Upgraded to Hero7 Black from Hero4 Black

[City Bob]

Hello all!

Great place to share issues and best set ups!

I've had my GoPro Hero4 Black for about 5 years. I returned to riding last year after 15 years and decided finally I can get some use out of the GoPro Hero4. Previously It had been only used a handful of times on holidays and at Classic car / Retro Car / Mini Shows. Needless to say, the battery life was an issue. I was getting about 40 minutes of recording at best before the battery on the Hero4 died. So, I purchased more batteries. In Feb, the Tab decided to break off one of the batteries meaning one the the batteries has taken up permanent residence in the Hero4 with no chance of getting it out not matter how I try to pry it out!

So, I purchased a Battery pack to extend the use. I soon realized, that this also provided an extra Mini USB socket which allows me to connect both a mic and a power bank at the same time. This produced some great results for about a month! Now, the Mic has started to cut in and out, which I think it an issue with the mic, but the Hero4 has also created its own error, which is an SD card issue. If I do get the card to work and not show SD card error, its hit and miss. Most of the time the footage is scrambled and unusable. I have trouble shooted but its still temperamental. I use the recommended cards for my camera, have cleaned the slot, checked for updates, and its still temperamental.

So, I've updated to the GoPro 7 Black, must be a sucker for punishment. I am sure there are better cameras out there. its currently £219 with a 32GB card included on GoPro site so felt this wasnt too bad and bit the bullet. The new camera should arrive today.

I've ordered a new mic as well, but I know I also need to get the external adapter if I want to record and power the camera at the same time.

I will probably mount the GoPro hero4 on a different part of the bike. If it doesnt work, then theres no hardship. I've been out a few times had great rides where loads happened and got back to find I had no usable footage! I know we've all been there, but its so disheartening.

Looking forward to using the 7 and seeing what results it produces!

 

[R-Rated]

I hate the 4 gave you a rough time. The battery might come out if you use a bit of balled up tape unless the battery is swollen.

Good luck with the 7.

I recently went from the 4 silver to the 8 Black. Interesting thing is I had to send the 8 in for a repair and went back to the 4. My viewers thought the footage was the same camera so I either have visually impaired viewers or have a really great 4.

 

[City Bob]

Thanks R-Rated! The 4 has given me a lot of trouble, but I have had it for a long time! I think the battery must be swollen, it wont come out no matter what I try. I've given up trying to get it out, especially in light of the other issues I now have with it.

But, on wards and upwards! Looking forward to when the new camera arrives, and looking forward to learning from people as to how to get the best out of them!

 

[Papa Jefe]

I totally understand the sentiment of "I must be a glutton for punishment, buying another one of these cameras." But the fact of the matter is that the GoPro is the standard for good reason. I guarantee you'll be happy with the quality and reliability of the new one, and the 7 has a plethora of features that the 4 didn't.

 

[City Bob]

I totally understand the sentiment of "I must be a glutton for punishment, buying another one of these cameras." But the fact of the matter is that the GoPro is the standard for good reason. I guarantee you'll be happy with the quality and reliability of the new one, and the 7 has a plethora of features that the 4 didn't.

Yeah, I just have to learn the new features now!
Sometimes it's fun, and sometimes it's frustrating!

If anyone's got a 7 black, what settings do you use?

 

[HippoDrone]

On my GoPro cameras, I run everything as it comes except the sharpness which I turn down from high to medium. In most instances you don't need more than 1080, and as a helmet mounted camera, stick it in Superview and chin mount. As for fps, @WEB would psobs say go 25fps where as I say go 60fps, but WEB makes far nicer looking videos than I do.... and can even make a video recorded on a Nokia 3310 look like something Spielberg put together!

 

[City Bob]

On my GoPro cameras, I run everything as it comes except the sharpness which I turn down from high to medium. In most instances you don't need more than 1080, and as a helmet mounted camera, stick it in Superview and chin mount. As for fps, @WEB would psobs say go 25fps where as I say go 60fps, but WEB makes far nicer looking videos than I do.... and can even make a video recorded on a Nokia 3310 look like something Spielberg put together!

I think some experimenting is in order! I've already got the mounts etc for the 4 that'll use for the 7.

Yeah I'm not really interested in 4k just yet. 1080 is good enough for now!

 

[HippoDrone]

regarding the 4, can you superglue a new tab to the batter and pull it out? If it is swollen, then porbs best to ditch that battery for one that isn't distorted!

 

[City Bob]

regarding the 4, can you superglue a new tab to the batter and pull it out? If it is swollen, then porbs best to ditch that battery for one that isn't distorted!

That's a good shout! I'll give that a go. Yeah, I certainly won't put the battery back in if it does come out. I've got 6 others!

Although I still have the SD card error/ currupted footage issue with my 4 so the stuck battery is the lesser of its issues. I'll probably use it for face on view, with the new 7 helmet mounted so if the 4 doesn't record it's not too much of a loss

 

[HippoDrone]

Have you tried a new SD card?

 

[HippoDrone]

Something I have noticed on Amazon etc, is the bargain price cards that are supposedly genuine cards but sold by 3rd party sellers, are often not what they seem. Def worth either paying more and getting from Curries/PC World etc or at least buy from Sandisk on Amazon directly etc

 

[City Bob]

Have you tried a new SD card?

Oh yes! I have about 7 of them

 

[WEB]

Don't be scared to pull the 4 down and perform open heart battery removal surgery, they come apart fairly easily!

