GoPro HERO4 BLACK

Product Information

Flight modes include selfie, cable cam, orbit mode and follow cam as well as manual control which is very easy to control. These ‘smartshot’ features make photography and videography a piece of cake and you can expect to get excellent results in this respect. No matter what your level of flying experience you will find the 3DR Solo a joy to fly with a range of options that are designed to make life as easy or as feature filled as you like. If you are more concerned about the camera work then you can have full control of the camera whilst the drone itself flies where you have asked it to. Inside of the app, tap on the update button (see the image below). Choose “Install” and agree to “Terms & Conditions”. Once you’ve got the capture device and the HDMI cable, setup is simple. Here’s the process. Connect the HDMI Cable

GoPro USER MANUAL - GoPro

To get the most quality out of the camera you'll want to set it to ProTune mode—even if you leave everything set to automatic, ProTune records footage at a higher bit rate when shooting in some modes. It will reduce the amount of recording time you get on your memory card, however. Next down the quality run is 1440p, which is available in Ultra Wide only at 80, 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, or 24fps. Unless you're taking advantage of the 80fps mode, it's probably best just to skip this one. Mounting. While it’s convenient to just set the camera on top of the computer or on your desk, that limits the angle of view and tends to emphasize every little bump or keystroke. So, for better quality, you’ll probably want the camera standing separately or at least on some kind of absorbing layer. Aside from that, you can use any of the usual GoPro mounts or other photography tripods (with the correct adapter). Things Worth Knowing The first thing we did was charge the battery fully as we had heard about long charge times – we were glad we did – as 1 and a half hours of salivating later and we were finally ready to take to the skies. By this time we had already fitted our GoPro 4 and were good to go. Flying the 3DR Solo FOV. The standard field of view (or lens) on these GoPro cameras is exceptionally wide. It distorts the view and might include parts of the room you don’t want to be included in the shot. You can switch the field of view to Linear or Narrow to rectify that. (Tip: make sure to change the resolution and framerate to something like 1080p30 to get the maximum range of choices for FOV.) On the flip side, that super-wide room view might be exactly what you’re after if you’re using it as a secondary camera to capture, say, an art studio or music recording studio.Upon unboxing the 5kg 3DR Solo the first impression is that this is a serious piece of kit. It feels completely robust and has a look of sophistication to it. The controller has the same feel and is quite retro in its design which sits well with all of us in the office. Beginners and experience drone pilots alike will struggle to be unimpressed with this 3DR drone. The video and camera controls on the app (which is controlled via the smartphone) were easy to use and features such as cable cam and orbit were very well received. Cable cam essentially means the drone will travel between two points that you set at a speed that you set and then allows you to control the camera without having to worry about piloting the drone. In whatever software you’re planning to use, change the video source and audio source to the capture device. Precisely how you do that varies by software or service. Here are some of the common ones: But before you can start using either of these cameras as a webcam, there’s some extra gear you’ll need to make it work: The 240fps 720p mode is reasonably impressive, although iPhone 6 owners will be used to this shooting speed. Quality is decent, considering that the shutter has to run at 1/240th, although the image is very soft.

Hero4 update page - GoPro

Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. Read our editorial mission & see how we test. That basic setup will get you going and give you good results. And for occasional use, you’re all set. But if you’re using it a lot or looking to improve the quality and professionalism, there are some other optional extras that can improve the quality. On the later cameras, toggle the Color profile also adjusts the contrast and color of the image, but the HERO4 models output only with the Flat color profile over HDMI.

Experienced GoPro Videographer: I’ve been shooting with GoPro cameras for over 11 years. My first GoPro was the Hero3 Silver, bought for a Galapagos work trip in 2012. Today I own 20+ action cameras, including GoPro, DJI, and Insta360 cameras. The simplest option is to add one directly to the camera. Just don’t forget that you’ll also need the correct GoPro mic adapter for the HERO4 cameras. In terms of flight time we were told by 3DR to expect 25 minutes without the camera attached and around 20 minutes with it. We didn’t test the Solo without the camera but with the GoPro 4 attached we enjoyed over 20 minutes consistently throughout all our flights – except for when Mark took control with his 55MPH speeds. When compared to a gopro Karma with Hero 6 drone it compares very well indeed. A Guide to Stunning Butterfly Photography (17 Expert Tips) Silhouette Photography: The Ultimate Guide (+ 22 Tips) Landscape Photography Composition: 17 Expert Tips 22 Cat Photography Tips and Ideas for Beautiful Images Including this deficiency, the bundle is nowhere near as generous as less-well-known brands such as ISAW with its Edge and Wing models. However, being the market leader, GoPro has a wealth of optional extra mounts, from chest harnesses to head straps, to floating hand grips, suction cups, handlebar mounts, dog harnesses… and so on.

