GoPro HERO4 Black/Silver update v4.0

[Pedals2Paddles]

If you're shooting in 2.7k 60fps, would doubling that for a shutter speed of 120 still be the recommended practice or too fast?

Also now I'm glad I bought the 6-pack of filters rather than just an ND8!

 

[Rusty Jones]

Makes the 180° shutter rule easier

 

[Perry Lawrence]

For 60fps 1/120 is a good starting place. Perfect if playing back at normal speed. If doing slow motion, higher is better.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Cool, thanks. What are you thoughts on resolution, frame rate, ISO, and shutter speed for dusk/dawn when the lighting is low?

 

[Perry Lawrence]

It depends on the look and what you want to do, that's the beauty of now having the ability to play around.
But for starting point:
Resolution, frame rate, shutter would stay the same.
To get to the proper exposure at low light I would (in order as needed):
First, lower the ND filter, or take off the filter.
Second raise up the ISO.
(Rule here is the higher the ISO the more grain (noise) in the image.)
Third, lower the shutter speed.

With this update you now have a manual camera. Auto wasn't bad, but now you can play around. There is no "iris" or f-stop adjustment - that's where filters come in. Think, filters = iris.

 

[Perry Lawrence]

Best advice I've gotten is:
Shoot in full auto until you want to make something better. Then go semi auto (leave ISO and / or shutter in auto) use flat protune. Then go full manual if that can get you closer to what you want.
Look at the image and ask, how could this be better?

 

[pyrate]

This is helpful on those days when clouds would cause shifts in exposure settings. Now it's locked in. Nice trade since you just need to power on manually to get all that power. Honestly how often are we changing settings mid flight

 

[SurfnSkate81]

This is helpful on those days when clouds would cause shifts in exposure settings. Now it's locked in. Nice trade since you just need to power on manually to get all that power. Honestly how often are we changing settings mid flight

Not often!


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[SARDG]

This is helpful on those days when clouds would cause shifts in exposure settings. Now it's locked in. Nice trade since you just need to power on manually to get all that power. Honestly how often are we changing settings mid flight

How many people on here have reported that v 4 will not turn on automatically with Solo? Just one, I think. Have other users on Solo-related sites reported that?

Several users have appeared to not have that functionality with the last v 3.X, and I've always had it.

Not updating yet, until I hear some more tests from a bigger sampling. I rather like that auto on/off.

 

[pyrate]

Yes more than one has confirmed

 

[Matt Garcia]

How many people on here have reported that v 4 will not turn on automatically with Solo? Just one, I think. Have other users on Solo-related sites reported that?

Several users have appeared to not have that functionality with the last v 3.X, and I've always had it.

Not updating yet, until I hear some more tests from a bigger sampling. I rather like that auto on/off.

I can confirm auto on doesn't work but it does turn the GoPro off when I turn solo off

 

[Timmytimetravel]

Same here. I had a spare hero black from a handheld gimbal. No auto on off, and no new menu items automagically in 3dr iOS app to use new features.
I'm sure I can probably revert firmwares on the GoPro but I've never tried it

I rather like the auto on off, so I'll be leaving my main rectilinear GoPro on 3.

Once there is a consensus on settings I might fly the 4.0 spare to see, however it's my rectilinear one that has built in nd.

I'm interested to see what turns up in the new made for gopro Bluetooth ability. Could open up for accessories that talk bt to Gp without having to direct connect.

We've got most of what we need out of our current connection or likely coming, so....
Ideas?

 

[n01kn0ws]

I was just about to do the same thing. Now I'm going to wait and see what others are discovering. Would be nice if we didn't have to be adding filters and deal with adding balancing weights to the gimbal.

Filters are needed, more than earlier, especially now when you can set iso/shutter/ manually.
In bright day if you shoot 50fps with shutter 1/100 and lowest iso as possible - 400 - still footage is to bright, so nd16 or even more will be required.
But now you can provide to your customer shots with proper settings.

 

[Joe Horn]

How many people on here have reported that v 4 will not turn on automatically with Solo? Just one, I think. Have other users on Solo-related sites reported that?

It's true. Turning on Solo no longer turns on my Hero 4 Silver.

 

[SurfnSkate81]

It's true. Turning on Solo no longer turns on my Hero 4 Silver.

When I first got Solo I had to manually turn it on anyway. Then I have had what four or so months recently that I didn't have to turn it on, now back to manually doing it myself. I can live with that in a trade off for being able to control my GoPro the way I want.

I wondering if this is a sneak peek into what we will see in the new GoPro, hopefully this and more?


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[Flyrite]

Hi folks;
I am new to the Solo and Gopro (2wks in) so when it said update on my Gopro desk top I (like an idiot) clicked update. So I now have V 4.0 Everything works so far but the remote on and off.
I have spoken with support from Solo and from Gopro.

