Fstoppers Reviews the GoPro HERO6 Black

The GoPro HERO6 Black is the latest flagship camera in a long line of popular action cameras from GoPro. The HERO6 comes with some pretty hefty promises which we wanted to put to the test to see if this new camera truly is deserving of all of the hype sent its way. Claiming revolutionary low light and stabilization the HERO6 hopes to be the new gold standard action camera on the market.

Upon launch, GoPro released an incredible video featuring footage all created using the HERO6 which did an amazing job of really showing the potential behind their new camera. Watching the video at full resolution I couldn't help but wonder if the latest GoPro is really going to be putting production quality video capture in the hands of everyday users. If you haven't seen the video, check it out below, it is definitely worth a watch. For the context of this review, however, I wanted to step into the shoes of an everyday user that just intends to use a HERO6 to document exciting moments in their life. No high production value equipment, no expensive video editing software. Just a HERO6 on a GoPro shorty in everyday situations.

Stabilization

The HERO6 claims to have the most advanced internal stabilization of any camera on the market. Which based on my experience seems to hold true. While not truly a replacement for a gimbal if your intention is to shoot perfectly smooth video right out of camera the HERO6 achieves a tremendous level of stabilization by almost eliminating camera shake caused by handheld movement and walking. In the example video below, I was able to shoot two very simple clips of myself walking down the street next to a fun mural. One clip includes the stabilization system activated while the other has it disabled. In both, I am holding the HERO6 in front of me walking as I normally would with no particular care taken to ensure the camera is stable in my hand. As can be seen, the stabilization feature radically eliminates camera vibration and heavily suppresses the shake caused by each footfall. In summary, the HERO6 definitely delivers impressive stabilization.

Dynamic Range

Another major claim that the HERO6 has is that it boasts a tremendous improvement in dynamic range. Given that the camera does not shoot raw video I can't truly test the outward limits of how far it can be pushed in post-production but felt a great real world test would be to point the camera at a situation that offers extremely bright highlights while also including very definite shadows. When looking at the example footage pay close attention to detail both in the shadows as well as color and detail preserved in the brightest areas of the frame. Being able to capture a richly exposed sky while still maintaining detail in the shadows behind the trees shows that out of the camera, without any post-production, the HERO6 is able to achieve a solid level of dynamic range. Any pro level DSLR I have ever shot with cannot achieve similar performance when shooting in jpg or video mode at a far higher price point. In the realm of dynamic range, I wouldn't hesitate to say that the HERO6 delivers in a stellar way.

Low Light

One area that action cameras tend to struggle with is in the realm of low light performance. This is a fundamental challenge faced by all cameras with small sensors. A small sensor simply can't record as much light as a larger one and thus tends to suffer from a greater low of image quality in low light situations. To test this particular feature I meandered down to the Vancouver aquarium in the middle of the night. After a few strange expressions from security personnel wondering why some weirdo was outside the front gate recording images of a dimly lit statue at 3:00 am, I came home with the following clip which I feel show low light performance quite effectively. While the HERO6 does suffer a pretty significant loss in quality when ISO is increased I was fairly impressed that it was able to record the statue in reasonably high quality while also capturing detail in the background. Personally, my eyes could not make out the silhouette of the trees behind the statue but the HERO6 was able to capture it. That said, if your goal is to record low light footage in as high quality as possible then the HERO6 probably isn't the best camera for the job. 

Still Photos

Still photography is the last thing most users think about when the name GoPro enters their mind but I feel it is also important to touch on the HERO6's ability to capture still images as well as video. For dedicated photographers, such as myself, having an array of camera equipment for every situation is simply part of everyday life but for the average user who may just want to head out on a hike and who would like to shoot a landscape without any need for a camera other than their action cam does the HERO6 meet that need? Thanks to its ability to capture raw photos while also leveraging the impressive dynamic range mentioned above the HERO6 is able to record pretty impressive photo stills if your main goal is to share on social media. Unfortunately, though, the HERO6 does have a few pretty meaningful drawbacks that prevent it from becoming truly formidable as a tool for still photography. At 100% zoom, the HERO6's images only enjoy mediocre sharpness at best, it certainly is not able to stand toe to toe with world class lenses on a DSLR. As a whole, I'd say the HERO6 does a far better job in the still photography department than I would have ever expected but it certainly isn't a replacement for even a small mirrorless camera if your goal is to create high-quality images that are destined to be printed but if you want to capture a few still images for social media while on a fun adventure the HERO6 more than is capable without the awkwardness and/or risk of trying to shoot with your phone. 

Software

A big part of the GoPro experience is the software surrounding operation of the camera itself. The built-in software installed on the camera is impressively easy to learn and use. Personally, I find it more user-friendly on its tiny screen than Canon or Nikon are able to achieve on much larger DSLR displays. During testing, I did encounter a couple situations where the touch screen seemed to lock up and require a camera reboot to fix but other than that the built-in software provides an excellent user experience.

Once the footage has been captured the user then can either use GoPro's mobile or desktop apps to offload and edit footage. In this particular scenario, I had a mixed experience. GoPro Quik is able to automatically edit videos extremely well and quickly creates short videos that I would normally have to spend hours editing together. Unfortunately, the app simply isn't as stable as I'd hope it would be. On both MacOS and iOS I experienced frequent crashes that often were pretty frustrating. 

The only other minor drawback that I feel is worth mentioning is that the HERO6 captures slow motion video in HEVC format which, at this time, has pretty limited support on only very modern devices. This can be a problem if you are using devices that do not support the format as you will frequently find yourself unable to work with footage and plagued with error messages while trying to watch or edit a video. In order to ease the transition to the HEVC format, GoPro has created a handy article outlining currently supported devices as well as a workaround to be able to convert the footage to a format supported by your device.

Battery

One of the largest complaints levied against the HERO6's predecessors was battery life that left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, GoPro has not made any revolutionary strides in this department. While the dream of having enough battery to last most of the day filming would be an amazing upgrade for many action shooters the unfortunate reality is that under heavy use the HERO6 offers what feels like a very quickly depleting battery. In my tests, I found that about an hour was the best I could expect from it. What surprised me most, however, was how much battery seemed to drift away when not in use. For example, after one test I shut the HERO6 down at 29% and when I powered it up again the next morning its battery was at 13%. Overall, battery consumption is far from unusable but is certainly a constant nag that has massive room for improvement. 

Hardware and Build Quality

As can be expected based on their previous track record GoPro has continued to pour near rugged invincibility into the HERO6. For those familiar with the HERO5 the build and design of the HERO6 will be very familiar, on the surface, the two cameras seem almost identical. The main physical difference between the HERO5 and HERO6, however, comes in the form of a slightly smaller form factor for the HERO6 which feels like GoPro simply scaled down the size of the HERO5 by about 5%. Overall the HERO6 appears to have impeccable build quality with all the buttons and panels feeling very solid and responsive. The only minor complaint that I could levy is that in the heat of the action it can often be frustrating that the battery needs to be removed in order to access the camera's memory card.

What We Liked

• Impressive stabilization
• Great dynamic range
• Sturdy build quality
• Easy to use
• Decent low light
• Reasonably good still photography performance

What We Didn't Like

• Poor stability from desktop and mobile apps
• HEVC format frustrating to work with on older devices
• Poor battery life

Conclusion

My experience with the HERO6 has been largely very positive and is a camera I have come to enjoy working with. I particularly look forward to the arrival of winter and/or next summer when I will have the opportunity to use the camera while partaking in some of the outdoor sports that I love that simply aren't in the cards during Vancouver's rainy fall. The HERO6 Black is priced at $499.99 and is currently available at most major electronics retailers.