GoPro Hero 8 worth buying?

[IANWHITE]

Hero 8 is probably the latest and best action camera in the market yet. But I felt that without all the mod accerssories, the Hero 8 is more like a mild improvement or an equivalant of Osmo Action with a higher price? Osmo Action already got a built-in front screen and support HDR video and it's $70 cheaper than Hero 8... However, the GoPro has a built-in mount to help it connect directly to GoPro accessories.. so it'll probably be more competitive till all the accessories are available next year. 

[leslie]

i have 4 and 6, didn't bother with the 7. Can't find the enthusiasm to buy an eight. Some people on here didn't like the 7 at all. the eight uses the same battery as the seven which is handy if you had a seven, but the addition of the external mic and vlog screen will set you back $139 us each... ouch. i'll pass.

[Geoff CB]

On these small cameras the ease of use and interface cannot be understated. Much prefer the OSMO or DJI cameras due to being much easier to operate. 

[Cinegain]

I had 2x HERO3 BLK, then the HERO4 BLK (because compatibility with my 3DR Solo quadcopter) and just before a skiing trip I'd gotten the HERO5 BLK. Also had a bunch of the Yiaoyi/YI (Xiaomi/MI) action cams over the years (as well as SJCAM).

The HERO8 looks kinda dope. They offer a 'TradeUp' deal where any* camera that gets sent in (in any condition) gives you a 100 bucks off on the new HERO8 (or 50,- for HERO7). Actually earlier today just posted my old busted Fujifilm S8000fd that's got a bunch of glitches I managed to digg up from somewhere (they cover shipping).

There's also a GoPro Plus or something like that, a premium membership service for replacements, cloud storage and 50% off on accessories. One month free (then monthly/yearly billable). So... you take that month and get yourself the accessories you wanted (if Telesin over at AliExpress isn't much cheaper).

The MAX is looking interesting as well. But I'm a sucker for a gd deal and that one hasn't got any. ?

[hk908]

I noticed on the 7 and again on the 8 (in the samples I saw) that the built-in stabilization is garbage in low light. It smears the image momentarily throughout the video. In bright sun it works great, though. Fast moving in anything like overcast or worse you would want a gimbal.

I also smashed the back screen of it about a week into owning it, but I signed up for the GoPro plus account post smash and they still replaced it free of charge. So they do have my undying loyalty for that.

[tweak]

Hero 7 is the glitchiest piece of electronic equipment I've ever purchased, not fit for pro work (all my friends who have it also have the same software issues, some even have other hardware related issues, I hope they have solved these issues for the 8).

Hero 8 has no ability to replace the glass in front of the lens... I dunno what you do with your cams, but I use mine for, well... action! So if I scratch that thing I want to replace it! I replaced my Hero7 front 3 times already! This makes the Hero 8 a non-starter in my opinion.

@hk908 Yes the stabilisation is rubbish in low light, don't even try it (actually turn it off, or your images will be toast)... it works pretty well in mid day light though.

That all said and done, if anyone is listening... DJI cough cough... can you please make a 1inch sensor camera with better IQ and codecs!!! An action cam with the same sensor as the Mavic 2 with a fisheye lens for action sports (prores if possible!) would be incredible!!! I don't even care if it's twice the size. DO IT!!!

p.s. Forgot to mention, if I could go back in time I would have bought the DJI action cam. Only thing I wish is that they wouldn't glue the lens in... DJI please let us swap that out if we want!

[Mako Sports]

When a new gopro drops its always super enticing. However it seems people will buy them, use them once or twice then never use them again. 

[IANWHITE]

14 hours ago, leslie said:

i have 4 and 6, didn't bother with the 7. Can't find the enthusiasm to buy an eight. Some people on here didn't like the 7 at all. the eight uses the same battery as the seven which is handy if you had a seven, but the addition of the external mic and vlog screen will set you back $139 us each... ouch. i'll pass.

Agreed. 7 is very buggy, so even when its price dropped to $299, not attractive to me. Maybe some improvment in the IQ of H8, but the hypersmooth 2.0 of H8 is hardly noticable to most people. 

