GoPro - HERO3 Black Edition

My first, a Hero 3 Black is still going strong (whenever I pull it out of the drawer), only GoPro that has died on me was my own fault by not closing the door properly in the sea, and I’m happy with my present one. Why should I change? (Did actually own another brand but, ironically, that one did die on me. Know something though. It has never once entered my head to post on a dji or insta sub asking why they use their favoured make of camera but guess it must be a slow day there…

Agreed with your first point (but I think, since the Hero 3, I have used my cams once in the dark) Agree with the second point but I like to use the best options available to me, no matter what brand it may be. If that means using insta’s software to edit my GoPro footage then so be it. But then, you went full Tropic Thunder…

I think the way to look at it, is that GoPro was so far ahead for so long, there was no real competition for them for over a decade. Even DJI had GoPro mounts built in when the Phantom 1 came along. Historically, GoPro perfected their 1080P then moved to 2.7k on the Hero 3 Black. They had the best 4k on the Hero 4 Black. Then they made the whole camera waterproof and added the built in touchscreen on the Hero 5 Black, then they went 4k 60 with moderate stabilization on the Hero 6 black, built a tiny camera on the Session 4 and 5. With the Hero 7 black, they finally got stabilization in camera that started to compete with 3 axis gimbals. On the 8 they had the mount built in so you didn't have to have a frame and changed to a larger form factor with the Hero 9 black and got resolution to 5.3k. They perfected features like Timewarp and Hyperlapse where all the work was done in camera instead of post. They made GoPro labs available for most of their cameras and gave amazing levels of customization that no other cameras have even to this day. Then they really started to stagnate and features were more incremental and evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Sure they had the 8:7 sensor and got video resolution up to 24.7 megapixels, but they still use a tiny sensor and low light performance is still very bad. They also had to deal with the rise of DJI and Insta360 who started to release competing products. Dji matched 10 bit the same year as GoPro, The Action 5 and Ace Pro 2 use much larger sensors and do much better in low light. GoPro was late to the party with magnetic mounting systems and Insta360 even put 8k into their Ace Pro versions. Insta360 has the Ace Pro Line, their Go series mini camera and even had the modular R series which could be an action cam or a 360 camera. In the time since GoPro released the Max, Insta360 has released 5 consumer grade 360 cameras that get better each year and now do 8k. We have no idea when the Max 2 will be released. GoPro stock is hovering around 50 cents a share and the market cap of the entire company is only 75 million dollars. It used to be almost 11 billion dollars, so it is 145 times smaller than it was shortly after the company went public. They have had to lay off staff and that has a huge impact on R&D. They are clearly falling behind competitors with no real path forward. Depending on which site you listen to, they rate the probability of bankruptcy at 33 to 62% in the next 24 months. That is not the sign of a healthy company. They botched the launch of their Karma drone and ceded that potential marketplace to DJI in the process. The reality is that the DJI and Insta360 cameras do a lot of things better and much easier. Low light is a real thing for a lot of people and the Action 5 and Ace Pro do a very good job in the space and GoPro isn't on the same playing field. I love the new GoPro lens system, but I am an advanced user and have been using ND filters, Anamorphic lenses, and macro lenses for years with the GoPro. The new anamorphic lens is great because it does the desqueeze of your footage automatically in camera. What is annoying is that they announced the lens in September of 2024 and I was finally able to get it 7 months later. GoPro is a great camera, but for many people who never touch labs, don't care about 10 bit or color grading, never do reframing 8:7, like to shoot in lower light conditions, or won't spend the $129 on an anamorphic lens, the GoPro is not really the camera for them. Insta360 are releasing much better cameras each year and GoPro is falling further behind. I really want GoPro to come back strong, but I fear they don't have the finances to compete unless they have an absolutely amazing technical breakthrough in the action camera space.

