GoPro Hero 12 motorcycle vlogging review - what's it like for bikers?

I've spent the past month using a GoPro 12 for motovlogging - so it's time for my full review including sample footage from the various modes, reasons why I picked it over the Osmo Action 4 and some recommendations if it's going to be your first time vlogging.
00:00 Why did I buy one?
01:04 What's new?
01:43 Video specs for biking
03:29 Some other new features
04:15 RELIABILITY
04:28 The menus are brilliant
05:15 Media mods and why you need one
06:14 ND filters
06:30 The NEGATIVES
07:43 The GOOD BITS
08:50 Sample footage: bike walkaround
09:30 Riding with horizon lock
09:53 Riding in full frame, cropping options
11:04 Using the phone app while riding
11:25 Riding in hyperview
12:20 Riding in the rain
12:42 Riding with HDR on
13:53 Concluding thoughts
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[@jaamaan123]

Thank you for the clear non pretentious review, just what I needed.

[@merseamoto3098]

Anata no mon wa aiteimasu Great review, thanks. Looks like it’s definitely worth a look into.

[@timrodierides]

Thank you! I’m learning Japanese by KZbin comments. Taking a while

[@greatcornholio5646]

Good vid, made me do a buy :)

[@Banditmanuk]

Brave going with the 12. You will be on a once in a lifetime trip or launch, and that will be the time a Gopro will crash and let you down. They've not built a reliable camera since the Hero 4. I've tried lots of them, sold all of them. Been using two DJI Action 3's since they came out and they've been 100% reliable. Gopro as a company looked to squeeze every bit of cash out of you for media mods, lenses and ancillaries. Have they abandoned the ridiculous Gopro subscription?? Just a flat no, never. Not even if the picture quality is marginally better than DJI. You've definitely got better purchasing sense with the MT10, now there's a great and RELIABLE bike.

[@timrodierides]

Haha, I was sorely tempted to go DJI! I've got DJI drones, mics, gimbals. I sort of made this video to point out I've been impressed by a GoPro for the first time in forever... I'll report back if it starts crapping the bed

[@Banditmanuk]

@@timrodierides🤣🤣👍🏽👍🏽

[@BlazinBlades]

@@timrodierides put a diaper on it as there’s zero chance it will stay shitless…😝😝

[@kostasrestas]

Nice man!! The thing that you have the gopro oposite on the helmet is something that you change the image to right position in editing or in some settings into gopro 12??

[@timrodierides]

I'm not sure I understand, sorry! I mount the GoPro upside-down, but it automatically puts the video the right way up :)

[@BotGamer-nc8vf]

Can I frame 9:16 video in hyperview in gopro quik app ? Or will it remain in wide fov ?

[@mattkaymoto]

Going from the 9 to 12 is a pretty decent jump, I know since I have both. I have enjoyed the 12 being less buggy than my 10, though I was tempted by the DJI Action4. The GoPro has done pretty well with it's 1.9" sensor for all these years, but it's starting to show it's age. If they don't improve the sensor soon than later then DJI could walk away from them by putting the 1" sensor from the Pocket3 into their next Osmo Action camera. Heck if I hadn't bought my 12 already I might have bought the Pocket3 as a b-cam instead of upgrading my helmet cam. Either way, nice video!

[@timrodierides]

Thanks! Yeah the new Pocket looks very tempting if you do vlogging. I’ve been using my 12 for a good few months now and the reliability has been perfect so far. Agree on DJI catching up tho

[@roninr8199]

​@@timrodieridesdji catching up? Action 4 and ace pro looks way better than go pro 12. In my country go pro is almost 100 dollars cheaper than how it was priced last5 year. Dji hypwrview is way use able than go pro. I don't know why you did not mention in spite of you owning plus no adaptors required with dji action 4 plus the bigger sensor.

[@thorstenmetalhead9666]

Nice a nonsponsored review by an honest guy with some dry humor baked in... SUBSCIBED.

[@NooBiker]

I just crop my horizontal video to vertical in post, it's as good as the rest of my stuf (i.e. crap) 😅 - Used it on my trip to France and the Vosges which are being published now I've not had very many issues with my 9 so will be keeping it for a while longer

[@Intrudercaferacer]

do you use any protection for the lens?

[@Punith_Vasudeva]

Anyone please tell me GoPro hero 12 can we use AirPods and connect power bank to GoPro while recording? One more question is can we use media mod and connect wire mic and connect power bank charge and record together?

