GoPro - HERO9 Black

In the 250 range. You are looking at a GoPro or Osmo. I have a Hero 9. No overheating to think of. Both are fine underwater but lights are more important to retain color. Unless you bring a color card with you. Underwater camera basically have 3 tiers. Action Camera with case < TG Series with case < DSLR with case. Lights are just as important all the way through.

Even a gopro 7 is pretty good but I would recommend getting a used 9 as it has 4K 60FPS and uses the same accessories as the newer models incase you upgrade.

Yeah it is overkill. Overkill in both price and features because though they’re great as action cameras, you don’t need the stabilization, high frame rates, and rugged design for your casual travel videos mate. If you really want one, you can get an older GoPro (Hero 9, 10, or 11) if you find a good deal since they still have solid stabilization and decent built-in mics (still relatively heavy when clipped to a cap, and after 30 minutes, you might feel the strain honestly) I’d suggest you check on the Insta360 GO 3, it’s tiny, weighs only 35g, and comes with a magnetic clip that can be attached to a cap more comfortably than a bulky GoPro. Otherwise, you could also check on the DJI Osmo Action 4 or Akaso Brave 7 LE too, all decent prices for your use case. You could try [10 Best Action Cameras to Invest in 2025: Full Guide and Review](https://alaskanarrows.com/10-best-action-cameras-to-invest-in-2025/) for other options too. Tldr: GoPro overkill, Insta360 more appropriate, can consider getting an older GoPro like the 9,10 or 11 if you can get a good price

Hero 8, 9, 10 user here. Go for Insta360. But if you’re looking between GoPro and dji, go for dji. In other news, I’m looking to sell my hero 10, if anyone is interested (Kolkata or vicinity) let me know. I’ve got all accessories and a boatload of additional stuff for it. Asking for 20k.

if you’re planning for first view only a gopro would be enough, i still have a hero9 and not planning to upgrade anytime. if i can suggest do not use internal battery, buy instead the usb port and an external battery at least 10000mha an you can have a full day recording session

A GoPro 9, a 10k mAh powerbank and a GoPro chest mount. Or also a bodycam, but image quality is not that great compared with the GoPro.

I just had to buy a new GoPro 13 just because my GoPro 9 died off for no reason, red light of death. It won’t charge and turn on, it happens for sudden. Now I realize that Insta360 X5 could do much more angles so I gave GoPro away and try Insta360 for a first time

Its a scam, DJI requires activation and tunneling to use their cameras via their sketchy APK app download. They are paying influencers to use and promote the products. I love my hero 9 black.

Cool, can you link me the one you use? I also have a hero9 with no plan to upgrade

i've been really happy with my gopro, the price is right. i've had the 8 through 11. You can actually pull some great stills from video if you get lucky - i've managed to blow up some stills into large format prints to hang and they look fantastic. Lighting + basic editing skills makes a huge difference.

I wouldn't necessarily say hate. But I'd switch to DJI I think when I need a new one. My gopro's have always been buggy, the app sucks and never connects and I had a waterproof one die on me and somehow leak. So I don't trust them being waterproof. DJI seems better in low light and I kind of preffered the image. Though saying that I saw a blind test of gopro, dji and Insta360, and surprisingly I still liked the gopro image a tiny bit more. But for being consistently buggy (freezing up, randomly shutting down - always at the worst moments) I'd rather swap and try out a different brand at least for the next one. But Gopro's don't seem to have had any major upgrades in a while. I still have my 7 and 9.

From my experience get the 9. It rarely overheats, I think it happened once while under the sun for 3 hours. You will need a power bank for longer recording. There is no way around it.

I've had the 8 9 and now have the 12. They all overheat after five minutes if its too hot out. I had to buy a mini shade umbrella for it.+ 80° F outside with no shade, it WILL overheat on me and shut down. Every time.

A: GoPro only recently released a version of "Quik" for desktop this year. it was actually a copy of their "Quik" for mobile app but with a lot LESS functionality. Due to fact very few people even bothered using it (why bother if the mobile app offered more functionality) GoPro decided not to continue throwing money at developing an app no one was using. B: People who edit using a desktop tend to want professional editing and this is why many use paid programs like Premier Pro or free professional quality editing programs like DaVinci Resolve. Not sure why you think the Hero 13 is not having "compatible features in areas" as that statement makes no sense. I have used the Hero 4, Hero 6, Hero 8, Hero Fusion, Hero Max, Hero 9, Hero 10, Hero 11, Hero 12 and Hero 13. I can say without a doubt that the Hero 13 is my favorite of these so far due to the amount of features it offers and the new lens options. If I had to choose between the Hero 12 and Hero 13, I'd choose the 13 with no hesitation.

