Brent Rose captured the footage at 240fps, and then slowed it down to just 24fps
Earlier this month, GoPro announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that it will soon roll out a new firmware update to add new photo and video modes to its action cameras. The firmware is expected to be available next month. But Brent Rose of Gizmodo got a chance to test out the new firmware for the Hero4 camera. It enables high-definition 720p recording at 240fps.
GoPro users are going to love it
Rose scored the amazingly smooth 240fps footage at the Winter X Games this past weekend. The footage shows just how good snowboarding looks in slow-motion. GoPro Hero4 owners are “going to be psyched” when the update comes out. Users can already record at 240fps on the Hero4 Black, but only at 480p. The new firmware enables you to capture 240fps videos at 720p. Of course, it’s not full 1080p, but far better than 480p.
Brent Rose captured the footage at 240fps, and then slowed it down to just 24fps. The video below is playing back at one-tenth of the original speed. However, when recording at high-speed, you are restricted to a narrow field of view, approximately 65 degrees. The new firmware update will also bring an upgraded time lapse feature that can record videos at 4K, along with features like auto-rotate.
GoPro adds time lapse video mode
GoPro cameras already have a time lapse feature. But it requires a computer to compile dozens of shots into a video. With the new update, the time lapse video mode will shoot the images and automatically convert them into a video. You simply have to pick the interval at which you want the shots to be taken. Only drawback of this feature is that it doesn’t save the pictures as individual files as they are converted into a single video.
GoPro has added the HiLight Tag feature that lets users tag timestamps in a video you’d like to revisit. The San Mateo-based company has more than doubled its R&D budget, and is spending heavily on software and services.
