I recently bought a new GoPro HERO10 Black. This after much consideration of other brands of action camera, including some that are mounted in sunglasses. A HERO10 currently costs $350 off the GoPro site … if you sign up for their cloud storage plan. No thanx. I bit the bullet, paying full freight $550 instead. Steep, but staying out of their clutches. 🚫🕵🏻♂️
With the HERO10 sitting on my desk, I did a few minutes of test video at the default 4k/30fps setting. The resulting file was a whopping 1.7 gigs, or about 400 megs per minute. Not a big deal, as I have a 256 gig chip in it. Of more concern, is that it consumed ~10% of my battery per minute. 10 minutes of video before a battery change just doesn’t get it. 4k30 either needs a serious battery, or ability to wire to an external battery pack, like the one commercial photographers / videographers wear. 🔋
Today was my first mountain bike ride with the HERO10. What did I notice?
- On a cloudless day in Phoenix, pale objects — especially the walls of buildings — were “blown out” with glare. The HERO10 has a white balance setting. Maybe that will fix the issue without making dark areas too dark. (Shady areas looked okay.) 🤔
- The in-camera stabilization worked great! Even though I was on streets the whole time, areas I know where there’s a decent enough jolt I get up out of my saddle, the HERO10 showed no wobble or distortion. 👍
- As far as I could Google, the HERO10 saved to one big file, with no periodic saves. (Dashcam’s typically have a setting to save after 1, 3 or 5 minutes.) I worried that a problem might cause the loss of all data. What I found is that the HERO10 saves every 4 gigs, which at the 1080p/30fps setting I was using is just under 12 minutes of running time. ~333 megs/minute is a significant savings over 1 gig/minute at 4k/30, but still over triple the 90 megs/minute on my dashcam, which is set to the same 1080p/30 fps. Like I said, though, I have more than enough storage — especially if I download after every ride. 📀
- Of more concern was power, and in 44 minutes 1080p/30 fps used up only 33% of my battery. Extrapolating that I should be able to get around 120 minutes out of a fully charged battery. (I carry a backup, just in case.) 👍
- The HERO10 picked up very little ride noise, not from the tire rotation, road bumps, cutting through the air at ~10 mph, or me doing whatever. Really just my gear shifts, which were easily audible, but not loud. I could talk pretty close to normal and usually be clearly heard. However, wind gusts did get audible priority over my voice, the stronger the more I was drowned out, which I guess makes sense. In other words, an external microphone (e.g. lavelier) — which the HERO10 can use — is not necessary. 🎤
- The HERO10 is mounted on the right handlebar of my Trek, just inboard of the gear shift, using stock GoPro hardware. Because the mount is a few inches off center, and the handle bar is slightly angled, the camera points slightly to the right. It’s not noticeable riding down the middle of a road, but it does make curbs and parked cars appear too close. A $20 GoPro swivel mount would compensate, but for now it’s not an issue. 📐
- Getting the HERO10 battery / memory chip compartment open is a pain in the butt, even when the GoPro is dismounted. 😐
There’s a couple of other points, I can’t remember offhand. Next test will be using my helmet mount.
Hit me up on twitter with any comments!
Distance: 7.35 mi.
AEG: 266 ft.
Time: 44m
Bike Video
GoPro Test Run from Preston McMurry on Vimeo.
