The Ultimate Guide To The GoPro Hero 11

By Justin Whiting

The Ultimate Guide to the GoPro Hero 11

Become a GoPro Expert with a former member of the GoPro Media Team! I traveled around the world with GoPro Media shooting GoPro commercials, YouTube videos and launch reels and now I will share what I learned with you. This book will teach you the best settings, modes and mounts as well as some basic film making, storytelling and photography skills to make your GoPro content look as good as possible!

Learn how to use the GoPro Hero 11 like a pro!

Take incredible photos, shoot exciting videos and make great edits with this book!

This book will fully explain each setting, mode and option. After reading it, you will completely understand how each setting effects the footage and how to set up the camera for any unique situation. You will be given real life, in-the-field examples of when to use each setting and how to get amazing footage. After you have mastered the mechanics of the camera, this book will teach you how to use it in the field with an in depth look into beginner and advanced mounting, photo composition, planning and more. Extensive storytelling and editing sections will help you master the art of filmmaking as well.

Full of stunning and inspirational photos to show you what is possible with the camera.

This book is the stepping stone from casual user to GoPro expert filmmaker or photographer. Take your photos and videos to the next level! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Justin Whiting
• Release date: Oct 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215282410

Book preview

First Steps

The GoPro comes with a battery, a mounting buckle, a USB-C cable and one sticky mount. The first thing you have to do is charge the battery and put in the memory card. Open the side door of the camera that opens the battery compartment, the SD card slot and the charging port. Put in your battery and use the USB-C cable to charge it.

The GoPro does not come with a MicroSD card so you will have to buy your own. Make sure you get a fast enough MicroSD card or the camera will not be able to record at the highest resolutions or frame rates. The GoPro 11 supports a minimum of Class 10 or UHS-1 cards up to 512 GB. I look for at least a 1000X write speed. If you use a slower card, the camera will notify you and some higher resolution settings will not be able to record.

My go-to MicroSD card is the SanDisk 256 GB Extreme microSDXC. If you want to save some money, you can also buy a smaller card and still have plenty of space. I always have larger cards in the camera just to ensure I never run out of space while filming.

When you first turn on your camera, you have to choose the language for your camera. You can change the language at any time. Next you will have to choose whether or not to enable GPS. The camera can tag your footage based on your location to make it easier to sort through footage later on. The GPS does drain the battery slightly faster, so it is up to you if you want to use it or not. You can turn it on or off later if you change your mind.

Basic Camera Functionality

The back camera screen will control most of the function for the camera and give you all the information you need. The back screen tells you the amount of space left on the SD card, the battery level and the current mode. Pressing the button with the current settings will open the preset menu where you can fine tune the settings. The additional icons on the screen allow you to quickly change the most commonly used settings. The on-screen option can be adjusted when creating pre-sets.

Swiping

You can also change the mode of the camera by swiping side to side on the back screen. If you are in video mode, you can swipe from left to right of the screen and change to Time-Lapse Mode. Swiping from right to left will put the camera in Photo Mode.

Media Menu

Swiping from bottom to the top will bring up the Media Menu. This is where you can view all of the footage on your camera, mark your favorites for later and delete the ones you don't like.

Preferences Menu

Swiping from top to the bottom will bring up the Quick Preferences Menu. These settings allow you to adjust some of the functionality of the camera. You can swipe from this menu right to left and you will be able to adjust the controls between Easy/Pro and access the In-Depth Preferences Menu.

Quick Preferences Menu

1. Voice Control: controls the GoPro using standard voice commands.

2. Beeps: adjusts the volume of beeps. The louder beeps are easier to hear while riding, but they can get very annoying.

3. Quick Capture: when enabled the camera will go from turned off to recording when you press the shutter button. I always keep this on when I am shooting POV because it saves battery and time.

4. Screen Lock: This will lock the screens. This is great when in the water as sometimes the water can change the modes.

5. Front Screen: Here you can choose what all is displayed on the front screen.

6. Orientation Lock: the camera has a built in gyroscope. When you turn the camera 90 degrees it will automatically record the video as vertical. If you turn on orientation lock then it will not switch between vertical and horizontal.

7. Max Lens Mod: if you are using the Max Lens Mod attachment, then you need to turn this on or the footage will not look right. If you are not using the Max Lens Mod, then do not turn this on.

Update Your Firmware

The next step is to make sure your GoPro is updated to the latest firmware and take the time to connect your GoPro to the GoPro Quik Application on your phone. By keeping your camera up to date, you will make sure it is working at its full capacity and unlock new features.

The easiest way to update your camera is by using the GoPro Quik App. This app is free to download and allows you to control your camera fully remotely. When you first connect your camera to the application, the camera will automatically download the newest firmware. It takes about five minutes and ensures that your camera will work properly right out of the box. The GoPro Quik App will always notify you when there is new firmware available.

If you do not want to use the GoPro Quik App to update your camera, you can do it manually as well. You can download the latest firmware updates from the support section of the GoPro website (GoPro.com/support). You will transfer this file onto your SD card and then put the SD card back into the camera. This will automatically start the update.

Connecting To GoPro Quik

The Quik App is a great, free tool to control your camera, download your footage and make awesome edits. The first step is to connect your camera to the Quick App.

How to connect