It’s been more than a year since GoPro released the Hero4 Session—a one-inch cube designed to stick to basically anything and thusexpandthe possibilities of POV shots. From a sales perspective, , taking the company's stock prices with it. As a result,investors and content makers have been eagerly awaitingthelaunch of the .
I got to play with all three models in Lake Tahoethis week. Now, in general,I thinkit'stime for the increasingly saturated POVmarket to take a bigstep forward when it comes to creatively capturinghigh-quality footage. WhileIwould have liked to seeGoProattemptaboldrethink of the action cam (think:a model withdetachable lenses that would expand the focal range),I cansay that theHero5Black isthe best POV camera on the market. And the Karma sets a new benchmark for ease of use and capability for a consumer-level drone.I’ll be testing both cameras and the drone extensively over the next few months, so check back for more in-depth reviews soon. In the interim, here are my first impressions.
First, the Karma, which has been in development for several years. The drone entersa marketdominated by the but Ithink itwill win over a number of those customers.
For starters, it comes with a detachable three-axis gimbal—adevice used to stabilize the camera for smooth footage. The key word here is detachable:you can fly the gimbal on the droneor remove it and use it on ahandheld grip to create buttery smooth run-and-gun footage from the ground. Thegimbal works with other mounts, too, so you can wear it on your chest orpack strapwhile skiing or mountain biking, for example. It’s the first time we’ve seen this kind of portability in a gimbal, and it's by far the Karma's most significant feature.
Other benefits: the drone is compatible with GoPro’s latest and much improvedHero5cameras (more on themin a bit).It's small, folding into an included daypack, and weighsjust fourpounds. The gameset-like controller comes with its own screen, so you don’t need to rely on your phone (as you do withDJI products). In the air, the Karma is fast, intuitive, and fun. Itgoes on sale October 23for $799,or $1099 with a Hero5 Black.
Now onto that camera.The Hero5 Black ($399, available October 2) is the latest update to the GoPro family. The new camera doesn’t get a video or photo-quality upgrade—it still shoots 4K video at 30 frames per secondand takes12 megapixelstills—but it does have some improvements thatmake shooting easier. The most important of these:the Hero5 is now completely waterproof—without a housing—and sports a two-inch touchscreen display. This is thefirst time a Black edition GoPro getsa screen, which should make capturing and managing your footage easier. The Hero5 Black also has avoice-control feature,so you don't have to fumble around for the record button ever again. Say commandslike,“GoPro, record video”,or“GoPro, take picture,” then justfocus on what's in front of you.
The upgradedthree-microphone systemimproves overall audio quality and can detectwhichever microphone has the least interference from wind or other background noise. We also like the linear-view setting, which zooms in andwill remove the distortion andoften dizzying, super-wide angle effect. This isuseful on a drone because it lets you keep a true horizon.
The cameracanshoot RAW (or uncompressed)photos for better editing. It alsohas an internal video stabilization system that will help smoothfootage. When plugged in and connected to WiFi, the Hero5 auto-uploads photos and videos to GoPro Plus—a new cloud-based subscription service aimed at making your content more accessible and therefore easier to edit and share.
Finally, there's thenew Hero5 Session, which can shoot 4K at 30fps and 10 megapixelstills—impressive for its size—and has voice control, video stabilization, cloud connectivity, linear-view setting, and fits in the Karma.
To summarize the launch, I'dsay this: the Karma combinesthe industry’s best drone and action-cam technology into one tight, easy-to-use package. And theHero5 gives us even more tools to capture high-quality video. Iexpect to see a winter full ofPOV edits that demonstrate how these tworeleases combine to improve on GoPro’s existing technology. I'mexcited to hop into the fray, too.