Hero by Go Pro

The Hero by Go Pro is an incredibly small camera that is designed for sport use and comes with a variety of mounts and capabilities for filming and taking pictures in almost any outdoor or sport type adventure.

We had the opportunity to test this camera on our cross country adventure while we traveled 12,000 miles in a 2 month period hitting 7 different Jeep Jamborees across the country. The size of the camera is amazing in regards to how it functions; resembling a child’s toy of a “key chain” type camera it captures surprisingly high quality video and equally good still shots.

Powered by 2 AAA batteries and a 2 gig memory card it is able to hold 44 minutes of video. The Hero has the ability to take still frame shots in a variety of different modes from single to 3 shot bursts as well as still’s every 2 or 5 seconds depending on which setting you choose. A coupe of the other functions that really stood out during the testing and review process were the fact that the camera can be mounted upside down and set so that it records right side up, another other great thing is that the camera comes with a waterproof case that is good for submersion up to 100ft.

The waterproof case allowed us to mount the camera on the front bumper with the included mounts and we didn’t have to worry about mud holes or water crossings when we approached them. One of the down sides to using the waterproof case is that it does eliminate the ability to record good sound but given the fact that it opens up so many other ways to use the camera (like surfing, scuba diving and snorkeling) we that it was part of the give and take considering the various environments it could be used.

The Hero is a great little camera and a bargain for the price. Since the Hero uses a standard storage card you can simply remove it from the camera, put it in your computer and retrieve the video or pictures as you would with any other storage device. Eliminating the need for special software.

After having the opportunity to use and test the hero for almost two months I like the design, compact yet impressive capabilities as well as the ease of use. It was enjoyable to use and not as much of a chore as other cameras I’ve tested and owned so I found myself looking forward to putting it to use and watching later.

Some of the things that would rate on the other side of the equation would be that it can eat batteries; I would recommend paying the extra and buying a good, rechargeable battery if you would intend to use the camera often. It would be nice if there was a way to transmit the sound when it is locked in the water proof case but knowing it takes a tight seal to keep the water out and that unfortunately…keeps the sound out too.