On Friday, September 18, 2020 at 10:35:28 PM UTC-4, shaun_...@hotmail.com wrote:
> Thank you all for the feedback.
>
> This was one of the tougher choices for me. After watching video comparisons until my eyes bled I narrowed my short list to the Garmin Ultra 30 and the GoPro 8 Black. The Ultra 30 has already been phased out in a couple of markets. I have no idea what is going to replace it.
>
> Today, I got an advert for the GoPro Hero 9 Black for $349 with 32gb sandisk and a one year subscription to their cloud/pro discounts and free two day shipping. That was 50 bucks cheaper than anyplace else so....it'll be here in time for next weeks flying.
>
> Haven't needed to heat up my soldering iron in a while but this winter might want to make a changes to my panel :)

Bumpity bump. How's that Hero 9 working out?

T8

On Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 6:16:51 AM UTC-5, tango...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, September 18, 2020 at 10:35:28 PM UTC-4, shaun_...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > Thank you all for the feedback.
> >
> > This was one of the tougher choices for me. After watching video comparisons until my eyes bled I narrowed my short list to the Garmin Ultra 30 and the GoPro 8 Black. The Ultra 30 has already been phased out in a couple of markets. I have no idea what is going to replace it.
> >
> > Today, I got an advert for the GoPro Hero 9 Black for $349 with 32gb sandisk and a one year subscription to their cloud/pro discounts and free two day shipping. That was 50 bucks cheaper than anyplace else so....it'll be here in time for next weeks flying.
> >
> > Haven't needed to heat up my soldering iron in a while but this winter might want to make a changes to my panel :)
> Bumpity bump. How's that Hero 9 working out?
>
> T8

First, the good.

The colors are warm, saturated, perhaps even unrealistically so. The resolution is nothing short of phenomenal. When displayed on a 4K or higher large screen it's about as real as it gets. If you like to play with special effects, time lapse, etc etc, you can spend months just digging through the options. I wanted to record in my powered aircraft so added a couple neutral density filters and, voila! No prop noise!

Now, the bad.

I've installed every firmware update that GoPro has put out. Some have fixed major bugs but so far none have fixed the biggest which is unreliable starts or the need to reboot to regain sanity. When I click a record button only one thing should happen and that is the camera should begin to record. I haven't kept track of the number of false starts/reboots, but it's still high enough I don't regard it as reliable enough for anything more serious than hobby recording.

What I would do differently -

For this application I should have gone with the DJI Action Cam 4K as a first camera. Side by side the stabilization is nearly indistinguishable. The shutter speed is competitive. It starts, stops and saves reliably. It has better battery life. Where it falls short is color saturation and for some that just might be a deal breaker.

I've been holding off because there is speculation that DJI will release a newer model. But as I said, if I was picking just a single camera and had to get it right, that's the one I would choose today.

Summary -

I think GoPro had financial pressure to push the Hero 9 out the door on schedule. It wasn't ready and as far as I can tell it's still not 'ready' now. But it saved them from bankruptcy.

On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 3:03:31 AM UTC-4, shaun_...@hotmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 6:16:51 AM UTC-5, tango...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Friday, September 18, 2020 at 10:35:28 PM UTC-4, shaun_...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > > Thank you all for the feedback.
> > >
> > > This was one of the tougher choices for me. After watching video comparisons until my eyes bled I narrowed my short list to the Garmin Ultra 30 and the GoPro 8 Black. The Ultra 30 has already been phased out in a couple of markets. I have no idea what is going to replace it.
> > >
> > > Today, I got an advert for the GoPro Hero 9 Black for $349 with 32gb sandisk and a one year subscription to their cloud/pro discounts and free two day shipping. That was 50 bucks cheaper than anyplace else so....it'll be here in time for next weeks flying.
> > >
> > > Haven't needed to heat up my soldering iron in a while but this winter might want to make a changes to my panel :)
> > Bumpity bump. How's that Hero 9 working out?
> >
> > T8
> First, the good.
>
> The colors are warm, saturated, perhaps even unrealistically so. The resolution is nothing short of phenomenal. When displayed on a 4K or higher large screen it's about as real as it gets. If you like to play with special effects, time lapse, etc etc, you can spend months just digging through the options. I wanted to record in my powered aircraft so added a couple neutral density filters and, voila! No prop noise!
>
> Now, the bad.
>
> I've installed every firmware update that GoPro has put out. Some have fixed major bugs but so far none have fixed the biggest which is unreliable starts or the need to reboot to regain sanity. When I click a record button only one thing should happen and that is the camera should begin to record. I haven't kept track of the number of false starts/reboots, but it's still high enough I don't regard it as reliable enough for anything more serious than hobby recording.
>
> What I would do differently -
>
> For this application I should have gone with the DJI Action Cam 4K as a first camera. Side by side the stabilization is nearly indistinguishable. The shutter speed is competitive. It starts, stops and saves reliably. It has better battery life. Where it falls short is color saturation and for some that just might be a deal breaker.
>
> I've been holding off because there is speculation that DJI will release a newer model. But as I said, if I was picking just a single camera and had to get it right, that's the one I would choose today.
>
> Summary -
>
> I think GoPro had financial pressure to push the Hero 9 out the door on schedule. It wasn't ready and as far as I can tell it's still not 'ready' now. But it saved them from bankruptcy.

Good review, thanks. No GoPro for me. Coincidently (not really -- I looked at all the same on line info you did) I ordered a DJI a couple of days ago..

T8