GoPro Hero 7 announced

[puredrifting]

Which one is overheating? Hero 7 or 6?

I've had my 4, 5 and 6 overheat. Since I cannot use the extended batteries with the 7, I don't think it can run long enough to overheat in most circumstances. The internal battery on the 7 only lasts 35-40 minutes for me. Really limits where and how I can use the 7. I will be buying another 5, the prices are dropping quickly as I can use the 5s with my Refuel batteries. It's really nice to have a Go Pro that will record 5 hours in one go (usually, as long as it doesn't overheat). We used a dozen Go Pros on our documentary over the past year and all I can tell you with Go Pros, the strategy is to NEVER count on them to record. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. They fog up, get water drops on the lenses, mysteriously stop recording and shut off. If you are getting a mission critical shot, my best advice is to use two to three Go Pros getting the exact same shot. Maybe you'll get lucky and one of them will actually record. I have a real love/hate with Go Pros. When they work, they can be great, but many of our shoots this year, we had a 50% "didn't work" rate, sometimes even more. One shoot, six out of our ten Go Pros didn't work for various reasons. Go Pros are anything but Pro, they are consumer toys that sometimes work, sometimes don't.

 

[Run&Gun]

Dan is right. Even the rental companies know they are unreliable. This is from the GoPro Hero 6 rental page on lensrentals.com:

We’ve received numerous complaints from customers attempting ambitious multi-camera shoots with GoPros. It’s our opinion that GoPro HERO cameras don’t fit well into this sort of work, so we won’t honor refund requests for trouble related to these setups. If your production is contingent on multiple GoPros all working reliably at the same time, use at your own risk.* If you have any questions, please contact us.

That speaks volumes. The same text is on the Hero 7 page, as well.

*BOLD print added by me.

 

[puredrifting]

Dan is right. Even the rental companies know they are unreliable. This is from the GoPro Hero 6 rental page on lensrentals.com:



That speaks volumes. The same text is on the Hero 7 page, as well.

*BOLD print added by me.

They represent a real paradox as they can get shots that other cameras cannot, the accessory and infrastructure built around Go Pros is astounding. But I always tell clients when we are using them, "They may work, they may not". Shows like The Grand Tour no longer use them for car shots (I think they switched to Panasonic GH4s and 5s for on car and in car shots?) The new Hyperlapse and stabilization features on the Hero 7 are pretty damn cool. So I don't write off using Go Pros, you just have to use them in situations where the shot they "might" capture isn't integral to the show. They "might" surprise you and actually work. The Sony and Yi are getting better but to my knowledge, neither will record five hours of 4K 60p as the batteries don't exist for them.

As has been stated by many of us, I would gladly pay double the price or even triple for a "professional" level Go Pro that was better built, much better heat dissapation, changeable lenses, etc. and most importantly MUCH greater battery capacity built in. A six hour battery and card capable Go Pro that was built to these standards would be amazing but that will probably never exist. Think of how many extreme sport and difficult placement Go Pro shots are never captured because the damn things die in 35-40 minutes. We went through this with the Fusion too, we captured some excellent VR footage of the start of the Catalina Crossing this year but it took the crew 35 minutes to paddle out of the Newport Back Bay to open ocean for the race start. The Fusion captured the first 5 minutes of the race, then the batteries died (there are no extended batteries yet for the Fusion). Very frustrating Go Pro. Yes, pros would be an incredibly small market compared to consumers but it would really up your image and game if you made a few products that Pros could actually count on working.