Today GoPro announced its latest action camera, the Hero 12 Black. Compared to the predecessors Hero11 Black and Hero10 Black, there are various small improvements, including a significantly longer battery life. In 5.3K60fps recording mode, the Hero 12 films 70 minutes of video on one battery charge – the Hero 11 Black ended after 35 minutes. The improvements aren’t due to a larger battery though – it still has a capacity of 1,720mAh. Instead, power consumption must have dropped significantly.
The maximum recording time is even 1.5 hours for video recordings in 5.3K30fps and over 2.5 hours for 1080p30fps. In addition, 5.3K60fps, 4K120fps and 2.7K240fps modes are available. Bluetooth support is now available on the GoPro Hero 12 Black, so you can record audio through Bluetooth headphones at the same time.
The third major innovation is the Max Lens Mod 2.0. Once installed, the field of view increases from the normal 156 degrees to an (according to GoPro) industry-leading 177 degrees in 4K60fps. There is also support for HDR videos and photos. You can capture 27 megapixel photos and 24.7 megapixel still images from videos. In addition, the GoPro Hero 12 Black, like the Hero 11 Black, is waterproof to a depth of 10 m.
The HyperSmooth 6.0 + AutoBoost features are also on board and bring the widest possible wide-angle shots while using video stabilization at the same time. The integrated horizon lock keeps the horizon level even when the camera rotates a full 360 degrees. However, it is not available in 5.3K60fps, 4K120fps, 2.7K240fps and 1080p240fps.
GoPro Hero 12 Black prices
The GoPro Hero 12 Black is already available for pre-order on GoPro.com for $399.99 or €449.99. The Max Lens Mod 2.0 costs $99.99 or €109.99. The official launch date is September 13th.
A new 48 inch extension pole that collapses to 10 inches and a waterproof Bluetooth remote control will be available in October. And the GoPro Quik app for video editing is also celebrating a revival. It will be available for MacBooks from November and also for Windows notebooks from next summer. It’s free for GoPro subscribers.
