My new Hero2 had arrived. I’ve barely had time to remove it from the box. The packaging of the Hero2 is very slick and exudes the high tech, high quality feel of the product within.
On viewing the Hero2 against the previous model I noticed two things. First was how old my original GoPro is looking.
But is has served me well accompanying me on many thousands of miles and many hundreds of hours of HD video. Second thing was how different the lens looked due to the three field of view setting available in the Hero2.
On closer inspection more changes were noticable.
The display is different – providing more feedback on the settings. In video mode this includes the resolution, lens field of view, elapsed time and remaining recording time (based on the free space on the SD card).
There are also additional LED recording lights which flash red when the camera is recrding. The old model only had a single large light on the front. This was all but impossible to see when mounted on a motorcycle so I was always unsure if I had properly activated the record button during a ride. Often I resorted to dismounting and checking just to make sure no special roads were missed through operator error.
The Hero2 has three smaller recording indicator lights; one on the top, one on the bottom (useful if the camera is mounted upside down) and one on the back. Unfortunately the back indicator light will be hidden if using the LCD BacPac or Battery BacPac but the top light should be sufficient in most motorcycle mounting applications.
Another physical difference from the previous model is a mini HDMI port next to the SD card slot, though no cable is supplied. There is also no a 3.5mm external stereo microphone port.
Accessories (LCD BacPac and Battery BacPac, spare batteries) from the previous model will fit the Hero 2.
Housings and mounts are also the same, providing numerous opportunities for mounting to any motorcycle. The Suction Cup mount is my favourite, and can can being quickly re-positioned for different ride views.
Even though very secure when applied correctly I still use a use a short length of high quality string to tether it to my bike just in case it loses suction and comes off mid ride (this luckily has never happened to me). The adhesive mounts are great but I’m not a big fan of applying these to my paintwork.
The rest of the changes are to the insides of the camera including:
- 11mp and 8 mp stills resolution
- 2x sharper lens
- more still photo modes
- medium and narrow field of view settings in 1080p, 960p and 720p
- enhanced slow motion at 48 fps in 960p and 120 fps in WVGA
A Wifi BacPac + Wifi Remote is due for release soon with full functionality, including video preview and playback and wifi streaming to web, only available on the Hero2. This sounds like this will be a must have accessory for motorcyclists, hopefully enabling start/stop recording while riding, regardless of the mounting location, saving SD card space, battery life and reducing editing time.
This all sounds good but are the pictures any better than the HD Hero Original?
Road tests coming soon.
