When it comes to vlogging, the Hero8 Black has several features that make it stand out. In this post, we will give you a full GoPro Hero8 Black review to know the outstanding features of this camera.
Contents
GoPro Hero8 Black Review
1. Price and availability
The GoPro Hero8 Black went on sale in October 2019 at a cost of $399. GoPro is currently offering a deal: Customers can trade-in any GoPro or digital camera with an original retail value of at least $100 and receive $100 in trade-in value.
2. Design
The Hero8 Black looks a lot like last year’s Hero7 at a glance, but closer examination shows that GoPro has done some work on the body design. It’s just a little taller and wider (1.9 by 2.6 by 1.1 inches, HWD), but just by a matter of millimeters. The lens cover is larger and doesn’t extend quite as far out from the body.
The exterior frame is metal, with rubber around the edges and faceplate. The camera itself is built tough to survive drops—its light 4.4-ounce body helps in that regard as well. It’s also waterproof to 33 feet, without the need for additional housing.
You don’t need to use a mounting frame anymore. Mounting clips are built into the body—they fold into the bottom, and are secured magnetically, so you can still set the camera down on a flat surface for recording. You get a mounting foot and screw, as well as a couple of adhesive stickie mounts, along with the camera.
If you’re just getting started, the Shorty, a combination mini-tripod and extension pole, is a good first accessory, especially if you’re interested in vlogging.
3. Ease of use
The GoPro Hero8 brings a similar feel and user experience, allowing for video novices to use it almost immediately without too much difficulty.
There are three modes to choose from: Photo, Video, and Time-Lapse; there are numerous choices under each menu item, though a new customization tool makes it easy to tweak the settings in each mode. It’s a big improvement over the older user interface from the Hero7 or 6.
Compared to the Insta360 ONE R, the Hero8 was much easier to use due to its significantly larger screen. Additionally, GoPro’s menus were clean and easy to read, compared to the Insta360 ONE R, which uses small icons whose function is much harder to discern.
And GoPro is definitely targeting vloggers with some of the Hero8’s features. Video stabilization has been upgraded all around and is even more effective if you slightly narrow the angle of view of the lens. Plus there are features like TimeWarp, a motion time-lapse, which is pitch-perfect for social media.
It also records in 9:16 orientation for Instagram Stories and Snapchat videos. There’s an orientation lock included in the settings, so you won’t accidentally record in the wrong aspect ratio.
There’s also a front-facing microphone now, which picked up my voice clearly when shooting a selfie video with the El Grande. If you have a YouTube channel, you’ll want something better to capture audio, though.
4. Video and picture quality
GoPro seems to have done a lot to improve its photography chops, working specifically on improving HDR quality and night mode for the Hero 8 Black. However, even with these advancements, the photo quality is still some way off from what you’ll get from one of the latest flagship smartphones.
As you can see in the zoomed image below, the GoPro Hero 8 Black’s image quality isn’t as good as what we took using Samsung’s 2018 flagship the Galaxy S9 Plus. And although GoPro specifically worked on its HDR and night mode processing, the difference in photo quality for dynamic or low-light scenes is even more pronounced.
The same can be said about the video quality if you are trying to capture shots indoors or in low light at high resolutions, with the GoPro Hero 8 Black picking up on the flickering of incandescent lighting and showing more noise than the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus in candle-lit settings.
As you can see in the split-screen video below the Hero 8 Black’s stabilization is significantly better than that on the Galaxy S9 Plus, but the 60fps sampling rate will interact with incandescent lights in some regions and HyperSmooth can make horizontal pans jumpy at times.
In conclusion, here is the GoPro Hero8 Black review that you must read to know more about the device.
