GoPro HD HERO2 Outdoor Edition Review

I’ve reviewed the Drift HD and the Swann Freestyle HD action cameras (see related links), and while I haven’t been able to give you any extreme sports footage, hopefully the reviews have been useful to those considering a POV camera.  The GoPro range of POV cameras have become the de facto standard by which most other cameras of this genre have been measured. I was lucky enough to be sent their latest release, the HD HERO2 Outdoor Edition camera, from their Professional line.  Their slogan for the HD HERO2 is “2X More powerful in Every Way”, and while I don’t have an older generation to measure this against, will the GoPro come out as the POV camera to have ?


The GoPro HERO2 HD comes in 3 different flavours to cater for different markets; Outdoor, Surf, and Motor Sports.  While the camera and housing remains the same, the mounting accessories you get with the kit differ to suit that sport.  GoPro sent me the Outdoor Edition, probably the most relevant for the sort of activities that I’ll be using this sort of camera for.

What’s in the box

 The GoPro camera comes in a neat hard plastic display box on the top.  In the bottom comes the accessories in two smaller boxes. Note that once you remove the two stickers holding the plastic display lid on, you can’t easily put it back on again (yeah small and picky, I know)

As mentioned above there’s three versions of the HERO2. The Outdoor edition comes with:

• 1 11MP HD HERO2 Camera
• 1 Waterproof Housing (197′ / 60m)
• 1 HD Skeleton Backdoor
• 1 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
• 1 USB Cable
• 1 Vented Helmet Strap
• 1 Head Strap
• 2 Curved Surface Adhesive Mounts
• 2 Flat Surface Adhesive Mounts
• 1 Three-Way Pivot Arm
• Assorted Mounting Hardware
• Instruction Manual (English and French)
• Stickers (everyone loves free stickers )

 Size

Pictured here with an iPod Shuffle 2G for size comparison, the GoPro is pretty small, measuring in at 3.9 x 3.9 x 9.6 inches and weighing in  at 27.2 ounces. On the front of the units is the power on/off/option button, an activity LED, a small LCD that gives displays your settings, and a lens.  The lens is a fixed-focus f/2.8 in front of a 1 /2.3” CMOS image sensor.  On the bottom, there’s an activity light; there’s 4 of these all together so that you can have multiple views of when you’re actually recording.  You can either have all 4 or only 2 (back and front) activities lights active. One thing that’s missing to me is a standard 1/4″ tripod mount on the bottom.  Sometimes when the weather’s good I’d like to use the naked camera on  a tripod to do, say, time-lapse.
Controls and ports

On the left hand side, we have an AV out port, a miniUSB port for charging and data transfer, and a stereo 3.5mm jack.  Again I’m going to be picky and wonder why they couldn’t replace the miniUSB port with a microUSB connector, a much more common connector these days.  On the top is a microphone.  You can see from the picture above the dome-shaped lens, which is left a bit “exposed”.

Final Thoughts

Based on my (limited) exposure to other POV cameras, I can see why the GoPro is so popular out there in the market. The wide range of options for resolution for both video and stills means you have a mode for almost any situation.  The picture quality, even in low light, is extremely good for what you’d expect from such a small sensor. GoPro is actively developing firmware and software releases for their units and the additional accessories available from both GoPro and third parties combined with the high level of support from the user community makes this a fantastic little unit.
Even though I won’t be using this for extreme sports, I’ll be keeping this in my camera bag to compliment my “normal” cameras.  Its size, waterproof abilities, and its wide angle lens make this a great little companion. I’ve even purchased the LCD panel for the unit so that I can frame my video and photos better.
The GoPro HD HERO2  does come at a higher price than some POV cameras on the market, and you do have to buy accessories that come standard with other cameras, but IMHO you are getting a premium product in terms of hardware, video and still quality and “support”.