So the Light Mod for the GoPro Hero 8 Black went on sale the other day, and I went ahead and ordered despite the Media Mod not being available for order yet because I knew this was something I was ultimately going to want. It showed up the other day and I decided to go ahead and try it out.

$79 and the Plus discount does not apply. Ships by January 27th currently. I naturally already ordered one. Pick one up on GoPro‘s website.  The media mod fits the Hero 8 black and includes a shotgun mic, a couple of cold shoe mounts and a mic jack. 

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I just got an email that said “Don’t forget about media mod!”, foolishly I assumed that meant that it was finally available for order, since it’s said “Preorder in December” since the launch of the Hero 8. Not only is it not available to preorder, it now says “Preorder in January”. I want to stab everything.

My Hero 8 Black (Affiliate link) has become one of my most used cameras. It's small, portable, charges over USB-C, and has pretty damn good video and audio quality. It's perfect for vlogging. I have a variety of mounts and grips for it, and this week I added a new one to my collection. 

I figured I would post this because it's super rare these days that a company actually does the right thing. A couple of weeks ago I powered on my Rode Wireless Go mic setup to shoot a video, and the receiver wouldn't power on. I figured the battery had died and plugged it into power. It showed that it was fully charged, but the power button did nothing. It wouldn't power it on. I started a warranty claim with Rode, and though they took about a week to get back to me, they did send me a prepaid shipping label. I sent the mic setup to them, didn't hear a damn thing for like two weeks, and yesterday a whole new mic setup was delivered. 

Not great at communication but hey, they came through and replaced a defective product. Yay! 

If you've been following my recent posts, you already know I picked up a Hero 8 Black through GoPro's trade in program. I've determined that it's a nice little package, especially when paired with GoPro Plus to store all your pictures and videos and also half price on most accessories.  Since I could get it for half price, I went ahead and ordered this sleeve with lanyard.

One of the duties I'm using the GoPro for is auctions. I go to at least three auctions a week and take lots of pics and videos to determine what I'm going to bid on, how much, etc. 

I don't like carrying around multiple phones, and I don't like filling my iPhone's camera roll with endless pictures of cars, most of which I don't even end up buying for one reason or another. The Hero 8 with GoPro plus is perfect. I take pictures and videos all willy-nilly like I just don't even care about storage, then connect the GoPro to power and it automagically uploads them all. I can pull down the ones I need for sharing or my records and just leave the rest alone. I can format my SD card with reckless abandon since everything is backed up in full resolution on GoPro's cloud. 

Anyway, I figured this sleeve + lanyard would be great for that. I can have it around my neck instead of taking up pocket space, it's always close at hand, and I'm less worried about my dumb ass leaving the camera in a car at the auction. It seems like it will be perfect for that. As you would expect from a first party accessory it feels well made, and everything lines up correctly. The lanyard is long enough to put around your neck but has an adjustable little clasp on it should you want to use it as a wrist strap while shooting, which I imagine will come in handy for the more precarious shots GoPros are subjected to. It has a window in the bottom so your mounting prongs can still flip out. It also comes in a variety of colors. 

The only downside I have found is that there's no concession for charging. If you want to charge your camera, you have to take it off and put it back on again. It's not difficult to get in and out, but I am worried about stretching over time, as I take it out every single time I need to charge or transfer photos via cable or anything that requires I access the battery, power port, or SD card. 

Having said that, I don't actually know how it could include charging access given that the new design uses an entire side of the camera for a battery door. I'm still pretty happy with it for $9, and honestly it will probably last a year at which point I will likely upgrade anyway. Here are some pics so you can get an idea of how this thing looks and fits. 

I've been messing around with the Hero 8 Black some more. I had initially left the stabilization on High, today I tried it on Boost, and I definitely prefer boost. I'm shooting in 4k30fps in Linear mode. Here's the video. 

Looks pretty damn solid to me, and the crop isn't even noticeable since the field of view is so large anyway. I think I'm gonna stick with these settings for a while. I have a few mounts and other accessories on the way, I'll post pics and my thoughts on them as they arrive. 

I also took a few still photos, mostly trying out the HDR. I don't think this is ever going to be my primary stills camera, but it's honestly pretty solid and actually great for the auctions. The wide angle lens allows me to get the whole car in the shot even if it's close to another car or I'm trying to get a shot of the interior or something that most cameras wouldn't be able to capture. It's definitely coming with me to auctions. 

Maybe I'm just still in the honeymoon period, but I REALLY like this camera. The improvements over the Hero 7 Black seem minor on paper but really do add up to an overall better experience. I'm really looking forward to the media mod, I'll be preordering that when it's available. 

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So like I mentioned before, I bought the Hero 8 Black via GoPro's trade in program. It showed up on a Monday, which happens to be my day off, so I decided to take a bunch of sample video with it. Before we get to that, let's look at the new Hero 8 as a physical object. 

