I USED to be a notorious “vertical video maker” when smartphones and other gadgets weren’t as adaptable as they are now. You know those videos with black sides? I used to take a lot of those. They weren’t really nice to view and I think they had lower resolution than videos shot in landscape mode.
Thankfully, smartphones and other gadgets are now friendlier to “vertical video takers.” Because honestly, who has the energy to remember that one should always shoot horizontally? Social-media platforms also change quickly. Vertical short-form videos for Instagram, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and even Facebook are what the younger audience are into these days.
We are at an age where everything is content. Even the GoPro, which people associate with high-action videos, is great for shooting Instagram Reels. This used to be an alien concept to me until I saw this in a forum. Set your GoPro to 24-30 fps for optimal quality and minimal video size. You can use a selfie stick, tripod, body strap/head strap to capture the footage for your Instagram. You can use the GoPro app to share the footage on Instagram.
GoPro Philippines formally launched the Hero11 Black at The Dessert Museum in S Maison at Conrad Hotel, along with two other cameras—Hero11 Black Creator Edition and Hero11 Black Mini.
The colorful interactive confectionary showcase was the perfect place to test the Hero11 Black, which features a new, larger sensor that delivers the highest resolution, impressive 10-bit color depth, the highest level of video stabilization, and widest field of view ever featured natively in a Hero camera.
The camera’s updated 1/1.9 inch sensor delivers over 1 billion colors in a 10-bit color video at up to 5.3K resolution at 60 frames per second. The camera also delivers 27-megapixel photos boosted from 23 megapixels from the Hero 10 (this answers the question of whether the GoPro is good for taking still photos). What I normally do for stills though is just extract them from the videos, which are of higher quality. This process is also easier for me.
For me, the vivid colors offered by the Hero11 Black was well-tested in BakeBe, where you could bake and decorate your own cakes. All the other rooms more or less use a few colors. At BakeBe, they use more colors and this, to me, is more difficult to photograph but the Hero11 Black did so with flying colors.
The new sensor of the Hero11 Black also allows users to select an 8:7 aspect ratio video for the largest vertical field of view ever on a GoPro. Cropping the 8:7 footage in the GoPro Quik app lets users simultaneously create high-resolution content for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, so you save time and effort. I sound like such a techie saying these things but it’s really easy to do it.
This is a big deal for content creators and social-media influencers (who used to make huge adjustments as they cross-posted to different social-media platforms), as being able to capture video or photos and make aspect adjustments is a big deal. GoPro also made using filters more seamless, thanks to the Quik app.
For shooting first-person view of users engaging in activities such as running, biking, and even swimming (the Hero11 Black is waterproof up to 10 meters), the Hyperview mode is available with the updated sensor that lets users capture the widest 16:9 field of view native to a Hero camera.
Other features include HyperSmooth, GoPro’s image stabilization software, which is now at 5.0, and the company’s Enduro battery being bundled as standard (it was an accessory before). The Enduro battery, according to GoPro, dramatically improves camera performance in cold and moderate temperatures, extending recording times up to 38 percent in Hero11 Black. Enduro comes in-box with Hero11 Black and Hero11 Black Creator Edition, and as a built-in Enduro battery in Hero11 Black Mini.
HyperSmooth 5.0 technology with in-camera 360-degree Horizon Lock also keeps your footage steady if your camera rotates a full 360degrees during capture. There are three new Night Effect Time Lapse presets that make capturing pro-quality Star Trails, Light Painting, and Vehicle Light Trails effortless. Meanwhile, TimeWarp 3.0 now captures at 5.3K, an impressive 91 percent leap in resolution from 4K, and an incredible 665 percent more than 1080p.
Users can also enjoy simpler camera control with Easy and Pro modes. Easy Control mode (this is what I use) features a more streamlined and less intimidating interface while Pro Control gives you full control over the camera and its different settings.
Hero11 Black is available for P29,990. The Hero11 Black Creator Edition will be priced at P41,990 while the Hero11 Black Mini will be available for P23,990.
I would honestly love to test the Hero11 Black in a concert setting. This is not allowed for obvious reasons but imagine all the videos you could take if it were allowed. n
Image credits: GoPro Philippines