GoPro Media Mod review: How does it stack up for Vloggers?

With the popularity of vlogging with lightweight gear, we take a look at GoPro's long awaited Media Mod for its Hero8 camera.

The GoPro Media Mod for the Hero8. Image: GoPro.

You can extend GoPro’s HERO 8 action camera with so-called “Mods”. There are three of them: Media Mod, Light Mod and Display Mod. At the time of writing, only the Media and Light Mod were available. We tested the Media Mod which is the one you need if you plan on using either of the other two.

Media Mod is a robust but lightweight plastic construction for the HERO 8 that encapsulates the camera, except for the front and back. The top corner opposite the lens is home to a directional microphone with what appears to be a figure-8 polar pattern. Furthermore, the Media Mod has two cold shoes, one at the side and one on top. Below the backside microphone grill you’ll find a USB-C type interface, a micro-HDMI port and a minijack socket for a third-party microphone.

The Media Mod makes your HERO 8 about one-and-a-half times bigger than the camera by itself. You also loose the waterproof qualities of the HERO8 since you need to remove the battery/MicroSD card door to install the Media Mod.

The cold shoes are made of metal and are very strong. I mounted an aluminium Aputure LED videolight on each shoe and shook the whole construction violently to see whether the thing wouldn’t fall apart. It didn’t. In fact, even the door latch of the Media Mod is so strong I hurt my hand trying to open it the first time. It does get better, though it will probably never be easy to lock/unlock — which is, of course, good.

Image: GoPro

GoPro Media Mod sound quality

The HERO 8’s built-in microphone records a nice sound as long as you record it from within a relatively close distance facing the lens. Once you try recording from behind the camera, things start sounding hollow. Mounting the Media Mod and recording from behind the camera gives a better result but still picks up quite a bit of reverberation when indoors, while recording from in front improves the sound a lot. The microphone then becomes quite good with a more or less balanced sound quality. However, the reverb or hollow sound persists and becomes worse with distance, which points to a recording capsule that is very sensitive to ambient qualities — and those include room reverb.

I created three short recordings so you can listen for yourself. One has been recorded with an sE Electronics V7 vocal mic and Dynamite preamp — this combination is among the better ones available for vocal recordings from a distance of up to two meters. The other one was recorded with the HERO 8 without the Media Mod and the third one with the Media Mod mounted. All three were recorded at a distance of 50cm.

Download example sound recording

You can also mount your own mic as long as it has a minijack. I tried it with an old battery-powered sE Electronics Laser Pro shotgun mic and am happy to say there wasn’t a synchronisation problem. Sound quality was actually worse with the Laser than it was with the Media Mod’s, which is due more to the Laser requiring a higher gain than it is to either mic’s quality. A Røde Videomic Pro may give better results.

The HDMI out port is a different matter. It works, but in my tests, I could never make it work with a second generation Atomos Ninja. It will only output a 100% clean signal with an extra step — clicking the eye icon in the lower control bar — and for that you’ll need to use a device that instantly switches to the Media Mod’s output — listed on the Media Mod support page on the web. Even then, it’s a fiddly affair as the Ninja had difficulties locking in on the signal and you need to tap the minuscule icon on the HERO’s screen while looking at the monitor. Connecting the Media Mod to a Sony TV wasn’t simple either. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

Finally, there’s a USB-C port so you can charge the battery without removing the Media Mod.

To wrap it up, the Media Mod is a bit of a mixed bag. I think it needs some work but the concept will certainly appeal to vloggers. It’s only the microphone that is potentially a dealbreaker as its quality is OK but not top-notch, while the HDMI port can be made to work — be it with a bit of trial and error. Luckily, there’s the minijack that synchronises well.

It’s also important to note the Media Mod is only a first step towards being able to monitor your recordings with a Display Mod. However, that feast will take a while before we’ll be able to enjoy it. GoPro has already warned people the Display Mod won’t be available before sometime September. Thank you, COVID-19!