GoPro Hero 960 – The Sports Ready Video Camera
If you’ve ever wanted to film your drop as you dive off a 100ft cliff, or the ground racing towards you as you parachute from a plane, just grab your GoPro Hero 960, strap it to your head and go for it! With its 5 mega pixel camera, ultra fast frame rate, and extremely low-light level recording, the Hero makes the ideal point-of-view camera for any such hair raising activity. And at just $179 and a mere 3.3 ounces, the GoPro Here 960 even throws in HD recording and, as you might have guessed, the ability to film under water.
GoPro Hero 960 Out Of The Box
When you open up your newly purchased GoPro Hero 960 helmet camera, alongside the camera itself you will also find the following accessories
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The GoPro Hero 960 Camera Features
Impressively, although the Hero is sold at an affordable price, the designers over in Silicon Valley have pulled out all the stops to ensure every possible feature has still been included without compromising on quality. As mentioned previously, the camera can capture full HD recording, giving a choice of
- 960p : a 4:3 aspect ratio image at 1280 x 960 pixels wide and tall, recorded at 30 frames per second and using 12 Mbits per second. With the impressive 170 degree angle of view lens, you’re guaranteed to capture more action above and below your viewpoint than a typical wide screen view
- 720p : for 16:9 aspect ratio, 1280 x 720 image, also recorded at 30 frames per second, but only using 8 Mbits per second, this is the standard widescreen view, also covering a wide 170° angle of view
- WVGA: resolution, which again produces a 16:9 aspect ratio, but can capture at an ultra high frame rate of 60 per second, but still only requiring 8Mbits per second.
It may specialise if HD video, but the GoPro Hero 960 can also act as an outstanding stil camera, providing not just the basic point and shoot capability, but three further, intelligent, modes. The first is the self timer mode delivered by practically every camera in the last 50 years, allowing you to focus on your desired scene, then add yourself into it in a striking pose in plenty of time before the picture is taken.
The second mode is a quick 3 photo burst mode, where the camera will take a set of 3 images over a 2 second period, leaving you free to get on with the action rather than concentrating on the photos.
And finally, the third mode adds the more modern sequence capability to the GoPro Hero 960, allowing you to record a set of individual photos at a regular interval of 2, 5, 10, 30 or 60 seconds. All you need do is choose the interval and press the shutter to easily record a perfect sequence. And, impressively, even at the rate of 2 photos per second, the battery continues to function for a good 2 hours.
But even that hasn’t exhausted the list of outstanding features. The camera also functions at really low light-levels, only needing somewhere around the light of a full moon in order to record a perfect image. And topping it all off, alongside the HD video quality, you also get HD quality sound, helping to ensure you record all sounds you intend without it being drowned out by the ever present wind noise of your typical sports activity. And the sound isn’t just any plain recording, it’s also crisp and distortion free.
Battery
As listed above, the 960 comes with a rechargeable 1100mAh lithium-ion battery. This can survive for anywhere up to 2.5 hours of constant video recording. When flat, it can be recharged to 80% of the full charge in about two hours, simply by connecting the camera to your computer via a USB port. If you really want to, you can continue to record your video video while the camera is charging.
The Camera Mounting Options
As you can see from the package photo above, tHe GoPro Hero 960 comes with a range of mounting options to suit the requirements of your chosen activity. First, you get quick release buckle mount and both a flat and curved adaptor. Much more interesting is the provided head strap mount, allowing you to wear the camera on your head for the more energetic activities, perhaps skate boarding or water skiing.
For those of you keen on the really high speed or high risk pastimes where a safety helmet is essential, such as caving or downhill racing, the GoPro Hero 960 also comes with a helmet front mount. With this, you can simply and securely attach the camera to your helmet, then head off down the mountain leaving the imaging to your choice of the video and automatic sequencing modes.
And finally, you also get a solid waterproof housing with a quick release catch, perfect for underwater photography, as you might want when scuba diving.
A Word Of Caution
The one negative comment I can make about the GoPro Hero 960 is that the waterproof case is susceptible to condensation if you hit quick changes of temperature. This can easily happen if you close the case in warm air and then hit cold water and you won’t know until you sit down to watch the recording. GoPro do sell anti-fog strips to help prevent this, but you can avoid the need by keeping the case in a cool space before closing it. A fridge or close to an air-conditioning unit works wonders.
Built to Survive – Anything
GoPro have really gone full out with the construction of the GoPro Hero 960. They made sure it was shockproof, ensuring it could survive any shaking given it by a vibrating bike. Then they further improved it, making it practically bombproof by giving it a polycarbonate exoskeletal housing, so its tough enough to take a spin across the asphalt. And to round it all off, the designers took it with them on their outings to the heady surf from Hawaii to Tahiti, Southern Mexico to Northern California and improved it until it was waterproof to the quite astonishing depth of 180 feet (60 metres).