The main difference in the 8 vs the few previous GoPros is the mounting tabs being moved to the camera itself from the "cage". This sounds like a small difference, but actually makes quite a difference in how small it feels and how easily it travels. It's one less thing in your bag and it gives the camera a smaller footprint in a way that seems to defy the story the physical dimensions tell.

The other new change is not as nice, the battery door is now on the side. This is cool in some ways, as you no longer have to remove the camera from a mount to swap the battery, but on the downside, there's now very little holding the battery in with the door open or removed, and you have to remove it or open it to use the camera while connected to power, for say, a long time warp video of a road trip. I'm hoping GoPro's mods, specifically the Media Mod, will basically solve this problem. It will replace the battery door and includes a power connector as well as cold shoes and a shotgun mic. I signed up to get notified when preorders are available, so I'll follow up once I have on in my hands. 

Speaking of Microphones, the Hero 8 now has a front facing mic which sounds really damn good for a built in mic. I'm very pleased with it. I will still totally buy the mod with the shotgun mic, but I don't even think a lot of people will really need it, and that shotgun mic is gonna have to be REALLY good to make it worth it over the already very good built in mic. 

The new GoPro includes new views like linear mode when shooting in 4k. I like that a lot. I feel like the linear mode is best for most non-sports stuff because it greatly reduces lens distortion. The Hero 8 Black is fast and the video quality is pretty good. I still wish they would bump up the sensor size for better low light performance, but it is first and foremost an action camera, despite their recent pivot to appeal to the vlogging world. 

GoPro's ecosystem does work pretty damn well for vlogging (have I mentioned I hate that word? I really do.), especially with GoPro Plus. GoPro plus enables auto uploads to their cloud service when you plug it in and you're near wifi. They are stored in full res and you can pull them down to edit or share, then delete them from local storage and just leave them there. It does a lot to solve my storage anxiety, and it works really well with an iPad Pro. 

I'll stop rambling now and let you just look at the footage, watch it on youtube and turn the quality up as high as it will go. 

It took 6 days using their prepaid return label to for them to receive my trade in. It was delivered today around 2pm PST, let's see how long it takes them to ship my Hero 8 Black now. 

So, I use the Hero 7 Black pretty extensively, especially for car videos but it's a pretty solid blogging camera too. My current setup is the 7 Black with a SmallRig cage, a GoPro mic adapter, a GoPro shorty grip, and a Rode Wireless Go mic setup. It's a great setup for a variety of shots and it works really well, but it's also a little unwieldy.

The cage and mic adapter and all add a bunch of bulk to what is supposed to be a compact and ultra portable camera. Enter the Hero 8 Black. The new model includes a front mic built in and a (soon to be) available "Media Mod" which includes a shotgun mic that pops into the side and also includes a mic jack and two cold shoes. This should make my setup a lot more portable. I can use the shotgun mic most of the time and pop on the wireless go with no other adapters needed when I want to be heard when I'm not looking right at the camera. 

GoPro is also running a trade in deal where you can get $100 off with the trade in of damn near any camera. I happened to have an old base model hero that was selling on Swappa for...$100. Seems easier to just trade it in, so that's what I did. I put in my order last night around midnight and sent in my trade in today. I'll keep my website updated to see how long the trade in takes. 

In the meantime, anyone want to buy a really good Hero 7 Black setup? Email me if you do. 

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Let me start by saying this isn't really a "vs" kind of situation. There are some things that the Sony camera does that an iPhone just physically cannot, like having an optical 200mm equivalent zoom or full manual control over photo and video settings. I do however, feel like they will be used in much the same way most of the time. Most people that buy a point and shoot camera are going to shoot video in auto mode. Most people that buy an iPhone are going to launch the stock camera app, tap video, and start recording. 

As such, that's how I tested them. No manual mode on the Sony, no Filmic Pro or anything like that on the iPhone. I have to say, I didn't think the iPhone was going to look this good in comparison. If you're shooting mostly close up stuff, the iPhone is seriously as good or better in most situations, at least to my eye. It has me strongly considering selling my RX100 and buying something like the Sony A6400. 

This is by no means a definitive test, and I will definitely continue comparing them, but I am very impressed with the 11 Pro. 

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Now I just need to find something fun to do next weekend to test out this camera. Anything in particular you want to see?

So Hot Springs, Arkansas is the best little vacation spot we have found within toddler driving range of Memphis. It’s not very expensive, it’s right at 3 hours from Memphis so Ava can tolerate the drive, and there’s a decent amount of stuff to do. I recently purchased an RX100M7 and I figured this little trip was a perfect excuse to put it through it’s paces. Here’s my video from the first day. Turn the quality up as far as your browser and monitor will allow, it was shot in 4K. 

We’re staying at the Embassy Suites on Convention Blvd and the restaurant we went to was Rolando’s.