Features

There is an absolute truckload of features built into the GoPro Hero 12 Black, many of them brand new, so we’ll start with the ones that snowboarders may find the most useful.

Park rats, for example, will like the ‘Hindsight’ feature; rather than stopping and starting recording at every trick attempt and having an SD card full of bad takes to sift through, on this setting the GoPro continuously captures either 15 or 30 seconds’ worth of footage. Hitting the shutter button saves that, and only that, to your card, so you’re left with just the stuff you actually want.

“While there are plenty of nerd-level bells and whistles on this one, GoPro’s Hero range is certainly not just for those with existing camera skills”

Of course, overuse will affect battery life, but we’re very happy to report that it’s one of the Hero 12 Black’s most significant upgrades. Depending on which resolution you’re shooting in, the Enduro battery’s improved cold-weather performance will give you up to around 2.5 hours of continuous filming on a single charge.

Also new for this model is the ‘Max Lens Mod 2.0’, sold separately. This ups your field of view to just shy of the full 180 degrees in 4K, and can also be applied to the camera’s new vertical mode to make your social feed clips better than ever. It’ll set you back another £100, but you can save on that by buying it in a bundle with the camera.

Filming enthusiasts will like the fact that this GoPro is the first that can shoot ‘raw’ video, capturing additional visual information to be brought out in post-production. There’s also an improved ‘timecode sync’ feature that matches the footage with other cameras, so that you can shoot simultaneously from multiple angles.

It may seem a bit lo-fi after what we’ve already covered, but one of the genuinely best upgrades for this model is the addition of a simple tripod mount thread. Not flashy, but very welcome!

Other features to play around with off the hill include the hydrophobic lens that can handle water depths of up to ten metres, and the timelapse functions for capturing star trails.

Roundup

It’s always refreshing to see an upstart camera company deliver something that punches above its weight – but the reality is that in this department, everyone is still chasing GoPro’s tail. While we will probably never get used to the sight of helmet-mounted ‘radical unicorns’, we’re here for the democratisation of high-quality mountain footy that GoPro ushered in with the first Hero almost two decades ago.

The GoPro Hero 12 Black prioritises the user experience (especially precious battery life!) over pushing the capture quality envelope, and for that reason its place in this year’s Whitelines 100 was never in doubt.

“Filming enthusiasts will like the fact that this GoPro is the first that can shoot ‘raw’ video, capturing additional visual information to be brought out in post-production”

Pros:

• Has rolled over a lot of the best features from previous models, whilst adding a few new ones too
• The best battery life in GoPro’s history

Cons:

• Not much movement from the Hero 11 in terms of actual footage quality
• The ‘raw’ setting has room for improvement