GoPro Hero Session 4 -_- Product Review
Greetings Board Stupid readers, a few months ago I made the plunge into the all so present world of GoPro. I had always been impressed by the video quality when certain friends of mine had made short movies using their own GoPro footage from Surf and Snowboard trips. However it took a while to decide upon which of the ever growing product line of HD mini cams I was going to choose. It can feel like a pretty daunting task at first with all the choice and range of features that each camera possesses. In the end I did a lot of internet research, watched a ton of Youtube review vids comparing the top 5/10 mini cams on the market and finally decided to stick with the brand that so many friends had sung the praises of to me and obviously I had seen the results and even used a GoPro Hero + and GoPro Hero Black on a Snowboard trip with some buddies. I was sold and I decided on this bad boy…….
The GoPro Hero Session 4. It comes with 2 cage housings for upright and sideways mounting and also has 2 sticky pad mounts for helmet/board mounting purposes. The camera itself has a single button function which in theory is very useful and simple, however can become more confusing in set up and that difficult (getting used to the camera) stage of use. I annoyingly was initially sold the wrong Micro SD card!! Which as you can guess made things a lot harder. So heed this advice…..only ever use an Extreme Micro SD card with your HD cameras!! OK? Got It? Good. It is the only way for you to get the best out of your camera. The End.
Ok, once these initial woes were out of the way I did manage to get some pretty decent footage on the thing! I was testing the Session 4 out on another yearly pilgrimage to The Alps more specifically Morzine. I was using the GoPro Session mainly on 2 different mounts:
Helmet cam…..
And stick mount…..
As you can see here both methods delivering quite different results. The Helmet cam mount is a lot less steady and you get more wind distortion on the microphone however it makes things a lot easier when wanting to film a POV style video although this type of video style is quickly becoming quite over used. I did really like the framing of this camera and with the Stick mount I felt the results were pretty impressive. The Hero Session 4 has a great advantage on a lot of other small adventure sport cameras as it is almost all lens, so wherever you point it it’s pretty much going to get everything you want in shot as long as you are close enough to the action. It’s also 40 percent lighter than other GoPro models at a stunning 74g in weight, compared with 147g for it’s earlier counterparts. That square shape, included mounting frames and quick-release buckles lets you rotate the camera so it’s right-side up and lower profile, something that’s not easily done with other GoPro cameras.
Some camera review Vloggers (not going to name any names) have slated the cameras colour/saturation/quality. But honestly there is no visible difference to the human eye, it still records at a super high quality definition and has some great features allowing the user to get on with whatever they are doing safe in the knowledge that they have a solid, rugged and durable camera capturing their every move. The battery lasts about 2 hours running at top spec. and the only slight downside is there is no way of switching out the battery for a fresh one. But if you have a computer of portable battery pack the camera itself can be easily charged up. I really think for the price this camera is one of the best options on the market for someone who wants to create good quality movies without breaking the bank.
The camera retails for:
GoPro Hero Session 4 £159 — €219
Whereas:
GoPro Hero 4 Black £399 — €529
So for less than half the price you get a lot of camera for your money (not in size) 🙂
For full price listings in your own country check the GoPro website:
or for a list of equally as affordable alternatives check out this Tech in Asia review of the 5 top contenders:
https://www.techinasia.com/best-gopro-alternatives
Here is also a link to the finished edit of my all my Gopro footage from a super fun holiday to Morzine, where mountainside beers finally took presidence over Snowboarding !!!
Thanks for reading…..
BOARD STUPID 