When the GoPro Hero 11 came out, it included a new, bigger sensor that gave you the ability to record more of what the camera could see. Since then, every GoPro including the Hero 11, Hero 11 mini, Hero 12 and the Hero 13 uses this new sensor . The new sensor has an aspect ratio of 8:7, meaning that it is just a tiny bit wider than square.
This new sensor is taller that the previous 16:9 sensor so it actually captures more of what is above and below what you see on the real LCD screen.
The image below shows you what gets captured in 8:7 mode vs 16:9 and 4:3
So, what is the point of 8:7 mode?
Normally, if you record in any other mode (for example 16:9, the GoPro will only record the portion of the sensor that contains the 16:9 image (the red box above) and throws away the rest of the image.
In 8:7 mode, however, the camera records the entire sensor.
How does this help get better footage?
Because you are now recording the entire sensor, it means that:
1. You can decide what aspect ratio you want for your video after you've recorded it. You can decide to crop it to 16:9 "wide" for YouTube, or 9:16 vertical for Instagram, or Square for Facebook, for example. Or you can export different versions of your video cropped perfectly for different platforms. Because you didn't lock yourself in to a particular crop when you initially recorded your footage, you have the freedom to choose later.
2. If you crop to 16:9 "wide", You could pan the image up or down to re-frame your shot without losing any resolution.
Let's say you recorded in GoPro's "wide" (16:9) mode and you were not always paying exact attention to the angle of your GoPro, and you get this shot:
The skier at the top has been cut off, and your shot ruined. But, if you instead filmed in 8:7 mode, in your video editing software you could simply "pan" the shot up a bit, and get the skier perfectly in frame:
Because you are simply using a different part of the sensor, you can pan up and down like this without losing any resolution or image quality.
Add movement to your videos
If you use automation in your video editing software, you can even pan up and down in real time! Say you are on a bike and you are cresting a hill - as you get close to it, your video could pan up to keep the top of the hill in frame, then pan down while you are going down. This can help give a great sense of scale and perspective to your videos.
Are there any downsides?
Being able to make creative decisions about the crop after you're already recorded your video opens up a world of options, but there are a few cons to using 8:7 mode that you need to consider:
- Unless you want to use 8:7 as your final crop (which is a great aspect ratio on its own), there will be an extra step in your editing because you need to crop your video to the aspect ration that you want. Luckily, most video editors make this very easy, with it only taking a few seconds to do so.
- The maximum frame rate that you can use in 5.3k resolution is 30fps. Because of the extra processing involved, the GoPro is unable to keep up at 60fps at this resolution, and if you want to use 60fps, you will need to use 4k.
- There are not as many HyperSmooth options - only "on" and "off". Because there is no "extra" unused part of the sensor in 8:7 mode, the camera does not have as much room to move the frame around for stabilization.
- 8:7 mode creates larger files. A larger potion of the sensor being recorded means more information, which results in larger files. This could also mean slower rendering times in your video editing software.
All things considered, 8:7 mode has a ton of benefits, and if the downsides are not a deal-breaker for you, you should consider recording all of your footage in 8:7 mode because it opens up a bunch of creative choices in your footage by letting you decide later - it can be a game-changer.
Do you have any GoPro recording tips? Leave them as a comment below!