Master the Modes: HERO11 Black's New Sensor

“Dang, is that image sensor on stilts? Because it’s looking mighty tall.” No, friend, your eyes don’t deceive you. Debuting with HERO11 Black and HERO11 Black Mini is an all-new sensor that is going to blow you away. Not only is it a new size, but it’s capable of capturing an entirely new shape! And that new shape enables some killer new features. If your curiosity is piqued, you’ve come to the right place.

We're here to give you a quick and easy rundown of the brand new 1/1.9” sensor on HERO11 Black and HERO11 Black Mini and what it does.

Sensor-y Details

Since GoPro cameras graduated from film to digital sensors (yes, we’ve been in the game a long time), our image sensors have always been 1 /2.3” with a very standard 4:3 ratio (the same ratio as screens on ye olde tube televisions, before HD and widescreen came along). This year's new sensor is coming in hot at 1/1.9” with an 8:7 aspect ratio.

Compared to the previous 4:3 sensors, the new sensor gives you a 13% taller field of view. That means 13% more ocean and sky at the beach, 13% more trail and treetops while mountain biking, and 13% less issues with getting your head or feet cut off for your latest dance video. It also enables some entirely new tricks which we’re going to talk about right meow.

Largest Field of View on a HERO Camera Ever

When it comes to field of view (FOV), the ability to go bigger is definitely better. GoPro Hero cameras have always featured ultra-wide FOV, but the new 8:7 sensor on the HERO11 Black and HERO11 Mini now go ultra-tall, too, thus enabling more awesomeness.

One Shot. Share Anywhere.

What if, as Slim says, “You only had one shot, one opportunity …” Well, when you’re out in the world, trying to capture content, that’s often true. Maybe it’s a rare animal encounter, or you spent the whole day climbing up a mountain and you’re finally about to ski back down it. How are you going to shoot it? Do you want a traditional 16:9, landscape shot that’s going to look great on YouTube and on your home TV? Do you want to capture tall, so you can take over a full phone screen in Instagram or TikTok? What if you might want some high-quality stills? You’ve only got one camera. You can’t possibly check all those boxes with one clip.

Except, with HERO11, now you can.

The new sensor on the HERO11 Black line is incredibly versatile (would you expect anything less from GoPro?). In fact, the 8:7 aspect ratio is almost a square, so after you’ve captured your moment, it’s easy to crop off the top and bottom of your frame to output the clip as a traditionally wide 16:9 ratio. Or, if you’re wanting to share it in a portrait-oriented video app, just crop off the sides and presto, you’ve got a high-quality vertical video that’s going to look amazing. Either way you crop you, the content will maintain its high resolution. That's the beauty of this new sensor feature.

If it’s still photos you’re after, you’re covered there, too. Frame grabs pulled from 5.3K 8:7 video come in at a whopping 24.7 megapixels. That’s at 26% increase in size from the already respectable 19.6MP frame grabs on the HERO10 Black. Basically, shooting 5.3K30 with an 8:7 aspect ratio allows you to capture everything, and then figure out what you want to do with it later.

PRO TIP: We recommend setting HERO11 Black to record video at 5.3K30 in the 8:7 aspect ratio and turning on high bitrate. Or if you don’t mind sacrificing a little resolution for a higher frame rate, shoot at 4K60 in 8:7. The latter will give you double the frame grab opportunities and the ability to slow your video down by 50% in the GoPro Quik app.

SuperView Now in 5.3K60 + 4K120

SuperView has been the go-to mode for super immersive action for years, and it just got twice as fast in our two highest resolution modes. That’s right, you can now shoot in SuperView at 5.3K60 and 4K120. This means you can get that perfect combination of immersive field of view and salted-buttah slo-mo.

SuperView works best with high-paced action content when the main subject of your shot is going to be pretty close to the camera. In other words, if you’re going to be rocking a selfie stick or slapping it on the nose of your surfboard, this is probably going to be your go-to FOV.

PRO TIP: If there’s going to be water or snow involved in some fast-moving action, we recommend setting your camera to 4K120 with SuperView ON. Later, you can slow your clip all the way down to 24fps (which is still the standard for most movies). That’s going to give you stunning 4K video at 5x slow-motion. At those speeds and with that clarity, water or powder start looking absolutely magical.

Crank It Up to 11 with HyperView

That’s right, there’s an all-new FOV debuting with the HERO11 line: HyperView. It’s the most immersive widescreen footage you can get straight out of the camera. Basically, it’s a cranked-up version of SuperView. With SuperView, the camera takes a 4:3 image and dynamically warps it to fit into a 16:9 frame. HyperView, now utilizes the new, taller 8:7 sensor, and cranks that whole image into the 16:9 format. That means you’re getting 13% more height packed into your YouTube, 4K TV or even big-screen-ready images.

HyperView particularly excels at point-of-view (POV) footage. You know how sometimes POV footage looks like you’re going slower than you remember? Well, HyperView captures speed better than any other FOV . Trees whip by, and steep sections actually look, well, steep! Just in time for snowboarding season … dropping!

MORE?? Yeah, more.

As if all that weren’t enough, HERO11 cameras are now complete with the following, ALL thanks to the new sensor:

• Higher resolution 27MP still photos. Or in the case of HERO11 Black Mini, 24.7MP frame grabs from 5.3K30 8:7 video.
• HyperSmooth 5.0 with 360-degree Horizon Lock. Previously only available with the Max Lens Mod, when you select this FOV your horizon stays 100% locked where it’s supposed to be. You could literally be doing cartwheels down a hill (which I don’t recommend), and that horizon is going to stay nice and level. It may feel like sorcery when you see it, but it’s all thanks to the new 8:7 sensor.

Still on the search for more HERO11 Black PRO TIPS? Check out this complete guide to the new HERO11 camera features.