GoPro Chesty review: hands-free

Since its founding in 2002, gopro It has become a household name, known for making some. best action cameras available in the market. Their popularity has undoubtedly increased due to their excellent picture and video quality, but also due to their extensive range of accessories to help users tailor this to their specific video needs; whether it’s a mount to secure your camcorder, gopro From a surfboard or a waterproof case to go diving, to a headband to help the mechanic show his perspective while working in a car’s engine bay, or even a floating grip to keep your expensive action camera from falling into the ocean floor.

In this review, we’ll take a closer look at GoPro’s in-house Chesty V2: a redesigned strap kit that lets you mount your GoPro to your chest and record video while keeping your hands free. This can be a great way to mount your GoPro when you need both hands free, such as hiking with poles, mountain biking, or going out with your camera, and it should be more comfortable than a head-mounted strap. weight is distributed more evenly across the chest, back and shoulders.

Chesty V2 is the new and improved official chest harness from GoPro. It has a lightweight, flexible construction and is said to provide the perfect balance between comfort and performance. The front chest pad measures 11.99×13.89cm and has over 1cm of soft, breathable padding, making it very comfortable to wear, plus GoPros are very light so they will never be filled with tons of kit. GoPro is known for more extreme sports like surfing and mountain biking, so the Chesty V2 should be suitable for those as well.

Unlike some other chest harnesses, there’s no gimbal or ball joint for stabilization to help you reframe your composition, but you can remove the mount adapter and flip it 180 degrees to mount your GoPro upside down – it’s a bit awkward but allows you to hold the GoPro higher if you need to. to bend too much. Another option for our GoPro 12 Black is to add Max Lens Mod 2.0, which expands the field of view to a staggering 177° at 4K60; A wider angle gives you more options for cropping (and stabilizing) your shots in post-production.

The Chesty V2 is designed to be fully adjustable to fit a wide range of body types and can even be worn over heavy winter jackets. It weighs only 136 grams but can support up to half a kilogram of equipment; This is enough for our GoPro Hero12 Black, which tips the scales at 153 grams with the battery installed. This gives users a really nice and lightweight method of recording on the go when you need to keep your hands free, such as walking, running or cycling. But the trade-off here is that you don’t have the stabilization that comes with holding a gimbal like the one below. DJI OSMO Pocket and less control over your framing, more on how the Chesty V2 performs below…

If you can get your GoPro pointed in the right direction, there’s another obstacle; camera shake. When you walk or run, your body naturally moves up and down, and this movement is transmitted directly to the camera. This wasn’t too much of an issue for our GoPro Hero 12 Black, which has Hypersmooth 6.0 and AutoBoost stabilization, but images did look a bit odd when I moved too quickly. This is potentially a bigger problem for older GoPro models with less advanced stabilization technology. It’s definitely not as ideal as having a camera with sensor-based stabilization or using a gimbal like the built-in one. DJI Osmo Pocket 3.

The GoPro Chesty V2 is an affordable rig that allows you to chest-mount any GoPro. Easy to use, lightweight and breathable. It inevitably detects movement around your chest but in our GoPro 12 Black test with Hypersmooth 6.0 and Auto Boost enabled this wasn’t a big issue, our footage looked really smooth and mostly shake-free, although your mileage may vary depending on older GoPro models. The Chesty V2 retails for just $27 (down from the $39 RRP), so it’s a cheap and cheerful harness worth trying if you’re interested in mounting your GoPro on the chest.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Features The Chesty V2 is a comfortable, padded GoPro chest strap with elastic straps, but it lacks a ball joint for better camera positioning. ★★★★☆

Design Chesty V2 is simple and convenient but lacks detailed instructions, which may confuse new users. Works well with GoPro Hero 12 Black. ★★★★☆

Performance Despite some negative reviews, the Chesty remained level during testing, with GoPro’s Hypersmooth 6.0 mitigating shake, although fast movement caused occasional shooting issues. ★★★★☆

Value The GoPro Chesty V2 offers good value, making it ideal for vloggers and compatible with all models. ★★★★★