GoPro Hero12 Black review

The GoPro Hero12 Black is the company’s newest flagship action camera, building upon the improvements introduced by last year’s Hero11 Black model. The new Hero12 Black features the same almost-square 8:7 aspect ratio sensor and GP2 processor as its predecessor, yet is now capable of longer runtime, better image stabilization performance, 10-bit Log video, wireless audio connectivity and more.

Key Features & Specs

• Type 1/1.9 (6.3 x 5.5mm) CMOS sensor with native 8:7 aspect ratio
• 5.3K at up to 60p, 4K at up to 120p
• 8x slow-mo (2.7K at 240p)
• ‘HDR’ video mode
• Vertical video support (9:16 ratio)
• 10-bit video, and new GP-Log video option
• 24.7MP still photos from video
• 27MP photos, including Raw + JPEG
• Ultra-wide 177° field of view with optional new Max Lens Mod 2.0
• 2 times longer runtime than the Hero11 Black: 70min at 5.3K60, 58min at 4K120
• Improved image stabilization
• Wireless audio support for Apple AirPods and other Bluetooth headphones
• Waterproof up to 10m (33ft)
• Standard 1/4-20 mounting thread on the bottom

The Hero12 Black hits store shelves on September 13, 2023. Starting at $399.99 for the camera alone, the GoPro Hero12 Black is $100 less expensive than the initial MSRP of the Hero11 Black when it was first released (though you could get a $100 discount if you subscribed to the company’s cloud service). The Hero12 Black is also sold in a ‘Creators Edition’ bundle for $599.99 and includes several accessories, such as a microphone attachment, LED light kit and a battery grip/tripod control.

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Index:

• What is it?
• How does it compare?
• Body and handling
  
• What it’s like to use
  
• Image quality
• Image stabilization
• Conclusion
• Sample Gallery

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What is it?

If you were to look at the newly announced GoPro Hero12 Black action camera side-by-side with the Hero11 Black, its predecessor, you’d be hard-pressed to tell them apart. Physically, the new Hero12 Black looks just like the Hero11 Black, save for the different branding. The Hero12 Black keeps the same overall design that was introduced several versions ago with the Hero9.

Feature-wise, the new GoPro Hero12 Black shares much in common with the Hero11 Black from last year. It’s more of an evolution than a revolution. It brings over a lot of the same features and tech from its predecessor, including the same sensor, same processor, same built-in lens and same general array of video resolutions. Despite the same imaging pipeline, GoPro claims it managed to improve the power efficiency in the Hero12 Black, giving double the runtime of the previous model, better image stabilization and additional video recording options, such as ‘HDR’ video, GP-Log and dedicated vertical video aspect ratio support, to name a few.

I had an opportunity to test the new Hero12 Black and an optional Max Lens Mod 2.0 ultra-wide accessory lens a few days before its public unveiling. While I am not the ideal target customer for a premium action camera, I was still very impressed by its features, image quality, and pleasing usability.

27MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo. ISO 100 | 1/2400 sec | F2.5 | 2.7mm @ 15mm equiv. Photo: William Brawley

Digital lens styles

Similar to previous GoPro Hero models, the Hero12 Black offers a variety of built-in ‘digital lenses‘ that allow you to adjust the look and immersive feel of your footage. The Hero12 Black offers a ‘Wide’ fisheye-style lens, a ‘Linear’ wide-angle view without the fisheye (via software correction), an ultra-wide ‘SuperView’ that utilizes a 4:3 aspect ratio capture and stretches it to 16:9, and an even wider ‘HyperView’ lens that uses the full 8:7 aspect ratio stretched into 16:9 for even more dramatic perspective that captures more of the scenery around the subject.

The Wide Lens is the default, native lens style of the camera and is the sole lens offered when shooting stills in Raw+JPEG mode. The other digital lenses, such as Linear, SuperView and HyperView, are ‘digital’ in that the images are stretched to fit the wider FOVs. Objects towards the edges of the frame using these wider FOV ‘lenses’ can appear warped and very curved, so keep that in mind.

27MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo – ‘Wide’ Lens ISO 108 | 1/9500 sec | F2.5 | 2.7mm @ 15mm equiv. Photo: William Brawley

27MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo – ‘Linear’ digital lens ISO 100 | 1/1200 sec | F2.5 | 2.7mm @ 15mm equiv. Photo: William Brawley

Max Lens Mod 2.0 lens accessory

A new Max Lens Mod 2.0 attachment lens accessory (MSRP $99.99) lets you get even wider. This new lens is 36% wider for widescreen video and 48% taller for vertical video than the original Max Lens Mod 1.0. The Max Lens Mod 2.0 offers a 177-degree field of view with 4K 60p footage. GoPro also claims the lens to be twice as scratch-resistant as the original model and features a hydrophobic optical coating to help shed water droplets.

Photo: William Brawley

With the new Max HyperView option, the effect is very dramatic, and the warping/stretching is noticeable when you pan the camera around. It was a little distracting or disorientating to just walk around in the forest due to all the warping. You can also select a normal ‘Wide‘ lens, or a wider SuperView look that’s not as dramatic of an effect.

We ran some tests of all three options and the videos are linked in the previous paragraph.

One thing to note about the Max Lens Mod 2.0: There’s no electrical communication with the camera. You’ll have to enable the Max Lens Mod in the camera manually. Otherwise, your image will be distorted, with a circular fisheye look.

If you forget to tell the camera that you’ve attached the Max Lens Mod 2.0 lens, you’ll end up with this circular fisheye look to your images. (This might be a cool effect, depending on the look you’re going for!) Photo: William Brawley

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How does it compare?

There are a lot of similarities between the GoPro Hero12 Black and its Hero11 Black predecessor. Both use the same sensor and processor, so many of the video modes, digital lenses and available aspect ratios are the same. GoPro has removed GPS from the Hero12 Black, so that is something to keep in mind if that functionality is important for you. The Hero12 Black, however, does offer several improvements and new options, including a native 9:16 vertical video aspect ratio, wireless audio support, GP-Log encoding, timecode and a built-in 1/4-20 mounting thread.

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Body and handling

Right out of the box, I was impressed with the build quality of the new Hero12 Black. This is the first time I’ve used one of these GoPro Hero cameras with the latest body design that GoPro adopted back with the Hero9. The last time I owned a GoPro was an HD Hero2 from 2011. The design and construction have improved dramatically since that time.

The Hero12 Black is built from rugged polycarbonate plastic, and GoPro says it is fully waterproof on its own down to 10m (33ft.) – a nice change from the early GoPro Hero days when the cameras required a separate housing in order to be waterproof. There’s a nice heft to the camera, but it’s not heavy, as it weighs 154g (5.4 oz.). It feels solid and nicely built without any sort of plastic-y feel.

The GoPro Hero12 Black now includes a standard 1/4-20 mounting screw, allowing for easier mounting with a wider variety of accessories. Photo: William Brawley

The Hero12 Black features screens on both sides. There’s a front-facing, 1.4″ full-color square LCD that can show basic shooting info or mirror what’s on the larger rear display. The rear, meanwhile, features a 2.27″ LCD touchscreen panel that takes up essentially the entire rear of the camera.

There are only two physical buttons: a power button along the side and a top button that doubles as the shutter release or video start/stop. Along the bottom, two pop-out tabs allow you to attach GoPro’s numerous mounting accessories. This year, they’ve finally added a standard 1/4-20 mounting thread, making it easier to attach standard tripod plates and other mounting or support accessories.

The top plate has a single button, which acts as a shutter release. Photo: William Brawley

Battery

Despite using the same sensor, GP2 image processing unit and battery pack as the Hero11, GoPro claims that the Hero12 Black offers significantly better runtime duration thanks to improved power management and processing efficiency.

GoPro claims up to two times longer runtime than the previous model, with the Hero12 Black capable of recording up to 70 minutes of 5.3K 60p video and up to 58 minutes of 4K 120p video. If you have the card capacity, you can even record over 90 minutes of 5.3K 30p video.

