GoPro just stunned all of us by announcing an entirely new line of action cameras. That’s right – the Mission 1 is a new range of GoPros that will not replace the Hero lineup. Instead, it’s a new, parallel lineup that is aimed at pro creators who want to do more than just capture action in a jiffy.
GoPro is positioning it as an action cinema camera that blends imaging capabilities usually found in professional systems with a robust, small form factor. Am I excited? Heck yeah!
That’s because this could in fact go on to change GoPro’s fate. In an age where the whole action camera space has exploded with options of late, especially with arguably more capable choices from the likes of Insta 360 and DJI, it’s no secret that GoPro’s market share was dwindling. The Mission 1 lineup might as well help restore the order.
There are three cameras in the lineup: the Mission 1, Mission 1 Pro, and the Mission 1 Pro ILS. All three of these feature a larger one-inch sensor paired with a brand-new ultra-fast 5nm GP3 processor. The result? The ability to shoot super-rich 8K video at 60 frames per second (fps) on the range-topping Pro variant.
GoPro claims that the new sensor is 73.6% larger than the Hero 13's sensor. Heck, it's 46.4% bigger than the sensor in Insta360's flagship Ace Pro 2 and 22.7% larger than the one in DJI's current flagship Osmo Action 6. That increase in sensor size helps let in more light, which gives the Mission 1 lineup better low-light capabilities than any other GoPro before.
You also get a larger rear OLED display, restyled buttons, and a new lens with a 159-degree field of view as standard. As for still images, the 3.2-micron effective pixel size offers a lot of detail with its 50-MP RAW photos. You can even pull 44-MP JPEG stills from your 8K footage. GoPro also offers up to 14 stops of dynamic range, which ensures rich detail in both highlights and shadows.
You also get open gate recording, which is available at 4K at 120 fps and 8K at 30 fps. It helps you with a variety of reframing options, higher resolution crops, and smoother digital pan and stabilization.
To fit the upgraded sensors, it’s obvious GoPro had to make the cameras larger and heavier than the Hero 13. But that's hardly a dealbreaker. The Pro 1 is only 0.32 inches (8.3 mm) longer and 1.7 ounces (around 48 grams) heavier. That’s almost negligible.
The battery life, which is often the Achilles Heel of action cams, gets a boost. GoPro has fitted the camera with an improved Enduro 2 battery, which, coupled with the powerful GP3 CPU, enables the camera to record more than three hours of 4K video and more than five hours of HD video. That’s 80% and 70% longer than the Hero13, respectively.
As for 8K, GoPro says the Mission 1 can record for up to an hour as long as there is "adequate ventilation to aid in heat management." Take that with a grain of salt.
But my favorite feature of the Mission 1 lineup is the ability to change lenses, by far. That can only happen on the Mission 1 Pro ILS, though, as both the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro come with a fixed GoPro lens as standard. The Mission 1 Pro ILS, however, won’t come with any lens from GoPro. That’s because you could practically kit it with any of the countless Micro Four-Thirds lenses available on the market.
This is not a random hardware decision; rather, it is proof of the directional shift in GoPro’s overall strategy. With the Pro ILS, GoPro is moving from a fixed-lens design approach to a modular system that offers a wider range of optical setups that are compatible with pre-existing lenses in the market. This will help increase creative control for creators – a change GoPro loyalists were crying out for years.
And GoPro didn’t just leave it with the hardware; you also get bit rates of up to 240 Mbps, which will help ensure minimal compression and maintain the finer details in your shots. You also get 10-bit color and GPLOG 2 and HLG HDR, which help with advanced post-production flexibility for color grading and editing. The audio has also been improved, thanks to 32-bit float recording that captures distortion-free audio from four microphones.
Making our way to compatibility, all three Mission 1s go with all of GoPro's existing mounts – magnetic, conventional, and threaded. The Pro 1 is waterproof down to 20 meters (66 feet) without the need for a housing. To increase that range to 60 meters (196 feet), you can also opt for an optional housing.
Speaking of optional, there are a fair few extras GoPro has teased along with the Mission 1 cameras. There’s a new wireless mic system that includes a receiver and two premium wireless microphones, which GoPro says can be “easily paired with the MISSION 1 Series, GoPro HERO Black cameras, 3rd party DSLRs, and phones.” You get 6.5 hours of runtime per mic and up to 150 meters (492 ft) of wireless range.
You can also opt for other extras like lights, protective housings, ND filters and handheld selfie-style mounts, which also include a new vertical mount adaptor for those shooting for social media. But my pick of the lot is the Point-and-Shoot Grip that effectively transforms the Mission 1 Pro into a conventional point-and-shoot camera. It mimics a traditional mirrorless or Four-Thirds camera with a shutter release button on top.
Now, my daily driver continues to be the 2024 DJI Osmo Action 5. It continues to serve as my main camera on the motorcycle (A GoPro Hero 11 serves as the secondary camera), an actioncam for all of my overlanding expeditions, and even my webcam! If the Mission 1 does even half of what it promises, I might just be convinced to switch back to GoPro.
But before you get too excited, understand this is just an announcement, not a global release. You can’t buy the cameras just yet. You can’t even preorder the thing until May 21.
GoPro says Global on-shelf availability is only slated to start on May 28. And worse, the top-spec Mission 1 Pro ILS, Mission 1 Pro Creator Edition, and Mission 1 Pro Ultimate Creator Edition won’t be available before the third quarter of this year. Even pricing is being kept under wraps for now.
So this is, by all means, a soft launch. For the time being, you'd better hold your horses.
Source: GoPro
