First impressions and background
Just got this and started playing with it, but first a little background.I also have two 5 Blacks and a 7 Black. I drive a truck (truck, not peekup) and use these to record my trips and the traffic around me. I record several hours of video every day. With a minor amount of effort, these work much better than typical dashcams. I use them without batteries inside the cab, with USB-C cables powering them. They tend to overheat with the batteries installed when mounted inside the windshield. The 5s still overheat sometimes without the battery. The 7 seldom does. They're often in the sun for hours at a time, so this isn't really a fault. It's not what they're designed to do. The 7 stays connected to the app much better than the 5s do. It's just a much more capable camera all around.The Hero 7 Black TimeWarp and stabilization are first rate. The first video I took using it on my Jeep, a friend thought I'd bought a gyro-stabilized mount. It's that good. I assume the 8 is at least as good. I expect it to be better.I've also owned a cheaper "Action Camera". It actually handled the heat better, until the battery swelled up and destroyed the camera. If you're looking for a toy, those are fine. If you want something that lasts, GoPro, with all its faults, is just about all there is. Nothing else does what they do while taking a substantial amount of abuse.There is a dive case with external battery available from Suptig (on Amazon) for the 5, 6, and 7, but not for the 8. I use this case for the 5s when I mount them outside the truck. I use a Panavise mount with tethers outside the truck. The Panavise mount is heavy enough to hold the heavy battery with the camera mounted on it. I've also used this setup on my Jeep, but not as much as I'd like. There are dive cases for the 8, but not with external batteries that I've found.The main feature of the 8 that I was drawn to was the ability to switch from TimeWarp to Realtime and back while recording. Unfortunately, this control isn't available on the app, only on the camera screen. I'll just have to mount the 8 where I can tap the screen easily while driving. Not optimum, but not a deal killer.The app could be a lot better, but GoPro insists on using it for marketing. The app is useful, but I've already bought four GoPros. The cameras sold themselves. The app lacks a lot of features I'd like to see on it, though it is much better now than when I was given my first GoPro 4. The 4 still works fine, by the way, and I still use it where I'm afraid I might lose the camera, such as under the Jeep.The battery door and charge port on the Hero 8 Black are completely different from the Hero 5 Black and Hero 7 Black. If you plan to use the camera for long periods without the battery, you'll need to get a battery door designed to allow connecting USB while closed. I've ordered one. Just search for "Hero 8 battery door." The alternative is to leave the battery door open, or off. I really don't like that choice. Either way, the camera isn't waterproof without the original door in place and closed.I can't recommend any of the GoPro 6 series, because for a bit more you can get a 7, and for a bit less, you can get a 5 Black. I bought the 8 instead of another 7 because the price dropped to within $40 of the 7, and there are several improvements. Before you buy any of them, do some research into what each can and cannot do. There are various video modes on each. The older models drop in price every time a new model comes out.I'll edit this after I put this one to work for a while.
