Philip.AK
Paddler
I have used POV cameras for many years and have produced a lot of videos. I am very familiar with GoPro Hero cameras and have used nearly all the models since the first Hero. I tested the recent Hero3 Silver and Black models and frankly thought they sucked. Bad. Buggy, freeze-prone, lame battery life, and totally unacceptable image quality: dark, no shadow detail, soft edges (especially on the Black, ironically), and a horrible red color cast especially in overcast snow scenes. My old Hero2 blew them both out of the water in basically every single category aside from size and integrated Wifi, so I dumped the Hero3 models and stayed with my trusty Hero2's.
I just picked up a Virb Elite, and a couple of new Hero3+ models in both Black and Silver. I will give some examples of the image quality below. I will mostly focus on image sharpness and color fidelity, because that is what I care about. All cameras were in their highest res photo mode, and set to 1080p for vid mode (the Hero3+ Black was in 1080p "super" mode which squishes a 4:3 image area into a 16:9 format).
Scene 1: A test target in my driveway in the shadow of a building with a bright sky scene in the background. Here is a full-view shot (resized- you can see the full size here… http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3829/11020558065_d6070c99ac_o.jpg):
Video image quality
The following are a 1:1 pixel comparison of the telephone pole in the image above as taken in a video frame from each camera. This shows the camera's ability to deal with highlight detail.
Hero2 Video: The image detail is fair with the blue sky washed out and a red cast to the trees, and the moon barely visible to the left of the pole, but you can see the telephone lines.
Virb Elite Video: The image detail is poor with the highlights totally blown out and the sky white. The moon and wires are completely lost. Oddly the trees show more detail and better color reproduction.
Hero3+ Silver Video: Nice blue sky and similar image detail and sharpness to the Hero2. The moon is clearly visible though the Virb still shows the trees on the ridge slightly better.
Hero3+ Black Video: This view seems a little wider because the Hero3+ Black does indeed have the widest FOV of all the cameras in 1080 ‘super mode’ which brings in not only a taller view but is also slightly wider. The sky is a nice blue, the electrical lines visible, tree detail is good, the moon is visible, and the colors realistic. IMO, the best in this comparison.
Now the photo target in the center of the original image…
Hero2 Video: The image is a little underexposed and with a pretty strong orange color cast. There are compression artifacts and the colors seem blocked up and muddled. Sharpness is only fair with some jagged edges like there was some digital sharpening.
Virb Elite Video: Colors look realistic and bright. Image detail is pretty good with almost no compression artifacts though the whole image looks a little soft in focus. All the lines are nice and straight and not bent into jagged lines like in the GoPro cameras. The Virb seems to meter for the shadows in this scene and does a nice job not losing detail in the darker areas of the image. IMO, the best image in the comparison.
Hero3+ Silver Video: Nearly the same as the Hero2 but without the annoying orange color cast.
Hero3+ Black Video: A little darker in exposure than even the Silver+, but a little sharper. Again, the wider angle seems to shrink image elements in the field of view. The lines are a little straighter than the Hero2 and Silver+ with fewer compression artifacts, though the Virb does a better job on the colors and clarity overall, though the Black+ does not suffer the soft focus of the Virb.
Photo image quality
As above, here are the same image areas but this time we are looking at still images captured from the cameras. Below is a full-view shot (resized- you can see the full size here… http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2854/11020529874_35983b1693_o.jpg).
The following are a 1:1 pixel comparison of the telephone pole in the image above as taken in a photo frame from each camera. This shows the camera's ability to deal with highlight detail.
Hero2 Photo: As before, the image has a red cast to the trees, but the resolution and clarity are very good and you can see the telephone lines and moon clearly and the trees are sharp.
Virb Elite Photo: Total crap. Horrible in every category. Utter fail.
Hero3+ Silver Photo: Very similar to the Hero2, but perhaps a tiny bit less detail, though with much truer colors.
Hero3+ Black Photo: A little sharper than the Silver+ and with similar nice colors. The FOV is not as wide as in the ‘super’ video mode relative to the other cameras, but it is still wider overall. Good looking image. IMO, the best in this comparison and marginally superior to the Silver+.
Now the photo target in the center of the original image…
Hero2 Photo: Again, the image is a little underexposed and with a pretty strong orange color cast. There are some compression artifacts and the colors seem blocked up and muddled. Sharpness is pretty good with reasonably straight lines.
Virb Elite Photo: Colors look realistic and bright though the sharpness is really not there at all. A very soft image, though there are very few compression artifacts. If it were not seemingly out of focus, this shot would win.