Never had any overheating issue on my 9 ... And the GPS is obviously on. But it's only for sport (tracking, ski, touring ...). For stationary session, GPS, stabilisers are off.

Water : I'm using my 9 in our pool and in the see as well. No problem so far (crossing my fingers 🤞) BUT : - you have to ensure FIRST the joints are clean. Double check, triple check. - removing the salt is really a nightmare ! 5k : highest resolution mostly use is when you have to edit/crop/zoom your video. Otherwise it's a waste of time/ressources and make most of the time editing a tedious task.

Go with the 8. I have the 9 and it does get very warm when it is just recording without air movement around it. If that is okay then I would get a 9. Great camera.

A lot of people have recommendations on here about cameras, but I wouldn't worry about cameras as much as I would worry about your lights. Buy the most expensive lights you can afford and buy a cheap camera. Expensive lights will make a cheap camera look 10 times better. I've seen this advice all over the place on Reddit in different subreddits for underwater video and film and it is true. I spent a bunch of money on my camera and was unhappy until I invested the money in really good lights. The other thing is when you can afford to upgrade your camera, your lighting setup will still work with it and it'll make that upgraded camera that much more impressive. I have two of the Sola underwater video 3800 lights from light and motion. And they work great. I used them with a GoPro 9 and I now use them on my Canon g7x Mark. 3 and I love them.

I have 2 GoPros, both Hero 9. I recently bought a DJI Osmo Action 5 and now use that. Larger sensor so much better low light performance. Also has a depth sensor built in. $350, cheaper than the gopro 13. My wife still uses the Hero 9, and I have the other GoPro mounted to a scooter for now.

Any GoPro starting with 9 is solid. 8 is decent, just the 9 forward have a removable lens, so you can easily put on an ND filter, which I highly recommend if you're going to be in sunlight. I think the 11 is the first with 10bit video, so it'll give you a bit better color in the gradient, but tbh most people won't notice a difference, but it would give you more options if you are planning on doing any color grading. That tiny Insta 360 camera is pretty cool honestly and I do like the flip screen they offer on their action cam, but GoPro still has better video. If you want a 360 cam, idk, but I've heard the Insta360 is better than the GoPro max, but I've never used either, so..

If you're budget bound, a used gopro 9 or greater plus dive housing and accessories can probably be found on ebay for a bargain. I've been doing that with most electronics I own. Reading the other comments I'm pleasantly surprised there's a new player in town with better low light performance. But with anything, especially in diving, I think you should start small and work your way up in terms of gear.

Have had a Hero 6,9,10. All of those have shit, grainy footage. The OA5 is by far better and I cannot emphasize enough the user experience gap. The startup time alone is worth dumping Go “pro”.

I'm going to make this short...the Action 5 Pro sucks! After waiting a month for the new Ace Pro 2 and it never shipping out, I requested a refund. I purchased the Action 5 Pro Adventure bundle and was very impressed by the look and feel of it, the menu's, etc. That's where my praise stops. I'm a professional photographer by trade. I wanted to upgrade my old GoPro HERO 9 and get something snazzier to follow our toddler around. I got rid of our Osmo Pocket 3 which while it worked great for vlogging etc, it's just not feasable to chase a toddler around in focus or capture some stuff at the beach, waterpark, etc. A few days ago we hit up our local zoo and I took our GoPro 9. Just something to get some content and honestly, it wasn't bad. The outdoor stuff looked fantastic like always and even the dark indoor stuff, while not fantastic was ok. Today, all day I took our new OA5 to run it thru it's paces. The footage is absolute garbage. Yeah, I spent hours and hours trying to find real reviews and recommendations for settings on YouTube, lowered the sharpness, set a high bit rate, updated firmware, etc. Tried filming some low-light stuff at 60fps, 30fps, you name it. The outdoor footage was just bad, blooming sun flares just everywhere and the colors are off. The supposed SuperNight mode is crap, so noisy, and unusable. So here we are, I'm returning the DJI OA5 Pro for sure. Guess I'll stick with my HERO 9 for the time being and when the Ace Pro 2 is finally available off Amazon or B&H I'll give it a try. Anyway, fuck all those YouTube videos, even the ones that really didn't seem like they were paid or sponsored gloating about how badass the Action 5 Pro is. Done with my vent.

