I recently was gifted a GoPro Hero 6 from friends at Sport Chek. To be honest, I have never really used GoPro much, which is odd with all the outdoor activities that I am involved in that don't exactly fair well with my DSLR! I just hadn't given it much thought to opportunities with GoPro. I was excited to give it a try especially because I have seen some exceptional work done with GoPro and the new places I could take my Photography. In this particular case a trip to Mexico with some tropical snorkeling seemed like the perfect start to my new GoPro Adventure.
Before my family trip to Mexico I purchased a GoPro Dome for the Hero 6. It is basically a dome that the GoPro fits in that separates the underwater from the surface water, as you see above. With the Hero 6 being waterproof, there isn't much worry if you get it wet.
“With the Hero 6 being waterproof, there isn’t much worry if you get it wet. ”
We went for a snorkel mission in a little town about an hour out of Puerto Vallarta called Boca. From there we were met with 10-15 skippers all looking to take tourists out on their little dive boats. We settled on a company we used last year and set out to the dive rocks new Boca.
This was my first time with a GoPro, so figuring it out was a bit tricky but it didn't take long to get the hang of it. What I like the most about it is the touch screen which makes seeing what you are capturing quite easy. It is also a wide lens that takes in so much of the landscape. Underwater photos came out beautiful, and I wasn't even shooting at full resolution (still was figuring out all the settings). We didn't dive too deep on this particular day but the GoPro is good up to 30ft deep.
After a fun little day underwater we hit up a local food spot with a massive Iguana cruising around the parking lot. The rest of my week I spend playing with a few of the features of the GoPro, the time lapse and video components were fun, but I have always been more interested in stills. Fun sunsets and lazy days led me to enjoy the small size and high quality capabilities of the GoPro.
After a wonderful trip to Mexico I headed to New Zealand to meet up with my partner for some adventures in the southern Hemisphere. I took the GoPro on more adventures sailing an even to Tasmania. I have come up with a list of why having both GoPro 6 and a DSLR on every adventure can optimize the ability to capture a moment.
GoPro Hero 6 Strengths:
Small and Waterproof: This feature is probably what sets this device apart from my DSLR. I can take my GoPro to places and capture experiences that are otherwise too much work or too risky to take a larger camera. I can't wait to use it on the winter slopes for skiing!
Secondary Time Lapse: When shooting a sunrise or sunset sometimes its nice to have a secondary camera capturing a time lapse of the sun rising or setting, however you still want to have a DSLR in hand to capture other imagery. My partner likes to set up a time lapse on the GoPro separately while shooting which captures the experience in a different way.
High Quality: Over the years I have strayed away from GoPro because I like having a high quality camera to capture my stills however the latest versions of the GoPro are incredibly high in quality. Image stabilization helps with action videos or stills greatly enhance final product.
GoPro Hero 6 Faults:
Although the battery life has been improved with the Hero 6 I still found it to run dry rather quickly, I think it is mostly because the screen takes a lot of power. I only have one battery for the device as well so having an additional battery would probably be a good idea.
I do love the alternative options of the GoPro Hero 6 and I think it is well worth having on adventures however nothing quite beats the quality of a DSLR, however you are trading in weight, cost and fragility. If it is within budget to have both option I think that is the best case. It really depends on what you want to capture in the end. If you are really interested in capturing detailed components of every adventure, than a GoPro Hero 6 would be an exceptional choice, the ability to time lapse and video can enhance vlogs, blogs and Instagram feeds. I personally now enjoy using a combination of both.
I am so pleased to have the opportunity to use the GoPro Hero 6 on my recent adventures and I can say one thing with confidence is that I don't plan on leaving it behind. I didn't realize how effective it was until properly trying it out and having a bit of fun with this new tool!