The GoPro Hero 9 has arrived and there is an understandable amount of excitement over the stabilization and the horizon lock.
These two features will take your footage to new heights.
But one feature that is being overlooked has an incredible implication for action camera enthusiasts.
It's called Hindsight.
Hindsight allows you to leave your camera on, but not actually recording, WITHOUT missing the action if it suddenly happens in front of you.
When you activate record, the camera goes into action but the recording starts 30 seconds in the past.
That's right, in the past.
It's like being able to go back in time.
One of the common problems for GoPro lovers and users of any action camera is that they have missed awesome footage by mere seconds.
These are often the moments that would have made for epic videos or even money in the bank.
GoPro now passively records when the camera hasn't been given the command to do so.
It loops over footage as it goes, retaining a 15 second or 30 second portion, depending on the setting that is chosen.
When the camera is told to record, that missed piece becomes part of the action that is stored.
Somebody might ask when they would actually have their camera on, but not recording.
There are many examples of when this could happen.
Action sports enthusiasts will often leave their camera on, but not recording, to conserve battery power or to avoid filling a data card.
Now, doing so will not mean the loss of anything important.
Sometimes the action starts unexpectedly while cameras are being positioned or set up and this feature becomes useful.
And then, there are times when something amazing is being filmed and somebody has forgotten to hit record.
That's no longer going to be an issue.
Sorting through endless footage is often the most time consuming part of editing.
Separating the boring moments from the exciting ones can be a serious chore if the camera is left running all the time.
In sports like scuba diving, the videographer could have many long minutes of bubbles and sand with no new or captivating content.
Suddenly, a shark or sea turtle appears in the frame and he struggles to push the start button.
In such cases, the scuba diver will have a great shot of the back end of a beautiful marine animal swimming away and no more.
But with Hindsight, he will have the footage that his friends wouldn't otherwise believe.
Imagine cruising along on a mountain bike and you unexpectedly get vaulted over the handlebars.
As you lie in the pine needles, checking yourself for scrapes and sore spots, asking what happened, activating the record feature by voice command will answer that question and also give you a video that you and your friends can laugh about later.
There are a lot of great features about the GoPro Hero 9 that will make the upgrade seem impossible to resist.
But Hindsight might just be one of the most amazing of those new features.