Upgrade to GoPro 12 worth it?

[CollingsB]

I can upgrade to a 12 from the 10 for about $500… is there enough of an improvement to justify it?

 

[Reize]

In my personal opinion. GoPros are overpriced and in recent years underperform. They continuously add newer and better features but fail to improve the processors that power them leading to the oft remarked overheating and freezing/hanging issues.

I would personally go get a DJI Osmo Action 4 instead. I've been using the Action 1 for years, in the hot humid Singaporean climate of my home and in near 0 dry air in Japan, with no hanging. And they only cost USD 325 for the camera alone.

For the $500 you are willing to shell out you could get the Adventure combo that comes with 2 extra batteries, and an extension rod on top of the base camera items.

 

[Drakhen99]

Having been in the GoPro ecosystem for a while now [Hero 8/9/10, Max]... I bought a 12, so yes, it's worth the upgrade IMO. I'm quite happy with it. From the 90F temps down to about freezing, it's worked 99.9% flawlessly. It still has a multiple camera remote issue, but other than that, I'm impressed with the image quality and the features of it.

I shoot my footage at 4k/30, FWIW, so overheating isn't really an issue for me. I've been baking my GoPros in the sun and humidity for years, and rarely get my cameras to overheat. Basically, if they're sitting in the hot sun and recording at 4k/60 or 120, they'll do it, but day-to-day motovlogging? Never had an overheat in that.

-John

 

[PhilTonic]

No. Get yourself a DJI Action 3/4.

 

[R-Rated]

I can upgrade to a 12 from the 10 for about $500… is there enough of an improvement to justify it?

The first question is what would the 12 do for you that the 10 does not?

The second then is if that is worth the money?

 

[HippoDrone]

Most people still watch in 1080p, although the 12 is a jump in tech from the 10, it doesn't really offer much that you'd miss if you didn't have it. Even the Hero 10 is more camera than a motovlogger "needs". I love my 10, I'll only replace it with a different camera if it breaks.... and then I would look at all brands. Personally I am not a fan of the video I have seen from the DJI, the lens fisheye wobbles me out, others don't seem to notice though. If I was replacing a camera now, I'd go for the latest Insta360 Ace Pro, but I'm not, so my cash is staying in my pocket.

 

[Drakhen99]

Most people still watch in 1080p, although the 12 is a jump in tech from the 10, it doesn't really offer much that you'd miss if you didn't have it. Even the Hero 10 is more camera than a motovlogger "needs". I love my 10, I'll only replace it with a different camera if it breaks.... and then I would look at all brands. Personally I am not a fan of the video I have seen from the DJI, the lens fisheye wobbles me out, others don't seem to notice though. If I was replacing a camera now, I'd go for the latest Insta360 Ace Pro, but I'm not, so my cash is staying in my pocket.

Good points made, but my reasoning for recording at 2.7k is that when rendered at 2.7k and uploaded to YouTube, it looks better, even when viewed at 1080. Also, you can zoom in a fair bit to highlight something, without losing what it is you were highlighting.

On the flip side, cameras are a fair bit of coin, so I totally understand why people don't upgrade.

-John

 

[HippoDrone]

Good points made, but my reasoning for recording at 2.7k is that when rendered at 2.7k and uploaded to YouTube, it looks better, even when viewed at 1080. Also, you can zoom in a fair bit to highlight something, without losing what it is you were highlighting.

On the flip side, cameras are a fair bit of coin, so I totally understand why people don't upgrade.

-John

Indeed, but the point being that the viewer normally watches in 1080, I up until recently only recorded in 1080 and upscaled to 2.7k when editing, which is a discussion the forum has had previously:

Guide - Making 1080p60 look like 4K by getting YouTube's bigger bit rate

To followup with Hippo-Drones video crediting me with the theory, I made a video showing a bit more of the process. I made this just for small YouTube creators so I may not be releasing the instructional video public anytime soon. Additionally, I loaded the end result videos to YouTube each on...

motovlog.com

So as long as a camera can record in 1080 and has good quality, like all GoPro cameras have had since the Hero 8 in my opinion, they all do fine with that trick. I have started recording in 2.7k now mainly because my rides have been shorter and enabled me to do so, but the endurance batteries also allow me to do it for longer, so it is easier to do so now, and yes 2.7k does look a lot nicer than 1080... but the Hero 10 can record at the quality just fine and with a decent framerate, so the "need" for a 12 is not that requirement.

 

[R-Rated]

Both @Drakhen99 and @HippoDrone I still run the 8 Black and will whip out the Hero 4 silver for long trips. Both do great capturing in detail for hours on end. However high res when there is need for short recording sessions and ample recharging time is great too.

