GoPro HERO Video Comparison – Hero 3 Black, Silver & White and GoPro Hero 2
One thing is for sure, the GoPro HERO Action Camera is the most popular of its kind on the market today. GoPro is also the fastest growing action camera company. That said, let’s take a look at what GoPro has to offer their customers, the differences between the versions available now and what you’ll get from each. The video below will give you a visual idea of what you will get from these 4 cameras in terms of performance from image, action and low light. Below you can also find a Link to Download Original Uncompressed ProTune 4K Cin Footage to pull into post and edit to your linking. *The footage must be run through CineForm first. If you’d like to see the original uncompressed video footage from the clip below, you can find that on VIMEO by CLICKING HERE.
GoPro HERO 2, HERO 3 Black, Silver and White, all shot at 1080p, 30fps at Wide.
First lets address the basics: Size, Image Sharpness and Performance.
The HERO 3 editions are all smaller, lighter and overall sport a new design compared to the GoPro HERO 2. Both the 2 and the 3 have LCD BacPac options, however, only the HERO 3 has the touch LCD screen with an improved resolution from the HERO 2 version. The HERO 2, however has the 3.5mm mini jack input, where the HERO 3 only has the ability to accept headsets for monitoring and playback. A mini USB adapter is available on the GoPro website that will allow you to adapt a 3.5mm mini jack Microphone to your GoPro HERO 3 via the mini USB input.
For those of you who would like to see a longer and more detailed video comparison of the HERO 2, HERO 3 Black, Silver and White, below is a video showing differing lighting, contrast and perspective from all 4 cameras shot at 1080p, 30fps at Wide.
Below you can find a video that was shot in ProTune 4K Cin on the GoPro HERO 3 Black Edition. If you’d like to DOWNLOAD the original file from Vimeo and mess around with it in post, you can do that via the VIMEO LINK HERE. *The footage must be run through CineForm first. (The YouTube version of this video had less of a latency in audio so I’ve embedded it here, the Vimeo video has a longer lag time between audio and video. Nothing was touched in post. **The GoPro HERO 3 Black shoots 4K Cin in ProTune mode only at 15fps).
Protune format and CineForm
CineForm Studio is a free app that you can download to help prep your GoPro videos before editing them on more robust programs like Premiere or FCP. Color correction, 3D editing and slow motion converting of GoPro videos, for example, can all be prepped using CineForm.
Protune increases the data-rate (or decreases the compression) from an average of around 15Mb per second to 35 to 45+ Mbps per second. Small artifacts that sometime occur in highly detailed environments or extreme motion are gone near 35Mbps. The addition of 24p frame rate aids in combining the GoPro footage with other 24p professional cameras and DSLRs. The images captured with Protune are designed to make color grading easier in post production. The image is captured with a flatter look. This makes color enhancement more flexible in post. Also, Log curve encoding offers more detail in shadows and highlights – again, think post production editing of your footage. This feature gives you more information to work with.
Why use the FREE CineForm App?
35 to 45Mbps H.264 H264 is harder to decode than 15Mbps. The GoPro CineForm Studio software is a faster editing format for transcoding and is offered for customers for free to help prep the GoPro video files before editing in a more full bodied editing program. Also, the new Protune GoPro clips carry metadata that CineForm Studio detects and automatically develops. Any changes are stored as CineForm Activate Metadata, are non-destructive, reversible and all controlled within CineForm.
GoPro FREE App
Use your smartphone or tablet as a live video remote. The GoPro App includes video and photo preview. Requires HD HERO2 camera and Wi-Fi BacPac™ (not included) or HERO 3 camera with a product software update.
The HERO 3 cameras all come with the new dive flat lens housing. This means that underwater, your images will be sharper when compared to the curved lens housing of the HERO 2. The image sensor on the HERO 3 is also larger which equates to a better low light performance on the HERO 3. All of the GoPro HERO 3 cameras come with built-in Wi-Fi, only accept Micro SD cards and sport improved audio from the HERO 2.
GoPro HERO 2 and HERO 3 All Editions
HERO 2 – 11MP camera w/10 Frame Per Second photo burst mode. / Wide, Medium, Narrow / Protune capable
HERO 3 WHITE – 5MP camera w/3 Frames Per Second photo burst mode. / Ultra Wide and Medium video mode only / NO ProTune Mode
HERO 3 SILVER – 11MP camera w/10 Frames Per Second photo burst mode. / 120 FPS Ulta Wide, Medium and Narrow / Protune capable / Manual White Balance
HERO 3 BLACK – 12MP camera w/30 Frames Per Second photo burst mode. / Ultra Wide, Wide, Medium, Narrow /4K, 2.7K both in Cin modes/ 120 Frames Per Second (slow motion) at up to 720p/ Photo and Video mode capable at the same time/ Manual White Balance
Below are still images from the HERO 2, HERO 3 White, Silver and Black in that order.
