One of the biggest selling points of new GoPro Hero5 is that it now has manual settings right on the camera itself. At the Photokina show in Cologne, I got a run though of the new feature set from GoPro’s Joe VanDalsem.
The Hero5 can lock shutter and ISO – something that many GoPro users have cried out for in the past. Many of the same manual controls have also been recently added to the Hero4 Black via the last firmware update. The new Hero5 Session also gets many of the same manual controls as well via wi-fi control, making it an interesting option if you need a super small POV camera.
Also new is an auto exposure mode that allows you to set a subject and then track it, maintaining correct exposure for the subject. This could be very handy is some unpredictable situations.
GoPro’s Protune is on the new camera and the sensor is the same as the Hero4, but according to VanDalsem the image processor has been greatly improved.
The HDMI output of the camera is 4K 8-bit which could be really interesting for shooter’s wanting to hook the camera up to external recorders.
Lastly there is a new removable front filter on the lens that attaches via a twist/bayonet type mount. This opens up a lot of alternatives for filter makers to create smaller ND and polarising solutions.
