GoPro has just released their GoPro Hero 4 Session. This is their smallest POV/Action camera yet; 50% smaller and 40% lighter than their other Hero 4 camera. Weighing in at 2.6oz (74g) and measuring less than 1.5 inches square, the Session no longer needs all those external cases to maintain its integrity underwater and is waterproof to 10m (though its big brothers are waterproof to 40m). Not having a casing also fixes one of the big issues with the older versions, that of sound (especially when in their housings). The Session includes two microphones, one on the front and one on the back and will dynamically swap between the two depending on the amount of wind noise.
Obviously with the smaller size a number of things have changed. There’s no option for an external screen now (there is a small display that shows basic information like its modes and battery life), the battery isn’t interchangeable (you should get around 2 hours out of it) and there’s now only two buttons; one that starts and stops the video and one to turn on and off WiFi. For viewing video for framing or for changing settings you now need to tether your smartphone or tablet and use the GoPro app. That’s not a bad thing as navigating the other Heros was a bit of a convoluted process using that small screen on the front and buttons.
The new unit pretty much does everything its big brothers do except for some of the higher video and frame capture modes. The much smaller size opens up a whole new world of opportunities for mounting. Of course the nice thing is that it’s compatible with all other GoPro mounting options.
It’s available in two versions; standard and surf which differ only in the mounts that are included with the camera. MSRP price is $399.99. Visit GoPro for more info.