Hero3+ Silver Photo: Similar to the Hero2 but without the annoying orange color cast. A little sharper with fewer compression artifacts, though underexposed compared to the Virb.
Hero3+ Black Photo: Almost the same as the Silver+.
More to follow…
I just picked up a Virb Elite, and a couple of new Hero3+ models in both Black and Silver. I will give some examples of the image quality below. I will mostly focus on image sharpness and color fidelity, because that is what I care about. All cameras were in their highest res photo mode, and set to 1080p for vid mode (the Hero3+ Black was in 1080p "super" mode which squishes a 4:3 image area into a 16:9 format).
Scene 1: A test target in my driveway in the shadow of a building with a bright sky scene in the background. Here is a full-view shot (resized- you can see the full size here… http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3829/11020558065_d6070c99ac_o.jpg):
Video image quality
The following are a 1:1 pixel comparison of the telephone pole in the image above as taken in a video frame from each camera. This shows the camera's ability to deal with highlight detail.
Hero2 Video: The image detail is fair with the blue sky washed out and a red cast to the trees, and the moon barely visible to the left of the pole, but you can see the telephone lines.
Virb Elite Video: The image detail is poor with the highlights totally blown out and the sky white. The moon and wires are completely lost. Oddly the trees show more detail and better color reproduction.
Hero3+ Silver Video: Nice blue sky and similar image detail and sharpness to the Hero2. The moon is clearly visible though the Virb still shows the trees on the ridge slightly better.
Hero3+ Black Video: This view seems a little wider because the Hero3+ Black does indeed have the widest FOV of all the cameras in 1080 ‘super mode’ which brings in not only a taller view but is also slightly wider. The sky is a nice blue, the electrical lines visible, tree detail is good, the moon is visible, and the colors realistic. IMO, the best in this comparison.
Now the photo target in the center of the original image…
Hero2 Video: The image is a little underexposed and with a pretty strong orange color cast. There are compression artifacts and the colors seem blocked up and muddled. Sharpness is only fair with some jagged edges like there was some digital sharpening.
Virb Elite Video: Colors look realistic and bright. Image detail is pretty good with almost no compression artifacts though the whole image looks a little soft in focus. All the lines are nice and straight and not bent into jagged lines like in the GoPro cameras. The Virb seems to meter for the shadows in this scene and does a nice job not losing detail in the darker areas of the image. IMO, the best image in the comparison.
Hero3+ Silver Video: Nearly the same as the Hero2 but without the annoying orange color cast.
Hero3+ Black Video: A little darker in exposure than even the Silver+, but a little sharper. Again, the wider angle seems to shrink image elements in the field of view. The lines are a little straighter than the Hero2 and Silver+ with fewer compression artifacts, though the Virb does a better job on the colors and clarity overall, though the Black+ does not suffer the soft focus of the Virb.
Photo image quality
As above, here are the same image areas but this time we are looking at still images captured from the cameras. Below is a full-view shot (resized- you can see the full size here… http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2854/11020529874_35983b1693_o.jpg).
The following are a 1:1 pixel comparison of the telephone pole in the image above as taken in a photo frame from each camera. This shows the camera's ability to deal with highlight detail.
Hero2 Photo: As before, the image has a red cast to the trees, but the resolution and clarity are very good and you can see the telephone lines and moon clearly and the trees are sharp.
Virb Elite Photo: Total crap. Horrible in every category. Utter fail.
Hero3+ Silver Photo: Very similar to the Hero2, but perhaps a tiny bit less detail, though with much truer colors.
Hero3+ Black Photo: A little sharper than the Silver+ and with similar nice colors. The FOV is not as wide as in the ‘super’ video mode relative to the other cameras, but it is still wider overall. Good looking image. IMO, the best in this comparison and marginally superior to the Silver+.
Now the photo target in the center of the original image…
Hero2 Photo: Again, the image is a little underexposed and with a pretty strong orange color cast. There are some compression artifacts and the colors seem blocked up and muddled. Sharpness is pretty good with reasonably straight lines.
Virb Elite Photo: Colors look realistic and bright though the sharpness is really not there at all. A very soft image, though there are very few compression artifacts. If it were not seemingly out of focus, this shot would win.
Hero3+ Silver Photo: Similar to the Hero2 but without the annoying orange color cast. A little sharper with fewer compression artifacts, though underexposed compared to the Virb.
Hero3+ Black Photo: Almost the same as the Silver+.
More to follow…