GoPro Unveils Hero 6 Camera; Records 4K Video at 60 FPS
GoPro recently held an event and unveiled several new products, but the star of the show was certainly the all-new HERO6 Black camera that can shoot videos in 4K resolution and at 60 frames per second.
About a year since its predecessor camera, the HERO5, was announced, GoPro has taken the covers off of its HERO6 Black camera. And one of the most noticeable improvements in the new flagship product is its ability to shoot videos in 4K and at 60 FPS at the same time.
GoPro fans will recall that while the Hero 5 was capable of filming in 4K as well, the maximum frame rate it supported at that level of resolution was 30 FPS.
Meanwhile, the HERO6 has also improved in terms of filming videos at 1080p Full High-Definition. Avid fans of GoPro will recall that the HERO5 was shooting in the said resolution at 120 FPS. The HERO6, on the other hand, does that at a staggering 240 FPS.
Since GoPro's Hero camera lineup is one of the most popular cameras around the world, this upgrade matters.
Apart from the resolution and FPS bump up, the HERO6 Black is also a pioneer of several other features and specifications among GoPro action cameras. The newly-announced camera can now be submerged to up to 33-feet or 10-meter deep water even without a protective casing.
The most notable addition to the HERO6 Black is GoPro's very own custom-designed image processing chip called the GP1. The development and use of the GP1 on the HERO6 Black is a great risk for GoPro since they have been one of the action camera makers that consistently relied on Ambarella for its processors before.
However, GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman is confident that the GP1 has allowed his company to "make a GoPro without compromises," according to Engadget. To further explain his point, Woodman added: "We haven't had to work around somebody else's chip design and chip limitation."
The GoPro chief also said that if not for the GP1 the HERO6 Black camera would have been way more expensive. But it is also important to note that all the improvements applied in the new camera would add $100 to its price tag ($499) compared to the HERO5's cost.
The HERO6 Black camera can now be purchased on GoPro's website.