GoPro makes vlogging with its camera a little easier with the Hero 10 Black Creator Edition. The setup packages the great little Hero 10 Black camera, released in September, and three accessories, including a brand new handgrip that’s both a backup battery and remote control.
Again, at the center of the Creator Edition is the Hero 10 Black, GoPro’s current top camera. Its features include video capture at up to 5.3K at 60 frames per second or 4K at 120fps for slow-motion and a ton of other shooting options for photos and time-lapses, and it has incredible image stabilization. And the camera, which has screens on the front and rear, is rugged, too, and waterproof down to 33 feet without a housing.
Read more: GoPro Hero 10 Black Review: Pushing Boundaries Once Again
But the camera is just the camera and it’s really the accessories that make the Creator Edition worth considering. In the package with the camera are two of GoPro’s Mods, the Light Mod and Media Mod, and the new Volta mount.
The Hero 10 Black Creator Edition introduces the new Volta grip.
Josh Goldman/CNET
The Media Mod is a camera housing that adds a micro-HDMI output, a 3.5mm mic jack and a USB-C pass-through for charging. It also has a directional mic built in with a removable foam windscreen as well as two cold-shoe mounts.
The included Light Mod slots into one of those shoes. It’s a compact LED light with four levels of brightness, including an overdrive mode to get up to 200 lumens for 30 seconds of brighter light. There’s also a strobe setting so you can use it as a safety light. It’s bright enough to light your face at arm’s length. It’s also waterproof.
Both of these Mod add-ons have been available for some time, but the Creator Edition bundles them with the camera and the new Volta mount. The Volta combines a handgrip with a Bluetooth remote control and battery pack. A coiled USB-C cable plugs into the Media Mod and GoPro said it can power the camera and Mods for up to 4 hours recording in 4K at 30fps. I tested it and landed at 4 hours, 3 minutes, so this is spot-on. Without the Mods, it can run the camera at 5.3K at 30fps for 4 hours.
The Volta powers the camera via a USB-C cable but the controls require Bluetooth.
Josh Goldman/CNET
The Volta can also power the camera on and off, switch shooting modes and start and stop recordings, snap photos or start a timelapse. And since it’s a wireless connection, you can use it with the camera mounted somewhere else. The cable on the Volta is just for power, so it needs the Bluetooth connection to control the camera, but it’s easy to do and quick to connect. When the cable is not connected to the camera, there’s no option to remove it or secure it to the Volta so it just sort of sticks out.
The Volta has built-in legs that flip down so you can use it as a tripod and the top mount swivels all the way around to put the camera in the best position for shooting. It also has a set of pop-out mounting fingers so you can quickly attach it to another mount like a suction cup or chest mount, letting you still take advantage of the extra battery life. It’s too bad the Volta doesn’t extend at all, but it does have a tripod mount in the bottom so putting it on a selfie stick is easy enough if a little more reach is needed.
The Volta has pop-up mount fingers.
Josh Goldman/CNET
One thing worth noting is that although the individual parts are weather-resistant or waterproof, once the Volta is connected to the Media Mod, they’re no longer weather-tight. Standing around in the snow or rain while you vlog isn’t something you’ll want to do with them.
Now, as you might expect, since the package includes the Hero 10 Black, this is not going to be cheap. The Hero 10 Black Creator Edition is $785, £760 and AU$1,205. For GoPro service subscribers, the bundle is $582, which actually isn’t bad. The best deal is going to be for new subscribers, which brings the total price down to $532. Also, if you already have the Media and Light Mods or simply want the Volta alone, its price is $130.
