This could be the next Gopro 5 (roundup)

The Gopro 4 was announced about a year ago at september 2014. With photokina fast approaching and set to end of september this year, I would not be surprised if we will get another announcement from Gopro in a month or so.

But what will this announcement have? I mean, what will the Gopro 5 look like? What features will be in it and most importantly, will it be enough to pull GoPro out of the depths it is curently in. And by depths I mean both competition and plunging stock price.

The last month had a slew of rumors and possible leaks from images, to videos, to a PDF of the manual. Here is what the Gopro hero 5 could be

Touch screen

OK, I have the 2 buttons interface on the gopro and I don’t know of any single person who likes it. So GoPro maybe opting for a touchscreen similar to the YI 4K. Here is what could be a mockup or could be the real thing

It looks a lot like the YI 4K

nokishita-camera and mirrorless rumors leaked the full looks and some specs of the unit. If this is true, the GoPro hero 5 is quite similar to the YI 4K (two photos below + one on top)

Video Features, no 8K

So a PDF of the Gopro Hero 5 manual was leaked and summarized by reddit. It was not the complete manual, but it had a list of features. We thought the hero 5 will have 8K (though I am really not sure who would need this right now on an action camera), but all and all most improvements seem to be on the slow-mo front.

general features:

• Camera appears to be waterproof like the Session, but no depth is stated in the manual.
• USB C connector

Resolutions:

• 4K @ 30 fps
• 2.7K @ 60 fps
• 1440 @ 80 fps
• 1080 @ 120 fps
• 960 @ 120 fps
• Various 720 modes, depending on FOV you’ve selected
• Camera is 12 MP
• RAW photo in .dng format
• Voice control over basic functions (“GoPro turn on”, “GoPro start video”, etc)
• Video stabilization: Apparently results in smoother footage when you’re using it in areas of motion or vibration. Not available in 4K or fps higher than 60.

Manual Audio Control

• Select one of two audio filters; recording in stereo or filter out wind noise.

Protune remains with some small tweaks

• New “linear” FOV which removes the fisheye automatically
• Exposure Select, allows you to select a certain area of your photo to select the correct exposure.
• Colour: Allows you to see the difference between GoPro colour and Flat colour on the LCD screen, while using Protune.
• New shutter selection in Protune, allowing you to choose your shutter speed
• RAW Audio setting, which appears to create a separate audio track while recording video
• Rear LCD Brightness is now selectable from 10% to 100% (and OFF)
• The front LCD is again, NOT backlit
• Dive housing sensitivity: Increases the touch display’s level of sensitivity. The options are Off (default) and On. Turn this setting on when using your GoPro with Super Suit.
• Not sure what Super Suit is, but looking forward to that announcement. This tells me that the camera is probably only waterproof to the same depth as the Session (10m/33ft) and it will require a “Super Suit” if you want to take it deeper than that.
• GPS enabled
• There’s an incomplete heading in the manual called “Removable Protective Lens Info”. One can only assume what that means.
• There is a small mention of Karma in the manual, but it’s for removing the side door of the camera for connection to the drone via HDMI cable.

Cloud Service?

Both an image on imgur and the leaked PDF hint at a cloud service. The idea is that workflow would be easier, and once you are done shooting the camera will upload materials to the GoPro PLUS cloud. This means that loading your GoPro hero 5 on the way back from a shoot will keep it powered enough and possibly connected to your mobile hotspot enough to upload all the footage, so it will wait for you in the studio.

Does that mean live video? Not sure as the PDF does not mention any cellular connectivity.

Voice Control

One line from the reddit thread suggests “Voice control over basic functions (“GoPro turn on”, “GoPro start video”, etc)“. On one hand this seems highly inefficient. Can you see a voice command not being drowned by the waves/trail/air rush? It could even funny, as an entire skating part randomly shouts “GoPro on!“.

On the other hand, if the camera has only one button and the LCD is covered with a case, this may be the only non-app way to communicate with the camera.

Your turn

Any major tumor we missed? any feature you would like to see on the GoPro Hero 5? Let us know in the comments.

[via mashable, mirrorless rumors, pocket-lint]