GoPro has announced two new action cameras, the GoPro Hero 13 Black and a smaller GoPro Hero. Today we’re reviewing the flagship one which feels very familiar to Hero 12— it has the same 8:7 sensor with some very similar specs — 5.3K 30fps, 4K 120fps and 27MP photos. Instead, the new GoPro comes with a plethora of new accessories and new features that make it stand out. It can film super slo-mo video up to 400fps, has proper HLG HDR and a much-needed redesigned battery. Along with the new action camera, GoPro introduced three new lenses such as macro, ultra-wide and anamorphic.
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00:00There's a new magnetic mount
00:02three new lenses
00:05Redesigned battery
00:09Magnetic charging
00:11These are just some of the highlights from the latest flagship GoPro the hero 13 earlier this year GoPro promised us more cameras coming from
00:18The company and some of you were hoping for a 1-inch sensor hero camera
00:23It's not here yet. I don't know if it's coming some of you were hoping for the new 360 camera
00:28It's not here yet, but apparently it's coming today
00:32GoPro announced the hero 13 bunch of new lenses and the smaller hero camera, but not everything is available today
00:38So let's talk about what is and also is GoPro doing enough to fight off competition?
00:48Okay, first things first
00:49GoPro hero 13 isn't introducing any major changes to its specs
00:53It is still 5.3 K up to 30 frames per second 4k up to 120 frames per second
01:00It can still film in g-log, and it has 10-bit colors photos at 27 megapixels videographs at 23
01:06It's hyper smooth stabilization. It's still the same and GoPros image quality was already pretty good
01:12But I think this sensor is showing its age
01:16But there are some changes the one big change is that we're getting proper HLG HDR filming
01:22It's not that easy to show in this video
01:24So I've attached comparison files in the description below for you to download and another change is that GoPro is
01:30Including in camera noise reduction it works well, and you can select how much noise reduction you'd want to include so yeah
01:37There is some low-light improvement, but I still wish maybe GoPro went for a slightly larger sensor
01:44I think performance of these cameras past ISO 400 800 just doesn't cut it for me anymore
01:50The other big new thing this year is actually the accessory ecosystem for GoPro
01:54So let's talk about these lenses GoPro is introducing three of them macro ultralight and anamorphic
02:00I'm very excited by the last one
02:02But it will not be available till 2025 all of these lenses get auto detected
02:07By the camera once you attach them and they customize your menu option as well, which is super neat
02:12I really like how this works the macro lens is available now
02:16And I think a lot of people will find this useful it creates some subject separation
02:20It gives you a GoPro a new look something that it's been missing for a few years the focus ring feels nice and solid
02:28however the closest distance it can focus at is about four inches and
02:33That really isn't that close for a macro lens so if you're looking to get some gritty detail shots
02:39You'll probably better off with just a phone that has macro capabilities
02:44You can turn on focus peaking so you can tell what is in focus easier
02:48But I really think it's time for GoPro to also make this back screen larger
02:53I'm having a hard time seeing what I'm focused at and some shots turn out worse because of it. Okay ultralight is next I
03:02Was excited to try out the ultralight lens because I just love that ultra wide look
03:06But I was a little disappointed once I realized that
03:10Optically this is the exact same lens as the max mod 2 from last year the year-over-year changes actually with the camera
03:17the GoPro Hero 13 can now film in 10-bit and log while using one of those lenses as
03:24opposed to 8-bit in
03:26Standard color with the max mod on the hero 12 if you stick to your old max mod 2 the only
03:32Real thing that you're losing is the auto detect feature and lastly not a new lens, but GoPro's own ND filters
03:38They're kind of like smart ND filters
03:40These get auto detected by the camera for folks who want to stick to lower frame rates and get more motion blur
03:46It's super useful
03:47It is also use what the camera itself will let you know if your ND filter is a little too weak or too strong and if
03:53You need to swap it out
03:54It is super handy feature that eliminates fiddling with settings and makes it a lot more approachable to people who just don't want to spend
04:00Time learning about this stuff
04:03GoPro is all about getting the best shot in the easiest way possible. And this neat feature truly speaks to that mission
04:10I think these NDs might be my favorite accessory released this year
04:13But the bad news is that none of these lenses will work with any of the older Hero cameras
04:19This is Hero 13 onwards
04:21So those are the lenses and there are some new other improvements and some old features that are making a comeback
