GoPro Hero3 Goes BIG – capturing up to 4K and 1080 at 60p!

A new line of GoPro Hero Sport cameras have been announced – available in Black, White and Silver Editions. But first a quick promo – shot on entirely on the GoPro Hero3 Black Edition.

Now if only GoPro would release an accessory that would make my life as awesome as those people in the video…

Specs

The Black Edition is the premier Hero3 camera. What’s new and improved?

• 30% Smaller
• 25% Lighter (weighing 2.6 oz.)
• 2x the Low Light Capability
• Improved 6 Element Lens reduces distortion
• Built in WiFi Capability

The built in WiFi capability of all the Hero3 cameras may have resulted in the delay of the WiFi app that was suppose to come out during the summer. But what is generating buzz is the Video capability.

• 4K resolution (3840×2160 16:9) at 15 frames per second (NTSC)
• 4K cinema resolution (4096×2160 17:9) at 12 fps.
• 2.7K resolution (2716×1524 16:9) at 30 fps
• 2.7K cinema resolution (2716×1440 17:9) at 24 fps
• 1080p (1920×1080 16×9) at 60, 48, 30, 24 fps
• 1440p (1920×1440 4×3) at 48, 30, 24 fps
• 960p (1280×960 4×3) at 100, 48 fps
• 720p (1280×720 16×9) at 120, 60 fps
• WVGA (848×480 16:9) at 240 fps

Okay – that’s an insane amount of numbers to throw at you. Basically we have first person camera that is able to capture a 4K image albeit only at half the frame rate of standard video. Twelve or 15 frames is not unwatchable – most animation is done at those frame rates but you won’t get crystal smooth motion (think of those great Ray Harryhausen stop animations). Realistically, there are very few devices even capable of displaying 4K resolution now so… it’s a nice addition but unless you specifically need that resolution (say to pull stills from), I think you’ll be spending most of your shooting time in the other settings.

Stepping down to 2.7K is where we first get traditional frame rates and it looks like GoPro is going big, stepping a little higher than the 2.5K Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Shrinking 2.7k down to 1080p for final output should result in crisp clean images.

Now it’s important to note that there can be a little confusion between K’s and p’s. When “K” is used, it’s referring to the number of horizontal pixels. When “p” is used, they’re referring to the number of vertical pixels.

Going down to 1080p as a capture medium the GoPro can crank up to 60p… a feature that’s starting to get a lot more common these days. This enables a 2-2.4x slow motion – a great setting for capturing fast action… but there’s more.

At 720p, the smallest form of HD, this camera is capable of 120 frames per second – of if your going to 24p, a 5x reduction in speed! And if resolution is not an issue, on the Standard Def Setting you’ll get a 10x reduction in speed.

The Cost? $399.99

More details on the Black Edition 

The Silver and White Editions

Selling at $299.99 for the Silver and $199.99 for the White Edition, these editions pare down the video capabilities down to frame rates we’ve seen before in these cameras (30fps for 1080p video and 60p for 720p, 24p is available in the Silver Edition). The larger than HD frames are also gone – the difference between the Silver and White edition is that the Silver can shoot 11MP still images while the White is limited to 5MP. Both editions also have WiFi Capability.

More Details on the Silver Edition 

More Details on the White Edition 

Release Date

According to the GoPro site, units should start shipping on November 14, 2012.