A must-own for brand spanking new GoPro house owners

The picture stabilization on the latest GoPro models makes the longstanding action king simply as usable for handheld movies, apart from one factor: ergonomics. Holding the tiny digital camera in my arms jogs my memory of my ’90s childhood photo albums filled with fingers caught on the nook of the body. Gripping a digital camera that tiny is hardly comfy for lengthy stretches both. That’s the place the GoPro Volta is available in.

The GoPro Volta is, on the floor, a hand grip designed for GoPro cameras. Nevertheless, the Volta is sort of as multi-functional as Inspector Gadget. It homes the identical bodily buttons that GoPro cameras do, permitting you to regulate your GoPro from the grip. The battery contained in the Volta is twice as huge because the one discovered inside GoPro cameras. Two legs come out of the underside, permitting the Volta to double as a tabletop tripod. Disconnect a GoPro from the Volta, and you may nonetheless use the controls to wirelessly cease and begin a recording.

However is the GoPro Volta price the fee? Who is that this motion digital camera accent for? After utilizing the GoPro Volta to seize an epic evening lapse that lasted previous daybreak, the battery grip is the primary accent I might purchase for a brand new GoPro. Anybody who desires to shoot handheld video or shoot 5 hours of video goes to like the GoPro Volta.

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Specs, pricing and availability

The Volta is appropriate with the GoPro Hero9 Black and up (with restricted performance on the Hero8 in addition to the Hero9 and Hero10 media mods). Introduced in 2022, it retails for $130. Or, those that have but to choose up a GoPro can get each the Volta and the digital camera with a mic and light-weight contained in the GoPro Hero12 Creator Version bundle for round $600.

What I favored in regards to the GoPro Volta

The Volta is basically 4 equipment in a single

The Volta encompasses a intelligent design that enables this one accent to switch an influence financial institution, distant management, tripod, and hand grip. The highest has a traditional GoPro mount. Beneath that may be a USB wire — you’ll must swap out the door in your GoPro for a USB pass-through door however one is already included within the field. The cable connects the Volta with the GoPro for charging, however the grip additionally connects wirelessly as nicely. The grip may also recharge different USB-C gadgets.

A financial institution of controls sit on the aspect. The highest two are for connecting with Bluetooth and checking the battery life, with lights to point the standing. The underside two controls are acquainted to any GoPro person: a document button and a mode/energy button, identical to on the digital camera itself. These buttons are simple to achieve with the thumb and extra ergonomic than grabbing for the buttons on the digital camera.

Reverse the facility wire, a button pops out one other set of GoPro mount threads, permitting you to mount some equipment to the Volta while you don’t want the grip however need the additional battery.

The underside of the Volta is a snug hand grip. Two items of the grip pull out to the entrance to place the Volta in tripod mode. A tripod thread and a wrist lanyard full the Volta’s design.

I discovered the design of the Volta to be far more possible than utilizing the GoPro handheld and not using a grip. I used to be capable of take a TimeWarp of a UTV experience, hop off, then sluggish the video to actual time as I walked to my vacation spot. I couldn’t do this if I had used the digital camera handheld.

Nevertheless, my favourite a part of the Volta is the prolonged battery life. Utilizing the Volta as each a tripod and battery, I began a star lapse round midnight and the digital camera nonetheless had sufficient juice to document previous dawn. That created an epic video of the development of the celebrities, moon, solar and even the Northern Lights that will have been a lot much less impactful with out the added battery life. For movies, the Volta permits for round 5.5 hours of 4K 30p recordings.

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What I didn’t like in regards to the GoPro Volta

Surprisingly little, truly

I had few complaints whereas utilizing the GoPro Volta — the characteristic record is superb and the controls are simple to make use of.

My greatest grievance? The GoPro Volta is weather-resistant, however not waterproof. That USB wire is designed to protect in opposition to rain and dirt with a reasonably good seal, however you possibly can’t take it underwater like you possibly can the GoPro digital camera itself. That lead me to be a bit extra hesitant about what and the way I shot with the setup.

The opposite snafus have been minor. Setup is best if you happen to observe a video tutorial, as a number of issues aren’t fairly intuitive. I seemed up a video on easy methods to take away the battery door, although that was principally as a result of I used to be afraid of breaking it and never as a result of it’s onerous to do, because it simply pulls off the highest hinge.

The opposite piece that isn’t as intuitive is that, regardless of the corded connection, the Volta nonetheless wants a Bluetooth connection to the GoPro. The wire is for the battery, the Bluetooth is for these side-mounted controls.

When organising the tripod on uneven floor, I did want for the flexibility to regulate the legs, relatively than merely adjusting the angle of the digital camera. There wasn’t a technique to right a tilted horizon. A ball head design mount would have allowed for correcting crooked horizons with out breaking out a devoted tripod.

Must you purchase the GoPro Volta?

The Volta is a should for taking pictures with a GoPro. The grip with built-in controls makes utilizing the GoPro and not using a mount a lot less complicated. Past that, the built-in battery considerably extends recording time, making it doable to seize photographs a GoPro alone can not, like star lapses till daybreak or five-hour movies.

Can different equipment do the identical factor? Sure, however you would wish a number of equipment, together with an influence financial institution, tabletop tripod, distant management, and hand grip.

Does each GoPro proprietor want one? If you have already got a favourite mount that the GoPro seldom leaves, then it could be troublesome to justify the fee until you really want that prolonged battery life. The Volta’s finest options are as a hand grip and tripod. Avid divers and different water-based content material creators additionally could not get sufficient use out the Volta, because it can not go underwater just like the GoPro can.

However, after utilizing the Volta, it’s the primary accent I might purchase when beginning a brand new GoPro equipment.

Editor’s Selection

GoPro Volta