I attempted to conduct a battery life runtime test, first without realizing I didn’t have enough card space to even allow for 70 minutes of 5.3K 60p footage. However, the camera shut down due to thermal limitations after around 18 minutes of continuous recording. The test was done indoors with an ambient temperature of around 24ºC (75º F), which I didn’t think would be a particularly harsh shooting environment. After powering the camera back on, the camera showed me a warning message explaining that the camera had turned off because it had become too hot. The battery capacity, meanwhile, now indicated around 62%. I didn’t attempt another super-long sustained recording test, indoors or outdoors.

During the rest of my time with the Hero12 Black the camera did not give me any other thermal warnings of any kind, including while shooting short clips in 26-32º C (80-90º F) Atlanta, Georgia. After several hours of shooting various high-res video clips, taking photos, and going in and out of menus, I never once drained the battery completely.

15MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo with Max Lens Mod 2.0 attached. ISO 155 | 1/950 sec | F2.5 | 1.9mm Photo: William Brawley

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What it’s like to use

It’s pleasing to see that despite the flagship nature of this new Hero12 Black action camera, the camera is designed for a wide range of users, from beginners to experienced professionals. The camera features two UI schemes for camera controls: an ‘Easy’ mode and a ‘Pro’ mode. The Easy Controls mode is vastly simplified but still gives the user quick and easy access to the primary, highest-quality camera settings. Even for advanced users who want to point, shoot and go, the Easy Controls UI is a way to use the camera without diving too deeply into all sorts of menus. Meanwhile, the ‘Pro Controls’ mode opens up the full spectrum of options and settings, giving enthusiasts and advanced users all the customizations to get the shots they need.

The GoPro user interface is very gesture-heavy. As a novice user myself, the gesture-centric nature of the UI took a little getting used to. It was sometimes hard to remember which swipe direction did what. Menu navigation felt responsive for touch and swipe navigation, though, at times, the on-screen icons took a couple of taps to respond to my touch. If I wasn’t precise in tapping exactly on the icons, my tap wouldn’t always register. Overall, I feel like it can be easy for a new user to get flustered or lost, especially if you’re out in the field trying to get the camera set up quickly for a particular activity.

The GoPro Quik App lets you pair your GoPro Hero12 Black camera to your mobile device. The overall experience is one of the best I’ve ever seen, with a very quick and easy setup process.

GoPro’s Quik app

One of the best user experiences with the GoPro Hero12 Black was pairing it up with my smartphone using the GoPro Quik App. That sounds like an odd statement, but the process was so simple and fast that I was impressed. It is one of the best, most seamless experiences I’ve encountered in all my years of testing cameras and using all sorts of mobile companion apps.

The entire pairing process took only a few moments. The Quik App immediately recognized the Hero12 Black and paired with it in seconds. The app also lets you connect the GoPro directly to your Wi-Fi network. With Wi-Fi enabled, combined with an optional paid GoPro Subscription account, the auto-upload feature is a convenient way to back up your footage to the cloud while charging your GoPro after use. However, the upload process can take quite a while, depending on how much footage you shoot and the speed of your network.

The Quik App gives you full remote control of your GoPro camera. You can start and stop recording, see a live view from the camera, power the camera off and on, and adjust the overall UI/control scheme of the camera (Easy vs. Pro Control mode).

With the app, you can control all aspects of the camera, including powering it on and off remotely (thanks to Bluetooth Low Energy, an always-ready connection), adjusting video or photo quality settings, switching shooting modes, lens styles and much more. You also have a remote live view of what the camera is seeing, which is helpful if you’re trying to set up remote shots or position the camera in an awkward position. During my testing, it felt seamless and worked very well.

Voice Controls and Wireless Audio

Like the previous Hero11, the new Hero12 Black features an array of voice commands, letting you control various functions, such as video start/stop and taking a picture, with just your voice. Voice commands generally worked well in quiet environments. I had no issues telling the GoPro to ‘take a photo’ or ‘start recording’ in my home. It was responsive through my bare voice and when I spoke into a paired set of Apple AirPods (more on that in a bit).

Voice commands struggled a bit when I used them outdoors. Perhaps I spoke more softly (so any passersby wouldn’t notice me shouting at a camera), or there were audio issues with my AirPods. Still, the GoPro failed to respond to my voice commands in this environment a few times.