Solo Support
Said they only became aware after the update was released, They had only discovered that remote on off was not working. When questioned about a fix or work around the tech support person said that there was nothing in the works at the current time to update or fix the Solo App to correct this issue.
I mentioned to them that the literature in the Solo state to "update both the Solo and Gopro to the latest firmware version" so I do believe there is an onus upon 3DR to come up with a work around. I (we) owners of the Solo are only following their (manufacture's) directions.

Gopro Support
Also said they were unaware of any problem with the remote functions. Would check with their "back end" people. I asked if there was any way to "roll back" the update and they said unfortunately not without damaging the camera.
Their suggestion in the meantime for a quick turn around was, to try and return the camera to the store where I purchased it and get a replacement which would have the 3.0 version on it likely. Otherwise I would have to try and do a return with Gopro which of course will take longer.

Either way, both tech supports were understanding and did their best to find answers. Both have promised to communicate further with me when they have further information on the issue. In the meantime, I may try to take my GP4B back to the store and see if they will do a replacement, though I really don't see that the store has responsibility here for this issue, But I really would like the remote on/off to function to be working.

Queston: Are the fixes in the update of significant value to ignore the remote on/off lack of functionality? Your thoughts on this would be most helpful.

 

[SurfnSkate81]

I've updated both my GoPros and I definitely take a trade off, like I said in a previous post when I first got Solo you had to manually turn the GoPro on and off.

It's my opinion that the GoPro v4 update is a significant one and something everyone has wanted for sometime. I'm fine with having updated, given your new to Solo take everyone's advice/opinions and weigh those up and then make an informed decision as to what works for you.

I'm sure others will chime in here...


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[SurfnSkate81]

Also appreciate you relaying the response you received from 3DR support and like you said 3DR documentation states to have the latest firmware for Solo and GoPro.

They will be left with egg on their face if they don't come up with a fix, but from what we are hearing from others this could be another nail in the 3DR coffin, at least Solo in its current form.

And I'm saying this as someone who just purchased another Solo a couple of days ago. I still love and believe in this platform although I may have blinkers or my beer googles on lol.


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[Jeff Wright]

Shutter speed can be used to give an more cinematic feel as well as reduce flicker, judder, shakes, vibrations, much like a filter can.

A filter was used to darken the image so that the Hero would have to open the shutter for longer exposures. Now, that can be done with the shutter. Slower shutter means longer exposure and smother capture (in some cases).

My first experiments will be 24fps with 1/48 shutter. Logic behind this is that film and commercials are often shot at 24fps. The "general" rule of thumb for the shutter - going all the way back to early film days - is to double the fps or 1/2xfps. Basically the shutter would have 2 holes on a rotating disk that was 180° Apart.
Said another way, if fps is 24, set shutter to 1/48. Longer if you want more motion blur. Shorter if you want a more jittery staccato look. (In general)

Slower shutter means you need less light. Faster means you need more. Faster shutter in aerial would be a bad thing for filming. It would make vibrations more apparent. Slower shutter speed smoothie that apparent high frequency vibration blur out.

So if you lock in shutter speed, how do you adjust for exposure?
Before this upgrade, the shutter was in auto and adjusting to the amount of light. Now we can lock the shutter at 1/48 say and let the ISO do the adjustments if necessary. Depending on the day, you can set the ISO to 800 Max and the ISO will vary while leaving the shutter at 1/48.

Does this eliminate the need for filters? Not really. On super bright days you'll want to help cut the light just as you do now.

Using a combination of shutter speed, ISO, and filters you will be able to dial in a perfect exposure / look. If you like the way things work now, you can leave the shutter speed to auto and ISO to Max.

I'd be careful relying on shutter to reduce shakes. Coming from someone that has shot quite a bit out of real helicopters the general rule is to never shoot 180 degrees if there is any possibility of needing to stabilize the footage in post. If you've got vibration or shaky footage at 180 once you smooth it out in post you're going to have a nightmare on your hands. The image is stable but each frame blurs in a different direction and it looks like the blur is dancing off of your subject ( the more tele the lens the worse the problem). If you need to you can always add blur with Twixter later on but you most definitely can't ever get rid of it. I normally shoot skiing with a red epic and we'll almost always shoot 90 degrees. Nobody has ever had any issues with it not being "cinematic". If we shoot 90 deg super over cranked (slow motion) and then speed it up in post more than 200% (which all of sudden is 45 deg or smaller) we'll need to add some blur. We'd use the term "too crisp".

And yes, filters are actually going to be more important in these modes. Does anyone know the f stop range on a go pro? If it's sunny and you've got your shutter at 1/60 without heavy ND it's going to automatically stop you way down which is probably going to look like garbage (show every single bit of dirt on your lens, bad and weird flare, and be soft).

 

[Greg Parker]

There is no f-stop range on a gopro, lens is a fixed aperture.