GoPro HERO 3 and GoPro HERO 2 Comparison Specs from CES 2013
Katie from the GoPro booth at CES 2013 gives me the full scoop on the GoPro HERO 3 White, Silver and Black Editions. With so many of my readers asking about all three of the new GoPro HERO 3 Editions, how they compare and how they differ from the GoPro HERO 2, Katie really helps out as she clears the air on which might best serve to suit your action cam needs.
The Wi-Fi Bac Pac and Remote are both compatible with the FREE GoPro App, which is available now. The Black Edition of the GoPro 3 come with the Wi-Fi Remote. You can also remote into your camera via your mobile phone with the GoPro App. Your GoPro WILL need Wi-Fi capabilities for this. All of the 3′s have the Wi-Fi feature, the HERO 2 does not.
Another add-on option to the GoPro HERO 3 is the touch LCD backpack. This option allows the ability to control the camera via touchscreen and also adds a 3.5mm headphone jack. I find this really useful for setting up shots and accessing the menus and viewing my settings quickly.
And last, an exciting feature from GoPro that can be used with both the HERO 3 and 2 is the GoPro CineForm Studio. This firmware offers higher bit-rates and flat cine style image curves that are better suited for post-processing. When you shoot with a very flat color space, you have more latitude to push in post. Very cool, GoPro!
GoPro HERO 3 Black, Silver and White Editions
Are you having any issues with your GoPro Hero 3s? There seems to be a lot of bad customer reviews out there such as freezing and poor battery life. Thanks!
@Phillip Hey Phil, honestly, yes. I’ve personally experienced two issues. 1) My entire camera froze up on me during a sunset time lapse. I needed to pop the battery out in order to reset the camera. I’ve heard that the LCD screen may be the source of the issue, however, one another occasion, with a completely different camera, I’ve experienced the video footage showing a glitchy type of latency. This was recorded w/o the LCD BacPac. That camera was sent back to GoPro. I’m hoping there will be a firmware update to address and correct these issues that so many customers are experiencing.
Thanks for sharing your Hero3 experience. Is this the Black Edition you’re talking about or applies to all three editions?
The Black Edition is still not available in Malaysia according to my local GoPro dealer and I’ll have to wait a lot longer. With the issues you mentioned then I wouldn’t mind the wait:)
The International Shipping Restrictions as posted on their website is a bit of a bummer. I remember having days of back-and-forth mail correspondence with their support regarding my faulty 3D Hero connector only to be finally told they don’t ship to my country. “We can replace it for you but we don’t ship to Malaysia”. Go figure. End up I bought another 3D Hero from Ebay and an expensive deal.
Thanks in advance for letting me rant here! Cheers.
@jayhas All comments and opinions are appreciated, jay! I’ve only heard of the issues from the Black Edition, however I’m really confident that GoPro will come out with a firmware update to correct the glitchy stuff going on with the Black.
is the Touch LCD panel compatible with Hero 2 as well?
and if it is, is it coming with a suitable back-cover for the waterproof case?
@Ko Not that I’m aware of. The touch LCD is currently only avail for the HERO 3′s.
I’ve bought my Hero 3 Silver a couple of days ago: the firmware update was simple and smooth. I’ve bought it because I use an EOS 600 with some prime lenses, follow focus etc… but I need something I can use directly in the water or on the sand for music videos, where I don’t want to put my EOS.
What I really dislike is that it seems that medium and narrow FOV are a simple digital crop.
I mean, if I need to crop digitally, I can do it better in post production, but it’s not fair from GoPro saying you have wide, medium and narrow possibility, because with narrow FOV I had just unusable results.
Photos are in the same ballpark quality of a consumer-grade compact camera, not as good as a mirrorless or as a dslr.
Battery’s duration is very short… and, for the price, it’s just unbelievable there is no charger and I had to buy for € 10 the tripod mount…
Also: in low light situation the quality is not very good.
But: it’s extremely good in the sun, GREAT results handheld (with may EOS I have to use a cage and a FlyCam Nano), superb quality in dynamic situation… Protune profile seems nice, but I still have to try it better.
…so I’m happy to have it, It’s just a little too expensive for what you have. Probably, if I paid my Silver like a White one and I had a charger I was happier… but I’m still happy to have a nice tool!
If you have any suggestion for a better using please let me know!
Simo
The Black’s crop modes are much improved over the GP2/GP3 Silver. Even 720p Narrow looks great. Minimal difference in noise in low light, too.
For power, I just use The Frame and a big USB battery. After 6hrs of constant power on, with recording here and there, only 50% of my 15,000mah battery was used up.
That’s cool! I’m considering to buy the Frame and an USB battery!
Thanks!
I’ve been messing around with two GP3 Blacks for 3D:
http://chrisfiorephotography.com/blog/upload/GoPro%20Rig.jpg
I’ve found that they don’t like to be constantly turned on and off with the Wifi Remote. Though if I just leave them on and use the remote only for recording, the cameras are perfect. Did some testing a few weeks ago at drifting (1080p60 Narrow, Protune, CamRAW WB), and recorded over 180 clips per camera with zero problems. One camera had the Battery Bacpac, and the other the LCD Bacpac (screen off).
It’s all cool, but, gopro have several cons.
1. Low-light video quality is poor
2. Not optical stabilization (such as Sony)
3. Support is very very bad. Waiting for answer 1-4 weeks.