Voice commands can be issued to the camera through Bluetooth devices like Apple AirPods. Photo: William Brawley

One of the new features of the Hero12 Black is the ability to pair AirPods and other Bluetooth headphones and microphones. You can even pair up to four Bluetooth devices at once. This makes the GoPro even more versatile, going beyond just an action cam. This is great for vlogging, recording interviews, or simply having a secondary backup microphone to capture audio.

Using headphones like AirPods, you can also wirelessly issue voice commands, letting you control the GoPro from far away or in a situation where your normal voice can’t reach the camera. In testing, wireless audio recording worked well. I could record my voice through my Airpods to the GoPro while standing about 20-25 feet away.

Pairing my AirPods to the GoPro was straightforward and quick. However, I constantly had to re-pair my AirPods for them to reconnect to the GoPro. I needed to delete the pairing on the GoPro, put the AirPods back into pairing mode and re-do the process on the GoPro. It was a little annoying, but once connected, they worked. It’s unclear if this is an issue with GoPro or with Apple AirPods. AirPods can be finicky sometimes, in my experience, and I suspect the AirPods were defaulting back to connecting to one of my Apple devices.

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Image Quality

The GoPro Hero12 Black uses the same Type 1/1.9 (6.3 x 5.5mm) CMOS sensor with an 8:7 aspect ratio that was introduced with the Hero11. This sensor allows for multi-aspect ratio video and stills simply by cropping to the respective aspect ratio in-camera natively. In addition to widescreen 16:9, 4:3 and ‘full-frame’ 8:7 aspect ratio capture, the Hero12 Black now adds vertical aspect ratio support at 9:16, which is ideal for publishing to Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts or TikTok. You can capture up to 4K video in vertical 9:16 aspect directly in-camera without physically orienting the camera vertically.

27MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo using the ‘Linear’ lens. ISO 100 | 1/2500 sec | F2.5 | 2.7mm @ 15mm equiv. Photo: William Brawley

Photos

The GoPro Hero12 Black is a solid little point-and-shoot action camera that offers very good image quality for a camera of this style and sensor size. Photo resolution remains the same as the Hero11 Black, at 27 megapixels, or up to 24.7 megapixels for a still frame pulled from a video (5.3K 8:7 video).

27MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo with ‘Wide’ lens. ISO 323 | 1/950 sec | F2.5 | 2.7mm @ 15mm equiv. Photo: William Brawley

In daytime conditions, JPEGs look pretty nice, with vibrant colors and good detail. However, you can easily see digital processing artifacts that look somewhat mushy and artificial if you zoom in close. Fortunately, you can also shoot in Raw + JPEG. In the below sample, we took a 27MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo (straight-out-of-camera) and cropped it 100%.

JPEG	Raw using Adobe Camera Raw (25% sharpening, other settings at default)

Raw files look cleaner, with better fine detail. Keep in mind, however, that you’re only offered the ‘Wide’ lens when Raw is enabled; no Linear, SuperView or HyperView digital lenses.

In my testing, I mainly let the GoPro do the work, keeping in its default ‘SuperPhoto’ still image mode. In this mode, the camera automatically determines the image processing depending on the scene. It’s unclear if the camera chooses either HDR or a standard exposure or if some blending or hybrid processing is involved. However, I was pleased with the overall image quality, particularly the dynamic range when shooting in the harsh midday sun. Images display pleasing shadow detail while also keeping the sky rich and colorful.

Video

Most people are likely getting a GoPro to shoot video, and the Hero12 Black offers a wide array of resolutions, frame rates and quality settings. It shares many of the same video options as the previous model, with 5.3K video at up to 60p and 4K at up to 120p, in most aspect ratios. When using the full-frame 8:7 aspect ratio, 5.3K video is capped at 30p and 4K at 60p. Other options include 2.7K video in 16:9 and 4:3 at up to 240p and Full HD at up to 240p.

Photo: William Brawley

If you’re particular about what resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio you need, it can be difficult to keep it all straight, as they can all fluctuate depending on any one of these variables. For instance, 5.3K video is available in Standard and the GP-Log profile, but if you select HDR, it drops you down to 4K – but still in 8:7 aspect ratio. For 16:9 video, you can shoot in all three profile styles, but the frame rate options change. 4K 16:9 video in Standard and GP-Log profile opens up 120p frame rate, but HDR is limited to 60p.

