I’ve been using GoPro cameras all the way back to the Hero 3 - they provide one of the best solutions when it comes to capturing action footage and they’ve just become better and better over the years for action sports. For vlogging, they’ve come out with some great add-ons in recent years including the media mod, LED light, and Volta grip and now, they offer this creator edition which bundles all these accessories which can save upwards of $100.The Hero 11 itself is far and away the best action camera you can get with 5.3K video, amazing stabilization, as well as super slow-mo 120 fps, but my favorite feature of the new Hero 11 from a content creator perspective is that you can record in a new 8:7 aspect ratio. Now, although you likely won’t be outputting in 8:7, ... MoreI’ve been using GoPro cameras all the way back to the Hero 3 - they provide one of the best solutions when it comes to capturing action footage and they’ve just become better and better over the years for action sports. For vlogging, they’ve come out with some great add-ons in recent years including the media mod, LED light, and Volta grip and now, they offer this creator edition which bundles all these accessories which can save upwards of $100.The Hero 11 itself is far and away the best action camera you can get with 5.3K video, amazing stabilization, as well as super slow-mo 120 fps, but my favorite feature of the new Hero 11 from a content creator perspective is that you can record in a new 8:7 aspect ratio. Now, although you likely won’t be outputting in 8:7, this aspect ratio allows you to capture in this near square format and then you can punch in for either vertical or horizontal formats using the same clip. So you could use horizontal if you wanted to upload to YouTube or Facebook and then re-crop to vertical or square for Instagram. I can’t tell you how useful this feature is for being able to re-use content.In terms of the accessories, the Volta grip is pretty handy where it serves quadruple duty as a grip, a tripod, an extended battery, as well as a remote control. For me, I value the extended battery and grip functionality a lot and also find the tripod handy, but its not necessarily the most versatile in terms of camera positions where you can’t really tilt the camera. You can rotate and pivot the camera but tilting it from one side to another isn’t possible which is something that would make it better.The Hero 11 already captures surprisingly good audio but the media mode takes it up another level with very good audio from the built in mic on the mod itself. In addition it also comes with a foam wind cover for reducing noise from wind. And if you want even better audio from an external mic, you can do that too as it has a 3.5mm audio jack for plugging in your favorite external mic. Along with that it has an HDMI port and USB C port And it also has a couple hot shoes built in so you can attach other accessories like the LED light that also comes with this kit.In terms of value, this kit delivers a lot and if you’re looking to get into content creation whether it be for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and better yet, all of the above, this is a fantastic value for the money.

This is my first time with a GoPro and it was a pleasant surprise to find out how easy setup was. There are two buttons on the camera itself and a very small screen to check what options or settings you’re thumbing through but most everything is done via the app, which can be a pro or a con. On the plus side, it’s dead easy to point and shoot, but on the negative side it is a bit of a hassle to spend some time going through menus with just two buttons and a small screen or having to whip out the app. The app is another aspect of the Mini that, being so prominent, can be a bit of a downside. It requires a subscription for things like unlimited cloud storage and auto uploading, which I find to be pretty essential features for a camera. Fortunately the subscription fee ... MoreThis is my first time with a GoPro and it was a pleasant surprise to find out how easy setup was. There are two buttons on the camera itself and a very small screen to check what options or settings you’re thumbing through but most everything is done via the app, which can be a pro or a con. On the plus side, it’s dead easy to point and shoot, but on the negative side it is a bit of a hassle to spend some time going through menus with just two buttons and a small screen or having to whip out the app. The app is another aspect of the Mini that, being so prominent, can be a bit of a downside. It requires a subscription for things like unlimited cloud storage and auto uploading, which I find to be pretty essential features for a camera. Fortunately the subscription fee is about fifty USD, so not an insanely hefty amount, and does include other perks like discounts on other GoPro merch. It just is a bit of a downer that to get the most functionality out of this camera, you need to shell out an additional subscription fee. The camera also does not feature a removable battery like other digital cameras I’ve used in the past, which does lead to some concern about whether in the future battery wear and tear will render this little camera unusable. The lack of a viewfinder on the actual camera itself is also somewhat jarring and harkens back to the mild inconvenience of having to defer to the app for everything. All that being said, the actual camera capabilities of the Mini are astounding. I was blown out of the water by the quality of the capture for such a relatively tiny device. I don’t believe this would work well for extended use, such as in, say, hiking videos, as in my own experience the battery lasted about an hour on average. But for fun things like a daily vlog or cooking videos or experimental pov footage, this camera would work excellently and is easy to mount. It works decently well even in night conditions, too. Ultimately, this camera has some considerable benefits and detriments to weigh and would, in my opinion, work best for the amateur enthusiast or as a secondary camera. It is definitely a lot of fun to experiment with, though, and if you can manage to not mind the limited controls and the marriage this has to the app (which isn’t bad, but requires payment on a subscription basis to fully “unlock”), this is a neat little camera for sure.