I'm going to make this short...the Action 5 Pro sucks! After waiting a month for the new Ace Pro 2, which never shipped out, I requested a refund. I purchased the Action 5 Pro Adventure bundle and was very impressed by the look and feel of it, the menu's, etc. That's where my praise stops. I'm a professional photographer by trade. I wanted to upgrade my old GoPro HERO 9 and get something snazzier to follow our toddler around. I got rid of our Osmo Pocket 3 which while it worked great for vlogging etc, it's just not feasable to chase a toddler around in focus or capture some stuff at the beach, waterpark, etc. A few days ago we hit up our local zoo and I took our GoPro 9 (I hadn't purchased the OA5 yet). Just something to get some content and honestly, it wasn't bad. The outdoor stuff looked fantastic like always and even the dark indoor stuff, while not fantastic was ok. Received the OA5 2 days ago so yesterday I took it out to run it thru it's paces. The footage is absolute garbage. Yeah, I spent hours and hours trying to find real reviews and recommendations for settings on YouTube, lowered the sharpness, set a high bit rate, updated firmware, etc. Tried filming some low-light stuff at 60fps, 30fps, you name it. The outdoor footage was just bad, blooming sun flares just everywhere and the colors are off. The supposed SuperNight mode is crap, so noisy, and unusable. So here we are, I'm returning the DJI OA5 Pro for sure. Guess I'll stick with my HERO 9 for the time being and when the Ace Pro 2 is finally available off Amazon or B&H I'll give it a try. Anyway, fuck all those YouTube videos, even the ones that really didn't seem like they were paid or sponsored gloating about how badass the Action 5 Pro is. Done with my vent. **EDIT \[March 30, 2025\] - More sample footage has been uploaded, a bit more from my DJI Osmo Action 5, the old footage from the GoPro HERO 9 and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 which I'm currently using.** This is just my personal footage, nothing fancy or edited yet. But feel free to check it out and see what you think. Link - https://filedn.com/l4qvpI4cFv0fj6rakJn7dsV/Action%20Camera%20FOOTAGE/

I used the hero 7 for a few years and recently got 3 hero 9’s for $90 each. Never had a problem with them.

I owned the GoPro 4 Silver and GoPro 9 Black... I ended buying a used insta360 X3 off of ebay after I lost my GoPro 9. The X3 was an instant game changer as I am a skier. It was lighter, felt more natural than my 9, and I dont have to focus so much on getting the right angle and shot when I'm following others. I actually lost my GoPro 9 after crashing into a tree because it was so end heavy on a selfie stick and i was too focused on getting the right angle that it was difficult to maneuver. With the X3 I press record and ride down without worrying about it. I researched the GoPro Max but felt GoPro didn't really focus on it too much since it had been years since it was released. If GoPro ever makes another 360 camera ill definitely get it because I'm such a GoPro fan boy. The only thing thay sucks about the x3 is that I scratched up the lens but the X5 seems to have remedied that by allowing the lens to be swapped. I'm just waiting for it go down in price.

My GoPro 9 is just too wide for my snorkeling - the fish are always too far away. Any improvements here in newer models? I do not want any anamorphic or 15x macro attachment; I just need a slightly normal lens, not a super-wide one.

I film and make hiking videos and have a ton of cameras. I do not like iPhone footage. Looks too sharpened and saturated to me. I used a GoPro for years. My current one is a GoPro Hero 11 Black and I absolutely love it. The 9 & 10 were buggy. The 8 was solid but the 11 is so much better. The 12 and 13 don’t have enough upgrades to justify. For better footage, set the field of view to linear. Gets rid of the fisheye look. Set sharpness and saturation each to -2. Set color profile to natural. Get smooth, steady shots and don’t swing it around like crazy. It’s a great starting point. Once you get the settings dialed in, you just need to press record for 99% of shots. So it’s easy to use. It’s durable and waterproof and small also. I don’t mount it to anything (unless I’m climbing or rappelling). I got a cheap tripod/extension handle off Amazon and just carry it. You won’t want all your footage to just be a straight ahead shot anyway. I just bought an action 4 but the verdict’s still out on that. If I were to recommend one camera it would be the DJI osmo pocket 3. I absolutely love it. But it’s pricey and if you’re starting out the GoPro will do good enough.