Fortunately, it’s visually easy to see what’s available on the camera when you change these settings. There’s no odd error message if you try to change a particular setting, which I like. Instead, the camera switches the other parameters accordingly and either eliminates settings that are not available or grays them out.

Quality-wise, videos look very good straight out of the Hero12 Black. The 8:7 aspect ratio uses the entire sensor, and at 5.3K resolution, images are sharp with lots of detail across the entire frame. It’s a bit strange looking at nearly square video on a widescreen 16:9 monitor, but the taller aspect ratio is great for post-production as it gives you the flexibility to crop to your desired output aspect ratio and adjust the framing of your shot.

Vertical video is a new feature on the Hero12 Black. Utilizing the full height of the taller 8:7 image sensor, the Hero12 Black provides up to 4K/60p or 1080/60p in a native 9:16 aspect ratio. Vertical videos are ready to go straight from the camera without any need to crop widescreen video or orient the camera vertically.

‘HDR’ video

One of the other notable new features is ‘HD’R video, in both 5.3K and 4K resolutions for video. To be clear, this is ‘HDR’ in the sense of capturing a wider dynamic range and tone-mapping it into an standard dynamic range space, not true HDR that uses a PQ or HLG curve to present a wide dynamic range in a natural-looking manner on an HDR display.

In trying to compare HDR video during the day, I took some short clips, in Standard Profile, HDR Profile and the new GP-Log Profile. At times, I struggled to see a significant difference in the Standard picture compared to the HDR still image. The colors looked very vibrant in both settings, along with nice shadow detail and clear, colorful skies and highlights. Lighting conditions during capture were very high contrast, but shadows weren’t crushed to black, even with the Standard Profile. HDR video, meanwhile, did show slightly richer blue tones in the sky with more subdued highlight tonality.

GP-Log

For creators who want maximum image quality control over their footage, the GoPro Hero12 Black now features GP-Log encoding. Beyond the expanded dynamic range performance of HDR video, the new GP-Log option gives advanced users the ability to capture footage with a wider dynamic range, allowing for finer control of tonal adjustments and color grading during post-production. Further, the Hero12 Black continues to offer 10-bit video, which can also be combined with GP-Log for maximum image quality performance in post.

Low-light

When the light levels dip, the tiny sensor in the GoPro Hero12 Black can struggle, as I expected. The camera offers a maximum ISO of 3200 for photos and 6400 for video, which is pretty high for a sensor of this size. As the ISO rises, noise and noise reduction processing for JPEGs is very noticeable, especially at ISO 1600-3200. However, while noisy, Raw photo files at ISO 3200 show impressive fine detail for this sensor size.

27MP 8:7 ‘full-frame’ still photo – Night Effects: (Vehicle Light Trails mode) ISO 200 | 0.5 sec | F2.5 | 2.7mm @ 15mm equiv. (16:9 aspect ratio) Photo: William Brawley

The Hero12 Black also features a range of Night Effects shooting modes from the Hero11, including Light Painting, Vehicle Light Trails and Star Trails. There is also a Night Photo mode that works like a long exposure mode, allowing shutter speed lengths up to 30 seconds. The Night Effect modes are now available in ‘full frame’ 8:7 aspect ratio video. The camera also includes several slow-motion video modes, including TimeWarp, Time Lapse and Night Lapse, and are now available in the taller 8:7 aspect ratio mode.

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Image Stabilization

As an action cam, stabilization is one of (if not the) key metrics in evaluating this type of camera. GoPro’s stabilization, they call it HyperSmooth 6.0, is some of the best image stabilization I’ve seen. Long story short, I am blown away. Even if I didn’t have the opportunity to test it out in some extreme action scenarios, I found the stabilization system could easily compensate for walking and running on both paved and off-road surfaces and gave me a good indicator of how it would perform on a ski slope or strapped to a bike.

