GoPro Hero4 cameras official topic

GravitateMediaGroup

I'm just teasing, but yeah, Whatever it is, it is a welcomed improvement. I'm still on the 3black

Rambo

I actually get .5 secs delay on the NON plus 3Blk as well with the Prizmia app which has been optimised to reduce lag.

RRRoger

Truely an awesum camera for the price and size. I returned my GoPro 3 because I could not operate it without reading glasses. What about that lousy plastic housing? Will I be able to remove it and still operate the camera above water. How good are the tablet controls? How much time lapse? What is the 35mm equivalent at the widest lens setting?

Rambo

David Newman ( gopros Software Engineer) has posted some samples he shot with night lapse mode. They are on Flickr so you can see the EXIF data. These are from a HD4 Silver Edition The embedded stills are only 1024 x 768 resolution, the originals are available on Flickr links above in 4000x3000

In order of posting

Regular photo mode ISO 800
Night Photo mode auto exposure ~8s
Night Photo mode 20s
Night Photo mode 30s

https://flic.kr/p/pc5ejB

https://flic.kr/p/ptxU29

https://flic.kr/p/ptzorr

https://flic.kr/p/pc6rgZ

kurth

I gotta question....what's the specs on quikcapture ?

Rambo

According to the manual, QuikCapture is just a new name for the old One Button mode., see page 57 http://cbcdn1.gp-static.com/uploads/product_manual/file/225/UM_H4Black_ENG_REVC_WEB.pdf

markr041

What the GoPro "Manual" Controls Really Are (Based on the Hero 4 Black Manual):

"WB": Presets of temperature only (three). No real manual white balance based on, say, a grey card. The Panasonic A500 has more presets and a true manual WB (WB set).
"Exposure": EV adjustment only; no fixing exposure; no shutter or aperture controls (except night time-lapse shutter speeds). The Panasonic A500 has no EV control, but does have a manual backlight option.
"ISO": Can set ISO limits only (4 selections); you cannot choose an ISO. This is not possible on the A500.
"Sharpness": There are three settings.

Note: there is no manual audio control.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Rambo

Above video is different routes, different days, different mount location, different countries, shot by different users and the GoPro clip has been altered in post. Not sure that's a valid comparison. Also the GoPro clip shot by Bloom appears to have a loose mount, you can hear the telltale rattle.

markr041

I agree there are some differences that detract from the comparison. But, really, different shooters and different countries do not matter (let's cut the rhetoric), since you see how the cameras are mounted and neither shooter was altering the controls. Unless you mean the driving techniques? I'm surprised you did not mention different cars and different car colors?! :)

I think the main issue is that the A500 video was shot in bright sunlight, and changing light (shadows), while the GoPro environment seemed to be all in shade and less challenging. But none of that should prevent you from assessing some things, like resolution and whether you see bitrate starvation, when you download the uploaded 4K video and circumvent Vimeo compression. When you shoot "flat" you need to do something in post; all that was done was to increase saturation so as not to distract. This does mean (either with no or some color alteration), you cannot compare the color saturation of the two cameras.

The number of people in the entire world who have both the A500 and the GoPro Hero 4 Black in their possession, and know how to drive, right now is probably zero.

markr041

Protune colors, wide, 4K:

markr041

GoPro Hero 4 Black 4K Time-Lapse. Cropped from 4:3 12MP stills to 4K 16:9 video. Protune color, WB fixed at 6500K.

Tron

Potential Hero4 battery BacPac issues http://cheesycam.com/gopro-hero4-overheating-battery-bacpac-test-3

mpgxsvcd

@Tron I always run my GoPro 3 Black with the back door off when I use the frame. It would always overheat and melt the battery with the door on.

I knew that moving the battery door to the bottom was a bad idea. I wouldn’t touch a GoPro 4 with a 10 foot pole. They botched this camera. Good thing my GoPro 3 Black still gets the job done.

markr041

There are only two reasons to upgrade to the Black 4:

Better video quality - the 4K videos viewed at 1080 are stunning. Much better than the line-skipping HD of the 3.
Better audio quality - the audio has much better dynamic range and less noise than the 3 and works with more external mics.

If video and audio quality are not that important, stay with what you have.

SuperSet

What is the battery life shooting at 4K for the Hero4?

markr041

konjow

For my eye 4K from GP4 is not that fishy as HD from GP3. Is it not that wide or not that distorted? Any thoughts?

BlueBomberTurbo

Well, this isn't any fun:

markr041

4K Wide versus 4K Superview!

Brumbazz

@BlueBomberTurbo: Great test! 1080p80 not so much (read: sucks donkey balls). The narrow seems pretty good to me.

If only it could scale like the trusty old GH2 (Panasonic that is).

I'm really curious about high framerate 1440 as the greater height seems good for post stabilization cropped to 1080.

Does that also suck?

How about 2.7Kp48 is that also Moiré hell?

BlueBomberTurbo

@Brumbazz: Yeah, it's visible in 1440, too. In fact, anything at 1920 with or lower has it at high FPS. Not sure about regular speeds. But unless you're aiming for small file sizes/max recording time, 720p has no advantage over 1080p (both max out at the same fps), and image quality isn't exactly a concern at 480p (and I hope you have good lighting!).

Gotta say, though, 4K and 2.7K are stunning, even just SOOC. And night video at 4K is completely over the top. You can do a ton of noise reduction without hurting the final image, especially if you're downsampling to 1080p. ISO 400 has the same brightness level as what your eyes actually see, and 1600 boosts the image enough to reveal more detail, even when you crush the blacks back down (necessary with the extra exposure and noise). 6400 is pretty rough, though. Kind of a last resort "I just shot Bigfoot!" kind of thing. ;)

I've been messing with the settings, and have found one that works for me 90% of the time during the day, and two 100% at night. Can't wait to put this thing to work! :D

markr041

Firmware update: HERO4 Black v2.00

New Features

Adds Automatic shutter option for Night Lapse mode *Adds Continuous interval for Night Lapse mode

Performance Improvements

Increases image sharpness in various video modes
Decreases Time Lapse shutter lag
Optimizes Time Lapse auto exposure performance for 0.5 and 1 second intervals
Decreases thumbnail load time on the LCD Touch BacPac™
Increases file transfer speed from camera to computer

Usability Improvements

Simplifies Default Mode menu
Adds 5 min option to Auto Off
Displays HiLight Tags in thumbnail gallery on the LCD Touch BacPac (3rd Generation only)
Improves swipe and playback controls on the LCD Touch BacPac (3rd Generation only)
Displays the most recent video or photo first during playback on the LCD Touch BacPac

General Improvements + Bug Fixes

Addresses an issue that may prevent pairing with the GoPro App
Addresses an issue that may disable live preview on the GoPro App
Addresses an issue that may cause the camera to appear out of range with the GoPro App
Improves battery level icon accuracy
Addresses an issue that may prevent files from being deleted
Addresses an issue which may cause the camera to automatically power on when connected to a computer
Other improvements and bug fixes

Rambo

Here they are a little easier to follow.

Rambo

And some excellent info in the new Hero4 Cameras from GoPros Production Artist - Abe Kitsleviz

http://abekislevitz.com/new-features-of-the-hero4/

http://abekislevitz.com/understanding-video-in-the-hero4/

http://abekislevitz.com/understanding-photos-in-the-hero4/

Happy reading :D

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