GoPro's Mission 1 Pro puts 4K240, 10-bit log, and a 1-inch sensor into an action camera body for under $700. This is the camera GoPro users have been asking for.
The GoPro Mission 1 series of cameras marks a departure from the usual action camera fare that the company built its reputation on. Recent years have seen the HERO series eclipsed in outright capabilities and features by Chinese rivals, DJI and Insta360, contributing to declining demand for its cameras. But, the reduced sales for GoPro’s action cameras hasn’t simply been fuelled by direct competition. The convenience and quality of smartphones has meant that for many people, there’s simply no need for another camera to film their vacation or lifestyle on.
While GoPro’s HERO and MAX cameras are still incredibly powerful imaging devices, the company has decided to take a different tack. Why compete directly with smartphones and other action camera makers when you can try something a little bit different?
The Mission 1 series cameras have not been designed to replace the HERO line, but to exist as a separate upper tier of device. GoPro sees it as a highly portable cinematic camera ecosystem. At the lower end there’s the fixed lens Mission 1, which can record up to 8K30p and 4K120p. The upper tier consists of the Mission 1 Pro and the Mission 1 Pro ILS, both costing the same price.
The Mission 1 Pro, which I’m looking at in this review, can record up to 8K60p, 4K240p, and 1080480p all in 10-bit log with a 14-stop dynamic range. The ILS version of the camera has the same image spec, but with a Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens mount. Both cameras can record up to 960fps in 1080p in 10 second bursts.
Simply put, the Mission 1 cameras are the only current sub-$7k devices that can record internal 10-bit log images in 4K at 240fps. If you wanted another camera that could do that, you’re looking at an URSA Mini 12K at least. And yet, the GoPro achieves this in a body that you can slip into your jeans pocket! Does the quality stand up to the hype? Let’s find out.
When you first look at the Mission 1 Pro, it’s unmistakably a GoPro. Sure, the lens is noticeably larger than previous models due to the need to accommodate the 1 inch-type sensor, but superficially it still looks like an action camera. While the Mission 1 Pro is being aimed at people who want to be more creative, it is still very much a device that can be used as an action camera.
It still has an ultra-wide lens, this time with a 159-degree FOV. It can be taken down to dive depths of 20m without a case, which necessitated a clever new design for the power and record buttons. It also still features GoPro’s three-in-one mount system on its base.
Physically, the Mission 1 Pro is the same body height as the HERO13 Black, but around 5mm wider. Those buttons I mentioned protrude much more than previous models to make it easier to recognise them with gloves on. If you look closely, there’s a space underneath them. This was to help equalise the pressure at deep dive depths to prevent them from being depressed by the water pressure.
On the power front it uses a new Enduro 2 battery, which is backwards compatible with the HERO13. GoPro claims that with the GP3 chip in the Mission 1 Pro, it can record continuously for 5 hours in 1080/30p, and 3.1 hours in 4K/30p.
The beating heart behind the Mission 1 series is the new GP3 SoC, which uses a 5nm process and is responsible for many of the new capabilities of the new camera. Although GoPro hasn’t gone out of its way to promote it, the GP3 does in fact feature a neural engine, which is powering the camera’s new intelligent picture modes. For example, in the dive mode it can detect the change of colour wavelengths as you go deeper and it automatically compensates.
The second defining feature is the brand new 1-inch-type sensor. There’s no word on precisely which sensor GoPro is using here, suffice to say that given its high frame rate capabilities, it is most certainly something very new, possibly from Sony. Unlike the HERO13, the sensor in the Mission 1 Pro is no longer square, so it’s not quite as flexible in terms of its “open gate” recording. However, you can still record in 4:3 for the maximum reframing flexibility.
Notably, the new sensor features a Quad Bayer arrangement and dual gain output. In practical terms this means that in 4K the effective pixel pitch of the Mission 1 Pro is a massive 3.2µm. The dual gain output means that it can capture both shadow detail and highlight detail using the two different gain circuits simultaneously. A first for a sub $1k camera. In fact, you’d probably have to up your budget to $2k or more before finding a mirrorless camera with this same feature.
Dual gain output is not to be confused with dual base ISO. The two are related, but instead of only one gain circuit being employed at a time, dual gain output allows for both circuits to be active at the same time and captured in the same frame. Unlike traditional HDR merging, which takes information from two separate frames, dual gain output doesn’t suffer from ghosting or the halo effects that plague other methods. This function is also why I suspect the camera features a Sony CMOS sensor, since it was one of the pioneers of this technology.
GoPro clearly has its eyes on the Mission 1 series being used for professional production. GoPro’s have long been used as stunt cams, or for getting the types of shot that just aren’t possible with bigger cameras.
