GoPro Hero 8 Black Review for MTB footage

Hypersmooth 2.0 is here and its SO SMOOTH! I use my GoPro for MTB Mountain Bike action footage so here's a review from a POV Action perspective.
Bike: 2020 Specialized Kenevo, 180mm travel enduro E-Bike
GoPro Hero 8 Settings:
Lens: Wide / Superview
Hypersmooth: ON (Low)
Protune: Yes
Bitrate: High
Shutter: Auto
EV Comp: 0 or -1.0
White Balance: Aut0
ISO Low: 100
ISO Max: 1600
Color: GoPro
Sharpness: Low
Wind: On
Follow Me On Instagram: / robridesemtb
Back me on Patreon: / robemtb
The worlds best EMTB Community: www.emtbforums.com

[@RobRidesEMTB]

I've made over 150 videos with GoPro's over the past few years... Here's my thoughts on the new Hero 8. Check the description box where I've added my settings :-)

[@choandchi]

Rob Rides EMTB what chin mount is that your using for mounting GoPro? Thanks

[@TheExt01]

Hi, where are you riding in this vid, look like a good practice place.

[@Liljoozy]

What made you choose ISO of 1600?

[@cameracravings3216]

Nice review Rob, particularly good to see an honest review from someone who:- 1. Isn’t being paid or sponsored by GoPro and 2.is what I would consider a power user pushing these little cameras to the limit on a regular basis.

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Cheers dude 👊👊

[@alexbiketester]

can you power it off your ebike usb port?

[@FlyRidesUSA]

This is awesome Rob! I've always wondered how you shot your GoPro vids. Super informative! Thanks!

[@kyleroxasphoto]

Awesome review Rob. Good to see an honest review!

[@2nuckinfuts]

Top man.. gonna get my first gopro this xmas so your gopro vids will be a great help 👍

[@Unreal3man21]

I agree. I definitely enjoy the superview mode. I also like the low hypersmooth setting. It offers enough smoothness to not get motion sick when viewing and looks pleasing, while hypersmooth high / boost makes it TOO smooth. Seeing a bit of shake reminds me you are still riding the bike

[@hondapower6493]

your the best mate, keep up the good work

[@MarmureanuWeb]

Awesome footage man! looks great!

[@Fodmtb1]

Good review as always Rob 👍🏻

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Cheers 👍👍

[@henri.lamotte]

Thanks! Been planning on getting a GoPro and this helped.

[@madmark5598]

Hyper smooth low is keeping it much more realistic...... stick with that setting Rob 👍

[@abekislevitz]

Great review! Looks soo fun too. :)

[@PedalingDave]

Thanks for adding your settings to the description. At least 2 other MTB KZbinrs had to go and make separate videos for that and still didn't bother including everything. Sometimes we MTB content creators get too hung up with the next video instead of making one very helpful concise one that keeps it simple and in one place. For that I say thank you. You did it right. I subbed on this one btw and Great content.

[@TrailFeatures]

My feels... :(

[@blainebowe6917]

Great video. Thanks.

[@yrianx3839]

Great Review Rob! I absolutely agree with you as a viewer, the Hypersmooth Low is the sweetspot. Wide enough and comfortable to view, while still being just rough enough to be immersive. Would be my main choice for MTB filming for sure. The high setting feels a bit too cramped as a main mode for this.

[@jonathancamplin5703]

nice one Rob i agree with you like the super view best

[@kyledamon7906]

Great video. Thank you

[@jay8miller]

I have the same issue with my 8 cropping in on high but I don’t remember this being a thing pre launch, I watched loads of comparison videos and it only cropped in on boost so I wonder if GoPro will release an update shortly? I agree with you Rob and for me I’m not so fussed on hypersmooth high or low but MTB videos must be shot on superview!

[@LakesMTB1964]

Thanks for the review Rob my H8 arrives on Monday to replace my Session

[@dougmorato]

Great video dude!

[@eddiebaby22]

Great review thanks

[@mtbsavant5414]

Great job. Top notch review

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Cheers mate 👍👍

[@XCBen]

Great video Rob. So excited to add this to my camera arsenal. I use the chest mount though. No full face for a South Florida boy. Thanks for the awesome vid dude.

[@Eduardoramundo]

Great review 👍

[@yohanyonsson]

Great video! I’d love to see that chin mount! Using a Yi Lite with a chin mount and can’t get the bars in view, starting to think it’s due to the aspect ratio.

[@3DReproductions]

Great review. Don't think we'll be upgrading the 7 just yet! Hypersmooth LOW gets our vote!

