GoPro HERO4 Black/Silver update v4.0

pyrate · Sep 1, 2016

scroll up and watch the video
seems to zoom in

Ben J · Sep 1, 2016

Watch the video in my prior post. It illustrates the distortion. The preview feed is fine and shows everything the GoPro is seeing. When shooting in 2.7k and in 4k, the preview switches to a "distorted" view when the record button is pressed. I view it more as a digitally cropped version of what you were seeing prior to recording. This does not effect the actual footage being recorded.
GoPro HERO4 Black/Silver update v4.0

jibcamera · Sep 1, 2016

Ben J said:
Watch the video in my prior post. It illustrates the distortion. The preview feed is fine and shows everything the GoPro is seeing. When shooting in 2.7k and in 4k, the preview switches to a "distorted" view when the record button is pressed. I view it more as a digitally cropped version of what you were seeing prior to recording. This does not effect the actual footage being recorded.
GoPro HERO4 Black/Silver update v4.0

Yikes!!! Thats more than a little distortion..that is unacceptable cropfactor..almost like the app is selecting a different FOV field of view within gopro menu...not good at all

ChrisBird · Sep 2, 2016

Ben J said:
Heard back again from Owen. Here's his final response:

Here is the official respond regarding the GoPro update:

The new GoPro firmware update (v4.0) is compatible with your SOLO app video feed and settings will work just fine, however, it will no longer turn on along with your SOLO unit. This is permanent and probably that functionality will not be re-enabled for the new GoPro Fw, although this is not a final decision. Besides that, there's a video codec change that alters the video feed when recording on 2.7K and 4K. It will simply distortion the image that is displayed in the app (the live feed), but the video recorded on the GoPro itself is not affected by this.
In case you want to revert firmware to v3.0 to regain old functionality, the steps to downgrade the GoPro Firmware below:
1. Download the UPDATE.zip file for your camera. GoPro Firmware
2. Extract the files with the option Extract to UPDATE
3. Insert the SD card from the GoPro into the computer
4. Copy the UPDATE folder to the microSD card
5. Insert the SD card back into the GoPro
6. Turn on the GoPro. This will perform the downgrade (the camera will restart itself about 4 times during the downgrade, this is normal).

Any other questions please let us know.

Best Regards,

Owen Torres
3DR Technical Support

You have to ask why does GP do this, either they have extremely poor testing or they are doing it intentionally. Either way I think the GP4B will be my last GP product.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

twitchyzero · Sep 2, 2016

we dont know if it's a gopro issue or 3dr issue at this point
hope it will get fixed...i want to say almost all Solo owners shoot 2.7K/4K
hope auto-on gets fixed too...it's weird that auto-off is still there but not on...some consistency would be nice.

PdxSteve · Sep 2, 2016

It's a gopro issue. They changed their firmware and how the video via the hdmi switches resolution when changing to record mode. This isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it does it when not even connected to solo using other apps.
Wrong aspect ratio on iPad while GoPro is recording

Firmware 3 works fine. GoPro released version 4 which has this issue, so how could it be 3dr?

Ben J · Sep 2, 2016

PdxSteve said:
It's a gopro issue. They changed their firmware and how the video via the hdmi switches resolution when changing to record mode. This isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it does it when not even connected to solo using other apps.
Wrong aspect ratio on iPad while GoPro is recording

Firmware 3 works fine. GoPro released version 4 which has this issue, so how could it be 3dr?

Exactly. v3 worked fine. v4 doesn't so it'd have to be a GoPro issue. While I like the shutter settings of v4.00, at this stage it is more important to me to be able to maintain a full field of view while filming a subject. I'll revert back to v3 tomorrow and continue to using my ND filters to "trick" the GoPro.

twitchyzero · Sep 2, 2016

gotcha
simply because 3DR has also been going through FW/app changes themselves

SurfnSkate81 · Sep 2, 2016

This is what happens when you rely on other companies to keep your product working.

I wonder if this will ever get solved, GoPro probably doesn't give a $h!t about 3DR when they are about to unveil their own drone on September 19.

Really disappointed given that these are really needed features that should have been on the GoPro from day one, but now we have them and they are pretty much useless with the screen crop.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

twitchyzero · Sep 2, 2016

good point...i doubt 3DR has active licensing with GoPro? May be this is why GoPro wont feel bad about handicapping 3DR's capabilities nor do they have any urgencies to look into a fix.

I'm not complaining much because we never had shutter control from day 1. Free new feature is free...can't complain. GoPro and their current line-up however, is still a joke, IMO.

PdxSteve · Sep 2, 2016

This isn't specific to 3dr. 3DR is NOT the only company on this planet using GoPros supplied Software Development Kit.

