GoPro Hero7 Black vs Hero 8 Black - best VALUE option ?

LandyVlad

LandyVlad

King of Mycenae
I'm hoping to buy a new GoPro to replace my Hero 2 :D

And I'm actually wondering if (price aside) there are any DOWNSIDES to the Hero 8 Black by comparison?

For example - are accessories more expensive?

For that matter are they necessary? Lens protectors etc.

(I gather there is no backward compatability with the Hero 8? Then again I'm not sure if my old accessories (cases etc) from the Hero 2 are even compat8ible with the 7. Possibly not).

Are the 'improvements' in the Hero 8 largely theoretical?

Use, obviously, would be primarily for motovlogging.

What are the differences between the two as far as microphone inputs? Do both need the chunky brick adaptor?

Interestingly as far as I can find on ebay.com.au for new ones - the Hero 7 blacks are listed for prices very close to the Hero 8 blacks.


Feedback welcome, particularly those based on personal experience.
 
They are similarly priced as GoPro cut the price on new Hero 8's, meaning brand new they're the same price.

Hero 7 and Hero 2 practically have nothing in common accessories wise.

Hero 7 has more accessories available as they're compatible with most accessories for the 5 and 6 too so development time for these accessories has been longer.

Microphone input both will require the external audio adaptor. You can run the MediaMod on the 8 too instead if you want. You can use the audio adaptor with the 7 or the 8 but the Media Mod only with the 8.

Feedback due to my personal experience? Value? Get a DJI or a Sony. You don't need to buy 10 overpriced accessories just to use the camera with microphones etc. GoPro are shithouse. Ever since the Hero 5 when they started DRM locking things they have been losing money. Hope this kills them as a warning to any other company who wants to lock down their stuff for no reason. The company is on the rocks financially anyway. Yes I still use two of them but that's because i'm not investing more money in action cameras and just using what I have.

Between the 7 and the 8? Personally, the 8. The footage you get from them will more come down to how you use it rather than the cameras themselves, they both run the same Sony sensor.
 
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I was looking at the Garmin but asn;t overly impressed with it - more $ than the Hero 8 and def not better.

Which DJI and Sony cams should I be looking at?
 
FDR-X3000 can be had second hand for ~$200 second hand and the DJI Osmo Action ~$450 new.

They sell the X3000 new but it's $649 when it's a 3 year old camera so not worth it, but second hand they're cheap as so many were sold.

There's also the Fuji Insta-X, I have never used one though. They are modular so can be configured as an action camera, a 360 camera, etc. The was super keen for the 1" sensor module but it has a stupid focal length.
 
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I'm on the same boat. I can buy a new Hero7 Black with the mic adapter for less than a new Hero8. I thought I wanted the Hero8 due to the Media Mod, but I've been finding out that for my set-up I rather have the microphone adapter.

This is what's on my shopping cart.

1594363552384.png
 
I've got an 8 and use it for my helmet cam - there are some nifty features on it compared to the 7, but it depends whether they are important to you or not.

The 8 doesn't need a mount/case - the mounting ears are built into the bottom of the camera and fold up. Makes it easier to change batteries etc.

You can use the media mod on the 8 - but honestly its pants for motovlogging and I use the mic adapter.

The 8 has the ability to save multiple shooting profiles and then quickly switch between them with one press rather than having to change loads of stuff

The 8 has even better stabilisation, but Hyperboost still doesnt work in superwide.

Other than that, there's not a huge amount of difference - as WEB points out there are more accessories for the 7 and earlier, but that really depends whether its relevant to you or not.
 
I had a bad 7, but they are great cameras, I now use an 8 with the old mic adaptor and it is quite a neat setup, but I had to buy a Ulanzi door for it to be able to do so. I think the 8 has better video quality than the 7 and has better stabilisation. The 7 has a replaceable lens though which you can't do on the 8. Battery life with the 8 is better, although you can use the new batteries in the 7, so I imagine it would be very similar in that case.
 
I now own both a Hero 8 and a Hero 7. Both are good for motovlogging but I feel the 8 is just a bit better. Better stabilization, better menu options, profiles are real nice, better wind noise reduction, it's just a better camera IMHO.

That said the 7 is fine and very usable too, it's just not quite as good as the newer 8. I'm not sure the difference is huge enough to warrant the price difference, but I'm glad I use the 8 for my helmet cam.
 
LandyVlad said:
I'm hoping to buy a new GoPro to replace my Hero 2 :D

And I'm actually wondering if (price aside) there are any DOWNSIDES to the Hero 8 Black by comparison?

For example - are accessories more expensive?

For that matter are they necessary? Lens protectors etc.

(I gather there is no backward compatability with the Hero 8? Then again I'm not sure if my old accessories (cases etc) from the Hero 2 are even compat8ible with the 7. Possibly not).

Are the 'improvements' in the Hero 8 largely theoretical?

Use, obviously, would be primarily for motovlogging.

What are the differences between the two as far as microphone inputs? Do both need the chunky brick adaptor?

