Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view

GoPro Hero 3 Part II – GoPro Hero 2 Vs GoPro Hero 3

Aside from the smaller and lighter aspects of the change there are a number of other things that need to be considered particulary if you are upgrading from the 1 or 2 to the 3. The GoPro Hero 3 doesn’t come with a whole load of accessories. You get the camera/case, 1 x Flat mount, 1 x Curved mount, 1 x Battery, 1 x 3 way Pivot Arm, 1 x QR lock, 1 x Skeleton Back, 1 x Additional (larger) QR mount.

1. All of your mounts and usual GoPro accessories will work with the new GoPro Hero 3 case. E.G. Chest Mount, Handlebar mounts etc

2. You will need different memory cards. The 1 and 2 accept SD and SDHC cards while the 3 accepts Micro SD cards. I have found that some retailers sell the same capacity Micro version for less than the standard size. You will be able to swap a Micro SD card into the Hero 2 if you have an adaptor.

3. The Hero 3 uses a different size battery. Therefore you will not be able to swap between the 1/2 and 3.

4. The back panel of the Hero 3 case is the same as the Hero 2. In my case this means I don’t have to go out and buy another Floaty back door back.

5. All bacpac accessories are backward compatible.

GoPro state that the Hero 3 is 25% lighter than the Hero 2. From my own measurements this is correct and infact the Hero 3 silver edition that I have seems to be even lighter. Of course at the minute my camera doesn’t contain an SD card but that won’t make a massive difference to the overall reading on the scales.

More GoPro stuff from Unsponsored can be found here.

13 Comments

  1. Piet Santermans

    Is the new, smaller battery as good as the one in the hero 2?
    How long can you film 1080p at 30fps with the hero 3? I thought the Hero2 could do 2,5h on one battery.

    • admin

      The 2 battery is a 3.7v 1100mAh 4.07Wh the 3 is a 3.7v 1050mAh 3.885Wh. Therefore its not going to be massively different. The biggest issue will still be eating through SD cards rather than eating through batteries.

  2. Jbl

    What about the autonomy battery?

    • admin

      The 2 battery is a 3.7v 1100mAh 4.07Wh the 3 is a 3.7v 1050mAh 3.885Wh.

  3. Jbl

    Have you tried it yet? How long is the battery?

    • admin

      I have ran it through a couple of filming/charging cycles and the battery life is actually pretty impressive. I’m getting on average just under 1hr 50mins. That is running at 1080p – 30fps with no wifi.

  4. Brendan O'Connor

    Have just taken delivery of new Hero 3 Black surf edition, this does not include a floaty back door. If I get a floaty back door kit for Hero 2 will this definitely fit Hero3 ? I know the full waterproof case fro Hero 2 is not compatible .
    manu thanks

    • admin

      The backdoors are the same, I’m interchanging between the supplied backdoor and my floaty backdoor.. The float comes detached from the backdoor anyway and you can stick it on yourself.

  5. Olga Santos

    Hey, thanks for the review! I’m glad to hear that the old accessories will probably work (and that includes the suction cup, right?). What about the LCD BacPac?

    • admin

      The mounts remain the same so the suction cup will be just fine. From reading stuff on the GoPro site the LCD bacpac from the 2 will also work with the 3. Again from the GoPro site the LCD bacpac from the 3 will work with the 2 but the touch screen functionality will not work, they call it limited functionality.

  6. admin

    I have been using the Hero 3 for a few months now and the biggest improvement has to be the lack of weight compared to the 2. It makes a huge difference if you wear the camera on top of your helmet.

  7. GoPro Deals

    Dude, cool review! I just happened to stumble across this. But I personally love the HERO3 Black Edition. Ive bought a second once since. The only thing I dont like (and I mean the only thing), is the battery life. So purchasing the Battery BacPac is certainly a must. However, it does largly increase the over time, which turns out to be a postive overall. Again, thanks for the read!

  8. GoPro Fan

    My personal best is Hero 3 by far but haven’t checked on Hero 4 Black yet which I hear good reviews about. Thanks for the review though!
    Cheers

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2024 Unsponsored

Theme by Anders NorénUp ↑