Midwest Truck 1150R Towing Fire Truck filmed with GoPro4 Midwest Truck 1150R Towing Fire Truck filmed with GoPro4

The shooting options don’t end here either. SuperView mode provides a wider – but more distorted – angle of vision in 4K, 2.7K, 1080p and 720p. You can also take 12-megapixel photos, and time-lapse photos at the same time as shooting video at 1,440p, 1,080p, and 720p. There are burst photo modes of up to 30 shots per second, for up to six seconds at a time. Most of the standard web conferencing and live-streaming platforms max out at 1080p30. If you’re recording sessions to upload to platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, or education training services, you have more flexibility with higher resolutions (i.e., 4K). There's no image stabilization, but the ultra-wide field of view certainly helps to minimize camera shake during normal use. If you're mounting the camera to a helmet, for example, footage is as good as if you had it on a tripod—just one that you could move easily. But when mounted to an ATV, the shaking of the body caused by the engine shows true in the video above. Image stabilization could help make handheld footage just a little bit smoother, but it won't do much for the violent shakes and stutters. Traditional HD, 1080p, is available at 120, 90, 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, and 24fps, with Ultra Wide, Medium, and Narrow field of view options. Shooting at 120fps is a boon to slow-motion fans—you'll be able to slow footage down to one-quarter speed while maintaining smooth motion. And SuperView is also available at 1080p at 80, 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, or 24fps.Pairing with your phone is also pretty easy. You just need to enter a short six-digit number to pair, and Bluetooth remains on even when the camera is off, so your phone won't lose sight of it. You can even turn the cameraon using the app (as long as it's in standby mode with Wi-Fi enabled), a plus for remote control operation. Look in the devices section on the left. Your microSD card will be listed here as “No Name” (unless you renamed it). Drag the update file to your microSD card. ISO& Shutterspeed settings. You’ll most likely want to keep these on auto, but if the entire scene is too dark or grainy, make sure you haven’t set a fast shutter speed or lowered the ISO Max setting. You can also have the microphone go directly into the computer. That setup can give even better results with more flexibility, but it increases the complexity a little because you’ll be managing the video and audio streams separately. The 6 feet cable connects tablets and smartphones with Micro HDMI port to HDTV or computer monitor with...

How to Use GoPro HERO4 Black / HERO4 Silver as Webcam

The 4K image quality is amazing when you consider the price tag, but only in the right light. When shooting in dark or shaded conditions the image quality takes a massive drop with lots of noise and hardly any shadow detail. That said, it’s usually better to start with decent lighting. You usually want the light source in front of you, not behind you. The 4K footage is exceptionally crisp—each frame is 8 megapixels—with strong detail up to the edges. Video shot at lower resolution doesn't have quite the same pop, but that's simply based on its resolution. Action shooters may feel a little limited by the 30fps capture rate—many prefer 60fps for the way that it appears to make motion appear faster and hyperrealistic—and it can be slowed down to half-speed while still maintaining acceptably smooth motion. Another in-between resolution, 960p, is available at 120, 60, or 50fps, but only with an Ultra Wide perspective. Again, it's a fine option, but you'll be better off shooting at 1080p. The original HD resolution, 720p, can be shot at 240, 120, 60, 50, 30, or 25fps with Ultra Wide, Medium, or Narrow field of view options. Again, slow motion shooters are going to be fans of the 240fps option, but it's only available in Narrow mode. If you already own a previous version of the GoPro and you’re thinking of upgrading, I’d ask yourself if the 4K recording means that much to you. If you’re recording dirt bike adventures in 4K you’ll not see much of an improvement over upscaled 1080p footage. All that shaking and fast movement really makes the 4k quality pointless.

SuperView is also available at 2.7K, in 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios. You can roll footage at 30fps or 25fps only in this mode. All SuperView modes use the entire sensor, so the field of view is always Ultra Wide. If you get a CAMERA UPDATE FAILED message, remove and reinsert the battery and restart from the beginning. The 3DR is easy to control in the air via the remote controller and the majority of the camera work is controlled via the mobile app which means you have a dual screen controller and less clutter on the controller itself which we all loved. We will talk more about the camera in the camera section of the 3DR Solo review. Once I’d gotten over the outrageous fisheye (Wide and SuperWide) perspective of the GoPro, the sharpness of that cheap little piece of glass blew me away. Not only are stills very, very crisp if you keep the camera still, but the 4K footage is so sharp that you can easily grab stills from frames in your video and that is where the GoPro really excels for stills photography. There are different types of microphones available, ranging from inexpensive up to very expensive. If you’re just using your voice, and lavalier mic (i.e., a clip-on mic) would be a traditional choice. If you want (or don’t mind) more atmospheric room noise, a shotgun mic is a next step. And if you’re needing to wander around a room–say, in a dance studio or woodworking workshop, you can also get wireless mic systems. Steps up from that are some of the high-end mics that professional podcasters use. I have a separate roundup of some of the alternatives for external mics for GoPros here.