Our Thoughts On The New GoPro Hero 4 Session Action Camera
We recently got some hands on time with the tiny new action camera from Gopro and we are stoked to say the least! The Gopro brand has by skyrocketing in popularity over the last 10 years and for good reason. High quality cameras in a size compact enough to utilize in any situation. Well, they just got smaller. This camera is tiny, under half the size of the amazing Hero 4 Silver Edition (read our review on that camera here). The biggest selling feature for the aquatically inclined like divers and snorkeling enthusiasts is the fact that it is waterproof without the need for any case up to 33 feet or (10m). Just grab it and dive overboard without worrying about if your housing is sealed properly. This makes it amazing for snorkeling, capturing crystal clear HD footage in the palm of your hand.
Due to the waterproof 33 feet limit, it might not be so applicable to divers without an optional under water housing, but that’s a minor issue given its compact size. It’s perfect for getting into small nooks and crannies during your dive to see all the micro life larger cameras are unable to capture. This is an ideal camera for anyone who loves to travel and make fantastic travel videos for their friends back home. The operation is super simple, two buttons. That’s it. Easy, simple and negates distraction fiddling around with a camera while adventuring under the waves. Just press once to start filming and then press again to stop and turn power the camera off, which helps save a ton of battery life. Long pressing that main button toggles timelapse mode, which takes a picture every half second. There is a small button on the back which toggles the wifi mode for pairing with your smartphone. Due to its compact size, the Hero 4 Session menu options are changed via the smartphone app.
This thing is TINY!
The picture quality is pretty great as well, while not quite up to the level of the Hero 4 Silver, it still captures fantastic HD footage. There are multiple resolutions and shooting modes available: 1440 30 FPS, 1080 60 FPS and 720 100 FPS. We tend to shoot most of our footage in 1080, and the 60 FPS makes slowing down the captured footage easy. This is great for slow motion detail shots of sharks or other speedy fish. The underwater microphone has a unique design that allows it to drain quickly when removed from water, which is cool for those who like to spend their time on the surface such as surfers or snorkelers. Check out some of the cool promo footage recently released by GoPro, all captured with the Hero 4 Session:
Given the shape 1.5 inch cube shape, you can mount it in its frame any side up you like. This means you can now side mount it on a mask or other gear and not have to use a bulky elbow joint to maintain the proper point of view. Very cool and makes it even more versatile. So does it beat out the Gopro Hero 4 Silver Edition as our new favorite action camera? Not quite. This is purely from a scuba divers perspective however. As diver’s we tend to go deeper than the out of the box depth rating and prefer to stick to the 40m rated silver. However, any time we are snorkeling, this would be our HD camera of choice, the compact size and one click operation makes it super simple to use and the footage is still the amazing quality you would expect from GoPro. The session is ideal for people who love to travel lightly, strap it to their surfboards or dive overboard for snorkeling adventures. Expect to see the GoPro Hero 4 Session used to create a TON of creative and out there videos from fans around the world.