Hoping to see if any of y'all had problems with it in the snow. I know my GoPro 9 would turn off in the snow, and it's battery life died quick. This is the tie breaker for me

I went out of the GoPro path, but came right back (first GoPro was Mark 3). Hero 9 is too old. You need 11 to level up, and it’s really cheap right now. 11 was a huge update. I skipped 12, and I don’t see so many advantages since I bought 13. I’m not disappointed, but the end result looks exactly the same. Maybe I’ll buy the overpriced Ultra Wide lens (I shoot downhill mountain biking).

I have the 9 but if I were to buy now the dji osmo 5 is what I'd buy. Image quality is so much better than go pro imo. A little better at handling low light environments too

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNd1LL5Sp/ I think I’m a person that can honestly tell you this since I had a X2,3 and now the 4 also have ever since used a Hero 8,9,10 in combination with it. You can get awesome results with the X4, also low light isn’t as bad as people say it is, yeah you lose some sharpness and get grain, but honestly we have that problem with action cams ever since they exist, the ace pro 2 has insane low light performance but only because of its ai processing which in my opinion over sharpens the image. I can just say that for me the X4 is a massive upgrade when it comes to creating 9:16 and 16:9 at the same time, workflow is awesome and yes, the app really is as great as people advertise it. I personally never had any errors or weird problems since using it for about 6 months. I usually recrop the 360 footage it wether landscape or portrait, export it to Luma fusion studio drop in my hero 10 footage and use multicam to sync the videos via. Footage or audio, works like a charm.

Hi OP I have a Go-pro hero 9 I'm planning to sell DM me if you're interested.

Yeah, seconding this—I found a Hero 9 for $120 a few months back and it’s been great.

As a scuba diver, but any hobby taking you underwater, I think DJI is taking lead On land however eg cycling, fast-action sports, GoPro dominants I have a Hero9, love it, no complaints, when tine to upgrade I could be looking at the DJI 4, otherwise, go with what I know and get 11/12

Welcome to the GoPro world! If you want to buy used, get a GoPro Hero 13. Used/pre-owned get a Hero 11 (the 12 had some unfavorable updates). If you find some good deals, the GoPro Hero 9 is the oldest of the "modern" family of GoPro cameras. GoPro releases a new model every ~1 year and the updates have been great. Some people may complain that a new model isn't "significantly better" than the previous model to a degree of warranting an upgrade, but I'm fine with that, they just want to push the best tech currently possible. The camera itself is waterproof but you'll need to rinse it after submerging in salt water. I have surfed quite a few times with my Hero 9 and Hero 13 and I've had no problems. The gopro is submersible to a certain range so you'll want to check that first but if you're just surface snorkeling you'll be just fine. The GoPro is perfectly capable without any extra lenses but personally I recommend the UltraWide lens mod if you do get anything. On the stock lens the newer cameras have linear, wide, superwide, and hyperview already. You'll want to get the "The Handler", a GoPro handle that floats in water in case you let go of it. Other than that you'll need a good SD card and you're all set - needs to be one from the approved list on the GoPro website (but not necessarily bought directly from there). MicroSD cards need to have high quality reading/writing speeds to avoid video corruption. Feel free to send me a message and I can give you a lot more information or we can work out a call or something. I have a lot of experience and I really love my GoPro :)

Here’s my advice. Hold on to your purchase. Based off your comments it appears this is looking like an impulse purchase. I have been using GoPros to make my videos since the Hero 9. Each version offers or takes away something. I recommend watching some review videos. Some videos that break down unboxing and all that the various packages offer. And not all the positive stuff either. Check out negative reviews. See where the flaws are for each. Visit GoPro and window shop. Carefully read product details. Check out the competition in similar cameras. In short an informed buyer is a smart buyer. Personally I have no issues with GoPro. I’m aware of their pros and cons and knew exactly what I was getting into. For me I can shove or throw it in my car, sling bag, etc. and just go. Not so easy with more delicate expensive cameras. But my needs are basic. Know what you need and what you want to get done. Then purchase accordingly.

Yeah, my 9 is the worst tech product I’ve ever had, and I owned a Jaz drive! (Deep cut for tech nerds)I’ve had it replaced twice and it is the shit shit shittiest piece of gear. And I’m an IT guy, I know how to troubleshoot.

A few years ago I went for a hike in Norway.I took my new GoPro 9 with me to take some footage. Both batteries died. It was cold (-15 C), but I found it unacceptable. I ended up taking some shaky video with my Samsung phone. At least that was working. Since then my GoPro sits in the drawer, barely used.

I'd recommend a GoPro (need underwater housing for it and the little stick). They're up to the 13 now, but even a 9 or 10 will deliver great results for that. No need to get into the inky endless abyss of underwater cameras quite yet

Got a Hero 9 for WAY TOO MUCH, and it constantly froze on video mode. They make crap products these days.