As far a fisheye on DJI I wonder if the creators that use them can fix the fisheye when editing? The Cyberlink PowerDirector I run on my desktop has all sorts of setting to offset fisheye from different manufacturers and models.

I will admit I have been thinking of going to the 11 because of the horizon leveling on the camera. I have found some of my hiking footage has been a few degrees tilted. Of course I can fix the horizon in edit though. So GoPro needs to drop the 11 to a cool $250 USD before I can justify laying out that cash.

 

[Drakhen99]

Indeed, but the point being that the viewer normally watches in 1080, I up until recently only recorded in 1080 and upscaled to 2.7k when editing, which is a discussion the forum has had previously:

Guide - Making 1080p60 look like 4K by getting YouTube's bigger bit rate

To followup with Hippo-Drones video crediting me with the theory, I made a video showing a bit more of the process. I made this just for small YouTube creators so I may not be releasing the instructional video public anytime soon. Additionally, I loaded the end result videos to YouTube each on...

motovlog.com

So as long as a camera can record in 1080 and has good quality, like all GoPro cameras have had since the Hero 8 in my opinion, they all do fine with that trick. I have started recording in 2.7k now mainly because my rides have been shorter and enabled me to do so, but the endurance batteries also allow me to do it for longer, so it is easier to do so now, and yes 2.7k does look a lot nicer than 1080... but the Hero 10 can record at the quality just fine and with a decent framerate, so the "need" for a 12 is not that requirement.

Both @Drakhen99 and @HippoDrone I still run the 8 Black and will whip out the Hero 4 silver for long trips. Both do great capturing in detail for hours on end. However high res when there is need for short recording sessions and ample recharging time is great too.

As far a fisheye on DJI I wonder if the creators that use them can fix the fisheye when editing? The Cyberlink PowerDirector I run on my desktop has all sorts of setting to offset fisheye from different manufacturers and models.

I will admit I have been thinking of going to the 11 because of the horizon leveling on the camera. I have found some of my hiking footage has been a few degrees tilted. Of course I can fix the horizon in edit though. So GoPro needs to drop the 11 to a cool $250 USD before I can justify laying out that cash.

I'm sure they're fixing fisheye - if they care, or are in a mode that has more of it than normal - in editing. I forgot to turn Max Lens Mode on, on my Hero 10 recently... and was able to quickly fix it in Resolve with the addition of 1 effect and a single slider on said effect.

I bet wen the 13 comes out, the 11 will be $200-250, and it'll be time for you to buy one

The horizon leveling was a GAME-CHANGER for me when they added the Max Lens Mod to the Hero 9. Until then, my Hero 9 footage was always off-kilter because of my helmet side mount [the 8 was smaller, and thus horizontal]. Now it's locked - and I always record my motovlog cameras using the Max Lens Mod for that alone.

-John

 

[HippoDrone]

I'm sure they're fixing fisheye - if they care, or are in a mode that has more of it than normal - in editing. I forgot to turn Max Lens Mode on, on my Hero 10 recently... and was able to quickly fix it in Resolve with the addition of 1 effect and a single slider on said effect.

I bet wen the 13 comes out, the 11 will be $200-250, and it'll be time for you to buy one

The horizon leveling was a GAME-CHANGER for me when they added the Max Lens Mod to the Hero 9. Until then, my Hero 9 footage was always off-kilter because of my helmet side mount [the 8 was smaller, and thus horizontal]. Now it's locked - and I always record my motovlog cameras using the Max Lens Mod for that alone.

-John

I guess we all want different things from our vids... your setup works amazing, I love your content from the videography POV, it is proper on point.... when I record, I am after a different dynamic though, so my setup works best for me... So to @CollingsB our opinions are varied and different on what works I guess... best thing to consider in my opinion, is does the cost of the 12 add enough to your channel to be worth ditching the 10?
If your 10 is not working and you can't get it to work, does the 12 fix that, or add headaches... will a different manufacturer offer better and more reliability?

 

[Drakhen99]

I guess we all want different things from our vids... your setup works amazing, I love your content from the videography POV, it is proper on point.... when I record, I am after a different dynamic though, so my setup works best for me... So to @CollingsB our opinions are varied and different on what works I guess... best thing to consider in my opinion, is does the cost of the 12 add enough to your channel to be worth ditching the 10?
If your 10 is not working and you can't get it to work, does the 12 fix that, or add headaches... will a different manufacturer offer better and more reliability?

i couldn't have said it better! But I'll try to anyway, and expand upon that.

Given that advice, I would look at the return policies for the different companies, and take advantage of that to really put each camera through its paces in YOUR [the OP] workflow and recording scenarios. Does the camera do what you want? Do the files work well within your editor? Is there a feature or ergonomic quirk you don't like?

