Go Pro Hero 6

I believe the max bit rare on the Yi 4K+ is 135Mbps.

Seams like GoPro is banking on their popular name brand to have a price like that. $400 would have seamed fairer. You can get an iPhone 8 for $200 more which makes the $500 price seam even more outrageous.
 
Camera Expert said:
I believe the max bit rare on the Yi 4K+ is 135Mbps.

Seems like GoPro is banking on their popular name brand to have a price like that. $400 would have seamed fairer. You can get an iPhone 8 for $200 more which makes the $500 price seam even more outrageous.
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How many times have we seen it play out like this? Companies get complacent and are no longer the original, creative upstarts that got them where they are and they become scared to venture too far outside the box once they become one of the "big boys" and often cede the segment that they essentially created, to someone else that is willing to be what they were.
 
the new go pro "Fusion" is looking very interesting to me. far more than any other 360ish types of cameras. i haven't bought a go pro since the hero 4 black so this new "6" is looking good to me even though i see others types on the market for less i think the hero 6 is pretty equipped.
 
I would pay $500 if they were pushing the envelope more than this... its a very iterative update that only does what is expected at a base level.
 
I have an older 1080p Yi model (can't recall the exact name, it's probably just Yi) and the app is far from perfect: on the last shoot where I used it, it had auto-updated and playback from the phone no longer worked, which meant I could not see what I was shooting unless I took the card out and plugged it on a computer. I think they've sorted this already, but really, if I find a version that just works, I'll disable auto-update and stick with that one. Most of the updates fix an issue but break something else.

So: either GoPro's app really really sucks (which I doubt) or the new cameras are giving much less issues than older ones, which is great to hear.
 
Jarek Zabczynski said:
I really wish they would make a GoPro version that isn't a fisheye.
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I'm a little surprised GoPro hasn't released models with different lenses (fisheye, wide, normal, etc.) for different purposes. Or a pro model with interchangeable lenses, allowing them to make money from lens sales in addition to camera sales. I would have thought it would be a way to sell more units and bring in more revenue.

There are some 3rd party solutions like the Back-Bone Ribcage (https://www.back-bone.ca) that let you mount different lenses on a GoPro (or now the Yi 4K cameras as well). So there is at least some interest in this kind of thing. And they have added linear FOV options to recent GoPro releases (which do on-board distortion correction).

Maybe GoPro doesn't think there's enough of a market for other lens options?

Sony's new RX0 action camera looks somewhat promising on this front, as it has a 1-inch sensor and a lens that gives 24mm full-frame equivalent angle of view (so wide, but not fisheye). Also has more manual adjustment of settings including full control of shutter speed, ISO, white balance, manual focus, and picture profiles (including S-Log2). It's kind of like a fixed focal length RX100 in an action camera body. Which gives it the potential to be the new leader in terms of action camera video quality. The problem is that it lacks internal 4K recording (1080p60 internal, 4K30 out over HDMI), no image stabilization, and is on the expensive side for an action camera at $699.
 
Picked up a Hero 6 yesterday in Hong Kong. Firmware 01.00.

Image stabilization looks to be improved, but in a quick test against the Sony FDR-X3000, I think the X3000 held up better. Stabilization is not available in 4K 60p, FHD 240p or 2.7K 120p.

Checked the bit rates of some modes: 4K 30p = 67.1Mbps, 4K 60p = 65.4Mbps, FHD 120p = 66.3Mbps, FHD 240p = 81.8Mbps. (Sony X3000: 4K 30p = 98.3Mbps, FHD 120p = 99.4Mbps)

When shooting HFR, files are saved at the high frame rate and audio is recorded. Attached are some details of file data. Haven't had a chance to go out and shoot anything with it yet.

EDIT: BTW - I could not open the newer HEVC file format in Sony Vegas Pro 13. In Premiere Pro CS6, it saw the files as audio only. Magix Vegas Pro 15 opens them okay.
 

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Mark Watson said:
Stabilization is not available in 4K 60p, FHD 240p or 2.7K 120p.
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Maybe my standards are too high, but I feel like there are always gotchas like this. Those are the top 3 modes I would ever shoot in with a GoPro. To the point where I doubt I would ever even be using a setting where stabilization would be turned on.

