New GoPro Hero 3+ Black & Silver

GoPro have just announced an update to the awesome HERO 3 Black and Silver addition cameras, with some exciting updates across both models. This isn’t a quantum leap forward like it was between the Hero 2 and the Hero 3, which essentially resulted in an almost new product, but a tweak in design and features. If you are still using the Hero 2 then this looks like the perfect time to upgrade. Here are the main upgrades…

The announcement came with the dreaded line… “It’s 20% smaller and lighter with 30% longer battery life than its best-selling predecessor.” The thought of having to upgrade a selection of housings, again after the painful move from the Hero 2 wasn’t going to sit lightly. However it seems the actual camera remains more or less the same size and will work with existing housings. But it’s the new Housing which is way smaller, making it much more compact and mountable. It’s also seen an increase in dive depth, now being rated to 131ft or 40 meters.

A 30% increase in battery power. This is a huge leap in any camera, but with something like the GoPro where you often very much want to play and forget, it’s a massive and welcomed improvement.

New 4x faster Wi-Fi for quicker transfer and playback of photos and videos from your HERO3+ camera to your mobile device when using the GoPro App. This should dramatically reduce the lag between camera and Smartphone when setting up shots, hopefully making it true live view.

A new SuperView™, a video mode that captures the world’s most immersive wide angle perspective. No word of how wide, but the wider the better…

A new Auto Low Light Mode, which will adjust frame rate automatically to best cope and optimise in varying lighting conditions.

Oh and to top it off, there is an new improved lens for sharper video and better image quality all round.

Whilst each of these individual improvements, don’t mount to a huge amount on their own. Added together they result in a nice leap forward for what is a fantastic versatile camera. And still retailing for the original price of the HERO 3, the GoPro HERO 3+ Black  at £359.99 is a camera you need to have in your bag.