Take lots of notes, and return a camera if it doesn't do what you want. I saw it recently with some people buying the Insta360 Ace Pro - they returned it because it didn't do what they wanted.

And yep, I'm gonna be 100% biased, and I readily admit it. Being in the GoPro ecosystem as I mentioned before, just means I'm more inclined to buy their new cameras because I'm already well-versed in their tech and how it functions.

-John

 

[CollingsB]

Sorry for the slow reply…I’ve been reading the responses with interest.
I think the video from my 10 is mostly ok. I’m not a huge fan of the GoPro breaking up the video into smaller segments, and I wish that I could set the naming/numbering convention instead of having to rely on GoPros arbitrary system.
Last September I put the camera on a beanbag style mount, put the camera on the dash of our rented car and shot while we toured the Scottish borders for 9 days with few issues..except for the day that we drove over the Bealach na Bà on our way to the village of Applecross..most of the footage was lost…this was the most important part of the while trip for me.
The camera has destroyed my faith in it..

 

[CollingsB]

I’m in the final strokes of planning a trip to Nova Scotia this August…and at 70 yrs old I don’t have a lot of long trips left in me…so, Do I stay with the GoPro that let me down last summer, upgrade to the 12, which would allow me to keep all of the GoPro batteries, chargers lenses, ND filters etc etc..or do Zi sell it all and move to a different camera?

 

[HippoDrone]

I’m in the final strokes of planning a trip to Nova Scotia this August…and at 70 yrs old I don’t have a lot of long trips left in me…so, Do I stay with the GoPro that let me down last summer, upgrade to the 12, which would allow me to keep all of the GoPro batteries, chargers lenses, ND filters etc etc..or do Zi sell it all and move to a different camera?

Using an action camera in a car is likely the cause of your issue, I imagine it overheated... they are action cameras designed to be used outdoors, the air cools them, no air flow, they get hot and then go into thermal shutdown to protect the batteries and camera from damage. I actually quite like the camera segmenting footage, and at least with the GoPro the gap is seamless where as with the Insta360 One R and some other cameras, there is a gap between files. It is also better to have smaller files, in case of an issue, you should then only lose a single file if it corrupts, not the whole video.

 

[CollingsB]

Using an action camera in a car is likely the cause of your issue, I imagine it overheated... they are action cameras designed to be used outdoors, the air cools them, no air flow, they get hot and then go into thermal shutdown to protect the batteries and camera from damage. I actually quite like the camera segmenting footage, and at least with the GoPro the gap is seamless where as with the Insta360 One R and some other cameras, there is a gap between files. It is also better to have smaller files, in case of an issue, you should then only lose a single file if it corrupts, not the whole video.

Ok…so why are the other 8 days fine with no issues? I record at 1080p/30fps..not a very high resolution or frame rate.

 

[HippoDrone]

No idea mate, just hypothesising.

Have you tried using the camera out on the bike since then? Did it work fine, or did it crash/lose files?

 

[CollingsB]

No idea mate, just hypothesising.

Have you tried using the camera out on the bike since then? Did it work fine, or did it crash/lose files?

No, I haven’t. I’ll try in a month or so, after all the ice melts off the streets.

 

[Drakhen99]

Yeah, it really depends on WHY the Hero 10 lost the footage - whether it be a malfunction inside the camera, or overheating, or something else.

Recently, my Hero 10 stopped recording mid-ride [55F, plenty cool out] and just said the SD card wasn't fast enough... but it's the same SD card that's been in it since Day 1. So, I really don't know WHY it failed, just that it failed.

I do occasional reformats of the SD card to try and prevent this, but it had been a long time.

If you want different naming and larger files, the GoPro Labs firmware for the Hero 10 is going to be your best bet - you can enable 12gb files and alternate naming conventions via that. I've not used it, so I don't know quite how it all works.

-John

 

[R-Rated]

The heat thing may be the issue.

First, I know that the fingers on the cameras 8 and newer are actually part of the heat sink process. The manual say to NOT handle or tough them when recording.

Second, I have seen even my 4 Silver shut down when overheated from sun being directly on it and the camera not moving.

Third, the microsd cards can get too hot too.

Perhaps being lower on the dash put the camera in more sun that day and it overheated. Then during the shutdown it corrupted the files on the card?

I would reach put to GoPro and see what they suggest.

As far as upgrading, what is to say that the other camera regardless of brand would not have a problem.

If I were in this situation I would get a second camera and record on both so If one goes out you got a backup. I would also use a windshield mount and get the camera up higher and out of the sun as much as possible.

Just suggestions.