[IANWHITE]

6 hours ago, tweak said:

Hero 7 is the glitchiest piece of electronic equipment I've ever purchased, not fit for pro work (all my friends who have it also have the same software issues, some even have other hardware related issues, I hope they have solved these issues for the 8).

Hero 8 has no ability to replace the glass in front of the lens... I dunno what you do with your cams, but I use mine for, well... action! So if I scratch that thing I want to replace it! I replaced my Hero7 front 3 times already! This makes the Hero 8 a non-starter in my opinion.

@hk908 Yes the stabilisation is rubbish in low light, don't even try it (actually turn it off, or your images will be toast)... it works pretty well in mid day light though.

That all said and done, if anyone is listening... DJI cough cough... can you please make a 1inch sensor camera with better IQ and codecs!!! An action cam with the same sensor as the Mavic 2 with a fisheye lens for action sports (prores if possible!) would be incredible!!! I don't even care if it's twice the size. DO IT!!!

p.s. Forgot to mention, if I could go back in time I would have bought the DJI action cam. Only thing I wish is that they wouldn't glue the lens in... DJI please let us swap that out if we want!

Everyone wants the 1 inch sensor!! If DJI can pull this off with their Osmo Action 2, then it'll be some gamechanger,for sure

[leslie]

2 hours ago, Mako Sports said:

When a new gopro drops its always super enticing. However it seems people will buy them, use them once or twice then never use them again. 

i presume the advertising sells it as easy peasy. You go out, blasting along with whatever activity your doing, capturing all that awesomeness on the gopro bring it home to watch it in 4k or hd perhaps, the reality is somewhat different, there is perhaps a lot more involved than people anticipated  in producing awesomeness. I would venture to say that even at a gopro level one will need to apply a few  filmmaker techniques to make it watchable for more than five minutes for anyone other than family. Not to mention the persistence and practice required to learn your camera as well. I'm not surprised people give up after a few tries.  

[tweak]

5 hours ago, IANWHITE said:

Everyone wants the 1 inch sensor!! If DJI can pull this off with their Osmo Action 2, then it'll be some gamechanger,for sure

It would be an easy sell for the people and pros who actually want/need it. I'm sure DJI know this and they have the tech already so I'd say we are going to see it for sure, it's just a matter of when... I'd also be interested to see whether Gopro tries to fight back or not, I feel like they are on their last legs, but I could also be wrong. 

[barefoot_dp]

8 hours ago, Mako Sports said:

However it seems people will buy them, use them once or twice then never use them again. 

The crazy thing is that, even though I'm sure this is happening, the used market is never flooded and the price for used cams is barely less than a brand new one.

Right now it's cheaper for me to buy a Hero 7 new rather than used, because with a brand new one from a retailer I get the 10% GST rebate (because I am also a GST registered business).

It does seem that GoPro control the market for older models very carefully. You won't ever find a 2-years old model in the bargain-big at any big retailer, and it seems like the day a new models comes out the old one is taken off the shelves. They must do some sort of buy-back program with their retailers where they get all the old stock off the shelves, giving people no option but to buy the newer models at the higher price (and also keeping the used market price up because the msrp or street price never goes down before all the stock disappears (unlike, say for example, Canon, who seem to build price drops into their pricing strategy over the life-cycle of a camera).

[JudoSurfer]

Osmo Action has inferior video quality and exposure balance, lacks GPS, ONLY has super cropped stabilization (vs HERO8 On, High, and Boost), does not have auto cloud uploading, has very limited language support for voice commands, lacks stabilization in 4:3, lacks Superview, doesn't offer 2/7K/120fps, has inferior audio, does not offer the much more efficient HEVC (which HERO8 not only has, but has at 100mbps, surpassing h.264 100mbs considerably), lacks live streaming, and has a poorer version of TimeWarp (stabilized Time Lapse).  When it come to actual video quality, Osmo Action doesn't even match HERO7 Black.  Considering the HERO8 has even better dynamic range and quality, the Osmo Action is far from competing with HERO8 Black (even without the Mods).

[JudoSurfer]

On 10/14/2019 at 4:50 AM, leslie said:

i have 4 and 6, didn't bother with the 7. Can't find the enthusiasm to buy an eight. Some people on here didn't like the 7 at all. the eight uses the same battery as the seven which is handy if you had a seven, but the addition of the external mic and vlog screen will set you back $139 us each... ouch. i'll pass.