Interestingly as far as I can find on ebay.com.au for new ones - the Hero 7 blacks are listed for prices very close to the Hero 8 blacks.


Feedback welcome, particularly those based on personal experience.
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I just bought the Hero 8 Black a few weeks back for use on my new motovlog that will be up and running soon. I actually went looking for the 7 but they were sold out as they were discounted about $70. Both the 7 and the 8 will require the GoPro $50 adapter. I purchased it and am sending it back as I wasn't happy with it and decided to just use a dedicated digital recorder. I am using the Sony IC Recorder - PX312. My first audio was terrible but once I adjusted the microphone sensitivity it took great audio. I am using the purple panda mic. with it. Back to the cameras...You can't really go wrong with either. They are very similar and both will be great for vlogging. I would highly recommend some sort of external audio based on my limited experience. I had no issues whatsoever syncing in post using Filmora 9.
 
Ended up with a Hero 7, didn't really need the features of the Hero 8. Realistically I would have gotten another Hero 5 Session, but those are getting hard to find new these days. Looking foward to playing with the new one.

1594589438358.png
 
HippoDrone said:
I had a bad 7, but they are great cameras, I now use an 8 with the old mic adaptor and it is quite a neat setup, but I had to buy a Ulanzi door for it to be able to do so. I think the 8 has better video quality than the 7 and has better stabilisation. The 7 has a replaceable lens though which you can't do on the 8. Battery life with the 8 is better, although you can use the new batteries in the 7, so I imagine it would be very similar in that case.
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Wait, you can't replace a brokern lens on the 8? That is horse crap! How much does Gopro charge to do that for you then? Or do they do that at all?
 
TBRD said:
I just bought the Hero 8 Black a few weeks back for use on my new motovlog that will be up and running soon. I actually went looking for the 7 but they were sold out as they were discounted about $70. Both the 7 and the 8 will require the GoPro $50 adapter. I purchased it and am sending it back as I wasn't happy with it and decided to just use a dedicated digital recorder. I am using the Sony IC Recorder - PX312. My first audio was terrible but once I adjusted the microphone sensitivity it took great audio. I am using the purple panda mic. with it. Back to the cameras...You can't really go wrong with either. They are very similar and both will be great for vlogging. I would highly recommend some sort of external audio based on my limited experience. I had no issues whatsoever syncing in post using Filmora 9.
Click to expand...
Just found this thread which is of great interest to me. So like everybody I'm flummoxed by how to get good voice audio during rides at highway speeds. For various purposes I have bought a Sony ux570 digital recorder. I think it will do well paired with a small lapel mic buried under the helmet cheek pad. It has three levels of microphone sensitivity. It can be used without a microphone IE the built-in microphone which is fine for journaling while lying in a tent or hammock at night. Has anyone looked at the 570? It will be a novel experience to mix this audio stream with GoPro video. I think it will work just fine. As far as GoPro, I've had disappointing experience with the hero 8. It stops recording inexplicably and the battery has to be removed to recover sanity. Has anyone run into this issue? My hero 5 session is a much more reliable camera.
 
I've not used the voice recorder you mention, I do use a Tascam DR-05 for the occasions I can't use the GoPro mic adaptor.
Regarding the Hero 8 cameras, I have 2 and so far they have been great, had them since launch, with the only issues being audio due to water ingress into the mic adaptors. I now have a Hero 9, which was going to be my helmetcam, but am possibly going to be running that as a facecam on my bars and use the Hero 8 as a helmetcam
 
I'm doing the opposite of HippoDrone - I have a Hero 9 on my helmet and a Hero 8 on my fairing/handlebars.

As for the 8... I've had it several months and no issues with stopping recording. BUT, my Hero 9 has done it several times. I usually start recording on both cams and then warm up the bike to make sure it's still recording [usually freezes at the 1.5-2m mark], and then take off.

I haven't used it to record a vlog in almost a month, but today it worked perfectly, thank goodness!

-John
 
Amen! As someone on the GoPro Community put it - those of us who buy the cameras are the true Beta Testers, especially in the first year of production.

With something like an action camera, they really should just get it right from the start. Firmware updates should be for adding new features, not fixing broken stuff in existing ones.

-John
 
If they didn't bring out a new camera each year and focussed on fixing the issues longer, at least then it would be worth upgrading cameras to more folk. It seems like they bring out a camera, folk beta test it till they fix half the problems, then they release a new camera for folk to beta test and they ignore all the remaining issues on the last version. And stupidly, it is normally the same issues that plague the new cameras each time.
 
HippoDrone said:
If they didn't bring out a new camera each year and focussed on fixing the issues longer, at least then it would be worth upgrading cameras to more folk. It seems like they bring out a camera, folk beta test it till they fix half the problems, then they release a new camera for folk to beta test and they ignore all the remaining issues on the last version. And stupidly, it is normally the same issues that plague the new cameras each time.
Click to expand...

It's like we're Apple fanboys - eating it up each and every year, while GoPro rakes in the cash!

Dang, now I feel sad for me & us.

-John
 
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