Imaging A hero comes along
GoPro has done to video and photo what Apple did to computers: they made them cool, and easier than ever to use. Here’s a quick look at some of the best accessory manufacturers
Text by Russell Clark Hero Hero+
Hero+ LCD GoPro
Hero4 Silver
Tere’s one for everyone! Te full range of 6 GoPro models, above, starting with the Hero base model, all the way to the Hero4 Black, with 4K recording and 1080 slow motion capabilities. GoPro Studio, a free and very good editing suite, paired with GoPro’s app for iOS and Android, provides a set of useful production and post production tools.
www.gopro.com
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oPro was founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman, a surfer and amateur photographer who wanted to capture quality action shots using a small
camera with which he could easily surf. Partly financed through the selling of shell necklaces from the back of a van, the company sold it first 35mm camera system in 2004. Four years later GoPro launched their first Digital Hero camera, with a 10 second video capability. It generated $800,000 in revenue. The following year sales rose to $3.4 million. Now GoPro are worth an estimated US$2.3 billion.
Simplicity is key The GoPro has proved immensely popular with divers, freedivers, technical divers, professionals, amateurs, snorkellers and vacationers. It’s the one piece of gear that has effortlessly stretched across all disciplines. Every man and his dog has a GoPro it seems, literally: GoPro has a dog harness for mounting their camera. Dive boats now have GoPro charging stations, every dive store has a GoPro
Magazine
product stand, middle-of-nowhere dive centers stock all sorts of GoPro accessories, and now they’re even being used in Hollywood productions. The reason for their success is
simplicity. Although different models are on sale with varying technical capabilities, they are in essence the same camera. A small, one button, tough camera, perfect for recording action sports. The lack of viewfinder or digital screens, at least on earlier models, helped reduce size. Upon initial release it seemed like commercial suicide to release a camera without a viewfinder, but the ultra-wide angle lens ensured everything you pointed it at was captured. Trust your GoPro, and you’ll be richly rewarded. It wasn’t until the GoPro 3 launched
in 2013 that divers really started to take note. Until that point, the GoPro protective housing, which was waterproof to 130ft (40m), had a small curved port. Although fantastic above wataer, under the waves it resulted in a very soft picture. Although third party housings were made by a select few, the GoPro Hero 3 used a flat port,
making a world of difference. Underwater footage became pin-sharp and divers really started to embrace the GoPro. Since then GoPro cameras have
evolved into incredibly powerful video and photos systems, capable of recording 4K video, 1080 slow motion and 12 mega pixel images. They can be controlled by a remote, or smart phone, and can even produce 4K 3D video. Their applications are limitless. GoPro have changed the way divers can record their memories, whilst still allowing them to focus on their diving, rather than video skills. There are now more diving videos on YouTube than ever, thanks to GoPro. Few companies have had such an indirect but profound effect on production of underwater photography and video, and its subsequent global sharing. What’s next? GoPro have announced
plans to release a drone, in 2016. We can also expect 2016 models of its current line up, possibly 6K on the high end models, and increased 4K frame rates. But so long as GoPro keep making simple, great quality cameras, they’ll be top of their game for a long time to come.
Hero4 Black Hero4 Session
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