[@RideHarder]

Hello, I just ordered an GoPro 12 but I have question… I would like to record sometimes on the motorcycle when I go in holidays the villages and so on but how I can have the best audio quality without putting an microphone connected to the camera with all those cables? 🙈thank you 🍻

[@matthewchevres4970]

Thanks for the video brother! So do you suggest using linear and horizontal lock? I just got my hero 12 and im going to use a chin mount on my helmet to record footage. Im also using sandisk extreme pro uhs-II U3 V90 sd card, any suggestions for me as far as settings for best quality? Thanks again

[@timrodierides]

I wouldn't use the linear and horizon lock on a bike, it's not wide-angle enough to really see any of the bike and the scenery. I just record in 5.3k using the normal bitrate. I'll try the high-bitrate option soon to see if it makes a difference, but I film so much stuff I don't want loads of gigabytes of GoPro footage! Enjoy the camera and thanks for the comment :)

[@matthewchevres4970]

Ok thanks, and your welcome 🙏

[@b-vk8441]

For low light check GoPro Labs (run by GoPro, free, stable and reliable). Their add on modes allow to display shutter speed and ISO on rear display so you can put shutter speed on a preset and see if the ISO is under 1600. Shutter shorter then 1/180 will keep the stabilization good. With flat color you can do EV=-1.5 shutter 1/180 and ISO 1600 (which I find quite good) and recover the shadows in post. You can switch off the noise reduction and increase the bitrate to get more detail in shadows. Once you know LABS (easy) this will cover what I am Talking about: !MNR01=1!MBITR=150!MPRXY=4!MEXPS=1 which means: • No Noise reduction • Bitrate 150 • Instead of LVL files create Resolve Proxies • Show shutter speed and ISO on screen

[@midlife-crysis]

Same for me. Still use hero7 as my nine glitches and fails so many times. And something that no one talks about in reviews

[@timrodierides]

Everyone seems to find a generation of GoPro that works for them - my Hero8 is terrible for crashing, my 9 is a bit better and so far (touch wood) the 12 hasn't crashed... but they shouldn't be this inconsistent!

[@gerryryan2302]

do you just set the camera up for recording then press start at the beginning of a ride leave it running and just check everything is ok after an hour or so ? ..cuz i find the batteries pretty cack ( gopro10 +blue bats) . i put the remote on my handlebars to turn it on and of , i dont vlog just record some scenic parts of my trips . i do use media mod but i clip microphone to back of jacket for exhaust tone as opposed to my drone .. ive also got an innov k5 set up on the bike .. might even learn how to edit/process them at some time

[@timrodierides]

No, I have it set to turn on and start recording with one press of the shutter button. Then I stop and start it as I ride, I just film for the edit so I don't have loads of boring footage to hack through!

[@DontPanicDear]

Ranmore looked very pretty 👍🏻

[@timrodierides]

Needs a burger van

[@HalfManHalfPirate]

Thanks for the informative video, I'm looking to get a new camera as my 10 drives me potty with it's unreliability! So much footage lost as I have gone to turn it off and its frozen etc. Leaning towards the DJI but as you have said no issues so far I'm now being indecisive! Could you be one of the lucky ones or have GoPro finally started to get there act together?

[@timrodierides]

I wouldn't like to promise you a flawless experience with a GoPro 12 and then you get a dog!

[@HalfManHalfPirate]

@@timrodierides lol, I understand that. I'll continue to be indecisive 😂

[@HalfManHalfPirate]

@@timrodierides Just as an update, I bought a 12 in a bundle, as the price was good with GoPro subscription. I can confirm that it is proving to be more reliable than my 10 with no issues so far.

[@user-vk3wx7ez2e]

Hi - How do you affix the GoPro to your helmet? Did you buy any accessory for that? I saw in the video that you fixed the "mod" which seems to act as a case to the camera, but how do you attach it to your helmet?

[@timrodierides]

Hi! I use a 3D printed GoPro mount that's the same shape as the chin of my helmet, this is stuck to my helmet with a 3M pad.

[@NorCal-refrigeration]

Max lens 2.0 Moto vlog is nice.

[@Maryland_Motorcycle_Rides]

I've never had a GoPro. Going to be using it for motorcycles. The only things that are important to me is excellent quality, excellent vibration dampener, horizon stabilizer and the GPS. Which one should I get?

[@timrodierides]

The 12 has all of those things except GPS. The 11 has it.

[@alanprice9938]

Top quality! Think I’ll ask “‘er indoors” for one for chrimbo then 😃👍, unless you guys reckon I’d be better off with summing else. Do I need a mic to just stick it on the dirt bike and get engine noise and jumps? Nobody wants to hear my voice, so that ain’t a problem. If it does, then I guess I just need a clamp and the iPhone app, and then go biking??