GoPro HERO 3 Black, Silver and White Editions
GoPro HD HERO2: Outdoor Edition
GoPro Camera LCD Touch BacPac (Black)
I recently picked up a Hero 3 Black Edition and just started taking it out for some tests. The image quality is really impressive, especially considering how small and inexpensive the camera is. There is a reliability issue, however, that so far hasn’t been fully addressed or fixed by GoPro. The Hero 3 with LCD BacPac will sometimes freeze up when turning it on, with the only temporary fix being you have to pull the camera out of it’s case, remove and reinstall both the battery and the card and then place it back in it’s case before turning it on again. This is a common problem for Hero 3 cameras right now which can really cause problems during a shoot, but hopefully GoPro will have some sort of firmware or other permanent fix before long. (fingers crossed)
@Druu Yes, I’ve experienced the same issue with the GoPro HERO 3 Black Edition multiple times.
The same goes for the Silveredition, it just turns it self off. I haven’t tried the “take-out-battery-and-sd-card-fix” yet, but it is quite a bit annoying when you are in a stressful situation needing it to work then and there. I might just turn it in ask for the money back.
Just another note, I’ve experienced the same issue on the Hero 2. It happened on a snowboarding trip this weekend. Granted, it was very cold out, but it’s disheartening when these cameras are made for action sports. Quick fix, but still annoying.
I’m having similar issues on both H2 and H3, I found that if the SD card touches another computer that GoPro doesn’t like it. Best fix is to reformat the card often so it doesn’t get corrupted.
A couple of misstatements noted in the video. At 4:20 you indicated that the Black has the manual WB but the Silver Edition doesn’t. GoPro claims the Silver edition has manual WB too. Please verify.
At 5:00 in the video, you get bits and bytes confused. The video is recorded at 15, 20, 30, 35, and 45 megabits (depending on setting and model) not megabytes.
And from the text, “The HERO 2, however has the 3.5mm mini jack input, where the HERO 3 only has the ability to accept headsets for monitoring and playback.” The statement is a little misguided. The Hero3 does allow audio input, it just requires an adapter. (Similarly, the Hero2 required an adapter for audio output.)
@Rick Manual White Balance – You are correct, I’ve corrected this in the YouTube video, in the Vimeo video description and on the blog post. Megabits and Megabytes – I could kick myself. Also corrected. The 3.5mm Mic Adapter – I specify this in the video and further specified to avoid any confusion on the blog. Thank you for the catches, I appreciate it!
That’s the best I could get out of it.
Cheers
murph
PS BYW The camera man got some of his lipstick on the lens….lol
It’s weird that the still image from the GoPro Hero 3 Black looks the worst out of the bunch up there, but I’m still going to buy it. Thanks for the reviews Olivia.
Loaded into Sony Vegas Pro 12 & color graded with Magic Bullet Looks. OUtput to .mp4 (1280×720, 30p) for Youtube.
Is there any real reason to buy a White or Silver? I can’t seem to rationalize this unless I buy a Silver as a backup or second or third camera. Any one care to share if they are using the silver or white a lot and why buy these over the black?
The Silver edition offers considerably better battery life than the Black. And for those who don’t need or want the 2.7K or 1440 video or have the computer resources to process them, the camera definitely fills a niche. It’s mainly for those who aren’t going to spend hours post processing trying to get cinematic quality and just want to get the fun they were having posted on youtube as quickly as possible.
The White edition is the one you buy for your kids.
Thanks for your prospective, not having some of those features would be a non-starter for me thinking of using more than one device on shoots. Didn’t realize the battery life was that much better on Silver. Cheers.
Although I find it offensive that you talk about kids in that way, I totally agree with you and I could not say it better. My thoughts on the Gopro is general is that it is a great action camera, but you could buy a used T2i for a similar price. The whole action camera market is/or should be niche.
@Urs Hello, looks like your video was taken down!
Hi miss olivia:) can i ask u a question? Is the hero 2 has a protune..??
@bapbals No, as far as I know the HERO 2 does not support ProTune.
i wanted to buy the GH3 silver.. but i think gopro didnt fix the freezing issue.. it is fix yet?thankz..
@bibimbap There has not been a firmware update issued yet as far as I know.
Thanks a lot miss olivia..