The GoPro Hero11 Black! In the box you get the GoPro Hero11 camera, a mounting screw, a mount, a USB Type A to Type C charging cable, and an Enduro battery!Coming from the GoPro Hero10 Black and looking at the specs of the Hero11, i was not too impressed until i actually starting using it. I love playing tennis and occasionally will bring out the GoPro Hero10 with me to record myself so i can work on my form, technique, and footwork. With the Hero10 and Enduro battery, i notice that the hot weather usually causes it to overheat around the ~30 minute mark, more or less due to the temps outside. With the Hero11 and the Enduro battery, i encountered overheating issues around the ~45 minute mark when shooting side by side with the Hero10 in ~95° weather… At first ... MoreThe GoPro Hero11 Black! In the box you get the GoPro Hero11 camera, a mounting screw, a mount, a USB Type A to Type C charging cable, and an Enduro battery!Coming from the GoPro Hero10 Black and looking at the specs of the Hero11, i was not too impressed until i actually starting using it. I love playing tennis and occasionally will bring out the GoPro Hero10 with me to record myself so i can work on my form, technique, and footwork. With the Hero10 and Enduro battery, i notice that the hot weather usually causes it to overheat around the ~30 minute mark, more or less due to the temps outside. With the Hero11 and the Enduro battery, i encountered overheating issues around the ~45 minute mark when shooting side by side with the Hero10 in ~95° weather… At first glance, it appears that the Hero10 & Hero11 are identical in terms of the body, so there may be something else that is affording better heat management (perhaps a more efficient CPU).When reviewing the footage, i did notice that the color reproduction of the Hero11 was much more rich, and this is due to the 10bit color recording feature! Just wow! The banding is just so much more smooth and very evident, especially if you are recording backdrops with gradients. Another great feature that i appreciated was that the Hero11 has full horizon lock, meaning regardless of the tilt of your camera, the video would be locked per the horizon. On the Hero10, i bought the Max Lens to achieve this same effect as the tilt limit was ~45°, but no more need for that on the Hero11! This was a very much appreciated feature because when the balls come flying into the fence where my GoPro is mounted, it may tilt due to the sheer force but because of the full horizon lock, video footage still appears as intended! Hypersmooth 5.0 on the Hero11 also faired very well on this particular shot as well, as there was much less noticeable camera wobble/shake when the tennis balls made contact near the fence where the GoPros were mounted compared to the Hero10.Because the Hero10 & Hero11 are practically identical, i was able to use all my mods from my Hero10 on the Hero11. Technically, if you have any mods/accessories for the Hero9, it’ll work with the Hero11 as well :PAs i mentioned before, from a specs to specs comparison with the Hero10, the Hero11 seems a tad bit underwhelming as it’s appears to be small spec bumps here and there. However once you try it out for yourself, there is no doubt the Hero11 is indeed the best and you can’t help but just marvel at how GoPro manages to keep bringing great improvements to what it always seems an already awesome action cam!I would highly recommend the Hero11 for hardcore active users! If you’re on a budget though, the Hero10 is still a great option for $50 less :)