Here's what everybody has to work with if they want to interface with the gopro hero bus for external control: API - goprohero

GoPro Developer Program

CAMERA TOOLKIT FOR iOS AND ANDROID

Add GoPro camera wireless connectivity to your app with these toolkits that support the following:

Camera Control (Preview, Shutter, Mode Change and Settings Management)

Camera Media Management (File: Inventory, Download and Delete)

Everybody is on the same page. There is no conspiracy. They have done this before, and then fixed it.

n01kn0ws · Sep 2, 2016

Hi.

I'm glad that I don't see such behavior as zooming stated previously on my gp4bk with fw 4.

Tested on Samsung Tab S2.

twitchyzero · Sep 2, 2016

n01kn0ws said:
Hi.

I'm glad that I don't see such behavior as zooming stated previously on my gp4bk with fw 4.

just tested on mine, yep no cropping in behaviour either. Hero4 Black FW v4.0 4K30

the plot thickens

ChrisBird · Sep 2, 2016

PdxSteve said:
This isn't specific to 3dr. 3DR is NOT the only company on this planet using GoPros supplied Software Development Kit.

Here's what everybody has to work with if they want to interface with the gopro hero bus for external control: API - goprohero

GoPro Developer Program

Everybody is on the same page. There is no conspiracy. They have done this before, and then fixed it.

So true but i really dislike their disclaimer that they wont gurantee any item is future proofed. Its like with the 3+ not starting on startup of the Solo. They said sorry we broke it, but the sdk says what it does so they never fixed it.

Pretty important feature the remote on and off feature in my books. I know it still turns off but still.

I hope they do fix it for the 4.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

SurfnSkate81 · Sep 2, 2016

twitchyzero said:
just tested on mine, yep no cropping in behaviour either. Hero4 Black FW v4.0 4K30

the plot thickens

@twitchyzero Are you on Android or iOS?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Solo Keith · Sep 2, 2016

franknitty69 said:
i have four hero4 blacks and one hero3+ black. i updated 3 of 4 hero4 blacks. the one i didn't update is my main gopro for solo. only issues with v4 and solo is:

1) powers off automatically, but not on *you guys knew this already
2) when you start recording, the preview resolution changes

for the ability to lock ISO and set shutter speed these are non-issues if you ask me.

that being said, gopro support doesn't know what they are talking about. as long as you have the firmware files for the right model you can go up and down like an elevator.

next, everyone wants 3DR to update solo to work with these new features. GoPro hasn't even updated their own SDK to support these features yet. and even then they would have to be exposed to the hero bus and then and only then could 3DR even begin to update the firmware, the app and dronekit. and based on GoPro's commitment to their wireless sdk, i don't see GoPro doing any work on anything for the HeroBus nor or they obligated.

i like the testing you guys have been doing so far. i think i'll settle on this for my baseline:

2.7k resolution
60 fps
fov wide *i use the 3.8mm lens
low light & spot meter off *only jingle noobs use this
native wb *no need for the gopro to be changing tint every 5 seconds
flat color *i'll do the cc and grading thank you
shutter speed: 1/120 *FINALLY!!!
iso locked and adjusted as needed *FINALLY!!!
sharpness *unsharp mask > than gopro sharpening
ND16 or ND32

What's a "jingle noob"? Lol

Ben J · Sep 2, 2016

For the sake of clarity. All of my testing has been done on iOS ( all devices on 9.3.x or greater), Solo App 2.4.0 and 2.7k60. I have an Android device (Nexus 7 on 6.0.1) running Solo App 2.3.0 but it is unable to establish a connection to Solo for testing (Tower works fine though). I'll update the Android to 2.4.0 today and see what happens. I'll also try different resolutions and frame rates for iOS and see where the zoom appears when recording.

franknitty69 · Sep 2, 2016

Solo Keith said:
What's a "jingle noob"? Lol

so call of duty usually gets released in september. mostly everybody gets it, levels up and is like level 50 by the time christmas rolls around. well the people who are unwrapping call of duty on christmas day start at level 1 with bullshit guns and gets eviscerated by those who have been playing since september. hence the term jingle noob.

i take it a step further for it to mean any one who can't be bothered to read a manual or learning how to do something properly (i.e. proper camera settings).

Ben J · Sep 2, 2016

Ok, so the zoom/crop appears to potentially be less of an issue than originally thought. I started at 4k 24fps Wide and ran down through 1080p 24fps Narrow and tested every resolution/fps/fov inbetween. Here is a photo of my testing setup/subjects.

What appears to be happening is that in 2.7k 60fps the preview resolution maintains a Wide FOV aspect even when switched to Medium. Upon recording the preview then adjusts to the actual Medium FOV. This can be seen around 1:08 in my video. There are minor adjustments to the preview screen on some other resolutions, but nothing like I was seeing at 2.7k60Medium.