04:27GPS is back, so you can add overlays like GeForce, speed, maps, and such
04:33It was removed from Hero 12, people got mad, myself included, and now it is back
04:38There is an entirely new battery and the battery has always been GoPro's weak point
04:43It would constantly make your GoPro's just turn off at the worst possible time
04:47This 1,900 million battery here promises anywhere between 40 and 60 frames per second
04:531,900 million battery here promises anywhere between 40 and 60 minutes of continuous filming and
04:5990 minutes of general use with airflow and such
05:02I still need to do a little bit more testing, but my early signs are positive
05:06I had to swap out the battery once during our two and a half hour jet ski trip and overall I'm getting about
05:1220% better performance when filming continuously while walking outside with both of these cameras in 65 degree weather
05:20Okay a little bit of context on the battery test that I did
05:23By the way, I'm talking to you through the earbuds that are connected to the GoPro
05:26So tell me how that sounds. It didn't sound that great last year. Maybe it's better this year
05:31So my first test was 5.3K, 30 frames per second between the 12 and the 13
05:36That's where I got the 20% performance increase
05:40My next test which happened yesterday was 4K 60 frames per second
05:45Both cameras running continuously, hyper smooth on, high bitrate, 10-bit color
05:51Standard profile and the Hero 12 turned off with 40% of battery left while the Hero 13
05:58It just kept going until it drained its battery
06:01So the first test showed a 20% increase which is decent
06:05But the second one actually showed us that the thermal management of this battery is a lot better than before
06:11So if that's your use case, we'll be pretty happy with that
06:14I'm glad to see improvements here, but I'm not blown away by this battery
06:18But it is better
06:19DJI Osmo's action, while I haven't tested it, rates theirs for two and a half hours
06:24This magnetic mount is also new and it works great
06:27I'm also glad that GoPro kept the classic fingers
06:29In fact, GoPro still recommends using those if there's a lot of vibration
06:32I do wish there was a way to mount the camera just on its sides for native vertical filming
06:37But maybe this can be added to a protective case later on
06:41One more new accessory, there is the new waterproof magnetic charging
06:45Which is optional and will cost you $79
06:48And it is fine, I don't necessarily love proprietary cables
06:52And I will likely stick to USB-C when traveling
06:55But it does make it easy to charge the GoPro without needing to open the side door
07:00Especially if you're doing a time-lapse or something
07:04And lastly, there is the super slow motion mode
07:07I can't believe I'm talking only about it now
07:09But it films in short bursts up to 15 seconds
07:13And that footage is 8-bit, but it still looks pretty good
07:16I think it's one of those features that's very unique to the GoPro and I really like it
07:23And that's the GoPro Hero 13
07:25Now look, we've been talking about the action camera market plateauing for a little while now
07:30And to some extent, I have to agree
07:33Even though its stabilization is great, it hasn't changed in a few years
07:37And again, I think GoPro is getting as much as they can out of the smaller sensor
07:42I wish they went for the bigger one
07:45And the rest of the hardware remains unchanged aside for some cosmetic touch-ups
07:49But GoPro is trying some new ideas here
07:52While addressing customers' concerns
07:54And I'm glad there is a new battery system
07:57I'm glad there's a new mount and a proper HDR
08:00The company has done well with improving Hero's overall reliability year-over-year as well
08:05And I'm very curious to see more of new lenses and what this actually leads to
08:09GoPro's Hero camera hasn't changed drastically this year
08:13But they have expanded their ecosystem with their lenses
08:15And another part of that ecosystem is its cloud subscription, which is awesome
08:20It enables one extremely useful feature
08:23As soon as you plug in your camera to charge, it offloads footage to its cloud
08:26This feature alone makes it hard for me to even look elsewhere when picking a new camera
08:31Even though I'm fully aware that some of the other cameras
08:33Have better batteries and better image quality
08:36And the Hero remains one of those cameras that will always find a room in my bag
08:40And each summer and winter, I get reminded why I love using them so much
08:44But it is increasingly hard to find reasons to upgrade your GoPro year-over-year
08:49That decision truly depends on which GoPro you're using right now
08:52And what you actually use it for the most
08:55One cool thing that we did for this video is went to jet ski on the Hudson
08:59Which sounds disgusting, and it is
09:02But I survived
09:04Um, and honestly, I haven't been able to lift my arms or walk properly ever since that day
09:11So yeah