First Thought: GoPro Hero3 Black Edition

I never wanted to own a GoPro until this year. I’ve shot with them countless times on commercial and film projects and used them regularly to get some really good results, but I never purchased them because I didn’t think I’d be using it that often given the app it was So professional. This is mostly because the camera has always felt (and is) geared toward the action sports community. It’s an amazingly capable camera and great for POV action shots, but that’s not the type of work I’m involved in. Also, while you could use it in a pinch on narrative film (as a crash camera or similar), I’m always worried that the one or two shots I might use it on will lack the cinematic feel of any other camera we use as our A-Cam for filming.

Thanks to a GoPro Hero3 (a generous gift from my girlfriend Jen!), I’m now converted. Earlier this year, I blogged about Sony action cameras. It seems to have the features I’m looking for in a compact camera. 720p 120fps, nice clean build, built-in wifi, affordable price and more. It was returned the next day and it wasn’t until the Hero3 that I considered giving another action camera a chance.

This post is by no means a comprehensive review of the product as I haven’t had enough time to do so. But this is a review based on my initial thoughts and impressions from using the camera in test scenes and last weekend’s music video.

Let me start by saying this – overall, this is the best action camera I have ever used. It’s also the most professional “feeling” action camera, as it has many features and modes that are particularly useful in a professional production environment.

Here are some highlights:

Resolution and frame rate

This camera outperforms any other action camera in terms of resolution – in fact, it shoots at 4K resolution! (Although 4K only has 12FPS), it is still useful for time-lapse shooting or shooting still images. Other noteworthy resolutions include 2.7K at up to 30fps, 1080/60p and 720/120p.

Not only do you have tons of choices in resolution and frame rate, but they’re all incredibly detailed. I’ve shot with all four of the modes listed above and they all look great. Of course, as resolution increases, higher resolution videos will be sharper, but I will say that even at 720p, this camera performs very well. 1080 (which is what I use the most by far). Looks absolutely incredible.

Build quality

For those familiar with previous GoPros, it has a very similar build, although it’s been improved upon in many ways. When you open the box, you quickly realize how much smaller it is than the previous model. I’d guess it’s about two-thirds the size of the previous model. It also has a wifi button on the side panel (which we’ll get to soon).

Professional tuning

This is simply an amazing feature of GoPro. For me, if there’s one reason to buy this camera, it’s ProTune. In ProTune mode, it allows you to record at significantly higher bit rates (lower compression). It also records on a logarithmic curve, giving you plenty of room for color grading in post. Since a lot of my daily work involves color grading, this feature is almost always set to “on” on my GoPro.

Still, there are some slight limitations. In ProTune mode, some fields of view or frame rates are disabled. I think this is because there is too much information to process at that data rate. Having said that, any mode I need to use is available in ProTune.

If you don’t want to do too much color correction on your footage in post, you may want to stay away from this feature. This is a surprising choice, but it also means that the image coming out of the camera looks blurry. Similar to cinemastyle on a Canon DSLR or Log-C on an ARRI Alexa. I think some people might be confused when they first see an image of mud and don’t realize there’s a reason for it! That being said, for many people, depending on their specific usage, it may be better to turn ProTune off.

Cam raw data

This is another way to take your ProTune material to the next level. In ProTune mode, you can turn on Cam RAW settings to get less processed images. Essentially, your white balance is recorded in a compressed “raw” (type) format, which allows for more flexibility in post.

I’ve been shooting with this feature enabled so I can’t compare to using ProTune without Cam Raw enabled, but anything that gives me more options in an editing suite is always a good thing and this Which is why I can’t see myself shooting it without enabling Cam Raw!

Wifi

The built-in Wi-Fi capabilities of this camera are excellent. Essentially, you can use the Wi-Fi remote that’s bundled with the camera (it’s also waterproof) (and very easy to sync), or you can control the camera remotely from your smartphone or tablet. As of December 14, GoPro has updated the firmware on its cameras to enable seamless integration with the GoPro app. This means that with the click of a button, you can wirelessly send GoPro video to your smartphone to use as a monitor or control the camera.

You can even change camera settings, such as resolution and frame rate, directly within the app. That’s good news, because for many people using a GoPro, one of the biggest challenges is the difficulty of navigating and changing menu items. The menu itself (like the old version) is a bit rigid, but being able to change settings more easily on a smartphone is a lifesaver, especially when the camera is mounted in a tight space.

Wi-Fi is also a great way to save money if you need to buy an LCD backpack for your gopro. Now you can use your iPhone!

low light

The low-light capabilities of this camera are better than other action cameras, but not by much. At the end of the day, the sensor size is still small, so without a lot of light your images will look noisy. This is especially noticeable when shooting in ProTune Raw mode, which isn’t noise-reduced and therefore has more grain.