condense a walk-through some amazing destination into a short, watchable time frame.
Auto Image Rotation
I love how the image on the GoPro automatically rotates when you rotate the camera. This feature is called Auto Image Rotation. This may seem trivial, but it’s a big deal. This means you can mount your camera to a roof, a wall, a tree branch, or virtually anything that’s at an odd angle.
It also means you can get some great ground-level shots by using some kind of pole and just hold your camera upside down near ground level. Ingenious!
Looping
If you want to catch that moment a marlin strikes your bait, then looping is for you. With this feature, you can film a scene for as long as your battery will allow, and the footage will keep looping over itself so you don’t run out of memory. When the special moment arrives, you can be sure you captured it.
Protune
Protune opens up a whole new toolbox of settings when you want to have more control over your video recording. You can manually set your aperture, speed, colour grading…. This is a great way to get the best picture quality for your footage, without letting the automatic settings make the adjustments for you.
Charging Options & Spare Batteries
In the grand scheme of things, GoPro spare batteries are quite cheap. I always have 3 spare batteries in my kit so that I never run out of juice. They are quick and easy to change, and this way you have a long supply of power.
I recommend you add a supercharger, a GoPro wall adaptor especially for charging GoPros, and a double battery charger to your kit. Once you do this the charging options you have is quite extraordinary. Depending on your situation you can choose from many options to recharge your power.
Smart Phone Remote Control
GoPro has an amazing companion app for its action camera range. The GoPro app is amazing because it acts as a remote control for your GoPro, complete with preview screen. So by mounting your GoPro on a tripod you can control all the settings, press record and watch the preview all on your smartphone. Now that’s a smart way to use your phone!
GoPro App
As well as acting as a remote control, the GoPro app has many more terrific features. For example, you can update the firmware on your GoPro. Or you can update any of your settings, including ProTune.
The most convenient feature of this app is to wirelessly download all your videos to your smartphone. It will save them into the GoPro App so that you can export or copy them wherever you want. And if you are using an iPhone it will also save copies into your Photos library. Now that’s convenient.
All I do at the end of the day is re-format the micro SD card in the GoPro when the video files are all downloaded. It takes literally 20 seconds and is a fast way to delete all your files for a new day of action.
Quik App
After you have downloaded all your footage into a smartphone using the GoPro App, you can get even crazier. GoPro has a second app called Quik, which quickly creates a smart video from your footage.
You just press one button to export to Quik, and that’s it! After a few minutes, you have a beautifully produced video to export to social media, or wherever else you want it.
You can actually get more creative in the Quik App and make your own edits. There are dozens of styles to choose from, and heaps of effects to play with. This is possibly the smartest video editing app I’ve ever come across.
Compact Size and Weight
Cameras have been pocket-size for many years now. Especially now that smartphones have such amazing cameras. But the GoPro is so small, so compact that it leaves all other cameras in its dust. The GoPro Hero7 Black weighs a mere 115 grams.
As well as fitting neatly in your pocket the GoPro is a great travel camera, especially when you’re travelling light. That makes them a perfect choice for backpackers. The accessories are also lightweight and compact.
You don’t need necessarily need to bring many accessories, and you can package the GoPro up into a small and lightweight kit. Much smaller than the average DSLR or Cam Recorder.
Rugged Design
GoPro doesn’t use shockproof as a marketing tactic. But take it from me, these things are shockproof. I have dropped my GoPros on many occasions and given them their fair share of heavy bumps. Take it from me, these cameras are tough.
Let me compare this to a Sony Cybershot compact camera I once had, which I loaned to my 8-year-old son one day at Disneyland. Towards the end of the day, he dropped the camera about 2 feet onto the floor of a pirate ship. It was broken, never to be used again. That makes the GoPro so far ahead of the competition when it comes to rugged design.
Optical Image Stabilization
Admittedly with the GoPro Hero5 Black, the Optical Image Stabilization was not all that good. I used to pair it up with a hand-held gimbal stabilizer and managed to get some spectacular results when it comes to stable footage.
But the days of gimbals are over with the GoPro Hero7 Black on the market. Nicknamed the Gimbal Killer, this GoPro has incredible video stabilization without the need for a gimbal. This is actually the whole reason I bought this camera, to get rid of the Gimbal. To me, this makes the GoPro Hero7 Black the best GoPro for the money.
Optical Zoom
Another selling point for the GoPro Hero7 Black for me was the 3 x optical zoom. This is an amazing feature, and hard to live without once you’ve used it for a while. The interface is very well done such that you can easily change the zoom factor in a tight situation.
Impressive Model Range
I would say that anything from a GoPro Hero6 Black or newer is still a flagship model. There are quite a few features missing on the GoPro Hero7 White and Grey that I consider mandatory, however, the point is that GoPro has tailored their impressive line up to suit any budget.
