Suggested rumours for the Hero 12:

• new form factor with more angular design with sharper, well-defined edges
• new 'Edge-to-Edge' touchscreen on the rear

We purchased a GoPro HERO (2018) the other day and after some cursory inspection we realized this camera is actually a GoPro HERO5 with the firmware crippled. To confirm our hypothesis, we decided to trick the camera to loading the GoPro HERO5 software. It loaded properly and all the features were unlocked. Even GPS and 4K at 30fps work great!

http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/gopro-goes-4k-with-new-hero-3-black-edition-1104951

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/10/gopro-3-goes-to-11-and-shoots-in-4k/

4K HD at 15fps and 2.7K at 30fps is AWESOME for $399.99, and actually outdoes the BMCC resolution in a matchbox.

4K HD at 15fps; 2.7K at 30fps, 25, 24fps; 1440p at 48fps; 1080p at 60fps

Looks like we are in for some awesome footage coming soon! GoPro Cinema 4K is coming pretty fast, just need a few more frames and a little more time!

If Vitaliy manages to hack this baby for the few extra frames, BIG BUCKS! Lovely how GoPro manages to have a small partly useable 4K mode, while the GH3 skips it entirely...

Available at:

• ebay - http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=gopro+hero+3&_sacat=0&_odkw=gopro&_osacat=0&_from=R40
• http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gopro+hero3

Capture and share your life’s most meaningful experiences with the HERO3+ Black Edition. 20% smaller and lighter than its best-selling predecessor, it delivers improved image quality and powerful new features geared for versatility and convenience. SuperView™ is a new video mode that captures the world’s most immersive wide angle perspective, while Auto Low Light mode intelligently adjusts frame rate for stunning low-light performance. Combined with 30% longer battery life, 4x faster built-in Wi-Fi and a sharper lens, the HERO3+ Black Edition is the most advanced GoPro yet.

Stunning video quality has made GoPro the world’s best-selling camera company, and the HERO3+ Black Edition continues this tradition. High-resolution, high-frame rate 1440p48, 1080p60, 960p100 and 720p120 video modes result in professional quality footage and allow for liquid-smooth slow motion playback. 4Kp15 and 2.7Kp30 enable ultra high-resolution, cinema quality capture.

GoPro is proud to introduce SuperView, a video mode that captures the world’s most immersive wide angle perspective. It allows you to capture more of yourself and your surroundings in the shot—resulting in captivating, ultra engaging footage.

Enjoy crisper, clearer footage with reduced distortion. The HERO3+ Black Edition boasts a 33% increase in image sharpness thanks to its sharper lens and 2x reduction in imaging artifacts.

The HERO3+ Black Edition features upgraded audio performance, capturing even the most subtle of sounds.

Featuring a 30% increase in battery life.

Info/direct buy at:

• http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-hero3-silver-edition
• http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-hero3-black-edition

Available also at:

• http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00F3F0GLU/
• http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1003301-REG/gopro_chdhx_302_hero3_black_edition_adventure.html
• http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1003322-REG/gopro_chdhn_302_hero3_silver_edition_camera.html

Reviews:

• http://www.hobbymounts.co.uk/blog/the-gopro-hero-3-black-edition-what-does-it-all-mean/

4K Ultra HD H.264 Encoder

• Film in 4k resolution at 30fps
• High Profile with B-frames for high efficiency

Super High Frame Rate Modes

• 1080p at 120fps
• 720p at 240fps

Advanced Imaging

• 700Mpixels/s oversampling performance
• Multi-exposure HDR and WDR tone mapping
• Electronic image stabilization (EIS)
• Improved MCTF with advanced sharpening

Wi-Fi™ Connectivity

• Remote viewfinder, playback
• Upload pictures and video to social media

It is possible that the link here reveals the details of this camera. The 4K specs are looking useful and the frame rate at HD would help:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1994464

The second part was recorded with Red Epic, Red Scarlet and GoPro HD Hero 3. But interesting all the work that's involved in the actual realization.

