With the GoPro mounted on my lovely Jim Smith bow mount, I took it out on the Genessee River to see how it looks. And I have to say, I think it looks awesome (ok, as I write this it’s only a few minutes after I uploaded it to YouTube and YouTube is only showing it in 360p, but trust me when I say it looks great in 4K). The GoPro doesn’t have image stabilization in 4K, but on a flat water trip like this, it doesn’t need it. And I love the position – the Jim Smith mount puts it just at about the right height, and it feels firm.
Day: January 12, 2017
GoPro Hero 5 Black battery tests
I’m going to update this table as I do further tests. These are “bench tests” done with the camera mostly stationary in my office or in my work-out room. The idea was just to get a basic idea of whether I’m going to be able to record long kayak races with the camera as-is, or if I’m going to have to figure out how to attach an external battery to it without compromising the waterproofness.
| Resolution/ Frame Rate |
Wifi/ Bluetooth/ Voice |
GPS | Image Stabilization |
External Battery | Battery Life |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4K/30 | On | Off | NA | No | 92 min |
| 4K/30 | Off | Off | NA | No | 97 min |
| 4K/30 | On | Off | NA | Yes | 142 min overheat 98 min |
| 2.7K/60 | On | Off | On | No | 85 min |
| 2.7K/60 | On | Off | On | Yes | 290 min – card filled up |
| 1080p/60 | On | Off | On | No | 110 min |
| 1080p/60 | On | Off | On | Yes | 272 min |
One additional test: I wanted to see whether being in “standby” mode using a remote consumed a lot of battery power, because if not I could perhaps cover a long race by turning it off and on as action warranted. However, in 4K mode (where I got 92 minutes video in continuous shooting), going 30 minutes on then repeating 15 minutes off and 15 minutes on, I only got a total of 111 minutes total between shooting (66 minutes) and standby (45 minutes). That’s not what I was hoping – basically 45 minutes in standby was equivalent to 26 minutes running.
Note: The “External Battery” in the table is a Novobeam NBP3000 Waterproof USB battery. I’m trying to figure out how to attach it to the camera without compromising the waterproofness of the camera, possibly by covering the USB and HDMI port hatch with Sugru or something similar.