GoPro Hero 12 Black evaluation: edging nearer to perfection
Editor’s Notice
• Authentic evaluation date: October 2023
• Launch value: $399 / £399 / AU$649
• Official value now: $297.49 / £297.49 / AU$489.95
Replace: November 2024. Launched in October 2023, the GoPro Hero 12 Black is not the flagship motion digital camera within the GoPro line-up. The newer Hero 13 Black is now the highest decide in our listing of the very best motion cameras, with its swappable Lens Mods and simpler magnetic mounting. That stated, in nearly all different methods, it shares the identical imaging efficiency because the Hero 12 Black, together with the identical sensor and video decision. So whereas the Hero 13 Black is essentially the most full GoPro we’ve examined, the Hero 12 Black stays a really succesful motion digital camera in 2024. Thanks to cost reductions, it’s additionally higher worth than the flagship – though the equally outfitted Hero 11 Black is even cheaper on-line.
Timothy Coleman
Two-minute evaluation
The GoPro Hero 12 Black is a variation on a tried and examined GoPro system. GoPro has an Apple-like capacity to refresh its line with out overhauling it to nice impact, and this yr there is not a lot that is new in the best way of {hardware} for the 12 Black. That stated, acquainted {hardware} won’t be a difficulty given the upgraded software program expertise, significantly for filmmakers and anybody craving exterior wi-fi audio assist.
Let’s begin with what’s returning for 2023 from final yr’s GoPro Hero 11 Black. Firstly, there’s that 27MP 8:7 sensor that may seize 16:9, 9:16, and eight:7 footage with no need to reorient your digital camera. It might probably shoot at as much as 5.3K 60fps and 4K 120fps, and if you wish to drop the decision to 2K, it even captures 240fps, one thing the DJI Osmo Motion 4 cannot do.
Subsequent, GoPro’s Hero design is again for spherical six – or is it seven? Severely, GoPro may be very wedded to the fashion launched on the Hero 5 Black, so it hasn’t deviated an excessive amount of from its general aesthetic.
GoPro additionally brings again the identical battery utilized in previous Hero cameras, although, as within the Hero 11 Black, it is the higher-specced GoPro Enduro (1720mAh) cell. And the 12 Black has the identical dimensions, processor, and weight because the 11 Black.
Given all these similarities, you is likely to be asking your self what’s new, and whether or not the Hero 12 Black stands an opportunity of being rated as one among our greatest motion cameras when its predecessor, the GoPro Hero 11 Black, prices much less whereas providing comparable options.
GoPro Hero 12 Black specs
Sensor: 27MP 1/1.9-inch
FOV/focal size: 156 levels
Max picture decision: 27MP 8:7 (5568 x 4872)
Video: As much as 5.3K 60fps / 4K 120fps (16:9)
Stabilization: HypserSmooth 6.0 with AutoBoost
Entrance display: 1.4-inch Coloration LCD
Rear display: 2.27-inch Coloration LCD
Mount: Motion digital camera + 1/4-inch thread
Battery: GoPro Enduro (1720mAh)
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB-C and Wi-Fi
Most likely essentially the most immediately helpful addition to the Hero 12 Black is the 1/4-inch thread mount between its flip-out ft, excellent for mini tripods. GoPro has additionally added HDR video seize to enhance how the digital camera handles highlights and shadows, and this works to nice impact.
Filmmakers who wish to dig a little bit deeper can activate GP-Log seize for even larger dynamic vary footage and 10-bit shade, so video may be simply spliced right into a timeline with clips from different cameras and simply color-matched.
Audio choices have additionally been improved, with the 12 Black now supporting wi-fi audio from a Bluetooth microphone. This works with any Bluetooth earphones or headphones, so for those who’ve obtained a pair of the very best wi-fi earbuds accessible, you possibly can simply pair them together with your GoPro and hit document – it truly is that straightforward.
Whether or not you are utilizing an exterior Bluetooth microphone or the Media Mod, GoPro’s modular housing that upgrades audio and connection choices, the brand new Hero 12 Black can even seize two audio channels, which you’ll entry by means of the GoPro Quik app or in Premiere Professional. What’s so cool about doing this with the Media Mod is that it captures the system audio or the Mod’s personal mini increase mic with the intention to combine down directional and ambient tracks for the proper clip.
In a nutshell, whereas there are loads of acquainted options, GoPro ranges up the Hero 12 Black simply sufficient to meaningfully make it a extra versatile and highly effective motion digital camera than the Hero 11 Black.
