GoPro - HERO4 Session (CHDHS-101)

I think the way to look at it, is that GoPro was so far ahead for so long, there was no real competition for them for over a decade. Even DJI had GoPro mounts built in when the Phantom 1 came along. Historically, GoPro perfected their 1080P then moved to 2.7k on the Hero 3 Black. They had the best 4k on the Hero 4 Black. Then they made the whole camera waterproof and added the built in touchscreen on the Hero 5 Black, then they went 4k 60 with moderate stabilization on the Hero 6 black, built a tiny camera on the Session 4 and 5. With the Hero 7 black, they finally got stabilization in camera that started to compete with 3 axis gimbals. On the 8 they had the mount built in so you didn't have to have a frame and changed to a larger form factor with the Hero 9 black and got resolution to 5.3k. They perfected features like Timewarp and Hyperlapse where all the work was done in camera instead of post. They made GoPro labs available for most of their cameras and gave amazing levels of customization that no other cameras have even to this day. Then they really started to stagnate and features were more incremental and evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Sure they had the 8:7 sensor and got video resolution up to 24.7 megapixels, but they still use a tiny sensor and low light performance is still very bad. They also had to deal with the rise of DJI and Insta360 who started to release competing products. Dji matched 10 bit the same year as GoPro, The Action 5 and Ace Pro 2 use much larger sensors and do much better in low light. GoPro was late to the party with magnetic mounting systems and Insta360 even put 8k into their Ace Pro versions. Insta360 has the Ace Pro Line, their Go series mini camera and even had the modular R series which could be an action cam or a 360 camera. In the time since GoPro released the Max, Insta360 has released 5 consumer grade 360 cameras that get better each year and now do 8k. We have no idea when the Max 2 will be released. GoPro stock is hovering around 50 cents a share and the market cap of the entire company is only 75 million dollars. It used to be almost 11 billion dollars, so it is 145 times smaller than it was shortly after the company went public. They have had to lay off staff and that has a huge impact on R&D. They are clearly falling behind competitors with no real path forward. Depending on which site you listen to, they rate the probability of bankruptcy at 33 to 62% in the next 24 months. That is not the sign of a healthy company. They botched the launch of their Karma drone and ceded that potential marketplace to DJI in the process. The reality is that the DJI and Insta360 cameras do a lot of things better and much easier. Low light is a real thing for a lot of people and the Action 5 and Ace Pro do a very good job in the space and GoPro isn't on the same playing field. I love the new GoPro lens system, but I am an advanced user and have been using ND filters, Anamorphic lenses, and macro lenses for years with the GoPro. The new anamorphic lens is great because it does the desqueeze of your footage automatically in camera. What is annoying is that they announced the lens in September of 2024 and I was finally able to get it 7 months later. GoPro is a great camera, but for many people who never touch labs, don't care about 10 bit or color grading, never do reframing 8:7, like to shoot in lower light conditions, or won't spend the $129 on an anamorphic lens, the GoPro is not really the camera for them. Insta360 are releasing much better cameras each year and GoPro is falling further behind. I really want GoPro to come back strong, but I fear they don't have the finances to compete unless they have an absolutely amazing technical breakthrough in the action camera space.

I had Hero 4 Session before it got stolen from my bag at work. It was awesome, and i would love to own 5 aswell

Wow. I am willing to bet you’ve never done a side by side comparison or gopro, insta360, and dji. It has NOTHING to do with influencers. It has to do with GoPro quality and functionality compared to the their competitors. I started on GoPros with a Hero Session 4 (small cube camera). I loved it. After a while i bought GoPro 8. The resolution was an upgrade and still enjoyed using it. But cracks started appearing in my enjoyment. Battery life was horrible. I had to buy 3 extra batteries (off brand) with a charging case that allowed “action” with my action camera. The chargers that come with GoPro dont allow that. Overheating was also an issue. Then i got a GoPro 10. I used both together to get varying shots like outside car / inside car simultaneously. The 10 would shut off automatically when i placed it on the bumper of my car. Still have idea why. Its an action camera, it shouldn’t do that. Overheating on the 10 is WAY worse. And battery life is terrible. Bought 3 more (off brand) batteries with same “action” charger. Then i bought a Max 360. Absolute trash. The color was horrible. The bit depth was so bad a blue sky looked like it was “printed” from a 1990s printer. I used it for like 6 months then sold it. Since i bought that 360, they have been “announcing” a new 360 for over 5 years. Still hasn’t happened and the competition has not only come out with better 360 cams, but taken the market lead away from GoPro. About 7 yrs after buying my GoPro 8 the 2 batteries that came with it failed. They deformed and expanded out of their case. One was in the camera at the time and luckily i was able to get it out before it caused damage. Now 4 yrs after buying GP10, one of the original batteries deformed. Now I stopped using the ones that came with it and have 2 enduro batteries and 3 of the off brand (Telesin) batteries. So my love of GoPro has gone from a high point to ultra low because of the companies lack of quality(overheating, bad batteries, etc), and not keeping up with the competition.

I use a GoPro 4 I bought used and cheap on eBay, I switch the battery every time I ride. Good quality footage, many successful “positive action taken” responses from OpSnap. But I’m intrigued by the Redditor above using an Insta360, their case is compelling. Most important thing is that the camera is visible to motorists, I can clearly see improved behaviour whenever the red light is flashing. It’s

Due to the quality of the products. I am now on my third GoPro 10, as the previous two failed for mostly the same reasons. But give GoPro some credit, as they replaced them without much issue. On the other hand, I still have my GoPro 4, which is over 10 years old and works perfectly—used it recently whilst waiting for the second replacement GoPro 10.

I would say Hero 4 and 5. I know dozens of them still in use without any troubles. Unlike newer ones that got replaced quite soon

I'm shooting just underwater footage since GoPro 4, I've never get this result even in auto mode. Low life competitior pays "i can ben over for money" so called "influencers" just to try to make their products look good. Even if you give me anything else but no GoPro , I'd just use it for my nobrain videos. Yes I'm very aggressive because I'm sick and tired of this stupid nonsense comparisons

I just bought my first go pro and I'm loving it. I had seen them back in the day and thought they were really cool, and I finally decided to buy one, no regrets. I will tell you this: I'm glad I bought the GoPro hero 13 because it's rugged and waterproof and has really great filming options. When you hold it in the hand, you can tell you have a nice piece of hardware that will be able to withstand everything you can throw at it. I'm not sure you will have this same feeling buying a cheap alternative, maybe it feels cheap in the hand. Had my go pro 4 days now and really really glad I spent the extra money. I'm even starting to look at lenses.

I took my old GoPro hero 4 but Ill be first to admit I’m a fairly fresh diver I only have around 35-40 dives so that go pro is always secondary to the dive and safety of the dive itself

I still have the 4 and it was/is rock solid for the years it has.