As for "best settings", there isn't one, unless you only ride around in a warehouse with lighting conditions that never change, heh. It kind of annoys me when people make "GoPro best settings" videos as it's all pure clickbait - If there was one best setting, there wouldn't be an option to change any of the settings as they wouldn't be needed!

Best settings is to learn the camera inside and out so you can apply them to the scenario you're in.

As for fps, @WEB would psobs say go 25fps where as I say go 60fps

I've gone from 25fps to 24fps now! (Playback. I record at 48fps/50fps in the daytime for slow motion purposes)

3:2 pulldown reasoning is why.

Is it better? No idea. Still learning. Interestingly, GoPro's record at 30fps regardless and then drop frames if you've selected 29.98, 25, 24 etc - so you still need to keep the thing at 1/60 shutter even when recording at 24fps... so there's no extra light etc to be found by slowing down a GoPro beyond 30fps. The more you learn, eh?

 

[LandyVlad]

I'd ask about pulldown? if I didn't feel silly asking...

Oh OK - can you explain what you mean by

3:2 pulldown please?​

 

[SighBored]

I had very minimal issues with my H4 and I jumped onto the H7 because of the stability.. Welcome to the amazing world of (shitty) GoPro microphone adapter and finding a way to mount that amazing (shit) device on your helmet..

 

[WEB]

I'd ask about pulldown? if I didn't feel silly asking...

Oh OK - can you explain what you mean by
3:2 pulldown please?

It’s the process of converting 23.98fps footage into 29.98fps footage so that it plays nicely with the 60hz refresh rate that most peoples monitors refresh at

Does it matter for motovlogging? Absolutely nope, but I just find doing things in practice helps me learn stuff.

tldr; computer screens are not TV screens and YouTube videos aren’t broadcast So it makes the 25fps I was using before a bit useless

 

[City Bob]

Don't be scared to pull the 4 down and perform open heart battery removal surgery, they come apart fairly easily!

As for "best settings", there isn't one, unless you only ride around in a warehouse with lighting conditions that never change, heh. It kind of annoys me when people make "GoPro best settings" videos as it's all pure clickbait - If there was one best setting, there wouldn't be an option to change any of the settings as they wouldn't be needed!

Best settings is to learn the camera inside and out so you can apply them to the scenario you're in.



I've gone from 25fps to 24fps now! (Playback. I record at 48fps/50fps in the daytime for slow motion purposes)

3:2 pulldown reasoning is why.

Is it better? No idea. Still learning. Interestingly, GoPro's record at 30fps regardless and then drop frames if you've selected 29.98, 25, 24 etc - so you still need to keep the thing at 1/60 shutter even when recording at 24fps... so there's no extra light etc to be found by slowing down a GoPro beyond 30fps. The more you learn, eh?

Very true, and to be fair when I wrote "whats the best settings" I did think (Stupid question!)
One of the things that is impossible to get a good balance, is not faffing, and getting good shots! To do it properly, you have to stop occasionally, get into the settings and change them. Change the angle a little to mix it up, set up the mic, charge / change batteries. All faffing. Not great when you got the "squad" waiting lol.

I had very minimal issues with my H4 and I jumped onto the H7 because of the stability.. Welcome to the amazing world of (shitty) GoPro microphone adapter and finding a way to mount that amazing (shit) device on your helmet..

Yeah, I have opted for the "cage" that houses the gopro and the adapter in the lower of the case.

My hero4 sound issues are down to the mic. I've found a loose on it. But as for the SD card and corrupted file issues, I am still at a bit of a loss for that. I might go ahead and strip it down. Its not really working now so cant loose anything and if all goes wrong, my pal is an electrical engineer and ex TV repair "person"

 

[Fool Moon]

My Hero4 made me quit filming and almost go back to my dSLR and still photos. The battery was so bad that i had a skeleton case so i could have power cabled in from my battery. We had a big brush fire here in LA last year that burned side-by-side with my ride to work. I had the camera set up and running, but it lost power before the fire. It would have been brilliant footage, but the 4 failed. I have 2 Sessions from GoPro and the batteries don't come out, must be recharged.

 

[City Bob]

My Hero4 made me quit filming and almost go back to my dSLR and still photos. The battery was so bad that i had a skeleton case so i could have power cabled in from my battery. We had a big brush fire here in LA last year that burned side-by-side with my ride to work. I had the camera set up and running, but it lost power before the fire. It would have been brilliant footage, but the 4 failed. I have 2 Sessions from GoPro and the batteries don't come out, must be recharged.

ah man that sucks it would have been amazing footage!

No where near as good as that, but today I was on the M25 and the Dartford bridge was closed. We sat and waited and when it reopened I was the first one across. Totally empty bridge looked awesome! I had my fingers crossed when I checked the footage when I got home - alas all corrupted and not usable.

Looking forward to my Hero 7 Black arriving.

 

[Fool Moon]

ah man that sucks it would have been amazing footage!

No where near as good as that, but today I was on the M25 and the Dartford bridge was closed. We sat and waited and when it reopened I was the first one across. Totally empty bridge looked awesome! I had my fingers crossed when I checked the footage when I got home - alas all corrupted and not usable.

Looking forward to my Hero 7 Black arriving.

i just looked up Dartford Bridge and i see what you're talking about, it's huge and getting a clean run across it must be very rare. I love a chance to "lead a wagon train" as i think of it when traffic opens up after a closure. In Los Angeles it happens on fwys.