[@streetpigeonmtb]

Great review. I hadn't realised you couldn't access the top hypersmooth in superview. Can you tell me more about the lowlight? I shoot a lot of my vlogs in the dark Tweed Valley. Would you say they have improved this or is it just the same? For me, the only reason I would upgrade would be for considerable improvements in low light. Would really appreciate your views Rob 👍

[@SamsBikes]

another great video Rob thanks. I was thinking about getting the 8 now not so sure I need it.

[@RobRidesEMTB]

If you have the 7 it’s not so different in image quality.

[@SamsBikes]

Rob Rides EMTB thanks buddy I’ve just got the new rode wireless mics I’ll let you know how they go after testing!

[@zmfunlife]

nice info..im with GP 8 too, but my setting not perfect yet, thanks for sharing

[@jjskatejohnson8979]

Great vid

[@ivokoimecs]

Great review! ... 👍

[@evanadams19]

That looks great

[@TheLoamRanger]

Nice one! Wow I’m truly impressed with GoPro Color on the 8B. I haven’t even considered using it so far because it’s always been so terrible in the past haha.

[@RobRidesEMTB]

The GoPro colour has been quite impressive on this. I find it good for those gloomy darker days where Flat seems a bit more difficult to get it to pop.

[@paulkemp8784]

I’m wanting a GoPro Does the 7 have hypersmooth with the wide view? That setting is perfect for MTB. So would opting for the 7 over the 8 be worth it to save some money? How is the battery life difference between them. Would the 8 battery last longer in the lower hypersmooth then the 7? Regards Paul

[@Overdozeofthedemoscene]

i agree... you need some shacking, if you want to show the action. anyway it looks like a magic carpet. but if you dont use the "high" settings... is it better than the hero7?

[@2thegamemaster]

Great video Rob, when your riding do you prefer to use 4K 30fps or 60fps

[@bryanwells3425]

hyper in low seems the most "Real" and i appreciate that

[@Roaming50]

Rob, keep the Hero 7 on the chin mount for the Superview and some dynamism and use the 8 on the chest in Hypersmooth 2 (or even boost) for that lower through the bars look then edit multicam. I think the change in perspectives also improves the video when running in POV mode.

[@seantaylormtb7170]

V hepfull Rob as always. Given i also pref the smooth in low as i think more "realistic" but still watchable, if going from the 4 Black would you suggest paying out the 40 or 50 quid extra for the 8? And just to check, was the vid using a wind sock (think you said not)?

[@davidcauneac4249]

bro your video is so lit

[@Killswitch73]

I'm not upgrading from my 7 until they bring out a battery Door Replacement with a hole so i can charge the gopro on the fly .

[@FlyingMeta]

I wanted to know exactly what the impacts were on superview as that's what I always use for under visor. Is the crop the same on lower res like 1080p with Hypersmooth high superview? Or can u only have Hypersmooth high on wide or lower?

[@Jcool721]

Video quality is great! I have 4k oled tv and this if by far the best quality I ever seen in mtb video from you. I agree the low setting looks the best. Thanks for sharing, I din't know about the hero 8 :-) I'm not going to upgrade because I already feel that hero 7 crops too much. Wider is better, I mean suuuuuper wide :-)

[@paulygards9500]

Excellent post mate, perfectly explained and demonstrated, many thx from a guy looking to buy action camera, some clips too in depth and lose the point at hand,

[@AndyRidesTrails]

I've been really pleased with my Hero 7 on a chesty honestly. After upgrading the harness to a Stuntman one it's been smooth as butter! Might have to mount it to my head next time I go to BPW though!

[@tomkot5700]

Would you keep the same camera settings u had on the 7

[@sbsp05]

I recognise a lot of these trails at Hawley, but a lot I’ve not seen before. Are they ALL in Hawley?!

[@mikee8244]

Hypersmooth low looking great, you seem to capture more of the bike,and the feeling of action isn't too smooth. And that Kenevo, blimey, it's a monster truck of a bike, I know now why you like it so much! Great stuff Rob.

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Yeah it’s a beast!

[@travelly1]

Hi Rob, I just bought a Hero 8 and I cant seem to find the low, medium and high setting for hypersmooth. It's either on or off? Am I missing something?

[@ludmilpan]

So I don't have any GoPro at all, I want it for MTB and FPV drone flying for me the question is - Hero 8 black or Hero 7 black? The minus with the black for me is the non-replaceable protective lens, do you think gopro or someone else will come with something that could somehow add the hero 7's protective lens system?