As for the way it stacks up towards the competitors, the Hero 12 Black’s stabilization is improbable, dialing up or down based mostly on what you are doing, due to HyperSmooth 6.0 and AutoBoost. It outperforms the DJI Osmo Motion 4 on this regard, and I additionally want the tone of GoPro’s video versus DJI’s. Footage appears extra crisp and fewer subdued – exactly what I would like from my motion digital camera. Having stated that, the Motion 4 does a greater job of capturing a wider soundscape from its mics, whereas the Hero 12 Black focuses extra on voices.
Low mild is the place GoPro has constantly dropped the ball, and whereas the Mild Portray evening modes are enjoyable additions, they do not make up for the grainy video when recording in dimly-lit scenes. DJI takes the crown right here.
Typically talking, the motion digital camera race has by no means been tighter, with DJI and GoPro nearly neck and neck with their newest choices. Whichever you go for, you are getting a improbable motion digital camera, however the Hero 12 Black edges forward for anybody who principally shoots within the day and desires the very best stabilization accessible. It is also perfect for vloggers who wish to minimize up 16:9 and 9:16 content material from the identical clip, or GoPro customers who have already got appropriate equipment just like the Media Mod, and wish to improve their digital camera however not their extras.
GoPro Hero 12 Black: launch date and value
- Available for purchase now for $400 / £400 / AU$650
- Equipment bundle prices $450 / £450 / AU$730
- Max Lens Mod bundle prices $500 / £500 / AU$820
The GoPro Hero 12 Black is on the market now, with the lowest-priced Commonplace Combo bundle costing $400 / £400 / AU$650 – that is barely pricier than the DJI Motion 4. Curiously, the Hero 11 Black continues to be on sale alongside the 12 Black on GoPro’s web site, and has seen its value drop to $350 / £350 / AU$579.
If you wish to decide up an additional Enduro battery, GoPro’s Handler grip, a head strap, and a carrying case, then the $450 / £450 / AU$730 equipment bundle is for you, and that value is slashed by round 20% if in case you have a GoPro subscription.
When you do not want all these further peripherals however fancy the brand new Max Lens Mod 2.0, which GoPro introduced alongside the digital camera, for a class-leading broad subject of view, the Max Lens Mod bundle prices $500 / £500 / AU$820. As soon as once more, if in case you have a GoPro subscription, you possibly can get pleasure from a reduction of round 20% on this combo.
Whereas GoPro bought its Hero cameras at a reduction with a subscription and a sky-high subscription-free value in earlier years, it has simplified issues this yr. In flip, it is nice to see that the standalone 12 Black has one fastened value that is decrease than the listing value of the 11 Black at launch.
So, whereas the Hero 12 Black is not low cost by any stretch, it is nice that its worth for cash is not held again by what has, previously, felt like inflated non-member pricing. This subscription-free mannequin makes GoPro’s newest digital camera way more aggressive out of the gate.
GoPro Hero 12 Black: design
- Equivalent weight and dimensions to Hero 11 Black
- New 1/4-20 tripod thread mount
- Waterproof as much as 33ft / 10m
At first look, the GoPro Hero 11 and 12 Black look nearly similar, other than some speckled blue styling that differentiates the most recent version. Each cameras weigh 154g, sport the identical dimensions (71.8 x 50.8 x 33.6mm), and have detachable doorways behind that are a USB-C port, battery cavity, and microSD slot.
The detachable lens protects acquainted f/2.5 aperture glass that delivers a 151-degree subject of view, which is barely much less broad than the DJI Osmo Motion 4’s 155 levels. The Hero 12 Black, nevertheless, may be bumped as much as a class-leading 177 levels with the Max Lens Mod 2.0.
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On to mounting, and the digital camera’s base options GoPro’s acquainted flip-out ft that make conventional motion digital camera mounting doable, and this yr the Hero line will get a 1/4-inch mount too, so it really works with conventional tripods and action-camera mounts alike. That is good for anybody like me, who makes use of a Manfrotto Pixi or an alternate vlogging tripod with their foremost digital camera, saving the necessity to pack a separate grip when touring mild.
Having examined out the DJI Motion 4 and Insta360 Go 3, each with magnetic mounting assist, I do miss the characteristic when utilizing the Hero12 Black. If GoPro manages to suit magnets into subsequent yr’s 13 Black, then its motion digital camera can have the holy trinity of mounting choices; because it stands, although, two out of three is not dangerous.
Similar to the Hero 10 and 11 Black, the 12 Black has two shade shows, one on the entrance and the opposite on the rear. In contrast to DJI’s newest motion digital camera, solely the rear display is touch-sensitive. This is not the tip of the world, but it surely was helpful to have the ability to vlog on the Motion 4 with out having to flip it round to make fundamental capturing changes.
The principle display on the rear measures 2.27 inches. It will get vivid sufficient for comfy viewing indoors and out, and in contrast to older GoPros, particularly the Hero 9 Black, it is super-responsive.