You may decide to purchase the best cheap GoPro, the entry-level Hero7 White. Or go for the top of the line, Hero7 Black.
And if that’s not enough then there’s the range of session cameras. Sure there are loads of features missing from these, such as the LCD screen. But there’s nothing I love more than seeing more people entering the world of GoPro action cameras. And this is made possible thanks to the impressive line-up.
If you’d like to see a handy GoPro Camera Comparison chart, check this article to compare GoPro models.
Online Instructionals
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would realise that you can learn how to do virtually anything on YouTube these days. And GoPro is a perfect example. There is no feature on these little action cameras which does not have some kind of instructional video on YouTube.
This is especially true with GoPro because it has achieved such a cult status. There is such a gigantic following that the size of the market dictates the size of the instructional library.
But GoPro instructionals take it one step higher. Instead of just explaining how to do things, you can find instructionals on how to take it to the next level. Yes, you can easily learn how to achieve true GoPro mastery, higher than anything you believed was possible. Now that’s something you won’t find with a cheap GoPro knockoff.
Standard Sized Batteries
In an unforeseen boon for GoPro upgraders, GoPro has decided to keep the same battery size through the GoPro Hero5, Hero6, Hero7 and Hero8 range. This means if you had spare batteries for your GoPro Hero5, they will still fit your Hero7 should you upgrade.
This is a trend which I sincerely hope GoPro sticks to. Bad luck if you’re upgrading from a Hero 4 to something higher because your old batteries are now obsolete.
GorillaPod’s BFF
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a match made in heaven more so than pairing a GorillaPod to a GoPro. These things work together perfectly. GorillaPods are the most versatile tripods ever built. And GoPros are the most versatile action cameras ever built. Put them together and you have versatility squared.
I’ve even found another use for the GorillaPod, and that’s as an external microphone attachment. When plugging in an external microphone such as the Rode Video Micro to the GoPro, it’s quite easy to attach the microphone to the GorillaPod using something as simple as a hair tie.
Great Still Photos
My GoPro is primarily an action video camera. That is the whole reason I purchased a GoPro, and that’s how it is used 90% of the time. It is perfect for that. But it also takes some amazing still photos. Maybe not quite as good as a new iPhone, but GoPro photography is actually not that far behind.
On occasion, I’ve had to leave my iPhone behind, and just rely on the GoPro as my one and only travel camera. For example, kayaking along the coast of Vietnam. As well as taking loads of video, I have also banged off a few still shots. It’s really easy to switch from video to photo on a GoPro.
The 12MP super photos have been impressive, to say the least. I’m not exactly sure what the new Super Photo feature in the GoPro Hero7 Black does, but it takes amazing photos!
Wide Angle Photos and Video
I’m always comparing my GoPro to my iPhone because they are my 2 main cameras. And my 2 favourite cameras. But one trick the GoPro has that the iPhone does not is the ability to take wide-angle photos and video.
The GoPro wide-angle mode is optional, you can easily switch between wide-angle and normal. Actually, you have some in-between options as well. In the true wide-angle mode, you can capture 170 degrees of the action. That means you capture so much more action than the iPhone or most other cameras.
In fact,
Voice Control
At first, I thought this is nothing but a gimmick. That is, the ability to control your GoPro by talking to it. For example, “GoPro Start Recording” will start your video recording.
Over time I have tried this for real, and it’s actually quite useful. For example, when you have the GoPro strapped to your head using a head strap. It’s kind of awkward to turn the camera on using your hands, so the voice control works well.
Just ask the person next to you if the red recording light is on, because sometimes my Australian accent is hard to understand, even for a brilliant GoPro voice recognition computer.
Love-Hate Relationship
When I first purchased a GoPro, I did not like it at all. I didn’t understand the features, and it felt too weird. But over time, our friendship grew. And now I absolutely love my GoPro, now that I’ve taken the time to understand how it works. And then with each new model that comes out, the love relationship grows stronger.
My GoPro Hero7 Black is without a doubt the best, most fun, the most versatile camera I’ve ever owned. But there are still a few things that bug me about a GoPro camera. Maybe even hate. That’s why I have another blog called 10 things I hate about GoPro. That’s not to say I hate GoPros. But to give a fair assessment, you should at least discover the less desirable aspects of these cameras as well.
Will You Enter the World of GoPro?
So now you know why GoPro is my favourite camera. If you have the money then you can’t go wrong with a GoPro. These truly are the dynamo of the action camera range. But there are more and more competitors entering the market all the time. DJI comes to mind with their epic new Osmo Pocket.
I hope the things that I love about GoPro may inspire you to take the leap of faith, I truly believe you won’t regret it. Now the only real question is, which GoPro to buy.
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