[@salty_zone]

Good video 👏👏

[@badinfluence3725]

Nice Video and good Entertainment . I dont care about the Go pro . But these nice trails are Sick ! Regards from Germany

[@On-page]

Hypersmooth low with superview is the best IMO!

[@Purzelburschen]

Have yet to find a good way to mount my gopro to the chin bar. Any tips?

[@stormfox81]

Wat about the the overheating and crashing issues that also plagued the gopro7? It's too bad you did not mention this in your gopro 7 review.

[@mariusloseth]

I think if you change the mount on your helmet then you can use high on settings :-)

[@alexis1959]

Thanks for a great review. I bought my GoPro 7, based on your advice (and sold my gimbal almost immediately after) and love it except for the occasional lock-up. Based on your review my GP7 is safe at least until GoPro 9 is announced :-)

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Thanks! For sure the H7 is a great cam. Image is very close to the 8 and unless you need more smooth still a keeper.

[@steviedsolve]

Good review from an MTB perspective Rob. Spot on conclusion about superview vs hypersmooth high. Personally the Hero7 ability to run off a powerbank is more useful to me than Hero 8 being able to swap batteries more quickly, so swapping the door position is a neg for me. I don;t understand why GoPro don't rebrand all their range and add packages aimed at specific sports/use cases. i.e. Hero MTB commentary package - BKXC setup with Better Audio & Wind deflection & gimble / Hero MTB Rampage Package. Hero 7/8 hypersmooth / Superview with a range of mounts. Ski package / Watersports / Skydive etc etc. They have all the components to do this but it's now got too complicated for many end users. Anyway, keep up the good work mate but I need more from you for my Patreon money ;-)

[@LorisCollot]

Hello, thx for this video :) For the position, do you use reverse position? (upside down)?

[@marcusgrip]

Hi Loris, thought I would help you in case you haven't figured it out yet :) Its pretty much always upside down when doing mountain biking, as all mounts are positioned in a way that you have to, both for chin/helmet mount and for chest mount. I prefer chest mount as it gives the best angle and most view of arms, handlebar and trail. Hope that helps! :)

[@jakeburt3110]

Rob, can you enlighten me as to how to mount your gopro for these mtb videos? what accessories you use etc... perhaps you already have in another video?

[@marcusgrip]

Hi Jake, hopefully I can help (although a few months ago now) :) Based on his thumbnail, it looks like he has some kind of mount for the chin of the helmet. I found a video where a guy simply attached a handlebar mount to the helmet with cable ties. I tried it and it works. However, I prefer chest mount as it gives the nicest angle and shows the most of the arms, handlebar and the trail. THe camera is the furthest back when on the chest, which means you get more of the picture and a more immersive experience. I will be making my own gopro video soon to show and explain, and also compare with the gopro max I had first :) Hope that helps!

[@JimPreston]

Nice review! I've been comparing yours and others to my MTB videos of Moab trails with the Hero 6 and the Evo SS gimbal. The big loser with Hypersmooth seems to be image quality. All that stabilization processing has a cost. There are always tradeoffs in photog and the image quality reminds me of 720p on a 4k screen. I love the image quality I'm getting with the gimbal but the gimbal noise ruins the audio of the ride.

[@SergioProdi]

is the Gopro 8 legs strong enough, i've heard these are not very stable. And do you find that the 8 is a lot better then the 7? There are some massive deals to go on the 7 I'm not really interested in 4k

[@petesenn1367]

What particular helmet mount are you using here?

[@arncht6507]

Is this superwide stuff works with 4k30p, not 60p?

[@web0z]

I’ll wait till Black Friday and see what deals for the 7 or 8 as having owned all previous from the six ,never bought the 7 as i felt it was not enough to justify the amount £££ for the lack of changes.

[@iiu82_75]

highly recommend this purchase

[@maconSTUFF]

Great review... I shoot pretty much exactly the same settings, only difference is, I use a chesty... as soon as I get around to buying a full face helmet, I'll be doing a chin mount too... Sub'd

[@maulanindroyono6619]

how about RES/FPS to record, 2.7k/60Fps??

[@egomotion1076]

Do you use any protection for the camera? I wanna buy it for mtb and i'm wondering whether I should get the "Rollcage" or the "Protective housing".

[@marcusgrip]

The hero 8 comes with a really good protective "glass" on the lens already. Its built to take a lot of shit ;)

[@CarkeekW]

Hyper smooth low for sure, its weird but i feel like i could almost tune your suspension from watching that video on smooth low, so realistic !

