GoPro - HERO Session HD Waterproof Action Camera - Black

I purchased my GoPro Hero Session for the primary purpose of use on trips. During setup, all seemed to go smoothly but for whatever reason the camera didn't setup my wifi settings correctly. This caused a HUGE problem because I couldn't hook back up with it from the app and resetting it had no effect. I found on the internet this was a HUGE issue with no obvious solution. Since I have two phones at my disposal, I decided to issue a wifi reset and do a new app install on the second phone. It worked FLAWLESSLY! I reset the camera to the correct name and password and am now able to access it on all devices. Pros: Video is outstanding! For as small as the camera is, I am impressed! I don't care that it isn't 4K. The small size makes it unobtrusive. It fits almost anywhere. There are a lot of available accessories for almost any application. Settings are varied and offer enough options to make it work for most recreational users Cons: Documentation on this camera is TERRIBLE! Don't expect it to provide much info other than the simplest basics. I downloaded the online PDF file which was better than what came with it. Wifi resetting is VERY problematic! Once set, it works GREAT! GoPro's software only works with Windows 10. Not a good move at all. Without it I can't access the device to download direct to my high end Windows 7 computer. As an ex-IT Director, I HATE Windows 10 and won't bother to switch to it. I use my computer for my photo and video processing and it is powerful and equipped with Photoshop Premier. If it can do 4K video work in Premier, I would venture a guess it can probably run the more limited software designed by GoPro! There is some fisheye distortion at the outer edges of the lens in normal mode. That I can live with. But in Superview mode the distortion is not. Any straight lines will bend massively as they pass to the outer edges of the lens and are VERY distracting! The best move is to stick with the standard modes. No view screen means that it is best as a stationary camera. I will be using it fixed in most cases. I have other cameras to do the heavy work. But any who are looking for a camera to do carried video would probably do well to look at another camera. Conclusion: Overall I like the camera. It has some major issues but as a photographer I can easily overcome them. I can see how they would be EXTREMELY irritating to a user who is not as knowledgeable. It is for that reason I can only give it 3 stars overall.

I bought this camera approximately 1 month ago and so far everything that I've used it for it has performed well. I've used it from simple photography of vehicles, to motocross with a head mount, mounted to the windshield of my truck while driving on the beach, and mounted to an extension handle while jumping off of a high 50ft platform into the water. So far all features of the camera have worked and worked well. The video quality is decent, when there isn't too much jolting around or quick motion the camera performs great. Although when under a lot of bouncy conditions the video quality begins to fail more. Without the video stabilization it gets a little blurry over bumps or vibration. The Audio quality is actually better than I expected with only a little bit of wind noise (tested up to 60 mph) there is rarely ever any hissing, if any there is occasionally a roar in the background. Picture quality actually surprised me, the wide angle lense and the GoPro's ability to capture color made for great photos of sunsets, truck pictures, and anything else you might want to photograph. The battery life was rather mediocre, you can video for maybe an hour on a single charge, which in most occasions was enough for me. Overall for the 150$, after you get a few accessories and mounts you will have a very nice and durable camera. The photo below was caught by using a 3ft extension handle. Any questions about the cameras quality are welcome.

I read several reviews before my purchase. I decided on the hero Sessions over the hero 5 simply due to the fact I don't need 4k. The camera works as you would expect. You can control it via your cell phone or manually. The downside that I was well aware of prior to purchase is there is no optical zoom. In fact there is no zoom at all. It is a wide angle lense. This is great but limited. You won't be filming whales from shore. The mounts I got were all very handy I only wish I had more of them. The head gear works great. I have not needed the wait one yet. I used it for documenting travel experiences, interviews,live music recordings, and video from an airplane so far. In all these situations it worked great. It also does timelapse very well. And although it lacks zoom it does have lots of other features you would expect out of a still camera. You can take action shots or stills. The camera is just fine but it simply doesn't replace a good digital point and shoot camera. For POV it is a fantastic device. I also found that it works with magnetic mounts just fine. It does get very warm when in use which surprised me a bit. It holds a charge well and recharges extremely fast. It does underwater very well. It is truly waterproof. The 64 Gig SD card I got gives me over 5 hours of video time. This tiny camera fulfilled all my expectations. It did not exceeded them but I am very happy with my purchase.

