The GoPro Hero 6 isn’t supposed to be announced until the end of this month but there’s been a sneaky leaky pic doing the rounds.

>> Free GoPro rental at BikePark Wales

We just spotted this bit of action cam news from our friends over at Trusted Reviews (who themselves seem to have got it from a site called PhotoRumors).

They’ve seen a sneaky pic of a boxed up Hero 6 and the specs written said box state that the GoPro Hero 6 Black will have the ability to shoot super high res 4K footage at a slomo enabling 60 frames per second. The current GoPro Hero 5 Black and GoPro Hero 5 Session can only do 4K at 30fps.

As well as being slomo-able, such fastrate 4K footage will make for smoother real-time playback of ‘frantic footage’ (Trusted Review’s term, which we’re nicking here).

And there’s more?

What else can we surmise from this leaked photo of a box? Not much really. This arguably means that there won’t be a massive hardware overhaul for the 6 compared to the 5. The megapixel count is 12MP. The waterproof rating is the same (down to 10 metres).

There are rumours flying around of a price change and also that various colourways will be offered.

Perhaps we’ll see more of a revolution in GoPro’s software and mobile/cloud technology for MY2018? GoPro as a company has been through some really tough times of late. Even though it is by far the biggest selling action camera out there, the tales of financial woe and worries have been the headlines for GoPro rather than their cameras.

We’d be surprised if the only new thing offered from GoPro is 60fps 4K. We shall see come September 28th which is the date of the official release of the GoPro Hero 6 Black.

What’s good about the GoPro Hero cams for mountain biking?

Here’s our story about the Hero 5 from last September…

GoPro have announced their new camera – the GoPro Hero 5 Black. Did it offer anything new, different or better for mountain bikers?

The answer is sort of “yes and no”.

If you already own a GoPro then there’s not a whole load of stuff that’s going to make you bung your GoPro on eBay and slap your order in for a Hero 5.

>>> Watch the only two mountain bike films nominated for a GoPro Award

Waterproof

For other users (who don’t ride mountain bikes) the big announcement is that the Hero 5 is waterproof out of the box. There is no need for a housing anymore. It’s waterproof to 10 metres.

This water/weatherproofing is welcome news to mountainbikers too but the fact is that for our footage the GoPro is going to have to go in a housing anyway so it can be mounted on our helmets or handlebars.

More pixels

Being able to shoot 4K super high res footage is cool. It also opens up the option for slomo footage at normal 1080P HD resolution.

As is being able to take 12 megapixel stills (in RAW mode should you want to). The Hero 5 will also feature GoPro’s version of HDR (high dynamic range) photography, for better recording scenes of high contrast.

Touchscreen

No more trying to remember how to adjust your GoPro using two buttons and a tiny monochrome LCD display.

No more being unable to check over your footage at the bottom of a run.

Time will tell if the 2in touchscreen is glove-friendly but even if it isn’t it’s still a vast improvement on how earlier GoPros were operated.

>>> Is GoPro in trouble? Tumbling shares and staff cuts for action camera giants

Bike friendly features

Here we go then. What’s good for us lot?

Stabilisation: in-built digital stabilisation should hopefully get rid of the jerky and smeary footage the often comes with GoPro bike footage, especially footage recorded with the GoPro on your handlebars.

Voice commands: this initially sounds gimmicky but we suspect its going to be really helpful. If it works. Being able to start recording or take a photo burst by saying “GoPro, record” or “GoPro, burst” is going to take a lot of faff out of things.

Built-in GPS: time will tell how useful or intergrate-able into other things this will be but GPS is always useful for cycling.

Other stuff

The GoPro Hero 5 will auto-upload and back-up to the cloud when it’s charging. It will do timelapse stuff – great for those who like to video their bike builds and/or sunsets. It has exposure compensation control if you find it’s recording stuff too dark or too pale.

More GoPro info

If you’re really interested to find out more you can watch this 34 minute long video of the official launch presentation by GoPro’s CEO Nick Woodman…

GoPro’s new Karma drone

In related news GoPro also unveiled details of their much awaited drone camera – the Karma. This is perhaps not something that many riders will be thinking of buying in but it’s still pretty interesting stuff.

The headline spec of the Karma drone: “easy to use”, auto-landing function, automatic avoidance of “no go areas”, foldable, removable stabilizer (that can then be used handheld), $800 not including a GoPro.

It doesn’t appear to have a “follow-me” automatic tracking function. Which is a shame. But the price is actually pretty good all things considered.

The GoPro Hero 5 will be available in October and will cost £349.99. The Karma will cost £719.99.