Entonces tu amigo es marketplace. Cómprate una go pro vieja, en lo posible 3 BLACK o más nueva, 4 etc. De ahí en adelante graban HD. Van de 50 a 100 lucas. Probala. Por la batería, no te calentes, duran poco, pero podes conectarle un powerbank o comprar el cargador go pro para 12 v que sale unos cuantos mangos. Yo grabo vuelos en planeador de 6 hrs, el límite de la memoria en la mejor calidad es 4:20 ±. Si pensas grabar más, anda haciendo la cuenta que tenes que cambiar la memoria porque no aceptan más de 32 esos modelos viejos. Si conseguís una modelo medio nuevo, graban a mejor calidad, más memoria y mejor estabilizador. Yo esquivaria los modelos "hero+"? Creo que son, los que vienen con batería que no se cambia, son versiones más económicas. Las chinas son una re garcha. Para eso no compres, usa un celu. Un amigo tiene una gadnic medio nueva, son más berretas pero graban bastante bien. Es una opción. Anda pensando que querés montarla en el manubrio, en el casco o en el pecho. Hace algo cómodo. Para mí la ideal es el manubrio. Acá tenés un ejemplo de calidad de imagen de la hero black 3. En el mismo canal (mío) vas a ver otros videos grabados de noche en ambientes cerrados y la calidad se resiente. https://youtu.be/sq1lBY10yLY?si=y8fJ1N1dFFzqBEW8 Yo tuve la suerte de encontrar una re completa casi sin uso en 30.000 hace un año o dos y me costó 17 el cargador de 12v a go pro, y 2/3000 la sopapa. Ahora están 8 las sopapas y la original sale como 30 usd. También me mande a imprimir en 3d el marquito para usarla con el cable enchufado.

A GoPro or fake version of it. I have an old Hero 3 black edition and it is great. Newer versions have stabilizing and don't rely on the additional housing (it needs housing when deeper than a certain depth) and have multiple screens.

I like my Gopro, but considering I go back to the Hero Black 3, I remember what Gopro service was like in the old days when you could call tech support and speak to a living breathing human being located in the United States. Gopro also included their remote and housing unit with the purchase price. You could also shoot photos and videos simultaneously. None of this opening the video up to look at each and every frame of a video to do a screen capture of a single frame to get a photo from your video. Imagine a 10 minute long video shot at 60 frames per second, you're looking through 3,600 frames! Then some dolt said literally: Why don't we reduce items given to Gopro buyers so they can spend more money on our products then make it virtually impossible to speak to a living breathing human being anymore. The AI bot can chat with them on the internet and we won't have to pay those annoying humans who answer our phones any money since we'll be able to lay them off!! The dolt went on and said while everyone else making action cameras are making the processors faster and able to do more tasks quicker we'll just leave the same old processors we've used in I don't know the last 6 Gopro editions and because we say its a brand new Gopro our customers will want to buy two or three of them at least! Every one loves spending MORE time doing editing and LESS time being able to actually shoot photos and/or videos!!!! So yes this is why people who have bought Gopros are not totally happy with them. The ones who have owned several different versions know how good it used to be while the ones who are just buying read how good it used to be and want to know why it isn't like that anymore. Now the good news is a new, better, bestest Gopro ever is coming out soon. When is soon? Who knows but its been over 5 months and nobody knows anything. Gopro keeps slashing the price on the Hero 13 Black hoping suckers oops sorry typo; people will get seduced by the lower price and buy one.

I have been using a GoPro 3 Black, 4 Black and now a 12 Black. I am using Solo Storm and its controls the camera we are using. The biggest challenge of any camera is mounting to get the view or perspective you are after.

I have been diving with gopro cameras since the GoPro 3. If you are ever in a trip and need a new battery etc.. it’s much easier to find something for the gopro than anything else. The big difference maker when filming with a gopro is what mount/accessories you use. Just holding it in your hand or on the end of a pole usually gives poor results. Something like a gorilla pod tripod XL would be the minimum I would suggest.

This is why I mentioned the [flexible tripod](https://mojogear.eu/en/products/flexible-tripod-xl-with-extra-flexible-legs). You can extend two of the three legs into a straight line with the camera at the centre while you hold onto the ends. This provides a massive increase in the stability the stability that you can achieve. You can also weight the camera down on sand/rock surfaces (not coral) and get some amazing [static shots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c-dgvawtPs). All of the video clips I shot in [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYObFb3rGg) where down with a gopro 3 black and a flexible tripod. Keep in mind that the gopro 3 had absolutely NO image stabilisation.

FYI - battery lasted 30 seconds maximum lol I didn’t fiddle around with it , shame, but defo need to treat myself to an insta360 …. Or the like

Plus one for the action cams. I don't know about the knockoffs, but there's plenty of GoPro knockoffs with durable cases. And you can find a used GoPro Session in the $60 range. Even a Hero 3 is still a decent option over a toy camera.

I’ve had GoPros since the 3 series, and DJI has embarrassed GoPro over the last 3 years. Go with DJI.