The 12 Black’s bodily controls embrace a document button on the high and an influence button on the aspect. Urgent the document button when the digital camera is off prompts quick-fire recording, and urgent the facility button when the digital camera is on adjustments modes.
One of many huge advantages of selecting up a GoPro over a competitor is equipment – each first-party and third-party choices. Whereas DJI does an awesome job with its Motion 4, providing an ND filter system and a bunch of magnetic mount instruments, GoPro’s ecosystem is richer.
From GoPro’s personal camp, the Media Mod is essentially the most highly effective addition to the Hero 12 Black for those who’re involved about sound high quality. This upgrades the audio with a directional mic whereas including a 3.5mm microphone port for wi-fi options like the superb Rode Wi-fi Go 2, in addition to a micro HDMI port and an easy-access USB-C port, and there is nothing fairly prefer it within the DJI camp.
GoPro Hero 12 Black: options and efficiency
- Wonderful HyperSmooth 6.0 stabilization
- Tremendous-fast wired file switch by way of USB-C
- New Bluetooth microphone assist
The important thing benefit the GoPro Hero 12 Black has over the DJI Osmo Motion 4 is decision. Sure, its sensor is bodily smaller, however its 27MP stills and 5.3K 8:7 video wipe the ground with DJI’s 10MP stills and 4K 16:9 video – on a sunny day when mild is plentiful, it is unsurprising that the Hero 12 Black’s image is noticeably crisper.
GoPro’s 8:7 aspect-ratio sensor is poised to seize footage that is primed for modifying. Max out the decision to five.3K, seize with an nearly sq. facet ratio, and your clips may be cropped simply within the GoPro Quik app to 1:1, 16:9, or 9:16 whereas nonetheless retaining a sky-high decision.
GoPro’s body charges are additionally best-in-class, with 5.3K footage captured at as much as 60fps, 4K footage at as much as 120fps, and a pair of.7K footage at as much as 240fps. GoPro even affords this super-fast body charge with Horizon Leveling energetic, so you possibly can compensate for tilts with out them making it by means of to your ultimate footage.
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One GoPro Hero 12 Black characteristic I really like is you can switch recordsdata to your telephone utilizing a USB-C cable, so no extra painfully sluggish wi-fi transfers. This characteristic is again from the 11 Black, and it is supported by Android telephones with a USB-C port, and by the brand new USB-C-equipped iPhone 15 vary.
GoPro features a 1720mAh Enduro battery with the 12 Black, although the digital camera is appropriate with the usual, non-Enduro selection, albeit with shorter run instances. The battery efficiency most accurately fits anybody who shoots clips shorter than 20 minutes. Whereas there have been reviews of older GoPros overheating, I had comparatively good experiences with the Hero 11 Black, and the 12 Black fares even higher.
When you’re capturing stationary on a sizzling day, you could expertise overheating, however out and about within the UK and Berlin, in round 70F / 20C ambient temperatures, I shot for over half-hour at 5.3K with none points.
The Hero 12 Black additionally plugs into the GoPro Volta grip and different energy sources if you want extra seize time than the battery affords, and you can even pack spares, with an Enduro battery capturing over an hour of steady 4K 60fps video.
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GoPro has streamlined the interface barely for 2023, leveling up the Straightforward Mode, whereas including 8:7 seize to all modes.
If you have not come throughout GoPro’s Straightforward Mode, it is an alternate interface to Professional Mode, and makes all the choices for you. All you have to determine is whether or not you take a photograph, video, or timelapse, and select a high quality stage, and Straightforward Mode will alter the settings accordingly.
Professional Mode has a steeper studying curve, however if you wish to entry GP-Log, HDR seize, or management the stabilization and body charges, Professional is the mode for you.
I discovered that outcomes from Straightforward Mode have been glorious in my first few days with the digital camera, and it is an effective way to ease into the GoPro manner of capturing. As soon as I discovered my ft, although, the mode felt restrictive, and I jumped to Professional Mode.
GoPro’s stabilization for 2023 is HyperSmooth 6.0 matched with AutoBoost. This unbelievable system does not simply make super-smooth seize doable; it additionally helps horizon locking, so you possibly can actually loop-de-loop in a aircraft or on a rollercoaster, and your footage will masks the spins.
AutoBoost dials the sector of view up and down based mostly on how a lot stabilization you want, so that you at all times get essentially the most info in body. We did not even discover the characteristic in motion, which bodes properly for GoPro’s newest iteration of HyperSmooth, and pictures at all times appeared properly held collectively.
GoPro additionally provides Bluetooth microphone assist to the Hero 12 Black, with assist for a complete of 4 Bluetooth gadgets, be they a mic, a telephone, a wi-fi shutter, or one other GoPro for synchronized seize.
