Review Date February 16, 2012

GoPro HD Hero2 Outdoor Edition

  • Pros

    Inexpensive. Rugged construction. Good quality video. Compact. Waterproof to 197 feet.

  • Cons Limited battery life. Archaic control system. Fixed focal length lens. No GPS.
  • Bottom Line

    The GoPro HD Hero2 is a rugged HD video camera that can take a beating and go deep underwater. It includes a number of different mounting tools so that you can affix it to a helmet, skateboard, or anything else you can imagine.

By Jim Fisher

The GoPro HD Hero2 Outdoor Edition is a compact camcorder designed to record your extreme adventures. Whether you're skydiving, rock climbing, or snowboarding, the Hero2 can survive the elements thanks to its sophisticated protective case. It's also fairly inexpensive for a helmet camera at $299.99 (direct), so if it does drop from an extreme height the replacement cost will be less than that of the competing Contour+ ($499.99, 3 stars)  camcorder.

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Design and Features
The HD Hero2 camera itself is as basic as it can get. The camera is a silver cuboid with two control buttons, a monochrome LCD, and a wide-angle lens. It measures 1.6 by 2.4 by 1.2 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.3 ounces, which makes it a bit smaller and lighter than the 2.3 by 1.3 by 3.9 inch, 5.3 ounce Contour+. Adding the protective housing to the GoPro increases its weight a fair amount, bringing it up to 5.9 ounces.

The camera has just two buttons. The front button acts as a power toggle and mode selector; tapping it cycles through video recording, still capture, burst still capture, and the settings menu. The top button is used to start recording, grab a photo, and navigate through the menu system. Because of its simple design, the menus can be a bit tricky to scroll through, although there are, thankfully, only a few settings to configure. You can choose between three different video modes and control the volume of the beeps that the camera makes to confirm that it's recording, and that's about it. Because the menus can take some time to operate, it's probably a good idea to take the time to navigate through them during some downtime.

The HD Hero2 only has a few connectors. Its right side has an SDHC card slot and a mini HDMI output.  On its left are a stereo microphone input, a mini USB port for charging and data transfer, and an SD video output. Only the USB cable is included, so you'll need to supply the cables to connect to a television.

As you'll probably most often use the camera when it's mounted to your helmet, there has to be some sort of confirmation to let you know when the camera starts to record footage. In addition to an audible beep, there are three red lights on the camera—one on the front, one on the bottom, and one on the top—that flash on and off while you are rolling footage. This visual indicator gives you the only confirmation you'll get that the camera is actively recording.

A good number of accessories are included with the HD Hero2, including a waterproof housing rated for use in 197 feet of water. It also includes helmet and head straps, adhesive mounts, and a three-way pivot arm for mounting in different positions. GoPro sells different bundles for use in motorsports and surfing—the camera hardware and pricing are identical, but the mounts, straps, and other accessories are customized for use in these activities. There are less expensive ruggedized camcorders out there, like the Samsung HMX-W200 ($159.99, 2 stars) and the Kodak Playsport Zx5 ($179.95, 4 stars), but they don't lend themselves to helmet-mounted operation, and neither can go nearly as deep underwater as the HD Hero2 in its casing.

One feature that the HD Hero2 lacks that is found on its more expensive Contour+ competition is GPS. Adding location to your photos and videos is appealing for those activities that take you to unexplored areas of the globe, but GPS adds size and cost to the camera, and can often put more of a strain on a camera's battery. As it stands, the HD Hero2 can only run for a few hours before the battery drains, even if it isn't recording footage. You can set it up to turn off after a few minutes of inactivity via the menu to save power. There is also an optional Battery BacPac ($49.99) accessory available that clips on to the back of the camera and doubles its battery life. If you want to review your video in the field you can add the LCD BacPac ($79.99) accessory.

Video Quality and Conclusions
I asked a friend to take the HD Hero2 with him on a snowboarding trip and the resulting video looked really nice. The 1080p30 footage was full of detail, and you can lower the resolution to 720p60 or 480p120 to increase the frame rate for smoother motion or to have the flexibility to convert your video to slow motion. Audio is another story. The camera does have a microphone input for those times when you want to pick up clear dialogue. But it's tough to pick up more than the bumps and jostles that appear when a camera is mounted on the helmet of a man riding a flat board down a snow-covered mountain.

You have the option of a few different angles of view when grabbing footage. The widest is 170°, which provides a wide field of view that exhibits some fisheye distortion around the edges of the frame. If you are using the camera in tight quarters the fisheye distortion is extremely pronounced. The medium angle setting, 120°, is also pretty wide, with less pronounced distortion. The narrow setting provides a 90° field of view, and would still be considered a wide-angle lens in terms of traditional photography. In addition to video the camera can grab still images at 11-megapixel resolution. The photo quality is decent if you're willing to live with the distortion, but it's no match for a point-and-shoot with a zoom lens.

The GoPro HD Hero2 delivers exactly what it promises. It's an inexpensive camera that is tough enough to endure the rigors of extreme sports—but not costly to the point that you'll break the bank replacing it if it falls out of an airplane or off of a mountain. The included waterproof housing lets you dive deep underwater, and the wide angle lens makes it possible to get very close to your subjects, as long as you're willing to live with some fisheye distortion. If you don't need to mount the camera to your helmet and don't plan on diving in more than 10 feet of water, you could also opt for a ruggedized handheld camcorder like the Samsung HMX-200 or Kodak Playsport Zx5, both of which are available for under $180. But if you're interested in something more rugged that is easily mountable, and you don't want to spend $500 on the Contour+, the HD Hero2 is a very good way to go.

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Jim Fisher
By Jim Fisher Senior Analyst, Digital Cameras


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