GoPro doesn’t provide a spec for how many stops of stabilization the camera offers. However, they do specify that the AutoBoost feature, GoPro’s dynamic digital image stabilization that varies the amount of cropping required to digitally keep footage stabilized, can now analyze four times the data as in the previous Hero11. With more sample points, in practice, this should mean the camera has less need to crop in the frame to produce a steady image.

It’s worth pointing out that the enhanced AutoBoost stabilization option is not available in 8:7 full frame or 9:16 vertical aspect ratio modes; with those aspect ratios, it’s either Stabilization On or Off. AutoBoost is available only in 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios. Nonetheless, even with full-frame 8:7 video, the standard image stabilization was very impressive and worked wonderfully.

One of the most impressive stabilization options is the Horizon Lock feature, which helps maintain a level horizon even if you tilt the camera. The option is only available with 16:9 and 4:3 video aspect ratios. When shooting in 5.3K resolution, you can switch to Linear (the digital lens setting) + Horizon Leveling. With this mode, the camera’s stabilization will help maintain a lock-steady leveled horizon at up to a +/- 27-degree tilt. Tilting past that point, the video will ‘jump’ and become noticeably tilted.

However, if you go down to 4K, you get a complete 360-degree ‘Horizon Lock,’ not just ‘Leveling.’ When this mode is enabled, I could rotate the camera 45º vertically or fully upside down, and the horizon would remain completely level. I was amazed. If you add the ultra-wide Max Lens Mod 2.0 accessory, you can access 360º Horizon Lock for all digital lens modes.

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Conclusion

The GoPro Hero12 Black is the company’s most powerful, most advanced Hero camera to date, and it definitely feels like it. With 5.3K video using the full 8:7 aspect ratio sensor, the GoPro Hero12 Black provides excellent quality video and lots of versatility to crop and create the look you want from your action footage. The new vertical video support is handy for easy social media posting, and the image stabilization is some of the best I’ve ever seen.

Advanced options like wireless audio support, GP-Log and a feature-rich mobile app experience really give enthusiasts and professional creators a lot of flexibility to use a GoPro action camera in many applications.

The Hero12 Black is not without its drawbacks, however. The new model lacks the GPS module of its predecessor, so that is something to note in case you enjoy that functionality. The wireless audio worked, although having to re-pair my Apple AirPods each time was frustrating. I also experienced the camera overheating when attempting to record a long clip of 5.3K footage despite being in an air-conditioned room. That is slightly concerning for a camera that’s meant to be used outdoors in all sorts of harsh conditions.

It’s also worth mentioning the Quik App and GoPro’s cloud subscription service. The Quik App itself works extremely well, and using it to pair my smartphone with the Hero12 Black worked flawlessly. The subscription service is, fortunately, optional, but the Quik App works without it. You’ll still be able to remotely control the GoPro and edit footage within the app, but you’ll miss out on a number of additional features, including automatic cloud backup as well as several editing filters, speed tools for slo-mo footage, themes and music options.

However, if you’re serious about incorporating a GoPro camera into your creative workflow, it is worth considering the subscription service. At $24.99 for the first year (and $49.99 per year thereafter), it’s a means to get unlimited cloud storage and auto-backups.

Photo: William Brawley

So, why choose a GoPro Hero12 Black over a smartphone? After all, both devices are extremely portable, can capture high-res videos, are great vlogging cameras, and many modern smartphones have excellent video image stabilization. For me, the GoPro offers way more versatility and shooting options, and it’s much easier to hold than my thin and often slippery smartphone. The GoPro feels much more durable, and the compact size lets you put the camera just about anywhere. Especially if you’re seeking a dedicated video camera, the GoPro seems like a good choice for capturing your adventures.

All in all, the GoPro Hero12 Black is an impressive little action camera. Despite its small size, it offers a dazzling array of features and high-resolution video and photo options. Is it substantially different from the Hero11 Black, and is it worth the extra $50? For more casual users, probably not. The primary video features and photo modes are largely the same. For more serious creators who perhaps want to fine-tune their footage with GP-Log, get footage with the Max Lens Mod 2.0 (which doesn’t work with the Hero11), or record audio with wireless mics, then the Hero12 Black is the better option.

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Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.

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