The announcement of the “Apple Style” incremental improvement, of the GoPro Hero3+ created some confusion in the marketplace. Many didn’t understand that GoPro had not come out with a “new” camera. Some believe that they basically fixed some problems and added some new goodies to dress up the news. Truthfully, they are partially right. There were widely reported problems with micro SDHC cards and the dreadful battery life with the Hero3 when it debuted. Firmware upgrades and a restricted “approved” list of micro SDHC cards fixed the memory problems. The battery was an unresolved issue. Using the beautiful touch screen LCD BacPacs were an instant battery killer.
The real story is that despite it all, the sales of the Hero3 were spectacular. The pro community have done exactly what I predicted. They have embraced the GoPro Hero3 as an invaluable tool and created a permanent place for it, or several of them, in their kit. GoPro Hero has become a synonym for small action camera. Much like “Coke” or “Kleenex”, it has become a brand name that everyone knows.
So exactly what are the improvements in the GoPro Hero3+ and is it worth buying a new one?
First, the myth that they made a smaller camera with the Hero3+ is totally false. What they did do was make a smaller more compact underwater housing. By reduced space around the edges of the camera. This has resulted in a reported 20% size reduction. With that reduction we did lose 20 m in depth. The original Hero3 was rated at a depth of 60 m the new one is rated at a depth of 40 m. If that’s important to you hold on to your Hero3 original housing it can be used with a Hero3+.
Along with that we saved 2 g off of the original weight. The original was 75 g the new Hero3+ is 73 g.
The next improvement involves the lens and processing of the image. The new lens is boasting sharpness increase of 33%, with the reduction of artifacting by 2x. While these are small reductions, nevertheless the prosumer market will embrace them as it will give better image quality to their video. This will, in turn, help to match up with their bigger pro camera cousins.
Technically, the specs stayed the same. It’s a fixed, six element aspherical lens with a 2.8 aperture. It is more likely that the increase in sharpness and decrease in artifacting is accomplished via processing.
This also goes along with the new SuperView mode. With the new SuperView mode you get an increased, wider field of view. The sensor on the Hero is a 4000 x 3000 or 4K sensor. That is a 4:3 picture ratio, much like the old SD, standard definition television picture. All-new cameras today are shooting in 16:9 ratio. This is the HD standard. What GoPro has done with this new super view mode is to take the 4000 x 3000 image and stretch it to a 16.9 view.
I’m not sure if this is something I like or not. There would be a resulting loss in resolution. Plus there have been many in the industry who want to flatten the wide-angle GoPro image to match a normal view.
I believe one of the attractions of the GoPro is presenting of you to your audience that they’re not used to seeing. So the super wide angle is interesting as long as you don’t overuse it. What I’d like to do is shoot in the 4K image size and crop the image. This is what many do with most 4K cameras. But maybe I’ll get that option when the Hero4 comes out!
Another new feature in the processing side of things is the new low light sensitivity. Auto Low-light Mode adjusts just your frame rate to give you better low light results in your video. For instance, if you’re set to shoot at 60 fps, 1080p and the camera is not seeing enough light it may automatically drop down to 24 frames per second.
Again this is a feature I’m not sure is good or not. If you’re trying to get hi-speed action by shooting 60 fps do you really want to see a drop-down to 24fps? On the other hand if your image goes to crap because you don’t have enough light how can you use it anyway?
GoPro has also boosted the Wi-Fi connection rate by 4X. This is a welcome improvement for anyone who tried using the GoPro app and felt like the delay was too long. But there is a cautionary tale here. Better, faster Wi-Fi connectivity could mean more battery usage. Only time in testing will reveal that answer.
One last improvement on the processing side of things is that GoPro says that they have implemented “advanced wind noise reduction technology to keep the audio clear during high-speed activities”. This technology may also be tied to the fact that they have changed the mic placement on the euro tree. Originally there was a microphone on each side of the camera now it has a mic on one side and on the top of the camera.
Next, what I think, the most important improvement, the battery. While maintaining the same size what they’ve done is increase the capacity. The original was rated at 1050 mAh the new battery is rated at 1180 mAh. What does that mean in English?
GoPro says it’s a 30% improvement in an article in Gizmodo, who definitely had the Hero3+ much longer than I, to be able to do this test. Gizmodo says that the original Hero3 Black lasted for one hour and 37 minutes of continuous shooting and the Hero3+ black went for two hours and nine minutes. That came out to a 25% and they speculated that it could have something to do with the mode that you’re using. A different mode may indeed yield 30% increase. But either way it’s a welcome bump.
One more feature that was announced but was not ready for the launch, is the ability to update your cameras firmware “wirelessly”, using the GoPro Smartphone app. Don’t worry! You’ll still be able to update via your computer.
So now for the big question. Are these featured upgrades worth the price of a new camera. There have been many complaints out there that GoPro was just fixing problems with the original Hero3. I don’t think so. These are legitimate improvements that warrants a release of their own. The Hero3+ is definitely worthy of standing on its own. Has GoPro given us everything that we wanted? Definitely not. But as the saying goes you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
So will I buy a Hero3+ after having a Hero3? Absolutely! After all, people didn’t gripe that the Hero3 just fixed the problems from the Hero2. It was improvement from the Hero2. That’s what it’s all about. Improving and giving the public the features that are asked for.
I have heard some say, “Oh no, I’ll just wait for the Hero4. It will be REALLY better.” Of course it will. But using that argument, why not wait for the Hero5 or 6 or 7?
I don’t know about you but I want something better today and the Hero3+ is here and it is better.
Coming soon, I will explore the ever expanding world of pro accessories for the GoPro Hero Cameras.
Please also, check back for our story on the Hero4. When will it be released? What will be the new features? Will endeavor to answer those questions and more. –Al Caudullo, Digital Samurai