Fill your holidays with fun and record them like a Pro
Become an everyday Scorsese with this nifty action camera
GoPro single-handedly invented the action-camera. The tiny video-cameras were initially aimed at snowboarders, climbers and adrenaline junkies, generally. Now, given technology improvements and friendlier pricing, there’s practically an action-cam to suit everyone.
The new Hero 2018 is GoPro’s latest attempt at making an actioncam for the masses.
Unpacking it reminds you of just how good makers have become at miniaturising everything these days.
It weighs barely 4 ounces and is just two-and-a-half inches across. However, GoPro has managed to include a bright 2in screen on the back for reviewing images, which you also use to control functions on the camera.
ONE OF THE BEST FEATURES OF THIS GADGET IS VOICE CONTROL
There’s also a small camera status screen and a micro-HDMI port letting you connect the camera directly to a HDTV or other device.
The camera has a microSD slot for a memory card and there’s also a microphone and speaker port.
The body of this gadget is sturdy and it’s also waterproof.
Of course, there’s a GoPro app for iOS and Android and, after downloading it, I connected my phone wirelessly to the camera.
This app works really well and you have full camera control including live preview on your phone of what the camera is seeing. It also allows playback, sharing of content and you can update the camera software.
Using the camera is intuitive. There’s a big shutter button on the camera but I found myself using the app mostly. One of the wonderful features of this new gadget is the voice control.
You can speak commands out loud to start/stop recording and tell it to snap a photo.
The time-lapse feature can be voice-activated and you can also issue instructions to highlight particular pieces of video, so you can find them easily later. This GoPro doesn’t have the fancy features of the brand’s higher-end cameras – perhaps the most obvious missing feature is 4K video. However, it really is a camera for holidays and fun, rather than serious Antarctic videography. The built-in filming modes are plenty for most of us and the 10mp images and video it records in HD are bright, clear and memorable. Whether you mount it on a kayaking helmet or a pew at a Christening, this is discreet, sturdy and weatherproof fun.