Your microphone will totally dictate high quality from Bluetooth audio sources. We examined the Hero 12 Black with the OnePlus Buds Professional 2, as demonstrated within the pattern video, and the audio wasn’t spectacular. The Huawei FreeBuds 4 did a greater job, and a devoted microphone did a greater job nonetheless.
Whereas helpful for anybody sporting a helmet or far out of your digital camera, Bluetooth Audio will unlikely have the ability to match the standard of devoted wi-fi mics just like the stellar DJI Mic, which can be utilized out of the gate with the Motion 4 if in case you have each devices.
What is sensible with GoPro’s new exterior audio recording is that it captures two audio channels and bakes them into the video file, so you possibly can entry each in Adobe Premiere Professional or one other video editor, or by means of the GoPro Quik app.
It is price noting, for 2023, that GoPro has ditched GPS, a characteristic that is been on GoPros for generations. I have not missed it in my time with the digital camera, although solely you possibly can say how a lot the shortage of geotagging will influence your action-cam expertise.
- Options and efficiency rating: 4.5/5
GoPro Hero 12 Black: picture and video high quality
- Excessive-resolution 27MP stills
- 10-bit 4K video high quality
- New HDR and GP-Log shade profiles
Whereas the brand new 1/1.3-inch sensor is the headline characteristic of the DJI Motion 4, the headline characteristic of the GoPro Hero 12 Black’s sensor is its 8:7 facet ratio matched with its 27MP decision.
Whereas DJI has low mild coated, GoPro’s newest motion digital camera crams in additional resolved element when the sunshine is correct. That is evident when enjoying again 4K video, or grabbing a nonetheless from a clip, or taking {a photograph}.
GoPro’s default capturing modes do a superb job of creating daytime footage look zingy, crisp, and {smooth}. HDR seize is a welcome addition that makes a tangible distinction in vivid environments, whereas the GP-Log seize extends the dynamic vary additional to nice impact.
The Hero 12 Black’s 10-bit 4K video additionally appears spectacular, with full of life colours and intensive scope for modifying. The important thing limiting issue on the subject of any GoPro’s digital camera high quality is ambient mild, and when the lights drop, the Hero’s video high quality does too.
GoPro consists of enjoyable evening modes for mild painting-style video seize, and images shot in dimly-lit scenes and timelapses can look respectable. That stated, the 12 Black needs to be put in a bag and your telephone needs to be taken out for those who’re capturing candlelit dinner scenes or nighttime strolls on the seaside – your cellular will in all probability cope higher.
GoPros are glorious vlogging instruments, and deal with faces and pores and skin tones higher than DJI’s Motion 3 from expertise. The Hero 12 Black’s Horizon Lock characteristic can also be extra highly effective than DJI’s, trying nice at as much as 5.3K decision, whereas DJI’s caps out at 4K.
As with most motion cameras, the GoPro Hero 12 Black has a fixed-focus lens, which implies it is not suited to close-up photographs or movies, although there are macro lenses accessible that may carry this nearest focus distance shut if you wish to put money into the Hero ecosystem.
With 5.3K 60p 10-bit video, and spectacular 120fps 2.7K slow-motion, GoPro brings again timelapse and hyperlapse modes, and a few artistic pictures modes geared to serving to the GoPro not change into redundant in low mild.
The 12 Black’s microphones do an awesome job of capturing voices, making it our selection for vlogging, particularly in comparison with different cameras together with the DJI Osmo Motion 4, which did a greater job of pulling in additional ambient sounds.
- Picture and video high quality: 4/5
Ought to I purchase the GoPro Hero 12 Black?
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
Additionally think about
Testing scorecard
| Attributes | Notes | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Worth | A decrease RRP than past-gen GoPros | 4/5 |
| Design | A well-known however efficient bundle | 4.5/5 |
| Efficiency | Nippy and highly effective with upgraded options | 4.5/5 |
| Picture and video high quality | A high-res daytime champ however struggles at evening | 4/5 |
How I examined the GoPro Hero 12 Black
Whereas it is at all times perfect to get break day to check an motion digital camera, I wasn’t so lucky in my fortnight with the GoPro Hero 12 Black, so exercised my metropolis adventurer standing, taking it on work journeys to Berlin and Barcelona, whereas conducting lab exams on residence turf.
I used the Hero 11 Black extra like a vlogging and journey digital camera whereas out and about, and carried out stabilization exams at residence, strapping it onto a remote-control automotive and taking it on runs. I additionally examined run instances in numerous temperature circumstances.
Having been a Hero 11 Black person, I wished to deal with the brand new options for the 12 Black, so captured an abundance of GP-Log and HDR video, and examined it with totally different Bluetooth microphones, from AirPods Professionals to over-ear options just like the Sony WH-1000XM5.
First reviewed October 2023
