The Gear We Use: GoPro Hero 11 Black
Unboxing and what you need to do for mountain biking videos.
We hit the trails today (19th September 2022) with the just released GoPro Hero 11 Black. This preview of what the camera can do fits in with our series all about, “The Gear We Use”.
It’s not easy to always understand the best settings and cameras to use, so we will take you on a journey over the next year through our equipment lists as we capture images and figure out what works in the world of bikes.
After receiving one of the first commercial consumer units, we took our brand new Hero 11 Black attached it to our chesty and threw ourselves down the trail. The idea was to experiment with the different modes and settings and discover what worked for us. If you watch the video below you will begin to understand some of the modes and what they look like. We recommend to watch the video in 4K mode to appreciate the best clarity that the camera can produce.
Video: GoPro Hero 11 Black First Test
The Camera
The Hero 11 Black is as the number suggests GoPro’s 11th camera in the Hero action camera series. It has a new taller sensor and new software which are all handled by the GP2 processor. The Camera retails for around $400-$549 dollars depending on where you buy it and if you subscribe to GoPro’s subscription service.
The Camera is basically fully automatic, but it gives the user the ability to select modes and adapt the settings according to their skill level and preference and usage, including class leading stabilisation.
The camera came with one battery and a 32gb microSD card. It also comes with a handy and robust case which we really liked. The packaging experience is modern, useful and way more environmentally friendly compared to their first cameras. The basic accessories include an Enduro battery, USB cable, basic mount and instruction set. The advantage though is that many other accessories can be bought which allow you to mount one of these cameras just about anywhere.
You also need to download their Mobile Quik app to access the camera for its first run, its simple and fairly easy to connect to the camera. We updated the software and were ready to go.
Our Preferred Video Settings So Far
We obviously use this camera for trail riding and shooting bicycle content. So we need a camera that has the ability to shoot steady shots and also off bike slomo. After a few rides we settled on these parameters for our chesty mount trail ride.
View : Hyper View
FPS : 25-30 (depending on region.)
Res : 5.3K
Stabilization Mode : Auto Crop Hyper Smooth Boost
ISO : Auto
Sound : Wind noise reduction off
Front Screen : On (for framing help onboard)
Our Prefered Photo Settings So Far
Res : 5.3k (27mp)
Mode : RAW
Test Shots
No processing done, Raw mode 8:7 aspect ratio.
No processing done, Raw mode 8:7 aspect ratio.
No processing done, Raw mode 8:7 aspect ratio.
Verdict
So it’s basically just a first look and our first play with the camera. We were impressed with what we found and probably will be using the Hero 11 Black with a range of accessories for all kinds of different shoots we might do.
There aren’t many cameras that are this robust and easy to use or as flexible as this with what we would define as excellent picture quality. The new sensor gives even more options for post shooting formatting and publishing.