We've been doing some more testing of the GoPro HERO3 Silver action camera following our first ride review. And because many of you will be wondering whether it's worth upgrading your HERO2 to a HERO3 Silver (or HERO3 Black) we've done a head to head video comparison.
GoPro hero3 vs hero2
How we tested
We went to the Cwmcarn trails in Wales to do the test. The weather was grey and wet, so not ideal for the pretty footage that you might get in a promo but good for testing both cameras in low light with a wet lens.
We mounted the cameras to the bars using two K-Edge GO BIG handlebar mounts, aiming to get them positioned as close to mirrored as possible. We then filmed the same top part of the Cwmcarn Red freeride section on both cameras in various modes, using a clap to sync footage from both.
The footage is cropped by 50 percent so that both cameras make up the whole image. The slight offset at times is due to the proximity of objects being distorted differently by the wideness of the lenses, as they aren't both dead centre.
We shot using the following resolutions and frame rates:
- 1920x1080 @ 30fps
- 1280x720 @ 60fps
- 1280x960 @ 48fps
The footage was all converted to 1280x720 @ 30fps for editing purposes, to allow a common frame rate and accurate 'sync' on screen. None of the GoPro footage has been colour corrected or lightened, so it's true to the raw recordings.
The audio has been split too – the left ear is from the HERO2 and the right ear from the HERO3. Audio geeks listening with headphones will notice there's a difference, and GoPro claim the sound is better on the HERO3, so this adds up. Again, the sound is completely untouched, so any distortion is as it was captured.
Our next aim is to get some footage under blue skies. We hear Mozambique has good weather this time of year…
