Congratulations on deciding to buy a GoPro for yourself. Owning a GoPro is like having an entire filming crew with you. The camera is waterproof, easily mounts to your helmet, is Wi-Fi enabled, and has Bluetooth along with features like time lapse and photo burst.
So how do you choose which GoPro to buy?
The GoPro Hero 7 series boasts of three cameras—each better than the previous one. Undoubtedly, the GoPro Hero 7 Black is deemed “best in the market” currently. However, before you make an uninformed choice, let’s consider the following factors:
1. Price
The GoPro Hero 7 Black is the latest of the GoPro series. The makers have managed to add a host of new features to this one while keeping the price the same as that of the GoPro Hero 6.
2. Technology
The GoPro Hero 7 Black has an upgraded stabilization technology called HyperSmooth. There is a big improvement in the electronic stabilization that was used in GoPro Hero 6. This camera actually predicts your jerks and turns and adjusts footage clarity accordingly, without any compromises. Live streaming also gets improved with the GoPro Hero 7 Black. Here, you just need to open the GoPro app and click a button to start live streaming as compared to doing it in the GoPro Hero 6 where it was not seamless as it was not inbuilt into the camera.
3. Video upgrades
GoPro Hero 7 Black comes with a feature called TimeWarp. This feature adds stabilization to your time-lapse videos and runs them smoothly. If you want to shoot at a super slow motion, you have an option of shooting in 1080p at 240fps. Another video upgrade that it offers is it lets you set your Hero 7 to record for a specific time frame (around 15 to 30 seconds). On the face of it, this may be a small add-on. However, it may be really useful when you are in the nick of recording. You don’t need to search around for the “Stop” button and it will help save space on your memory card.
4. Shooting features
GoPro Hero 7 Black has also made upgrades in its stills shooting features. Their new feature is called “SuperPhoto”. This offers an enhancement to the GoPro’s HDR. The camera uses local tone mapping instead of a global tone. This lends more detail and clarity to your images. It clicks photos at 12MP with a maximum burst of 30fps.
Another upgrade to the GoPro Hero 6 is that this camera allows you to shoot natively in portrait mode. So, you do not need to turn the image in post.
5. User interface upgrades
The GoPro Hero 7 Black allows you to easily move between multiple modes by swiping left, right, up, and down. Once you get the hang of the camera and know where each mode is, this swiping feature makes things quicker. It offers you 16 inbuilt voice commands using which you may instruct it to click a picture or tag a video.
6. Lesser priced models
There are also a couple of other models which are slightly lesser priced, but you may have to compromise on certain features. The GoPro Hero 7 Silver and the GoPro Hero 7 White are the mid-level and entry-level cameras in the GoPro Hero 7 series. If you are keen to go for a Hero 7 series, but do not have the budget to go for a Hero Black, you could consider one of these.