To everyone on this thread having an issue with your camera, I'm truly sorry to hear about it and hope you can get an exchange and start enjoying your camera.
Millions of Hero5 cameras have been sold. There are somewhere between 20-30 reports of this issue in this thread. 11 pages with many people posting multiple times. If your camera has an issue that can't be resolved by using a recommended SD card and performing a manual update, exchange it for a new one. It's that simple.
I know it's frustrating when you get a new piece of tech and it doesn't work correctly, but unfortunately this happens across all brands and devices from Apple to Samsung, HP to Dell, and GoPro to Garmin. You can search forums on any of those brands and find Customer complaints of issues. If you only look at those forums it's easy to quickly be mislead into thinking these products have a widespread issue, especially if you are one of the people experiencing it. However, when you take into account the total number of units sold and the vast majority that don't have issues, you realize that there aren't very many that have problems and unfortunately you are just one of the unlucky few.
I, like millions of other GoPro cameras owners, do not have any issues with my Hero5 Black or my other six GoPro cameras. I only use recommended SD cards and I always manually update to the latest firmware. I'm not incredibly lucky. I'm just one of the majority.
I get the frustration, but not the anger. GoPro obviously didn't intend for You to get a camera with issues. They certainly hope your experience would be similar to the million+ people who are enjoying their camera.
If you are having an issue the steps are simple.
1) Be sure you are using a card from this list
https://gopro.com/help/articles/Block/microSD-Card-Considerations2) Format the card in your computer and then run a manual update
https://gopro.com/update3) If your camera still doesn't work correctly, either exchange it where you purchased it or contact the GoPro Support Team
https://gopro.com/help/PKBContactusThe reason for using a card from the list is to help rule it out as being a source of the issue. GoPro cameras will work with other cards. However, 99% of all issues are SD card related. Perhaps not yours, but it's much easier to determine that if you are using a card GoPro has tested and knows that it works.
Running the manual update is equally important for the same reason above and also because sometimes it corrects errors in the firmware. If you are having an issue it's important to determine if it's software or hardware related. Running the manual update with a recommended SD helps to rule out the software and determine it's probably hardware. Your camera comes with a 1 year manufactures guarantee. If it's hardware related and not due to accidental damage, GoPro will happily exchange the camera for you.
