By Brady Betzel

Every year around the beginning of fall I get excited for Halloween, Thanksgiving, cooler weather and a new GoPro. A couple of weeks before the official launch of the GoPro Hero 9Black Edition, GoPro had a live video streaming launch for press… streamed using the aforementioned camera as webcams for the presenters.

Each time I watch a GoPro product announcement, my creative batteries start to charge. It’s kind of crazy that after doing so many product reviews, a company can get inspire your creativity like they did when you were a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed high school student.

The GoPro Hero9 Black edition delivers what GoPro users have been asking for. I am always a skeptic of a higher “K count” (4K, 5K, etc.) versus a higher-quality-yet lower-resolution image. After firing up the 5K Hero9 Black, I turned it on and took a few pictures with the new 23.6MP sensor, and boy is it nice. With the larger sensor, video screen grabs can be made at up to 14.7MP. You can use the raw photo settings to really pull out some amazing detail.

The Hero9 Black packs a huge punch in its small and sturdy casing. And with GoPro introducing the removable Max Lens Mod, you can film in an even wider view of 155 degrees. GoPro is continuing to sell the Media Mod, Light Mod and Display Mod as well. Speaking of the Display Mod, the GoPro Hero9 Black has a front-facing LCD screen. In my opinion, the front-facing screen (which is really bright, even in the sun) is what will make the GoPro Hero9 Black the easiest vlogging camera available, especially if you use the Media Mod with shotgun mic.

For cinematographers who work on a lot of documentaries and unscripted shows — for which they have to stick GoPros everywhere, including car interiors — the GoPro Hero9 Black will make it even easier to set up your shot. The front-facing display can either be set up to fill the display or show you the entire shot, leaving a black bar on the bottom of 16:9 images.

In terms of frame rates and resolutions, the GoPro Hero9 Black has upped the game again with 5K/30fps or 24fps and includes the new Horizon Leveling in Linear mode. While playing around with the camera, I used the TimeWarp feature to make a quick timelapse of a walk around my neighborhood using the chest mount. The new TimeWarp 3.0 improvements with the Horizon Leveling and HyperSmooth 3.0 are mind-blowing. Going up and down hills was no match for the Hero9; it always kept the horizon level and as smooth as using a camera on a gimbal or stabilized in post. I actually thought I hadn’t tested it enough, so I ran up and down my stairs like a mad man in awe of how good the HyperSmooth works. While it’s not perfect, it is amazing that you can hand-hold the Hero9 Black and have the footage come out looking like it was shot on a gimbal.

One amazing feature of the TimeWarp 3.0 is the ability to hit the side button and slow down the footage, including audio, in real time to half speed. If you plan enough, you can essentially edit a highlight reel in camera.

The Footage
I played around with some of the resulting footage I got using the GoPro Hero9 Black, and the typical things stuck out to me on first impression: turn down the sharpness and desaturate a little. But when all is said and done, you can get a beautiful image or video footage by simply enabling ProTune, setting the white balance and using GoPro Color or SuperPhoto. With a little tweaking and enough lighting, you can mix GoPro footage with a lot of high-end cameras.

Updated Battery
In addition to those updated features, there is a longer battery life due to the larger 1720mAh batteries. These are not backward-compatible (sorry to those who invested in the previous size batteries). Overall, I think the battery lasted about the same if not 10 minutes longer than my Hero7, but I was also filming up to 5K and using the full-color front LCD display.

Recording Flexibility 
A new emergency feature called HindSight allows you to enable recording up to 30 seconds before or after you actually hit the record button. If you want to do a 2am nighttime timelapse, the Scheduled Capture feature allows you to schedule a recording up to 24 hours in advance. The menu keeps getting more intuitive and easier every update.

You can find the prices at GoPro’s website, but essentially the Hero9 Black edition will cost $449.99 … unless you buy the GoPro Subscription, which will replace your broken GoPro no questions asked, give you discounts including on a new GoPro Hero9 Black, back up your footage to the cloud with no storage limits (saved at the original resolution) and let you stream live with a link to share with friends and family. Buying the GoPro Subscription will give you $100 off and bring it down to $349.99 (on top of the $60 per year).

Samsung left, GoPro right

Summing Up
I think the Hero9 Black is the best GoPro since the update from the Hero4 silver-body style to the Hero5 grey- and then black-body style. The Hero9 is heavier than previous versions, but with the larger sensor and bigger batteries, this is expected. If you still need an excuse to buy one, use it as a webcam for that meeting! Everyone will notice how good your footage looks.

When comparing my Samsung Galaxy S8+ pictures to the GoPro Hero9 Black, the snooty online editor/colorist came out in me, and I immediately appreciated the details in the shadows and highlights while creating an overall great-looking image. What GoPro has been able to produce with this latest version of the GoPro Hero is quite an achievement.

Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and The Shop. He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.