How to make my GoPro Hero 7 to work longer?
 

A question to owners of GoPro Hero 7, or 5th, or 6th (I hope for the answer from those who actually have tried the solution they are suggesting and have experience with those cameras).

My camera lasts for about an hour, even with an average video quality settings and wireless interfaces switched off. Yes, you can swap its battery with a spare, but first you have to open the protection frame and take the camera out of it (switching it off an interrupting recording in the process) - to do this every hour is really frustrating.

Are there better solutions to how to ensure its continuous operation for 3+ hours? As apparently some bloggers somehow manage to use it to record hours of content. I've seen some kind of (non-original) external battery modules claiming they will give you 2 extra hours of recording - but those are attached directly to camera itself, making the whole thing 2 times heavier and bigger. That's hardly an optimal solution, imo.

Is it possible to somehow connect a powerbank (which I could stash into my backpack, for example) over a flexible USB cable to the camera, and make it record videos while taking power from that bank AND switch to its internal battery when it's depleted (or vice versa)? Can I damage the camera while doing something like this?

Hi, @fuzzy_chainring . Thank you for the answer. Could you perhaps explain how exactly does the powerbank will work in conjunction with camera's own battery? Will it first deplete the latter, then automatically will switch to the former? Do I need a special powerbank and/or USB cable for that transition to work properly? Do I need to configure the camera somehow as well?

May be you could suggest some specific powerbank which have been working best for you? Also, powerbank of what capacity would you suggest as an optimal solution?

Sorry for that many questions, it's just a new field for me.

I don't know if the 7 will work like my 3 but on long rides (or for a days fishing) I attach a dual 18650 "battery bank" to the USB connector and I can run over 9 hours. It first depletes the battery bank, then the internal battery.

On the down side, you have to have a hole cut in the side for the cable or buy skeletonized cover destroying the water tight case.

OTOH, there are Gopro extended battery cases but my solution was free.

Some options discussed here...

https://havecamerawilltravel.com/gop...k-hero5-black/

I've stopped using my Hero 5 because it became a PITA with the battery life. One way to extend it is to manually start and stop recordings. So what you are doing is capturing the start and stop of segments. I did this for a while, I wasn't going to carry an extra battery so it's sitting right now.

My weekend rides last a lot more than an hour. I had been using it to make movies set to music of our group rides. I had resorted to manually starting and stopping recording certain segments to prolong battery life, but I found that I really missed a lot. Numerous times unexpected things happened that I wished was captured, but it was too late. I have a 128GB card in there and prefer to capture everything then go back and select what I want when building the movie. You can never tell until you see the footage what is good and what is not. The lighting might be crap on what I thought was a good capture, and conversely sections I may not have considered end up great because the lighting or something I didn’t notice makes it perfect.

I understand and that you can use an external battery, but that is too much of a PITA for me. I wear a chest harness because I prefer that POV and even if I mounted it under my stem, I have enough on there (light and computer) that I don’t want anymore junk cluttering up my cockpit with an extra battery.

If your camera is mounted on your body, then the battery should be mounted somewhere on your body, too.

Don't want to carry an extra battery on my body. Also with the Hero, in order to run an extra battery the access door has to be open. Not good if you are caught in the rain, and no I don't want to jerry rig it. You are already jerry rigging it with the extra battery. Overall it's just poor battery performance for the way I intended to use it. I've seen cases you can buy that I think mitigates the door being open when running an extra battery, but if one is going to go to that extent....a Hero is probably not the right tool for the intended purpose. Just get a regular GoPro.

I appreciate the help. I just prefer to have less on me and my bike and the notion of adding something else was enough to make me not use it like I used to.

1. That's correct, up to 90 minutes.
   https://gopro.com/help/articles/bloc...ry-information
2. yes
3. yes
4. only mechanical

1. Powerbank first, battery second.
2. charge and power through USB first
3. no special, just an USB-C plug end for the Hero7
4. no
5. perfect are the ones with USB-C output and USB QC
   https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro..._udlo=25&rt=nc
   https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...fLoc=2&_fsrp=1
6. 2-6 times the capacity of the battery (5,368Wh), means 10-30Wh / 3-8Ah.
   

If you use magnetic plug USB cables, nothing will break in case you pull the cable.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...rt=nc&_udhi=12

I'm quoting you jadocs but I don't think it will apply for you, more for others interested in the Hero 7.

I just got a H7 Black and one feature I haven't used yet is "Quick Start." I don't believe the previous versions have this. When QS is enabled, the camera is off and then you simply hit the shutter button (top) and it almost instantly starts recording. This vs. normal mode where you have to turn it on, wait, then hit the shutter button. Stop recording and the camera turns off again, saving the battery.

Good to know, thanks fuzzy

With my Ion Speed Pro I just use an external USB battery (Jackery, but the brand doesn't matter) and USB cable. Runs for many hours or until the 32GB card fills up. Usually good enough for the 6-8 hour group event rides I do occasionally. I run it mostly in case there's an accident. That has come in handy a few times.

The Ion Speed Pro and similar cameras from Ion, Contour and Polaroid (an Ion camera rebranded) are cylindrical with USB ports on the rear. Easy to hook up a USB cable to a battery pack.

Unfortunately my GoPro knockoff (VanTop Moment 4, one of many similar cameras) has been a disappointment. The USB port cannot be use to charge and run the camera while it's mounted on the tripod mount. The only alternative is to put the camera inside the clear plastic housing (which muffles the audio to near-uselessness), drill or cut a hole in the bottom of the housing to pass a USB cable, and find a decent quality mounting system. The mounts included with the VanTop are crap -- two of them broke within a week, one on the first use, the other on the second use. The only thing that distinguishes the VanTop Moment 4 from its nearly identical cousins is the inclusion of a good quality 32GB media card.

The Cycliq cameras are intended to resolve some of these common complaints from cyclists who choose cameras for traffic documentation rather than action cams to record stunts. But comments from some buyers indicate Cycliq has problems with both quality control and customer service.

For now it appears the only cost effective solution is to buy an affordable camera with reasonably good image quality, modify the protective housing to accommodate a USB cable and to allow sound to be recorded, and use an external USB battery pack. Add some weather resistant tape and/or hardening sealant if desired. But for now there's no ready-made package that includes a reliable camera and practical housing with battery for recording video for several hours.

One of my maybe-projects will be modifying a housing for these generic cameras that cost about $50-$70 each, and just replacing the cameras as they wear out, break or simply fail. But since most of them follow the same form factor it may be possible to reuse the same housing, mount, cable and battery pack.

Good to know. That might persuade me to buy a GoPro. I'm not sure whether those battery packs are compatible with my cheap VanTop Moments 4 camera -- the USB/HDMI ports compartment is next to the tripod mount.