GoPro has launched a bare-bones edition of its latest action cam. Literally. The GoPro Hero10 Black Bones is mostly the same as the Hero10 Black that the company launched last year. But this one is stripped down to the bare essentials and will require some soldering and assembly when you attach it to your FPV drone.
That’s who GoPro is targeting with this new bit of kit: FPV drone pilots. If you’re feeling a little out of the loop, FPV (First-Person View) drones are piloted by someone wearing a headset of some kind that streams a live camera feed of what the drone sees. They zoom around trying not to hit anything. When it’s done right, it can be quite the spectacle to watch. We’re told they are also fun to race them.
Stripped to the Bone
GoPro noticed that some pilots were already cutting their cameras apart to make them lighter and small enough to fit on a drone. “You’ve seen the rise of videos like flying into the bowling alley or even the latest Tesla Gigafactory video — those are all done by people who took the time to try to make a GoPro lighter,” said Pablo Lema, GoPro’s head of product, speaking to The Verge.
We’re sure GoPro isn’t keen on honouring a warranty when their cameras are cut open. There’s also the risk of damage to the cams from overheating on takeoff and landing. GoPro figured it could save people the time and risk and do it themselves while raking in the cash from a new market segment. Seems like a win-win.
The GoPro Hero10 Black Bones features the sensor, lens, processor and impressive stabilization tech from the Hero10 Black. That’s all joined by a heatsink and stuck in a ventilated case. Altogether it weighs just 54g. This is GoPro’s lightest cam, a whole 100g lighter than the original Hero10 Black. This is achieved by removing a lot of what some people might call ‘the important bits’. Namely, the screen, speakers, waterproofing, a door, and the battery. Hence the soldering and assembly requirements.
Unfortunately for us, the Hero10 Black Bones is only officially sold in the US, for now. That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways of getting your hands on one if you really wanted to. It’s possible some local drone retailers make a deal with GoPro to get them here, but we wouldn’t hold our breath.
Source: The Verge