GoPro Hero 7 side-by-side shootout with Hero 5

This is my side-by-side video-shooting comparison between the new GoPro Hero 7 and my two-year-old Hero 5 (I never bought a Hero 6).

WARNING: There is some really bad wind noise in some of this video – but that was a completely deliberate and necessary to highlight one key feature of the new camera.

I’m very happy and impressed with some of the features of the Hero 7 – the hyper smooth time-lapse in particular – the the so-called ‘buttery-smooth’ video stabilisation – and the colour and sharpness as the light faded.

And, while sound, especially in windy conditions is actually better and a lot more ‘usable’ – especially in really strong wind – it isn’t the amazing leap forward I was hoping for, but still good nonetheless.

I didn’t discuss my major disappointments/frustrations with this upgrade in this video – I intend to do a follow-up video and will mention those in that.

For now, though, I am very happy with my purchase and looking forward to working with this great new tool – within its limits.

 

 

Technical specs for this shoot:

• Both cameras in this shoot were set to 1080p resolution and shooting at 24 frames per second.
• Both cameras still have factory colour and sharpness settings selected.
• I ran both cameras for pretty much exactly the same times, starting with full batteries. The Hero 5 used 42% battery and the Hero 7 used 48% battery.
• The only difference between the two shoots was that the Hero 7 was on “hyperlapse video” for the walk around the lighthouse, while the Hero 5 was on “timelapse video”.
• Over the whole shoot (not all footage used, of course) Hero 5 shot 8.89gig and the Hero 7 shot 9.03gig – the only significant differences in file sizes are in the two hyperlapse-v-timelapse walks.
• Both cameras were “off” as standard – auto-recording when I pressed record, then saving and shutting down when I pressed the record button again.
• I made up a very simple jig to mount both cameras side by side (I’ll show that in the next video) and used the horizon at the beach to get them both on the same level.
• The Hero 7 was mounted on the left on my jig and I was very careful to display it’s footage on the left in every split screen (this was way more confusing that you might imagine, when editing around midnight 😉 )

.

.

.

.

.

.


.


.