I've had a GoPro Hero 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10, as well as the Max. I've go over 2,000 skydives with GoPros on my helmet, including world records and jumps into the Blue Hole in Belize. I've taken them to every continent (including Antarctica) for running and scuba diving and overall travel. So I use GoPros a lot, and I use them in environments that are pretty tough on them. One thing that's been annoying is the heavy push to GoPro subscription. Their cloud storage is just awful. The money is better spent on something like Dropbox or Box. Their software has been pretty terrible too. Hardware wise, they've been hit or miss. Sometimes it's software, sometimes it's hardware. They can corrupt video files, do a weird "gets hot after charging and locks up so that you have to pull the batteries", they can stop mid recording. All of that with the proper recommended cards. Some have just been lemons, probably a bad solder or heatsink contact. Sometimes it's fixed in a firmware upgrade. They're notorious in the skydiving community. "Did you get it?" "No, it stopped recording 5 seconds in." "It froze up". That kind of thing. Not all the time, not even frequent, but enough that it's annoying. And each model seems to have their own little quirks. My Hero 7 and 10 has been solid for the most part. My 9.. not as much. My Max is a piece of shit. My next 360 camera will absolutely not be a Max, and probably won't be whatever they come out with next. My next action camera probably won't be a GoPro.

I have had gopros for years and the never once overheated on me. Sure, I dont film in 4k. A 9 blackscreened on me but I got a brand new 11 from GoPro. The video quality is great, the stabilization is great, the colors is great, the built in mic is good... I like gopro very much. I really do, but im not buying the 13, im buying the 14

I have a GoPro 9. Video is great - battery sucks ass. Wish I could get content like this every day: I could quit my job! https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/s/ZDTB6XPlD1

If you are videoing yourself while snowboarding via selfie stick, nothing beats the third person perspective of a 360 camera. I find it a lot more immersive than any traditional action camera because it gets my whole body and the selfie stick isn't visible- that just not possible with a camera like the dji action 5 (i have a gopro hero 9 and insta360 ace pro). To make editing easy, Me Mode gives you a very wide angle 4K that needs almost no editing. Here a video I made last month with the X4 https://youtu.be/kfgz56JiFE4 A 360 camera makes framing someone else snowboarding/skiing easier to (you don't need to worry about angled horizon or cutting then off). For this video, I just kept the camera (an older X2) blindly pointed behind me and edited it after. https://youtu.be/yBvwZnUOOVY

I solved my GoPro Hero 9 camera's overheating problem using thermal pads leftover from my PC graphics card. I placed them in three places on the front screen (2–3 mm thick): one below and one on side. I only dive when on holiday. Also, I don't think this is a viable solution for regular divers. My idea was to improve heat transfer between the camera and case, and it worked well.

A lot of GoPro fanboys here but the truth is that the GoPro was a standard maybe 5-7 years ago. They have done anything innovative since GoPro 9 or 8. Battery life is medicore, overheating issues, stabilization don't work well in low light environments, instead of releasing completely new 360 camera they made a facelift of the old one, terrible phone app, slow and not very useful unlimited cloud storage. It looks like most content creators are switching to other brands but you will say they get paid anyway.

Terribly managed company, lack of innovation (1 year release cycle is hilarious), lack of new 360 models, pushing subscription model, overheating issues Instead of improving the sensor quality and low light performance/stabilization and create a proper working software and mobile application they are trying to push gimmicks like anamorphic/ND filters (no, unless you are doing serious cinematography you don't need these). Also the way how GoPro name their sliced files is crap and unintuitive. Overall user experience is terrible. Ohh I almost forgot about GoPro labs, you need some kind of beta application to unlock all the possible features. It's just PITA to deal with all that BS. And I have GoPro 9, obviously for the fist half year I used it a lot but then I completely lost interest. Now I'm using it only for underwater shots. People forget it's an action camera, you mount it to your helmet, bike, chest and record action. For any other applications something like DJI Osmo Pocket or just dedicated video camera like Sony FX30 is way superior. https://preview.redd.it/wpryx2t6iw6f1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=28521191b680d1d36ae49cc12948f7c92bab361e

Only thing I have bad to say about GoPro is that my Hero9 is not water proof. Evident by it falling in the pool and getting wrecked.... It still works 80% of the time. But the front screen is fried, and once battery gets to like 75% ...it shuts down and says no battery. Other than that, I have a hero 6 that is great and still kicking, ol reliable. And the 9 works still, just randomly doesn't.