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Yeah low is going to be my go to mode 👍

[@Rammers13]

Hi Rob great vid do you use the same settings for the hero 8 as you do for the 7 as explained in your other video ? Or slightly different ?

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Hi Scott pretty much the same but using GoPro colour. I updated the description with the settings.

[@takbongchubbytv5395]

hero 7 is enough for mountain biking videos.. ride safe always.. 👍

[@bike4life153]

can the h8 do hypersmooth high combined with superview?

[@Liljoozy]

No only low

[@freeridetony]

Nice Review my friend. I just think 100% like you. I bought the Hero 7 because of the Superview and you show the people exactly that. So I think Hypersmooth Low + Superview is better ,than Hypersmooth High + Wide :)

[@RobRidesEMTB]

💯

[@ClaudioPaselli]

yeah i prefer more view with some little shakes for Mtbing!! Hypersmooth maybe works better in other sports

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Yeah for sure I think Hypersmooth high and and boost will be good for 3rd person stuff

[@ClaudioPaselli]

@@RobRidesEMTB for jet skiing it will be perfect 👌 🍺🍺💯

[@RobRidesEMTB]

@@R-Dub-Ya Yeah, would be a shame to loose that amazing view! I think you might just be OK with it on a chest mount.. I think I'll test that next.

[@ClaudioPaselli]

@@R-Dub-Ya 😂😂😂 that's true

[@davidsheldon1279]

have you seen the new media mod coming soon. Might solve the wind noise issues.

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Yeah looks good!

[@BGH-VIDEO]

Hey Rob. I just got the hero 8 as my first gopro camera. Really love the new angels it can provide. Still messing with the settings to find that sweet spot. My video came out a bit blurry when i uploaded it to youtube, will it help to set the resulution to 4k?

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Definitely. KZbin applies a bigger bit rate to 4K uploads.

[@BGH-VIDEO]

Cool i will try to uploade in 4k then. Thanks

[@JudoSurfer]

Is High & Boost Available in 4:3? Since Superview is just 4:3 dynamically stretched, can't you just do the same in your editor?

[@PinnedTV]

Nice one Rob, unboxing mine tonight then using this weekend at FOD. Hypersmooth low it is!!

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Enjoy the event! Gutted I can't make this one!

[@PinnedTV]

After all that, they sent me a 7 black 🙈 ah well, 3rd world problems hey!! Set all 3 7's to your setting though, cheers buddy

[@gomtv5383]

So, the era of the gimbal is gone? Nice review!

[@mattybutler2455]

Hey man if you'd be willing to part with or sell your older models I would be much appreciative if you replied with your thoughts cheers

[@StokedExplorer]

Hey I've been long time gopro user and find if you don't care about rendering 4k shooting 2.7 gave me best results for everything I wanted. Haven't got one the new ones yet. But can't decide 7 or 8. Can you do 2.7k 60fps superview hypersmooth low on the hero 8 or 7 at all? Feel that's all I'll ever need

[@marcusgrip]

Hi Spencer! Thought I would help you out. Yes y ou can do that setting on Hero 8, I just got it today and tried out all different settings :) Not sure about 7 but google is your friend there but I think you cannot with 7 unfortunately, but double check. Will do my own little gopro 8 and max test/review video soon :)

[@ericm8811]

Hey Rob Rides Emtb! Thanks for the well good review of the new GoPro hero 8 and how it works for MTB usage! I agree the cropping is too much on the highest hypersmooth setting! The deal on my first ebike fell through when the shady dealer refused to ship to my address! Now I must save a bit longer to get a bike sent from England but it's all for the best as I can get the 2019 Haibike full fatsix 10.0 which is a better bike than the 2018 full fatsix 7.0! Ride ride ride!

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Ahh gutted for you that the deal fell through! Which dealer is it coming from?

[@ericm8811]

Hey Rob Rides Emtb! I plan to get the ebike from e-bikeshop.co.uk! They seem like a reputable ebike shop and they are the only European Haibike dealer that can ship to Canada! Ride ride ride!

[@archieprichard6579]

Hero 7 black or 8 black is the 8 worth the extra

[@MKABMproduction]

dont have superwide option on hypersmooth high? & boost>

[@RobRidesEMTB]

No superwide on high / boost.

[@chadrides914]

I have a gopro hero black 8. It appears to me I only have hypersmooth on or off. I'm not understanding how you have multiple layers" of hyper smooth. You mention hypersmooth boost. And regular hypersmooth and some other hypersmooth. WTF am I missing in my settings? Mine only shows hypersmooth, on or off.

