The GoPro Hero6 is a fancy little toy to have. One reason why I got this was to challenge my creativity as a storyteller with a fixed angle of view. You recall that 35mm challenge? Not for its "buttery smooth" slow-mo helped by the amazing 200 fps at 1080p. I doubt I have the computer power to edit 4k60 videos, neither do I have the internet to share such files. In other words, I didn't buy the hype of this action camera, though I must add that it has lived to it thus far.
Hero6 was released in the last quarter of 2017 by the California-based company that is gradually shrinking. Along with this unboxing post are pictures that tell a story (not the full story) of a city that connects the arteries of Africa's most populous country. The city of Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria is where I happened to put the GoPro to real practical use for the first time. Prepare to be amazed.
A little back story: I "co-developed" this half-human, half-AI curation machine for Curie and Steem, codenamed CARLGNASH¹, and unlocked a fancy bounty for doing that. And all I got with it was this lousy action camera from GoPro. For that reason let's call this one a CarlPro... and hey! it is everything except lousy. 😉 Thank you @carlgnash for being such a wonderful addition to the @curie community.
The GoPro came in its classic see-through packaging. I knew it was going to be really tiny, but for some reason I was still taken aback by how small it is. At that point you begin to wonder if it would be everything it claimed it was. For someone who wouldn't boast of having big palms, I had to adjust still to holding the GoPro between my two thumbs and index fingers. Thanks to the rubber body that makes for a better grip, the ergonomic isn't as bad as it first threatened. For that I find it really easy to use without the plastic frame when I am not using it on any mount.
To complete the packaging was the USB-C cable (I must say that it seems really sturdy), the rechargeable battery, the curved and flat adhesive mounts and the mounting buckle.
I should add too that I bought the GoPro 3.5mm Mic Adapter. Yeah, that $49-ish analog-to-digital converter that is so expensive that I feel I should make a special post for it. There is an instruction on the packaging that you should update your GoPro to the latest firmware version for that to work with the camera. Since I am not an instruction manual kind of guy, it took some internet troubleshooting to figure it out, as I tinkered to get it work with the Rode Microphone I got with the "CarlPro".
Without making this post too long, I would just list the accessories and enhancements I got with the Hero6, then we move to the fun part. I had done some extensive research before purchasing and I tried to stuff my cart with useful add-ons. I learnt from reviews that what GoPro called "3 Microphones" was actually some omni mic that took in all the echoes and ambience noises. I found out myself that the GoPro 3 Way Arm was a drag on my savings. So here's what I got in addition:
- Smatree 3-Way Adjustable Stick
- AmazonBasics Headstrap
- AmazonBasics Chest-mount Harness
- Rode VideoMicro
- Screen Protectors
- AmazonBasics Carrying Case
- Samsung 64GB 100mb/s Memory Card
- Alloy Shockproof Frame
So here are my overall assessments of this camera so far:
- If this is really 2x Performance, then the Hero 5 was unbelievably slow. It takes a good two seconds or more to save Photos after you depress the shutter. My memory card is actually 100MB/S and the camera's 12MP camera churns out an average 5MB JPG files. I really can't explain the lag.
- Image quality is pretty impressive for a P&S camera whose two dimensional measurement is actually smaller than the image sensor of other cameras.
- The clear winner is the Image Stabilization(IS). Damn! I don't care if it crops out 10% or 50% of image. That is simply impressive. I can only imagine if GoPro decides to make a camera with optical IS. It is really "next-level."
- The remote connectivity through the app is smooth. Voice command is still a long way to go (I must concede that it picks up the "GoPro start recording" and "GoPro stop recording" commands pretty easily.
Overall, it's a great buy and I would look forward to a whole world of creative opportunities with it. Now let's move to the fun part.
The Other Side of Port Harcourt in 9 Pictures
This weekend I happened to be in the commercial city of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. One thing I must say about the GoPro is that it leaves your subjects unsuspecting because of its sheer size. That is really perfect for street photography, especially in a somewhat hostile environment where asking for permission isn't an option at all, and pointing a DSLR on anyone would likely get you beaten up. So I put on the chest mount harness and took a tour from Eliozu to Mile-1 Market. I had a friend remotely trigger the camera using a phone connected through the app, when I got in a position to frame a good picture. That way I was totally hands-free and even far less suspecting.
The part of Mile-1 market we visited was sitting on a live rail line. Every six in the evening the train blares its horn to warn off anyone that was still on its track. The traders scamper with their bags and goods, in a quest to stay alive and preserve their commodities for the next market day. Some even take a nap on the track. I would not distract this with too many text descriptions, rather I would only leave these images as canvass for your imagination of this rather unique market.
I hope you found those images immersive as I intended them to be. Port Harcourt is a beautiful city with some really lovely scenics and locations and malls and what nots. But for this last outing, I decided to find some gems in the rough. Stay updated for my adventure with this discrete hell of a camera.
¹I recommended @carlgnash as a curator for @curie and that got me a handsome reward in Steem. Part of that was spent on buying the camera featured in this post.
P.S. I arrived Uyo later on Saturday to attend the launch of the brand new Steem Accelerator Hub there. It was amazing to see the faces behind the most amazing handles in the Nigeria community. Shout out to everyone who was there.
Peace.
All pictures are original and I own copyright to each.