6 Best GoPro Hero4 Silver & Black Settings for Beginners [Video]

In this post, we’ll explore 6 of the best GoPro Hero4 Silver and Black settings. And how to choose the best resolutions and frame rates, with videos to demonstrate the differences.

The GoPro Hero4 Silver touch screen makes it easy to see what you’re shooting and choose your settings.

Which settings should you be using? Let’s break down some of the best to get you started.

But first, let’s see an overview of the GoPro Hero4 Silver. There’s a lot to love about this camera.

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GoPro Hero4 Silver Overview

The GoPro Hero4 Silver as being waterproof. But, it’s not waterproof without the waterproof housing. Learn more about how to use a GoPro underwater.

Now let’s get to the meat!

Here are the 6 best GoPro Hero4 Silver settings for beginners:

Best GoPro Hero4 Silver Settings for Beginners

Here’s a quick reference of the best Hero4 Silver settings. More detail is below.

1. Video Setting: 1080p Wide at 60fps shoot a 170-degree field of view with the option to slow the action.
2. Burst Mode: Capture all the action with 30 images in 1 second or 30 images in 3 seconds
3. Time-lapse Photo Mode: Shoot a great sunrise or sunset at 2-second intervals. Or use this setting with the burst mode – and shoot 1 image every 0.5 seconds. (Perfect for selfies).
4. Auto Low Light: Seamlessly capture scenes that range from bright to low light – without adjusting anything.
5. QuickCapture: Enable this setting and you can start recording (video or time-lapse photos) in just one click.
6. Protune: This is an advanced setting that captures more detail in your photos and videos. In post-production, you can bring out more detail and get a truer color. Here are the best options for GoPro editing software.

Curious about the flashing blue light? Here’s what it means (and how to turn it off).

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The 6 Best GoPro Hero4 Silver Settings

Here is all the detail on the six settings, complete with photos and videos. Let’s get started!

1. Video Setting

The all-around best video setting is 1080p Wide at 60fps (frames per second). This setting will give you a good-quality video capture with decent slow-mo capabilities.

Once you get the hang of shooting video with your GoPro you can experiment, but to get started and for dependable quality choose this setting.

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2. Burst Mode

Choose 30 in 1 second or 30 in 3 seconds. The Burst mode is perfect for capturing quick bursts of action.

Once you press the shutter the camera will fire off your shots in a fast burst and then stop shooting. You can use a single shot from a burst or stitch them together to show a cool sequence of action.

For super-fast moving action choose 30 photos in 1 second. And for something happening a little slower go with 30 in 3.

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3. Time-Lapse Photo Mode

For a sunrise/sunset or normal cloud, movement choose 2-second intervals. For best quality choose 12 MP image resolution.

You can also use this mode as you would Burst Mode when your camera is mounted and you can’t hit the shutter button manually. Choose to shoot at 0.5-second intervals in this setting. Your GoPro will just keep clicking away until you hit the button again and stop it.

In Time-Lapse Photo Mode the camera will not stitch the photos into a time-lapse video, you’ll need to do that later. This gives you the freedom to create a time-lapse and/or choose individual photos.

Read more about shooting GoPro time lapse video.

This is also the best choice for night-lapse photography because you can use a long exposure to let in more light.

GoPro Hero4 Silver Night Lapse Video

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4. Auto Low Light

Auto low light allows you to go from bright to low light settings without adjusting anything.

This is great for driving or biking videos where you’re passing through sunny and shaded areas.

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5. QuickCapture

With QuickCapture enabled (it’s off by default so you’ll have to turn it on) you can turn your GoPro Hero4 Silver into a one-button camera.

When the camera is powered off (with QuickCapture enabled) you simply press and release the shutter button and your camera starts recording video.

Or press and hold until you see the time-lapse icon and your camera instantly starts shooting time-lapse photos.

How to Enable Quick Capture Mode Video

Remember that when you’re connected to the app or GoPro remote, QuickCapture is disabled.

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6. Protune

If you want to get the best quality photos and video make sure Protune is switched on. It will give you more options while shooting and editing.

When shooting in Protune you’ll be able to edit for a truer color result.

The above photo of seaweed was shot using a macro lens.

If you’re not interested in editing, just leave Protune off.

Learn more about using the GoPro Spot Meter option. Learn more differences between GoPro cameras in the GoPro Comparison Guide.

GoPro Hero4 Black Settings: All 12 Resolutions

Curious about all the GoPro Hero4 Black settings? Here are all the settings in a list and in one video. This will make it easier to understand.

In this post, you’ll learn about each of the 12 video resolution settings.

In the following video, I shot the same scene with all 12 GoPro video settings. To see all the differences, I recommend watching this on your largest screen – and at full screen.

You might want to watch it a few times to see all the differences.

The first clip was shot at 4K – and they gradually reduce in resolution and quality until the last one, which is WVGA resolution.

In case you’re wondering, this video was shot at Halifax’s Public Gardens, in Nova Scotia.

When I composed the shot, I thought the sun flare would add to it – but I think I was wrong. (Sorry about the blown-out video.) I’m planning a second shoot, where I’ll explain each setting on the camera.

12 GoPro Hero4 Black Video Settings

Here are the 12 different GoPro video settings. You can increase/decrease the frame rate on most of these.

1. 4K SuperView 3840 x 2160 24 fps
2. 4K 3840 x 2160 30 fps
3. 2.7K SuperView 2704 x 1520 30 fps
4. 2.7K 2704 x 1520 30 fps
5. 2.7K 4:3 2704 x 2032 30 fps
6. 1440 1920 x 1440 30 fps
7. 1080 SuperView 1920 x 1080 30 fps: This is a great setting for point-of-view (POV) video. And it can be shot at up to 80 frames per second – great for slowing the motion.
8. 1080 1920 x 1080 30 fps: This is my favorite resolution. I prefer the 60 fps – because it allows the action to be slowed down.
9. 960 1280 x 960 60 fps
10. 720 SuperView 1280 x 720 60 fps
11. 720 1280 x 720 60 fps
12. WVGA 848 x 480 240 fps

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What are Your Favorite GoPro Hero4 Settings?

Those are our top 6 best GoPro Hero4 Silver settings for beginners.  The same settings apply for the Hero4 Black.

There are lots of settings to explore on the Hero4 Silver, so have fun experimenting!

What’s your favorite GoPro video setting? Have a question about the Hero4 Black? Please join the discussion below.

What settings do you use? Please share your favorites with us by commenting on this post.