Then again, depending on how improved it is might not want to have it on anyway...
 
Mark Watson said:
Picked up a Hero 6 yesterday in Hong Kong. Firmware 01.00.

Image stabilization looks to be improved, but in a quick test against the Sony FDR-X3000, I think the X3000 held up better. Stabilization is not available in 4K 60p, FHD 240p or 2.7K 120p.

Checked the bit rates of some modes: 4K 30p = 67.1Mbps, 4K 60p = 65.4Mbps, FHD 120p = 66.3Mbps, FHD 240p = 81.8Mbps. (Sony X3000: 4K 30p = 98.3Mbps, FHD 120p = 99.4Mbps)

When shooting HFR, files are saved at the high frame rate and audio is recorded. Attached are some details of file data. Haven't had a chance to go out and shoot anything with it yet.

EDIT: BTW - I could not open the newer HEVC file format in Sony Vegas Pro 13. In Premiere Pro CS6, it saw the files as audio only. Magix Vegas Pro 15 opens them okay.
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This is with protune off i suppose...protune on ,should be around 78mbps in 4K/60p..
 
soulkeeper, Yes it was with protune turned off. I took the camera out for a walk around the block a couple times with my Sony FDR-X3000 to check the stabilizer. The Sony won, but the Hero 6 is definitely keeping the overall frame steady. Problem is, when you look closer at the image quality, you see some pixilation or other things that degrade the image somewhat. Optical IS is still preferred me thinks. I went out again in the evening and had my Hero 6, X3000 and FDR-AX53 all clamped together and went for a walk in the red light district of Wan Chai. Now, here's some bad news folks.... the Hero's IS doesn't work as well at night and this is even explained in the owner's manual. As I recall, it said that due to the extra processing involved in shooting in low light, the IS performance will be compromised. And holy crap, that is a real understatement. If I stopped walking and held the camera steady... fine, but the more movement, the image becomes totally garbage, tons of pixilation, just really gives up. So, there's that. Now, I am not familiar with the new menu options and just had the default setting in effect, so there may be a slim chance some setting can reduce this awful result, but since it's described right there in the manual, I think this is how it is.

I got this thing for the 120 and 240 HFR, but need the IS to go with it. Not planning on shooting in low light but some people probably are. Not bad for static low light shots.

It seems to me they rushed this one out and if they don't stop doing stuff like that, then their reputation will fall to a level where folks just say screw 'em and go with another brand.

Mark
 
That's too bad, it's what happens when you try to do too much...jack of all trades, master of none. They should stick with their core mission...a good image! How's the low light with IS turned off? Pixilation gone?
 
I didn't try without IS, but if I stop moving, the image is okay. I think the shutter speed is too slow. There are a lot of camera adjustments you can make, such as setting an upper and lower limit for the ISO. I just left the camera in its out-of-the-box default settings. Here are some frame grabs. I shot in 4K 30p but reduced the size for upload. You can see in the two nearly identical photos where one looks okay and the other is blurry. One is holding the camera steady, the other is slow panning. A few frame grabs I saw, the Hero 6 looked better than the Sony, but that was only maybe 10%.
 

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I recommend anyone thinking about getting this camera, download and read through the manual first. I just found out that the raw photos cannot be opened in my Lightroom 4, nor my Photoshop CS6. I've been using the program DashWare with my X3000 to add GPS data to various readouts; MPH gauge, etc. I don't know how GoPro saves the GPS data, but so far I cannot make it work with DashWare.

I attached some file data from clips that were all shot with ProTune turned on.
 

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I think I'll have to buy a 6 since I skipped the 5. But it looks like the days of massive improvements with each generation are over.
Does anyone know if there are plans for a Session update?
 
ProfessorU said:
I think I'll have to buy a 6 since I skipped the 5. But it looks like the days of massive improvements with each generation are over.
Does anyone know if there are plans for a Session update?
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Last year, GoPro announced the Hero 5 and Hero 5 Session at the same time. And even with the introduction of the Hero 6 (at $499), both the Hero 5 ($399) and Hero 5 Session ($299) remain on sale, with no changes in pricing.

Given that GoPro seems to try to get their new product releases out in time for the holiday shopping season, my guess is that we won't see a Session update until next year.
 
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