Worth upgrading my GoPro 7 Black to a current model GoPro 12?

[Germie]

I went from a 7 to a 10 and that was a big difference. My 10 got sadly lost, so now have the 11 and that is way much better than the 10 again. Not under water, that is the same, but it can do really good startrails above water.
The 12 is not different from the 11, but it is for sure better than the 7. I have to sell my 7 also with an Actionpro 150 m housing.

 

[Pearlman]

Interesting! I have a DJI drone, and the video quality seems pretty good. Did you have a link for a comparison page, or have you just seen them in action?

I posted sample shots from the DJI Osmo Action 3 in this thread FYI - No red filter, used the built-in UCC of the camera then heavily tweaked in DaVinci Resolve (untrained monkey at the controls), depth in the video approx 20-25mtr:

DJI Action 4?

 

[doctormike]

There must be a law in Bonaire against replacing the DSLR kit with a GoPro kit. I'd upgrade the Gopro and take both kits myself. Can't even imagine not taking my main camera with me to Bonaire.

Yeah, I see your point. But I have done this SO many times. And to be honest, although the diving on Bonaire is fun, it's pretty predictable and not a lot of new stuff to shoot, especially on the west side. Gonna try the east coast this time, maybe some bigger stuff there. It just gets tiring hauling around so much gear.

 

[Sure Squintsalot]

My next action cam may be a DJI. From what I've seen online, the Action 4 produces much better quality underwater footage than the recent GoPro cameras.

Thanks for the video....
Underwater video shooters should really be divided into 2 camps: Those that do not post-process (PP) and those that do.

Because I heavily PP in DaVinci Resolve, I use very specific settings on my GoPro9. As result, my straight out-of-camera footage generally looks like crap. It's like looking at a RAW image file; those always look like crap too. However, you need to have all of that image data if you are to PP effectively.

Looking at that video, sure the DJI stuff looks good and would probably be great for anyone who just wants to look at their footage "right out of the box", but I'd lose my mind with DJI's loss of detail and auto white balance.

The features that should be foremost on any underwater camera are low-light-low-noise performance at 4K at 60fps. As long as those action cams use those tiny-ass sensors, we'll always suffer grainy videos below 10 feet on anything but the sunniest days, at noon.

 

[Manatee Diver]

So I've been using GoPros for years, since the first HD Hero for action sports and the 6 Black for underwater.

IMO upgrading from the 7 to the 12 is worth it. Every new camera has just a tad more dynamic range, better anti-shake software, and white balance. So jumping five models will be a big jump. In partiuclar I like about the newer generation is 4K 120fps at 10bit color. I can slow down my footage 50% and still have a crisp 4K 60fps with 10bit color.

Some example videos, while some of this is technique improvements over 6 years, a lot of it is camera.

GoPro 8

GoPro 10 Example One

GoPro 10 Example Two

 

[Manatee Diver]

An example of some 8bit vs 10bit color videos. Shot with the GoPro 10 and 11, which use the same sensor but the 11 has a better processor
GP10 8bit

GP11 10bit Example One

GP11 10bit Example Two

 

[Manatee Diver]

A couple mentioned competitors on the market. The one that I think has the most potential is the Insta Ace Pro, they spent a lot of time on the intelligence of their metering and white balance software. But their cameras lack 10bit nor an HDR mode at 4K 60fps that the GP12 has.

If they build a camera with similar specs you could have a real GoPro killer. Which is a good thing, GoPro has been resting on their laurels for a while now putting out bug ridden cameras for years now. The competition of recent entrants has forced them to improve the software side of their cameras, and I think Insta's cameras could really push them further.

The DJI Action 4 doesn't impress me, yes the color sensor does put out well color balanced videos, but there is a huge quality difference in those videos due to loss of details compared to GP12 footage I've seen. So IMO they are likely only using that color sensor to correct it after capture instead of before capture.

 

[Sure Squintsalot]

An example of some 8bit vs 10bit color videos. Shot with the GoPro 10 and 11, which use the same sensor but the 11 has a better processor
GP10 8bit
GP11 10bit Example One
GP11 10bit Example Two

That footage looks pretty good. Are you using the GoPro color settings?

A good test of sensor capability is filming in low light with some motion of the camera.

 

[Manatee Diver]

That footage looks pretty good. Are you using the GoPro color settings?

No flat colors, I edit in post I am a fan of the old school Velvia look that most cameras use these days. So I edit based on those tastes.

 

[KausticMike]

As I read through this thread, my own GoPro 7 Black is staring at me from the top shelf. Lol. The insight you guys gave are greatly appreciated and I'm not even the OP.

I'm assuming accessories like the dive housing, lenses and batteries won't be backwards compatible upgrading from a 7 to a 12 (or more likely an 11).