If you are a current gopro user, this is a good camera to either replace an older model, or use in conjunction with an existing gopro collection. Man things this can do that other gopros can't 1. gopro session can be pulled out of housing and placed into another housing with ease. You can have multiple housings set up on different equipment or positions, and simply slide the session in and out. 2. one button, on and record function... not sure if this is available on newer gopros, but it was not available on the hero 3 and below. 3. memory card can be accessed while still in the housing. i keep my gopro mounted, pop the card out, plug the card into my phone and review my videos on the go. here is a link to a youtube video i made entirely with the hero sessions, and the gopro editing software (free) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR1dFHt9qXg there are alot of features that the hero4 has, that the session does not have... but i feel like the main features i utilize the most for action/home videos are covered here with the session. The pictures below have degraded quality, because they were screen grabs of the youtube video I made.

Bought it before going to the Bahamas, and was looking forward to take underwater videos. Bought the hero sessions model, accessories, and a 32gig memory card, which was recommended by BestBuy. Tried the camera at home, and it worked -- I could record videos, and view them on my phone using the app -- I was ready! Once I tried to use if for real, the recording started stopping after only a few seconds, and when it would record for longer than a few seconds, the body would become hot, and eventually the window would display an error that the sd card was bad. On average, one out of ten tries yielded a video, but was no longer than 36seconds. I spent a lot of time trying to make it work, so I lost many "kodak" moments--complete waste of time. Once back home, I tried to debug the issue, spending more than 6hrs on this. One of the most common issues according to goPro is that the sd card is NOT the recommended type -- BUT THAT"S THE CARD BESTBUY RECOMMENDS!! I wasn't about to spend more money on a new sd card, so I took camera and all accessories and returned them to bestbuy for a full refund. I dont think the problem was with the sd card; i think the design is bad, with no easy way to dissipate heat, which causes problems recording/saving videos.

I bought this GoPro mostly for recording my long boarding, but it really has come in handy for other things also! I’m in a band and I often leave it running while we jam so that we can refer to it later. One of the things I like about it is that even though the sound quality isn’t great, it’s very balanced so everything sounds great. In my jam sessions all the instruments can be heard, even the bass guitar. I also used it for recording portions of a concert, and the sound quality is great also. In fact it turned out better than hearing the music live. Also it’s small and portable. I’ve put a mount on my longboard so it’s a cool view from the front while I ride, but it doesn’t get in the way. The only downside I’ve found is that the battery is very short in life while recording. I’d definitely recommend buying a portable battery, which is what I did, and that really extends the life of the camera. Also it doesn’t perform very well in low-light situations. Really if it’s any darker than dusk outside, nothing really shows up. Other than that though, it’s great! Anyone who is considering buying a GoPro for their own personal use should buy this one, especially if they aren’t sure if they’ll need any of the fancy features of higher models.

The camera did not work. The setup is easy and the camera is easy to use. However, the camera gives a "NO SD CARD" error. I used two different sd cards and was met with the same error. Both cards were brand new 32g SanDisk Pixtors. One of the cards (model SDSQXSG-032G-ABCCA) is even recommended on the GoPro site. The camera recorded fine with the first few videos then within minutes the "NO SD CARD" error was given. The only way to get it to work again is to reset the camera, start setup over from the beginning, and format the card. This is a complete pain and very frustrating. I called GoPro and they suggest I take it back to Best Buy for an exchange. If Best Buy won't take the exchange or return then they will try to help me. GoPro said that this is a common problem,but usually with sd cards that are not compatible, and because I was using GoPro recommended cards they think it was a bad unit. The few minutes of video I did manage to get looked great. The GoPro app is easy to use unless the "NO SD CARD" error is given. I did not manage to connect the camera to the app while the error was active. The app also features other GoPro user videos and photos which is kind of fun to look through. At this time I do not recommend this particular camera.

I’ve always wanted a GoPro, but thought they were out of my price range. However when I learned that the Hero session was only $150, and that Best Buy was having a special that gets you a free memory card, I went for it! Great decision. It’s so much fun trying out different shots. I’ve used the two included mounts for my helmet, and on my longboard. Both are great perspectives, and I plan on buying a suction cup mount to attach to my car so I can get footage from outside my car while on the road. This is also very portable and easy to use. I can fit it in the pocket of my shorts while transporting. Only downside I’ve found is that the battery doesn’t last very long. I’ve been on a couple short longboarding runs and had it on for about 45 mins shooting off and on, and it nearly runs out of battery. I bought a portable battery and that should help. If you’re going to take it on trips, definitely invest $40 in a portable battery, you won’t regret it. Shooting quality is very nice, and 1080p at 60fps is absolutely beautiful! This is a great investment for a family or casual video/photographer like me. I would and have recommended this camera to a friend!