GoPro HERO10 Burst Modes

Like most other GoPros, the HERO10 Black includes Burst Mode photos. This allows you to shoot rapid sequences of still images.

It can be useful in several ways. You might be putting together a string of photos together to show a skateboard jump or baseball swing or whale breaching.

The way I use it most often is to maximize the chances of catching the photo I want with fast, short action.

On the minus side, you end up with a bunch of photos to sort through and discard. On the plus side, there’s a much greater chance of getting the shot you want.

Burst Photo Rates Available on the HERO10 Black

While there’s a lot of overlap on what burst mode rates are available on different GoPro models, they’re not all exactly the same. Here are the rates that are available on the HERO10.

• 30 photos in 10 seconds
• 30 photos in 6 seconds
• 30 photos in 3 seconds
• 10 photos in 3 seconds
• 25 photos in 1 second
• 10 photos in 1 second
• 5 photos in 1 second
• 3 photos in 1 second
• Auto

Auto Setting

That last one—Auto—works a bit differently from the others and deserves its own explanation. It captures up to 25 photos in a second.

The “up to” is the important bit here. The key is that it’s affected by exposure. The camera calculates the appropriate shooting rate based on the lighting conditions. So in dark conditions, you might get only 10 frames per second. In bright conditions, you might get the full 25 frames per second.

With the other settings, you get that many photos in that amount of time no matter what, even if that means that some images will be underexposed.

But if you don’t specifically need that rigid number of shots, the Auto setting is a great option to maximize the chances of getting correctly exposed images while still shooting burst.

I have put together separate a more detailed explanation of how the auto setting works.

Things Worth Knowing

If you’re familiar with shooting in burst mode on other GoPro cameras, the way it works on the HERO10 will be pretty straightforward. But there are still some things worth knowing.

File Formats Available in HERO10 Burst Mode

Available image formats:

• JPG (Standard)
• RAW (.gpr)

On some older models, Burst Mode only worked with JPG output. But on the HERO10, both RAW and JPG is available as an output format for Burst Mode.

Burst vs LiveBurst

LiveBurst is a fairly new addition to recent GoPro cameras. It can be used for some of the same reasons and with similar results, but it works a bit differently.

With standard Burst Mode, the recording of the sequence of images starts when you press the shutter button.

With LiveBurst, the camera is doing a constant pre-roll. When you press the shutter, the camera saves the image sequence from the previous 1.5 seconds and conditions for another 1.5 seconds after the shutter is pressed. You then have the option of selecting the key image/s or saving the output as a short video.

So LiveBurst is especially good when you want to make sure to capture the critical action. But it’s less useful when you need to maximize battery life and want to keep the camera on for an extended period of time.

Burst Mode vs Continuous Photo

The HERO10 does not have Continuous Photo.

Several previous models of GoPro cameras have had a related feature called Continuous Photo. The gist is that rather than a preset number of images over a specific duration, you control the duration by holding down the shutter button. But it’s a moot point on the HERO10–it doesn’t have that feature.

Enhanced Photos

The HERO10 includes some enhanced photo features such as SuperPhoto and HDR. These are not compatible with Burst Mode.

Zoom & Field of View

You can set the zoom and field of view (or lens) with Burst Mode, but only if you have the output set to standard (i.e., you can’t use those with RAW files in any shooting mode).

Sorting GoPro Burst Photos

The downside of shooting in burst mode is that you end up with a lot of photos to sort through. The methods for doing it aren’t specific to the HERO10, but here are some good options.

On-camera playback. You can view and delete photo sequences on the camera’s back screen using the usual playback functionality. So it’s convenient to have it right there. The downside is that it’s only a small screen and it can be tedious to sort through large numbers of images on it.

GoPro Quik mobile app. The mobile app provides a somewhat more convenient method of sorting through large numbers of images. The screen is a little bigger, and most of us are better at controlling a smartphone screen quickly than the GoPro touchscreen.

Computer Software. There are a bunch of good options for sorting large numbers of images using a computer. It does mean the extra step of downloading the images to your computer. But you get a much larger screen to really see the images, quick controls using a keyboard and mouse of touchpad, and built-in tools for selecting and batch editing large numbers of images at once.

• The GoPro Quik desktop app isn’t a bad option, although it’s slower than I like, and there’s other software I prefer for this. GoPro has also discontinued development (although you can still find it here). One strong plus in favor of Quik is that it works with the GoPro RAW image format (.gpr). And it’s free.
• Lightroom Classic is what I usually use. That’s mostly because it’s my usual image editing hub–it’s not something specific to GoPro burst sequences. It’s a paid app and not everyone’s cup of tea (here are some good Lightroom alternatives). A strong plus for Lightroom Classic is that it’s one of the few apps that’s compatible with GoPro’s RAW (.gpr) images.
• FileLoupe is a paid Mac app that’s lightning fast for sorting and viewing photos and videos. I’ve covered it before.
• Other Options. There are plenty of other apps that are good for sorting and culling large numbers of images. On the top end, Photo Mechanic is the gold standard but isn’t cheap. But long-established free apps like XnView and IrfanView can also be used very effectively for this.