Action cam behemoth GoPro is teasing an Oct. 1st reveal for their next gen camera. Under the tagline ‘This is Action’, some dark shots & quickly jumping video reveal an all-new body for the upcoming GoPro Hero 8 Black that builds-in a fold-away set of mounting tabs so you won’t need an extra frame, sleeve, or case to attach to standard 3-tab mounts. Surely enough there will be upgrades inside as well, and we have an idea of some of the rumors floating around on the interwebs…
UPDATE: The latest new Hero 8 Black action cam and 360° VR camera GoPro Max have both now been officially revealed. We have the most in-depth coverage of what’s new in each, and who you should go Hero8 or Max for your next GoPro!
GoPro Hero 8 Black next gen POV action camera
GoPro has defined the action cam market over the years, but got some serious competition this spring with the DJI Osmo Action. (Does that have something to do with GoPro’s new tagline for the Hero8?)
GoPro also has a fairly reliable upgrade cycle – launching a new version of the Hero camera, pretty much at the end of September every year. This year we will have to wait an extra day or two for the new GoPro (or GoPros?) until October 1. At its core the new Hero 8 (that’s the new version mounted to a helmet above) doesn’t look to have changed too much on the outside, which suggests more internal updates.
What’s new in the new GoPro Hero 8 Black?
But even on the outside we can see one major change, that will cut down on the number of parts that you need to keep track of. See that rounded-end tab on bottom in the photo above? That’s the fold-away mounting tabs that eliminate the need for the extra frame that currently snaps around the core camera.
The rest of the device looks to be the same size & shape as the current Hero 7 (which should insure backwards compatibility with other, more secure cases.
But from now on it looks like these folding tabs will mean you don’t need any case to attach to any standard 3-tab GoPro-style mounting accessories. The new folding tabs also look to include a relieved section in their round tips, suggesting they will snap into place when closed, so that you can use the camera seamlessly without mounts getting in the way.
That they also tuck away flush into the camera body suggests other waterproof, or floatation cases should still work. And you might even be able to use one of the current frames if you ever break a folding mounting tab off.
Here, attached to a helmet chin bar you can also see the recess of the folding tabs, with no need for additional mounts. With the bottom of the new device taken up by mounting tabs, the battery door moves to the right side, opposite the lens.
So what else does the next gen GoPro Hero 8 Black have in store? Well, there are tons of rumors floating around on the internet. The general consensus is that the video recording capabilities will remain at 4K60 (or 1080p240 for 8x slo-mo) with 12MP stills. But there’s some speculation that the Silver will step up to that capability, with the Black possibly doubling to 4K120 or 1080p480 for 16x slo-mo filming.
GoPro’s combined hardware & software inside that make your videos look great, like HyperSmooth image stabilization, TimeWarp stabilized time lapses, and Live Streaming are supposed to work better than ever.
There’s also rumors that a new case will be introduced that includes an improved microphone setup and hot shoe mounting for external lighting/flashes, or possibly even a forward facing external display.
Want to get a better, wider view of the teaser video from GoPro’s website? Hit full screen on this video, and press play.
We’ll update with the full details on the official launch in a week’s time, or you can even come back here to watch the reveal…
Oh, and all of that is about the latest of the standard GoPro Hero cam. The 360° GoPro Fusion, with its complete Overcapture immersive recording, is expected to get an even more major overhaul. The current Fusion is selling at major discounts (like 1/3 off!) suggesting its replacement – rumored to be named the GoPro Max – might blow it away in terms of fully immersive 3D virtual reality action recording…
