After nearly a year-long of delay, the American camcorder company finally launched the GoPro Hero 5 Black at the launch event for the GoPro Karma drone at Sqauw Valley Ski Resort in Northern California a few days ago.
It is to become the company’s flagship action camera following the Hero 4 that was unveiled in 2014.
Along with the GoPro Hero 5 Black, the company also announced the Hero 5 Session. Both devices are compatible with the GoPro Karma, the company’s first quadcopter.
All of the three devices shall officially hit the market on October 2. The Hero 5 Black and the Hero 5 Session share simpler menu system to further improve ease of use, notes The Verge.
The simpler menu system features a one-button operation quite similar to the feature of the Hero 4 Session when it was launched last year.
The Hero 5 Black even has dedicated buttons for photo and video recording. The Hero 5 Black and the Hero 5 Session come with stereo microphones, too.
GoPro says the new Hero 5 cameras will also have professional grade electronic, or digital, image stabilization. It is a feature that the company has never offered before, but it’s also one of the few noticeable drawbacks considering Sony just announced that the new cameras in its action camera lineup shall have mechanical image stabilization.
The electronic image stabilization on the Hero 5 Black and Hero5 Session translate into smoother shots during the users’ adventures.
Cheaper compared to predecessor
There were reports saying that when the Hero 5 comes out, it would be cheaper than its predecessor, the Hero 4, which had a price of about $500.
Apparently, the rumors back then are true as the Hero 5 Black is to be retailed at only $399 while the Hero 5 Session shall have a price of $299.
Both cameras share a surprising number of specifications and features including 4K footage at a maximum of 30 frames per second, and both action cameras are water resistant up to 33 feet of depth without a housing.
Each action camera also has voice control, with seven languages supported at launch. GoPro assured that more languages would be added eventually.
There are important differences between the two cameras, though. The Hero 5 Black looks like a more rugged Hero 4, shoots 12-megapixel photos, comes with a 2-inch LCD touchscreen, features built-in GPS, and can capture RAW photos and Wide Dynamic Range video.
The Hero 5 Session, on the other hand, shoots 10-megapixel photos, but there’s no screen, no GPS, and no RAW or WDR modes.
A GoPro ecosystem
GoPro also announced a subscription service that lets users automatically upload their pictures and videos to the cloud.
GoPro Plus, as the service is called, is not free, though. Users have to pay $5 per month, although they do get the first month free.
Nick Woodman, the GoPro CEO, has been teasing the cloud storage service for a while now, and the details how it will work was even leaked online in August.
When users plug in their cameras at home, the footage and photos they shot will start uploading to the cloud. Those files can then be accessed anywhere via GoPro’s mobile editing apps called Quik and Splice, the newly refreshed mobile app called Capture, or the company’s desktop app.
The desktop app also got updated and rebranded. It will simply be known as the desktop version of Quik, and GoPro has added the autonomous editing features to it.
The drawback to GoPro Plus is that users will only be able to download the files and edit them locally and they can’t start editing a project on one device and pick it up seamlessly on another.
The GoPro Plus subscription does include a library of royalty-free music, as well as 20 percent off on any camera mounts and accessories. It will be available starting September 29.