[@timrodierides]

The inbuilt mic never gives me especially good bike noise - I'd be tempted to still stick a cheap mic on and run it under the seat or somewhere to get some nice noise

[@TheNintendoFanBoy01]

Dude.... Thanks for the video..... But SERIOUSLY you haven't considered the brilliance of being able to do voice via Bluetooth... If you have a Sena or a Cardo.......... You don't need the media mod or wires or a second microphone anymore.... As a fellow Motorcycle vlogger I can't wait till my videos catch up to when I started using my 12 (totally different channel name to this one).... People say that the audio is not great but having used my Sena I totally disagree with them. It is good! The reason that their audio isn't that great is they are using lower quality Bluetooth headsets.... If you have a Sena or Cardo or whatever you should try it..... Every reviewer I've watched all gloss over the new option... I cant review it cause that is not what my channel is about and I am a few videos away from getting to the Bluetooth audio..... Please give it a go.... I think you will be surprised!

[@anirbanmajumdar2198]

Are you sure we can connect our sena to GoPro 12 via bluetooth??

[@kentucky_brew3678]

Bro I love you, I spent hours trying to figure out what I need to vlog with my new go pro 12 for my bike and I did not know it had Bluetooth that I can connect my AirPods to and record with!!! Awesome

[@TheNintendoFanBoy01]

@@kentucky_brew3678 You are welcome... BUT the airpods do not give the best sound quality PLEASE be aware of that! If you have a Sena or a Cardo it will be better. But Airpods would be fine while you save for a Cardo or Sena.

[@DrummerOnTwoWheels]

"About as reliable as your Grandad's stiffies" You, sir, have my attention 🤣

[@yousef_kwt]

how to connect freecom x4 mic to gopro 12 ? i try but not working

[@fernando.h722]

It only works for the packtalk edge

[@mattspencer4395]

Mind sharing what chin mount you are using mate?

[@timrodierides]

It's just a 3D printed one for the Shoei NXR I'm using. A friend with a printer found it and made it for me years ago...

[@stevecade857]

@@timrodierides I thought it was real and follicle mounted. All this AI fakery is getting out of hand these days.

[@davecarrera]

I bought one for the Bluetooth link to my helmet. It works but...... If your linked to the Bluetooth helmet to use the microphone then nothing else come though to the helmet. So not Google Maps, calls and music. GoPro 12 + Sena Stryker Helmet latest firmwares.

[@user-yk9sz9mh1t]

That's a dealbreaker for me. Thanks for the heads up

[@davecarrera]

@@user-yk9sz9mh1t remember that is for my Sena Stryker Helmet and might be different for your Bluetooth option. I wish you well

[@roninr8199]

Are you saying Google maps, calls doesn't get recorded? In that case it is good right?

[@davecarrera]

@@roninr8199 Its either or. So you can have mic to gopro only or have maps and music / calls in your crash helmet but not both at the same time. Well for me on my SENA Stryker that is a truth but other makes might not have this limitation.

[@roninr8199]

@@davecarrera now I got it. There are videos on that but they haven't said anything like this and also they are not using sena

[@OrangeGenerator]

MT10SP owners review in the works?

[@timrodierides]

Yup! Just posted some initial impressions up today. Long story short: love it to bits but the indicators fall off a bit

[@Jimmy_Saf]

I feel like the battery should last longer!!

[@Richardm1981]

Not sure how you guys are using your go pros. I’m new to go pros and purchased a minty used hero 9 and I don’t have any of the issues you allegedly had with them. That’s with 4K at 24 and 60 frames. I can’t get the damn thing to overheat. I guess I’m just lucky? 🤷

[@timrodierides]

My 9 has been the best one so far, my 8 was utter toilet and the 5 I had years ago was awful. I had the Hero HD and that was brilliant… in 2011.

[@Yii00T]

Don't want to say it but.. yeah the insta 360 is sweet. Even the go3 is nice for us non content creators lol.

[@timrodierides]

Yeah I've used the Insta360 (see my Ducati Hypermotard trackday video), but it's even worse in low light! Lovely on a sunny day though, and the flexibility in post is amazing

[@Yii00T]

@timrodierides agreed. Have you seen the set up Wristy uses on his helmet?. I love his angle and settings and mic set up he has on his dragon videos recently before ditching and other bike lol. I'd like to know his settings. Have a look at his latest video and change the advanced settings to 1080p I always do it. Never watch in less that 720🤣.

[@walshy1952]

great review..... It's just a shame that the damn thing is the size and weight of a microwave....😏

[@theyorkshireman7145]

You did look rather manly and quite trim in your jeans and leather jacket. Has young sir been hitting the gym?

[@timrodierides]

No, I've not been to the gym in months - I'm just doing a lot more walking every day and it's way more fun than the gym. I need to phone up and cancel, actually

[@garycampbell7891]

I am a dinosaur and just ride my bikes with no add-on electronic faffery. No phone calls, music, chatting or navigation. Seems to work okay for me…

[@timrodierides]

That’s great but kinda hard when you’re trying to film stuff for KZbins 😂

[@garycampbell7891]

@@timrodierides totally agree and you do a great job Tim. Always entertaining and informative. I just couldn’t be arsed as a non you tuber.