As someone who is largely afraid of post-production video editing, I’m excited about some of the other new software-based features in the Hero 11 Black, especially the Star Trails feature. If you’ve tried shooting star trails before, you know how difficult it can be to stack hundreds of images, so this might get you thinking: Hero 11 can shoot star trails video perfect with just the push of a button. Again, the ability to pull out 24 megapixels still comes in handy.
Other new software modes include a Light Painting mode if you want to have fun with a flashlight, and a Car Light Path mode to easily turn nighttime car lights into a river of white and red.
In keeping with the idea of less work for users, there are now two modes available in GoPro: Easy and Pro. The camera ships in Easy mode, offering a streamlined interface for those who don’t want to delve into GoPro’s color settings and other fine-tuning details. If you’re a pro or just getting used to the old user interface, you can easily switch to the Pro interface, which is the familiar GoPro interface.
Another cool feature that’s not directly related to the Hero 11 (in fact, it works with all GoPros going all the way back to the Hero 5) is more control over Auto Markup video. You need to be a GoPro subscriber and you must have Auto Upload enabled.
Once you do, the Quik app will automatically create the edits and include them in your Quik app. That’s been around for a while, but GoPro is now introducing the ability to edit Auto Markup videos without downloading the source file to your mobile device. You will end up editing the low resolution proxy, but when you export or share to another application, it will send the high resolution version. This should theoretically solve my main problem with Quik, which is it’s too much for my phone, but unfortunately the feature wasn’t available to test as I wrote the review. this.
Along with the new Hero 11, GoPro introduces a new camera, Hero 11 Black Mini ($450), it’s the Hero 11 Black in a smaller form-factor with no display. That means there’s no way to review your footage and no way to frame the footage in many cases. (You can pair it with the Quik app and frame it that way.) It sounds strange, but for many of GoPro’s core use cases—that is, people who actually wear GoPros to their bodies. them and go surfing, rock climbing or motorcycling – save weight and streamline the outstanding form factor. You cannot see any screen when it is above your head.
However, there is another aspect that I like about the Mini. Some time ago, Leica released a digital rangefinder no screen. That is, there is no way to review your images. Leica is unrealistically expensive, but I like the message behind it: Just shoot. Stop checking to see if you “hit the bullet”. Hero 11 Mini reminds me of that ethos. As GoPro’s head of product pointed out to me, it’s not the kind of camera that forces you to sit from a distance and shoot your kid’s party, not at all this time. Instead, you stick it in the corner, push the profile, and come back to life.
All that said, I didn’t really test the Hero 11 Mini. I still think that, for most people, the Hero 11 Black is the best action camera to buy. If you have a Hero 10, is it worth the upgrade? That depends on whether you need more vertical space in your photo. If you are constantly editing videos into different formats, the Hero 11 is definitely worth the investment.
