5+Black Numerous BAD Issues Resolved
This is my second review of this camera. The first time I gave it a ONE STAR review, but I have been able to resolve many of my issues. The GoPro team has finally turned their Tech Support line back on and even though they have outsourced overseas, I was able to get my problems resolved.First and most important, this camera's Write/Read speed is far greater than my old 3+ Silver. That said, the micro SD card from my old camera IS NOT COMPATIBLE! This is important because it will sort of work, but not really and you lose most of your video. Go to the GoPro site and find a listing of the few SD card that are compatible. I got a 64MG Lexar for less than my old SanDisk 32MG and it resolved 100% of my "function" issues. Save yourself tons of aggravation and get the "right" card from the start. Many of the one star reviews are because of this issue alone I believe.Secondly, the video quality was on par with the very first digital camera's first produced. Splotchy, and like filming through water drops that were moving. I would say it was about 1/10th the quality of my old 3+ Silver and That was a deal breaker for me. I then took the camera into a bright light area and tried to inspect the lens as best I could. I realized that the inside of the housing and the camera lens itself came from the factory filthy. Once I figured out how to open the lens cover, it appeared someone with oil on their fingers put this camera together. I methodically cleaned both the lens and the housing, it was disgusting. It has made all the difference in the world as I think the sensor was trying to focus on the closest item, the dirty lens.I have now taken film inside of a building of people showing dogs at a show, outdoor film of dogs running and jumping, inside the house dog play, and films from my dash while driving my truck. The quality of everything is what I had heard I should have and I am very pleased.I have noted that this new camera, even though it doesn't need a housing, has extremely poor audio pick up. I may have to keep looking for a setting that might improve this. Also, if you leave the back LED on while filming, your battery will only last about 30-45 minutes of film time. There is a setting where it will turn off after 60 seconds which seems to about double the battery life. Also, I found that if I use the USB that came with the camera to charge the battery in the camera, it take 6-8 hours to get a full charge. I therefore bought the $50 dual fast charger and two more batteries, so I have three batteries every time I go out...and no surprise, the old batteries are NOT compatible with this new camera.Many of the touch screen commands are far superior to the old Menu system. That alone makes this a better camera. But, they also encourage you to download and use their new QUIK program, and I will never figure out why. I am glad I kept my old GoPro Studio. Oh yeah, my PC wil recognize that the 5+Black is attached, but it will not download or play anything from it and I'm using WIN10. If I remove the SD card and plug it in direct to my PC, everything works and I can download/play/transfer/etc. all. My 3+ did the same thing, so no big deal.I hope that once the GoPro folks get through this massive trade in program, that they then will go back to a Tech Department that is responsive to questions and problems. To date they have never tried to answer any of my inquiries except to send me a survey after I finally talked to their outsource tech folks. When they do that, I may give this camera a 5 Star.