After months of speculations, GoPro has finally unveiled the Hero 5 Black, its next flagship. The action camera is considered overdue as its predecessor, the Hero 4, was released two years ago. Interestingly, the company has also updated its hugely unpopular Session camera, which was considered to be its first misstep in terms of products because GoPro had to offer deep discounts on the Session just to unload inventory.
GoPro showed off the Hero 5 Black and Hero 5 Session at its event at Squaw Valley Ski Resort in California where it is also showing off its Karma drone. Both actions cameras go on sale on October 2.
GoPro Hero 5 is connected to the cloud
The Hero 5 Black is priced at $399. It’s capable of shooting 4K video at a maximum frame rate of 30 frames per second. It’s also water resistant up to 33 feet by itself (although a housing can be added to make it even more water resistant), and it features voice control. At the time of the camera’s launch, it will support seven languages. GoPro has also introduced automatic cloud backup, so any video taken by the Hero 5 black will be automatically backed up to the cloud, provided the user purchases a subscription for cloud storage.
The Verge describes the Hero 5 Black as a “more rugged Hero 4.” It is capable of taking photos at 12 megapixels and has a two-inch LCD touchscreen. It also has built-in GPS and is able to take both RAW photos and videos with Wide Dynamic Range. TechCrunch adds that GoPro has also built in active noise cancellation, which is delivered via three microphones that are designed to significantly improve the sound quality of the videos.
Hero 5 Session similar to the flagship
The Hero 5 Session is priced at $299, and according to The Verge, it bears quite a few similarities with its larger cousin, the Hero 5 Black. Perhaps GoPro is trying to make the Session more like its successful flagship cameras in hopes that people will buy it. Like the Hero 5 Black, the Hero 5 Session is able to shoot 4k video at up to 30 frames per second. It also features water resistance up to 33 feet, voice control, and automatic backup to the cloud via a subscription to GoPro’s cloud storage service.
Unlike the Hero 5 Black, the new Session model is able to take photos with 10 megapixels, meaning it has a smaller sensor. The tiny camera also doesn’t have a touchscreen, GPS or support for RAW photos or WDR video. However, the Hero 5 Session will still have the ProTune video mode, which means users can take flatter images which are easier to work with when editing them, explains The Verge.
According to TechCrunch, both are compatible with all the currently available mounts and also the Karma drone.
GoPro Plus unveiled
GoPro has also simplified the user menus for both of the new cameras, adding one-button operation. The Hero 5 Black also has dedicated photo and video buttons. Further, The Verge reports that both cameras will offer “professional grade” digital or electronic image stabilization.
Also today, we heard the details of the rumored GoPro Plus cloud storage subscription service. For $4.99 per month, subscribers can automatically back up their videos and photos to the cloud when they plug in their cameras. They can then access the videos and photos in the company’s Quik and Splice mobile editing apps, the Capture mobile app and the desktop app.
Investors seem to be OK with the products GoPro unveiled today, as the company’s stock rose by as much as 4.95% to $15.70 following the announcements.
