GoPro HERO11 Black Creator Edition - Includes HERO11 Black, Volta (Battery Grip, Tripod, Remote), Media Mod, Light Mod, Enduro Battery, and Carrying Case

Product Information

The Quik App gives you full remote control of your GoPro camera. You can start and stop recording, see a live view from the camera, power the camera off and on, and adjust the overall UI/control scheme of the camera (Easy vs. Pro Control mode).

There are only two physical buttons: a power button along the side and a top button that doubles as the shutter release or video start/stop. Along the bottom, two pop-out tabs allow you to attach GoPro's numerous mounting accessories. This year, they've finally added a standard 1/4-20 mounting thread, making it easier to attach standard tripod plates and other mounting or support accessories.The Volta offers a full 4 hours of 4K 30fps video shooting when combined with the built-in camera battery. Shooting extensively with the Creator Edition, I found this to equal many days of shooting, since I rarely record more than a few minutes of video at a time. I would feel comfortable taking the Creator Edition with the Volta on a week-long trip, with the knowledge that I might not have the chance to recharge it. Of course, your mileage may vary. A caveat here is that the Volta connection to the GoPro through the Media Mod is flawed in a major way, since while the Volta does power the Hero 10 through the Media Mod, it does not send control signals through this connection. As a result, it’s necessary to connect the Volta to the Hero 10 via Bluetooth when also using the Media Mod. It’s easy enough to do, but it is an unfortunate extra hassle. I’m not sure what the issue is with the control passthrough, though it’s something I would hope might be fixed in a future update. I also occasionally experienced a bug where the camera would freeze up while connected to Volta, and I would need to take the whole kit apart and remove and replace the battery in the GoPro before it would turn on again. Andy Zahn / Digital Trends

GoPro releases a new Hero camera just about every year, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that there’ll be a Hero 11 this fall, but if you want to upgrade, there’s a good chance all the accessories in the Creator Edition will be compatible with new GoPro cameras. Only the Media Mod might not work with future Hero cameras if they decide to make a radical design change. The Volta and LED light, however, aren’t dependent on the shape of the camera itself. Furthermore, the Hero 10 is capable enough that I’m confident it will be a relevant filmmaking tool for years to come. Andy Zahn / Digital Trends Should you buy it? GoPros are known to be extremely rugged, and all of the accessories in the Creator Edition are similarly durable. The waterproofing issue makes it prone to damage in that regard, but as long as you’re careful about keeping it out of the drink, it should hold up to long, hard use. While the look and feel may be underwhelming, the performance is where GoPro’s tweaking pays dividends. Aside from the sensor and image quality, GoPro has clearly dedicated some time and effort to improving battery life, interestingly making some serious gains (when you look at it as percentage improvement) at the higher resolutions. This achieves a neat balance for GoPro - no compromise of the ‘idiot mode’ that we’ve come to know and love, but also the more granular control that the ‘pros’ demand. The GoPro Hero 10 updates last year’s Hero 9 with a new GP2 image processor that makes camera response faster and images better, and that increases frame rate and resolution when making videos. But is it enough to upgrade year over year? We say if you already have a Hero 9, no, but if you’re looking for your first GoPro camera or you’re running a Hero 8 or earlier, this will be a big and worthy upgrade to your current adventure videography needs.Raw files look cleaner, with better fine detail. Keep in mind, however, that you're only offered the 'Wide' lens when Raw is enabled; no Linear, SuperView or HyperView digital lenses. We reviewed the Hero 10 Creator Edition, which includes not only GoPro’s latest flagship camera but also a 32GB microSD card; the Volta battery grip; the Media Mod, which is a case with a built-in external mic and cold shoes for attachments; and the Light Mod, which is, as expected, a small light you can attach via said cold shoe mounts.