4K Linear vs SuperWide

[defthill64201]

Hi, I just got my first GoPro and I'm trying to figure out the highest quality settings? Is the Linear mode just a crop of the 4K data, something that could be acheived in post by shooting super wide or wide? If quality is my main objective and I'm not worried about post-processing time, what and why is the best lens mode? Thanks.

[danielr15]

The mode that uses the entire sensor, has the least amount of crop, and does not have in camera distortion correction applied in camera is 4K Wide in 4:3.  Superview uses the same full sensor, but then dynamically stretches the image into 16:9.

[defthill64201]

Thanks for that, when you say it dynamically stretches the image do you mean something similar to the way anamorphic lenses work? I think recording in 4:3 would be my preferred method but out of curiosity do you notice a difference in quality between those two?

[danielr15]

This article explains it pretty well http://abekislevitz.com/43-gopro-footage-explained/

Instead of the dynamic stretch being done in an editor, the camera does it when using the Superview setting.

[defthill64201]

Thank you very much, that site is very helpful