It started out as a little test of my new toy, the GoPro Hero 3. Just wanted to see how good it would hold up. Then I decided to make a little short film, as I really liked what I saw ;-)

Shot entirely on the GoPro Hero 3 in 2.7k 24p and 1080p protunes mode. I find it amazing how far you can push the grade to get a cinematic looking image. This is a 399 USD camera after all! Download the 1080p file and have a look if you like.

Music by Seu Jorge and Almaz, Everybody loves the Sunshine (available on iTunes)

3D Rig:

Shoulder Rig:

Test video 1:

1080p60, Narrow FOV, Protune, CamRAW WB

Neat Video, Magic Bullet Looks, a little Shadow/Highlight to recover the clouds

Here's a frame without 3D for reference:

Gotta say, I LOVE the dynamic range on these cameras! Unless you're shooting something really dark, all but the brightest highlights (ie. the sun) can almost always be recovered in post. There doesn't seem to be much of an issue recovering shadows under most conditions, either. Of course, you'll need to use noise reduction on more serious shadow lifting. I find Neat Video invaluable for heavy processing, as it will remove blocking on smooth areas once you start pushing the limits.

Rig Setup:

Pretty simple, actually. For the 3D part, I got a pair of macro sliders, tore off the rubber surface grip for the bottom piece, removed one of the mounts for use as the top piece, used a 1/4-20 hex standoff to link them together, and slid the GoPros inside. The tension holds them in place perfectly, and the gap from no grip lets me perfectly align the cameras in parallel. The only downfall of this one is that things 5ft or closer tend to hurt the 3D effect, since the lenses are spaced around 3" or so apart. If you're focusing on a subject further back, close objects will look quite a bit off. Same with close subjects, things behind him will be off. After about 5ft, though, everything is fine. I'll be making a more sophisticated and lightweight setup soon, which will allow me to invert one of the cameras to get the lenses much closer.

For the shoulder rig, it's just a Cavision shoulder pad with some 15,000mah USB batteries gaffer taped to a flat section of a flash bracket, screwed into one of the holes in the back. I have a Swivi monitor up front with the 3D rig mounted onto it. It's really lightweight, but I definitely need something more in back to balance it better.

As far as battery life, I left the GoPros running for 6hrs straight. I was able to monitor the battery life through the Swivi's meter, and after that time period, even with the Swivi on, I only used about half the battery. So I should hopefully be able to get around 12 hrs max from that setup.

Here's my Red/Blue workflow:

As far as syncing the left and right, I've found that they're usually about 2 frames off. I try to find and event that is easy to spot on both cameras (subject just passing in front/behind something, light turning on, etc.) to do an easy sync. If that doesn't work, Pluraleyes has no problem matching them up.

Once that's done, I color correct and grade, then apply the 3D Glasses effect in AE. Using the Difference mode, I can align the frames and set keyframes, so the focus can follow the subject no matter where he moves. Then set Keframe Interpolation to smooth the transitions. It's tedious, but the effect is worth it.

Finally, I'll set to Balanced Colored Red Blue and adjust the Red/Blue balance to reduce/eliminate ghosting, scale up to get rid of the edges (aligning will throw them off), and export.

And for Side by Side:

A lot of it is the same, though I seem to have issues with the 3D Glasses effect in Stereo Pair leaving lots of empty space around each frame, and you can't scale each side up individually to fill it. To get around that, I set everything up in the 3D Glasses effect, then export the left and right sides individually. This aligns them properly from the start, so I can get around the empty space issue. Then I do correction and grading, and put them into a double-wide frame next to each other (3840x1080) to get the side by side 3D. YouTube doesn't seem to have a problem with this, though I'm not sure if it would be compatible with any place else.

In the end, it's not really much more work, just more time waiting for it to encode, and with the double wide setup, you get true 1080p 3D.

A note about Premiere/After Effects and 5DtoRGB:

Both Adobe programs will crush the highlights and shadows a bit, at least in Protune. Running the video through 5DtoRGB first will prevent this from happening. It'll also create a much higher quality file than converting through Cineform Studio, since it interpolates color, reducing blocking artifacts. Plus, you can reverse the Cinestyle curve while converting if you want. 5DtoRGB also makes the reds look redder, instead of the slight orange cast they seem to have.