GoPro’s Hero 10 Black Bones is a pared-back action cam for FPV drones

Every gram counts when you’re manoeuvring a tiny flying machine around the back of a bowling alley. And while GoPro’s standard Hero 10 Black is hardly heavy for an action cam, it’s too portly to strap to the nose of a drone. Enter the Hero 10 Black Bones: a pared-back shooting tool that’s built to fly.

FPV pilots shoot immersive first-person footage while deftly directing drones through dramatic surroundings. Like a Tesla factory. To save weight and increase performance, those same pilots have long been tearing GoPro cameras down to their essential parts. Which can be quite a faff, even for the initiated.

• Buy the Hero 10 Black Bones here from GoPro

To save tinkerers some trouble, GoPro’s put the Hero 10 Black on a drastic diet. Freed of all unnecessary components, the Hero 10 Black Bones is some 100g lighter than the standard edition. With no display, no latches and no battery, it’s as streamlined as a GoPro can be – perfect for keeping take-off weight to a minimum.

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Yes, you read that right: the GoPro Hero 10 Black Bones doesn’t have a cell inside. Designed to be soldered directly to the frame of an FPV drone, the Bones wires straight into a quadcopter’s LiPo power source. A built-in regulator takes care of voltage differences, while a third cable can be hooked up to a flight controller.

The Bones also swaps the waterproof build of its beefier cousin for a well-ventilated shell to maximise performance. Besides keeping components cool, the cutouts shave extra grams off the payload.

Yet despite hitting the scales at a featherweight 54g, the GoPro Hero 10 Black Bones remains a full-fat action cam where it counts: the 1/2.3in sensor and GP2 chip inside promise to record sharp 5.3K video at 60fps, just like the original. HyperSmooth 4.0 smarts are there to keep in-flight footage silky smooth, plus you can fire clips through the RealSteady tool in GoPro’s Player desktop software for surreal levels of stabilisation.

Worried about airborne detritus damaging the glass during your aerobatics? A lens cover is included with the GoPro Hero 10 Black Bones – and the protection is probably worth the 6g it adds to the package. Only available in the US for now, the GoPro Hero 10 Black Bones is yours for a not-so-slender $400.

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Chris Rowlands Freelance contributor

About

Formerly News Editor at this fine institution, Chris now writes about tech from his tropical office. Sidetracked by sustainable stuff, he’s also keen on coffee kit, classic cars and any gear that gets better with age.

Areas of expertise

Cameras, gear and travel tech