[@MrBrenos]

Chad that because you are on superview. Change it to the wide lens and you will get the 3 hypersmooth options

[@philippkellner4757]

Hey Rob, is a video coming out with a comparisonn of the Gopro max and hero 8 ? I'm thinking about getting myself the max for several reasons ;) thank in advance !

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Hi Philipp, possibly but not for a couple of weeks if I do!

[@philippkellner4757]

Rob Rides EMTB okay 👌

[@RobRidesEMTB]

I’m going to use Max most of the time for MTB stuff.

[@L4WNY..]

That footage is in Hawley Woods!?? 😮 That's my back garden..... Literally! 😝

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Yep!

[@k3nnyc]

Thought I recognised it 😁

[@TheOffroader7458]

Come on gopro its got the same chipset as the 7 black, how about some of these firmware updates for us that paid good money for the 7 black

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Yeah, no reason why the Hero 7 can't do all of this stuff.

[@markyboyclark]

Another great video with MTB specific views. 🙂 You made me buy the 7 but really can't see why I'd get the 8. ££££ saved

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Hey Mark, cheers! Nah not needed if you have the 7.

[@markyboyclark]

@@RobRidesEMTB BOOM!

[@TAZMON20]

Great summation, but, never too smooth as that's surely what your paying your money for, technology is there to be appreciated, older GP's look prehistoric compared to this footage, I know which I prefer, top job.

[@DiegoAbarzuaM]

bro , i don't speak English , but I want to know , where you put the camera??

[@marcusgrip]

most likely chest or based on the thumbnail for this video, a chin mount on the helmet :)

[@Dark__Thoughts]

Given that both need good lighting, and the 8 seems to fall to a level similar to the 7 in bad lighting, I am not sure the 8 is worth the steep price increase (unless you're riding in a desert or something). I also wonder if there can be too much stabilization? At some point you smooth out even jumps so much that it becomes hard to tell you've been over them, from just watching the video, or how hard a drop was. But both manage to, in my opinion, remove the general shakiness of such video content without a gimbal mount, which is pretty impressive. So at least for mountain biking I feel the 7 is probably the better deal. I don't think the bitrate makes much if any difference once you upload it to KZbin, but I can't watch with their 4k codecs so maybe that's just that.

[@StuartSuper79]

Hyper smooth low any day their is more detail in the video you can see the handle bars in the video as well.

[@bikingchupei2447]

hmm.. this is weird, thought the "high" should have the same 10% crop as "on", only the "boost" would crop it to 20%.

[@RobRidesEMTB]

It does, but you can only use it in wide view not Superview. So effectively it’s already cropped.

[@alatusal12]

Rob where are you riding ?

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Surrey Hills / minley woods

[@Takenover83]

Can you just confirm your settings used (besides hypersmooth)? From the video I got Lens: Wide Hypersmooth: ON (Low) Protune: Yes Bitrate: High Shutter: Auto? EV Comp: ? White Balance: ? ISO Low: 100 ISO Max: 1600 Color: GoPro Sharpness: ? Wind: On?

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Yeah great point. I’ll add to description box now.

[@RobRidesEMTB]

Added to description box 👍

[@mtbboy1993]

I hate distortion, and the super wide, and even the wide, distorts a lot, so this means things look skewed or flatter that they actually are, and then transform into bigger object as you get closer, so a sloping rock for example, it will get flattened out, and as you go past it it gets closer to reality, but still stretched but nto flattened out as much, but this is an effect I just don't want to have. So I wanted to buy a GOpro7 Black with a No distortion lens peauproductions. but Then I heard Gopro 8 might be coming soon, so I waited, but not it's not easy to swap the lense or lens protection, but I guess peauproductions could manage to do that, but I wish it was as easy as Gopro 4 session or Gopro 7 to swap lens protection on, with session there were screws you could unscrew with hex key and swap the damaged lens protection, with 7 you could just turn it and swap it, now you can't.

[@grahamhutchison8036]

Is that the new Kenevo you're riding...?

[@RobRecharged]

Graham Hutchison yep!

[@grahamhutchison8036]

@@RobRecharged Excellent! Can't wait for your views on it...

[@matthiasmuller5173]

I cannot understand why you like this chinnmount. You see so less of the trail and trees and sky. Perhaps turn the GoPro a little up. Or try to mount it on the front suspension. Realy nice view also in linear mode and the turning wheel gives a sense of the speed. My settings are nearly the same with good results, only the resulution is set to middle and ISO Max to 800.