With GoPro Plus, the Media Mod and display Mod are $39 each.

[JudoSurfer]

On 10/14/2019 at 5:33 AM, Geoff CB said:

On these small cameras the ease of use and interface cannot be understated. Much prefer the OSMO or DJI cameras due to being much easier to operate. 

What does this mean, "OSMO or DJI"?  Did you mean to write GoPro or DJI,, because each are equally easy to use.

[JudoSurfer]

On 10/14/2019 at 7:55 PM, IANWHITE said:

Everyone wants the 1 inch sensor!! If DJI can pull this off with their Osmo Action 2, then it'll be some gamechanger,for sure

Larger sensors are not idea for action sequences.  Vlogging, yes, but unless you really like rolling shutter, the smaller sensor is better for action cameras.  One of the reasons Sony explicitly states that their RX0 and RX0 II are not action cameras.

[JudoSurfer]

On 10/14/2019 at 1:15 PM, tweak said:

Hero 8 has no ability to replace the glass in front of the lens... I dunno what you do with your cams, but I use mine for, well... action! So if I scratch that thing I want to replace it! I replaced my Hero7 front 3 times already! This makes the Hero 8 a non-starter in my opinion.

@hk908 Yes the stabilisation is rubbish in low light, don't even try it (actually turn it off, or your images will be toast)... it works pretty well in mid day light though.

Lens protectors are available from GoPro and other companies for the HERO8.  You also have the option of using the Protective Case (also comes with skeleton back door for improved audio).  Additionally, Polar Pro has also already released lens covers (although not clear, undoubtedly some other 3rd party manufacturers will).  Then there is also GoPro Plus which allows up to two camera replacements per year.

Yes, EIS is not great in low light, but the camera automatically adjust for this.  You don't need to turn it off (but feel free to if you want).  As far as "mid day light" working "pretty well", it's far more impressive than "pretty well".

[JudoSurfer]

On 10/14/2019 at 9:26 AM, hk908 said:

I signed up for the GoPro plus account post smash and they still replaced it free of charge.

Beyond the superior image quality, additional features, GPS, Live Streaming, and incredible stabilization, GoPro Support is incredible.  They will almost always do not only what is fair, but much more than what is fair.  #1 reason I've given them brand loyalty for the past nine years.  They have always treated me right.

[Trek of Joy]

On 10/15/2019 at 5:13 AM, barefoot_dp said:

The crazy thing is that, even though I'm sure this is happening, the used market is never flooded and the price for used cams is barely less than a brand new one.

Right now it's cheaper for me to buy a Hero 7 new rather than used, because with a brand new one from a retailer I get the 10% GST rebate (because I am also a GST registered business).

It does seem that GoPro control the market for older models very carefully. You won't ever find a 2-years old model in the bargain-big at any big retailer, and it seems like the day a new models comes out the old one is taken off the shelves. They must do some sort of buy-back program with their retailers where they get all the old stock off the shelves, giving people no option but to buy the newer models at the higher price (and also keeping the used market price up because the msrp or street price never goes down before all the stock disappears (unlike, say for example, Canon, who seem to build price drops into their pricing strategy over the life-cycle of a camera).

Costco, in the last 3-4 years, has stocked the previous gen GoPro's when the new model is introduced. They have a fresh stock of the 7 now, I just saw a new display a few days ago. Same when Canon and Sony discontinue cameras, they get sold off in massively discounted Costco kit lens bundles. Though lately Sony seems to have stopped discontinuing cameras and just keeps dropping prices after each new version is released, so I haven't seen one in awhile. If you don't live near a Costco, YMMV.

As to the 7, I have two, other than the occasional lockup and thermal shutdown when shooting timelapses in direct sunlight, I haven't had any issues. All of my usage is under the hot Florida sun, or underwater. I've been happy with mine.

Chris

[Exporter]

I've had great luck with my Hero 7 Black and use it weekly for short surfing clips and kids use it for Youtube type garbage. The non-replaceable lens is a huge setback and the other "Mod" accessories of the Hero 8 are a waste IMHO.  The last Gopro that wouldn't overheat and was rock solid was my Hero 3.