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GoPro Karma Grip extension cable and El Grande pole give greater control of Hero5 cam

GoPro’s Karma drone may have had a rocky start, but that hasn’t stopped the company from continuing to build on the drone’s most innovative feature: the removable three-axis gimbal that can also be used in a handheld configuration. The Karma Grip, as it’s called, is great for those times when you have a free hand, but mounting it can be a bit cumbersome and is limited by its long handle. Today, GoPro unveiled the Karma Grip Extension Cable to solve this issue, making it easier to mount the Karma Grip just about anywhere.

The cable allows the gimbal to be separated from the handle by a distance of up to 35 inches, or just shy of three feet. Not only does this free up some room to mount the gimbal where it otherwise wouldn’t fit, but it also makes it easier to control the gimbal when it’s mounted in a hard-to-reach position, turning the handle into a wired remote. For example, you can mount the gimbal to the top of your helmet, but keep the grip secured your chest for easier access.

GoPro: Introducing El Grande

The Karma Grip can also be mounted to the other accessory GoPro announced today: the telescoping El Grande pole. With a much more interesting name than the bland-but-accurate Extension Cable, El Grande expands from 15 inches out to 38 inches for capturing a variety of perspectives, from sweeping low angles to overhead shots. With its ball-and-socket mounting point, an attached camera can easily be rotated 360 degrees, so getting that perfect selfie framing will be easy. The pole is designed to be used handheld but is also compatible with GoPro’s Seeker backpack for hands-free use, making the versatile El Grande suitable for any adventure, from scaling El Capitan to surfing El Porto.

Both the Karma Grip Extension Cable and El Grande will be available on April 9. They will be priced at $100 and $60, respectively.

In addition, new firmware updates for the Hero5 Black and Session will add Korean, Russian, and Portuguese language support and GoPro Plus subscription improvements. The Hero5 Session will also gain 4K/24p recording and the ability to use any field of view in 1080/48p mode. The Hero5 Black gains a unique new feature that will allow users to extract a photo from a multi-shot series, as well as access more shutter speeds when using Protune in photo mode.

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Daven Mathies
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Daven is a contributing writer to the photography section. He has been with Digital Trends since 2016 and has been writing…
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