Really? I remember the GP9 was really, really bad. Constant problems with just hanging and nothing fixes it besides taking the battery out. Also couple of times I charged it to 100% and by the time I went to swim, so 30-40 minutes, it was already at 70% while being OFF. With the new GP2 ~~sensor~~ CPU things improved drastically, but still I wouldn't call it the most reliable camera in the world. Missed a super lucky video of my wife with an eagle ray because at that precise moment the 13 decided that the memory card was too slow (it wasn't) and it won't record. That happened a few other times this same snorkel session, albeit I didn't miss anything else epic. And then it just fixed itself and I didn't have this issue until the end of the day. Switched to another microSD for the next day of course. edit: wrong word

I have a 9 I use for travel videos/photography and the occasional time lapse. It works great. No complaints except I wish the battery life was better.

If your budget is approx. $200, then I would recommend buying a used Hero 8/9/10/11 instead. This will give you WAY more value for your money. Yes, the small Hero camera might be designed for beginners, but I honestly see no sence in it. The Hero Black is not that complicated to handle either, the image quality is better, and it offers way more options.

If your budget is approx. $200, then I would recommend buying a used Hero 8/9/10/11 instead. This will give you WAY more value for your money. Yes, the small Hero camera might be designed for beginners, but I honestly see no sence in it. The Hero Black is not that complicated to handle either, the image quality is better, and it offers way more options.

I've been using every GoPro since gopro 7 (first release of the hyper smooth) up until 12. With 12 I've used it with the max lens mod. Couple months ago I got the DJI action 5 and I am very happy with it. I haven't used the fov lens for DJI though Features that GoPro is better - * Color quality under good lighting - you just can't beat GoPro with this no matter what. Go Pro looks incredible under good lighting. But with MTB, especially during the summer when all leaves are out, that's not exactly the situation always * Resolution - kinda similar as the first point but it does have 5.2k vs dji 4k. Not sure if that matters much to you * Stabilization - this is very minor but the GoPro stabilization is more natural but osmo Action 5 is still very good * App requirement - for DJI, you have to activate your camera with their app to use it. With go pro, no registration is necessary to use it. To some people that's a deal breaker What I like about DJI - * Battery life - even with GoPro Enduro batteries, I was getting maybe an hour with my settings. DJI battery is literally lasting me 1.5 hr with one single battery. I only carry one extra battery with me now. * D-Log M color / LUT - if you are into grading color this helps a lot. I shoot using their log settings, and apply LUT available online and it is like 90% close to what I want the color to be. * App - I've also used insta360 x3 and insta360 go 3 as well. Out of all apps I used, DJI one was the best one. Its so quick to grab a short footage out and post it on social Media. And you can even apply that color grading through the app directly if recorded with D-Log * Magnet mount - I record vertical videos frequently for short forms. It works great with switching the ratio or even quickly changing settings. Also super easy to put it on like a selfie stick or a tripod * Wind noise - I used to put a little dead cat on GoPro to reduce wind noise. The problem was that I couldn't use GoPro for any under water activity like that. I wasn't gonna keep on peeling it off and put a new one on every time. I wasn't a fan of the big foam around it either. I got the DJI mini mic with it and it pretty much eliminated all wind noise. Its amazing and now I can easily use the camera under water. * Software stability - I used to lose footage all the time because video gets corrupted during the recording and find out when I'm home. So I got into the habit of stopping recording every time I stop on the trail to reduce this corruption. With DJI action, I haven't had any corrupted videos and I just let it record all the time * Filename - it could be minor, but GoPro file name sucks. DJIs file name way more sense * Price - I got the package that comes with the 2 extra battery, battery charger, stick, for like $360. DM me if you have any specific questions

As others said any GoPro from 11-13 (I would even say starting with Gpro 9) would work. I would also recommend the gorpox Max (360) great for something like shark cage where you can re-fesme the video later....just keep in mind 360 is a pia dealing with file sizes and whatever you do don't scratch the lenses

similar story, I used all gopros from 6 to 12, but switched over to Osmo Action about a year ago and my life just changed. Refreshing to see that action camera can actually be reliable and not crash and overheat all the time, better battery life, faster UI, better quick release system. These are just some of the reasons to switch.

Are you specifically referring to the entry-level Hero camera released this year or GoPro's flagship Hero Black series? If the former, I'd probably steer clear. If the latter, hell yea - GoPros are awesome.