GoPro Hero & GoPro Hero 13 Black Available to Pre Order

Action cameras continue to be an ultra-popular market, with new releases from companies like Insta360, DJI and GoPro becoming an annual event in our calendars. As we pass the yearly threshold, we now have a confirmed GoPro Hero and GoPro Hero 13 release date and specs to match. The Hero 13 has been hinted at many times throughout the year, and we now have complete confirmation of what to expect upon release - alongside the new budget-friendly GoPro Hero. Here’s everything that was confirmed during GoPro’s announcement on the 4th September.

GoPro Hero 13 Black Pre Order and Price

At present, the GoPro Hero 13 is available to pre order from the official GoPro storefront: with a listed price of $399.99. Though pre orders aren’t yet live on other sites, you can likely expect to see the Hero 13 in stock with the following retailers:

• Adorama
• Amazon - Purchase here
• B&H Photo Video

Meanwhile, the GoPro Hero is available for pre order here, retailing for $199.99. It will likely have a similar selection of retailers when pre orders go live, though customers will have to wait a little longer for their pre-orders to be fulfilled:

• Adorama
• Amazon - Purchase here
• B&H Photo Video

Here’s what Nicholas Woodman, the GoPro CEO, had to say about the upcoming action cameras:

“This year’s two new GoPro cameras are inspired by and built for the GoPro Community,” says GoPro Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman. “HERO13 Black features four new interchangeable lens mods that HERO13 automatically detects and adjusts its settings for, magnetic latch mounting, GPS, and a more powerful battery that provides longer runtimes and improved thermal performance. And then there’s HERO, the smallest, lightest 4K GoPro ever with a screen that will appeal to new and experienced users with its rugged, ultralight design and impressive 4K image quality.”
Source: Nicholas Woodman, GoPro

GoPro Hero13 Black Launch Trailer

GoPro Hero and GoPro Hero 13 Black Specs: At A Glance

Across both models, GoPro are retaining the general silhouette of past designs with some minor changes. Both are water resistant up to 33ft, and both sport a fold-in mounting bracket on the base of the camera. The Hero 13 seems to have a larger heatsink, potentially to compensate for the upgraded battery, whilst the Hero is “4K’ing Tiny” as the tagline highlights: far smaller than its contemporaries.

In spite of that, the GoPro Hero is still capable of 4K 30FPS footage, via a 12MP sensor. It maintains all the trappings of a full-fledged GoPro, and is actually not miles away from 2022’s GoPro Hero 11 Mini. It comes with an ultra-wide-angle lens that is a 15mm equivalent in old money, and has a surprisingly bright f/2.3 aperture. This comes with built-in HyperSmooth IBIS and a tiny internal microphone - barely visible on the front of the Hero. Due to its size, the GoPro Hero only has a 1.76” LCD touchscreen on the rear, rather than the front. All-in-all, the new GoPro Hero is set to be a great budget-friendly action camera: ultra-compact whilst still delivering high-quality footage. We’ll have to wait until the end of September to get our hands on one to play about with.

Meanwhile, the initial perception of the GoPro Hero 13 would be that the upgrades are marginal. It boasts the same 27MP sensor as the Hero 12, with 5.3K footage at 30FPS. It even retains HyperSmooth 6.0 from its predecessor. Given that these features are professional-grade and Emmy-winning - as GoPro’s marketing loves to highlight - there didn’t necessarily need to be sweeping improvements here. Where GoPro has primarily innovated is the new lens system: an array of versatile lenses to be magnetically attached to the base 12-39mm f/2.5 unit attached to the Hero 13. Ranging from ND filters for adjusting brightness to macro and wider-angle options, the Hero 13 can even automatically detect what lens has been attached and adjust accordingly. The battery life has also seen an improvement, as well as more intelligent movie presets and even WiFi 6 inclusion for faster downloads. GPS overlay is a welcome return, having been absent from the Hero 12. All of this makes for a quality-over-quantity approach to the Hero 13 that we appreciate, and we can’t wait to get our’s.

The lenses, however, are sold separately and will retail at prices that rival the base GoPro Hero on their own. Here’s what’s currently listed for the Hero 13:

• Anamorphic Lens ($129.99): Ask your friend who went to film school about the difference between anamorphic and spherical lenses. Anamorphic lenses reduce the ugly bulge of the traditional wide-angle, giving your footage a more cinematic look. Ideal for content creators and filmmakers, this will give your GoPro footage that extra-professional sheen. This is the only one not current available for purchase, as it won’t be released until 2025.
• Ultra-Wide Angle Lens ($99.99): To get even wider than the 12mm focal length of the base Hero 13, this lens mod doesn’t have a listed 35mm focal equivalent, but it’s definitely under 10mm with it’s 177° field-of-view. This lens is great for capturing wide visuals, but also apparently aids the HyperSmooth 6.0 for stabilizing footage with minimal distortion.
• Macro Lens ($129.99): At the opposite end of the spectrum we have a Macro lens, that quadruples the focal length to focus on detail. Allowing you to focus as close as 4.3” away, this takes the Hero 13 to a new style of shot not commonly associated with action cameras, making for a more versatile on-the-go camera.
• ND Filter Pack ($64.99): A 4-pack of Neural Density filters allow you to adjust your camera settings by a number of different stops, for greater control over your visuals. GoPro highlights how this enables more cinematic motion blur, which is an effective simplification of the varied uses for ND filters. With options for ND4, ND8, ND16 and ND32; you have plenty of scope to tailor your footage.

Depending on the popularity of these lenses, we could see more options added in future - and we expect that this technology will continue into the Hero 14 and other new GoPro releases.

Now that the specs and release dates for both GoPro Hero 13 and GoPro Hero are live, the highly-anticipated new entrants to the market are set to debut in the near future. Whether you need a budget camera for streaming or a high-end action camera for extreme sports, GoPro continues to be the best name in the business. Set yourself up with the GoPro Hero 13 or GoPro Hero today.

GoPro Hero & Hero 13 Black Release Date

We now know to expect the GoPro Hero 13 release date on the 10th September. An Amazon listing in July - that was quickly deleted - listed the Hero 13 Black having a pre-order window until the 16th September - which aligned with the overall release date predictions. The fact that we are getting this camera almost a week early is exciting.

The GoPro Hero, meanwhile, is a little later: with a release date on the 22nd September. Given that these action cameras occupy very different spaces in the market, it wouldn’t be unheard of to launch them alongside one another - but the break between releases is likely the more practical option.