As a perfect storm of professional writer and terrifying physical freak, I’ve spent the vast bulk of my life as the man firmly behind the camera, dodging out of photographs with all the skill of an MI6-training-gifted ghost and avoiding being captured on video in a manner only so far bettered by Bigfoot.
However, the world of ‘media’ that I have moved in for decades has changed and while I still believe in the power of the written word, I just don’t believe anyone reads them anymore. I mean, did you read that? Thought not. No, today, with the likes of TikTok, YouTube and Instagram dictating how people both live, record and share their lives, the power to engage is now utterly within the image, be that stills or 4K video streaming at full whack over the interweb.
I have now laid productive hands upon a tiny black box of tricks that will help me escalate my moving content game to the next level: the GoPro HERO11 Black.
What’s in the Box?
An important question, seeing as you’ll be handing over the best part of £550 or £400 depending on whether you already have a GoPro Subscription or not (that being £150 per year for unlimited cloud storage, auto uploads, unlimited use of the Quik app, 50 per cent off in the GoPro shop, and ‘no-questions-asked camera replacement’), so you’ll be pleased to hear that GoPro don’t skimp. Aside from the very fetching HERO11 Black camera itself, you’ll also find such delights as a carrying case, Enduro Rechargeable Battery, curved adhesive mounts, mounting buckle + thumb screw, USB-C cable and SD card. So quite the impressive package.
But what does it all do? Well, for those who do utilise a professional YouTube channel to make sacks of cash, social influencers looking to bring in bigger brands to them, TikTokers desperate for ever more attention, or just extreme life enthusiasts who simply enjoy making quality recordings of their each and every near-suicide adventures, it does the lot.
Slightly More Detail
Okay, getting a tad more techie. Capable of snapping stills and capturing the highest quality video in either landscape or portrait mode, the GoPro HERO11 Black shoots a massive 27-megapixels in 8:7 aspect ratio and video in a delicious choice of 5.3K @60fps, 4K @120fps or 2.7K @240fps resolutions, an epically wide FOV (Filed of View) thanks to a spankingly new image sensor and a fulsome threesome of 16:9, 4:3 or 8:7 aspect ratios.
What all that adds up to is a camera capable of rendering every recording, whether an extreme close-up make-up tutorial or breath-takingly cinematic first-person panoramic footage of you winding your wingsuited way out of a light aircraft, into an absolute work of immersive pixel-perfect art. What’s more, if the latter example of typical HERO11 usage is more you, then you’ll absolutely fall for the 11’s Emmy Award-winning HyperSmooth 5.0 video stabilisation with Horizon Lock.
And it’s not just the detail that will dazzle, this GoPro is the first to come packing 10-bit colour footage, meaning it can deliver one billion colours, so any annoying blockiness found on landscape footage in earlier 8-bit models is a thing of the past.
On the sound side – equally important if the content you create sees you lip-synching to songs, giving crystal clear instructions, or is a simple but vital to the video soundtrack of you and your pals whooping like loons as you scream your way down the infamous Streif ski run in Kitzbühel, Austria – the HERO11 Black won’t disappoint you or the ears of your online fanbase either. Naturallly, there’s a nicely attentive built-in mic positioned just beneath the camera, but you can also upgrade your audio (and indeed lens and lighting) options thanks to GoPro’s wide, wide range of available HERO11-improving mods and accessories.
Look Who’s Talking
Just to keep you constantly in the picture, there are two LCD displays on the HERO11, a non-touch front-facer that’s there mostly to help you keep yourself in frame when shooting selfie stuff, and a pleasingly sizable (but not too) screen round the back that gives you 2.27-inches of very responsive touchscreen control that’s also bright enough to be eminently usable even on savagely sunny days.
The rear display gives access to all camera functions depending on how proficient you are. Indeed, you can even choose to work with the ‘Easy’ or ‘Pro’ controls set-up via the GoPro Quik app (iOS and Android), from where you can also remotely alter all functions to best suit your self and, indeed, operate the camera itself from. So, if you’ve used the 11’s in-built mounting fingers and any of the available mounting options to set the HERO itself up somewhere out of reach, you can simply use your phone to select the function you want and start recording, and even zoom in and out should the shot require.
Naturally, all your footage can be stored on the on-board up-to 1TB MicroSD card and/or uploaded to the cloud and also downloaded to be saved to your phone or shared across your social media platforms, giving you full-on footage flexibility. Indeed, if sharing truly is caring, then the GoPro HERO11 Black is the Florence Nightingale of 4K+ cameras.
Old Boots, Hot New Tech
Built to be able to take the abuse its GoPro creators knew would be levelled at it, the HERO11 Black is waterproof down to a depth of 10m, comes with an almighty battery designed to be able to easily endure cold weather, and has a shell that seems capable of taking a proper battering from any of the extremes you might see fit to use to film.
Indeed, while the HERO11 is perfectly adept at recording high-res stuff for your TikTok account and snapping those 27MP shots for Instagram, there’s little doubt, given how hard-as-nails and highly advanced it is, that this little Black beauty was built for those who like to grind-up the Great Outdoors, at speed on the ground, from great heights and even down to 33ft of deep depths – it’s existence is really for adventurers, extreme sports indulgers, and those who like to live life on the edge, and for them it excels.
So, with my summary in place, it just remains for me to ask you to keep an eye out for the minty fresh HERO11-hewn content coming soon to my YouTube channel, including ‘Pritchard on The Piste’, ‘Pritchard on an Air Ambulance’ and the soon-to-be-seminal ‘Pritchard on Powerful Painkillers for the Foreseeable Future’.
Tech Specs
- Photo: 27MP, 8:7 aspect ratio
- Video: 5.3K@60, 4K@120 and 2.7K@240 Wide FOV 16:9, 4:3, 8:7 aspect ratios
- Audio Features : 3.5mm audio mic input with Media Mod for HERO11 Black or Pro 3.5 Mic Adapter (Sold Separately). RAW Audio Capture (.wav Format)
- Connected Features: Uploads Automatically to the Cloud + Get a Highlight Video Automatically with GoPro Subscription. Wi-Fi + Bluetooth. GPS Enabled
- MicroSD: Up to 1TB
- Weight: 153g
- Dimensions: 71.8 x 50.8 x 33.6mm (WxHxD)
- Battery: 1720mAh Enduro Li-ion battery
- Waterproof: To 33ft/10m