The Mission 1 Pro is now compatible out of the box with any USB mic system without needing the Media Mod. The USB on the camera can also output up to 4K/60 for monitoring purposes. This would also mean that it will be possible to hook up the Mission 1 to a high quality wireless transmission system for multi-camera situations. An example would be on a show such as the “Beast Games”. Personal opinions of the show aside, it’s a prime example of where a camera like the Mission 1 could be employed en-masse.
When a USB mic system is connected, you can record audio from your microphone to one track, while the camera mics will be laid down to a second. You have full control over gain, including the ability to turn off the limiter. All audio can be recorded simultaneously to a separate raw audio file with 32-bit float accuracy. Lastly, full timecode sync can be achieved across multiple devices.
If you opt to use the newly designed Media Mod system, you get an additional three 3.5mm mic inputs, along with a new mic built into the Media Mod itself that can be set to multiple pickup patterns.
The first thing you notice about the Mission 1 Pro is that it is considerably faster to power on than previous GoPro cameras. Just like the Osmo Action 6, if you power it on after a period of not using it, it will take a little longer. But, once that initial power up has been performed, for the rest of the day it switches on almost instantly. It might seem like a small thing, but it’s a very noticeable and practical improvement.
The interface is very recognizable from previous GoPro cameras in terms of its overall style and layout. But, there are a lot of changes. For example, the different modes, such as photo, slow motion, low light etc can be enabled and disabled. So, if you never use a particular mode, you can easily take it off the list to clean up your mode choices.
The camera comes with a load of presets for Sports POV, Slow Motion, Low Light, Diving, and many more. All of these can be further tweaked in the picture setup menu. It’s here that you can tune image sharpness, noise reduction, colour profiles and much more. If you want to use a particular setting across all preset modes, you can select the “Apply to All” option to save you having to change each individual preset.
By default, most of the presets come with icons for quick access to resolution and frame rate settings. This is also one of those improvements that seems small, but in every day use can be a big time saver.
Another big improvement is when it comes to charging. Finally, we have a GoPro that uses PD 2.0 charging, and again from the sense of using the camera day-to-day it makes the system much more practical. No longer do we have to wait 2.5hrs for it to charge. 80% of the battery can be charged in around 20-minutes or so.
The camera was supplied with a grip system, which is a beautifully built metal cage with a side hand grip. Effectively it allows the Mission 1 to be held like a compact stills camera, making it a bit more practical for hand holding. It’s been thought out very well, with easy access to the battery bay, as well as being quick to release the camera itself. Its only downfall is the record trigger, which spans the top of the camera to the side grip, making it easy to press the button when needed. It is a bit too easy, however, and I found myself accidentally starting the camera just from handling the cage. So, be careful if you put it into a bag. The trigger leaver can be slid out from the cage system easily, and I always made sure to do so before putting it into a rucksack.
If you disconnect the side handle and trigger lever, the cage has a built in cold shoe as well as a 1/4” mounting point for accessories.
Battery life on the Mission 1 is nothing short of monumental. If you keep to ‘normal’ frame rates such as 24p, 30p and 60p you are very unlikely to need multiple batteries for a day’s shooting. Clearly, if you use the high frame rate slow motion modes the battery life will take a hit. But even then, I spent a good hour and a half pretty much continuously using all of the slow motion modes and I still had 30% power left at the end of it.
The slow motion capabilities of the Mission 1 Pro are legion. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the options here exceed even some of the top of the line mirrorless cameras. Although the camera tested here is the fixed lens version of the series, the truly interesting stuff will happen when users get their hands on the interchangeable lens version. However, what we can see with the Mission 1 Pro is just how high a quality the image is.
All but one of the slow motion modes can utilize 10-bit GP-Log 2 recording at 240Mbps. The only exception is the 10-second burst mode, which records to 960fps.
Right off the bat, the 4K240 recording is astoundingly good. Combined with the virtually lossless 2x digital zoom option, and you can create the sorts of shots that are distinctly not action camera looking. In fact, in 4K modes, even the 3x zoom is very usable with some judicious use of post sharpening. I tested a few shots in the 1080p/480 and 960 modes with the digital zoom, and while the results were usable I would recommend leaving the camera at its widest lens setting for them due to the aliasing that appears.
The ultra-high frame rate modes such as 480fps and 960fps can look quite soft, but you could set the camera to medium sharpness in camera to counter this, or shoot with the sharpness set to low and fine tune things in post. Getting as close to the action as possible is key to getting great shots in these modes.
To be able to use such a wide range of slow motion on such a tiny camera is quite incredible. While it’s inevitable that other manufacturers will catch up at some point, a lot will depend on the sensors they have access to. Right now, the Mission 1 Pro and the forthcoming Mission 1 ILS appear to be the ultimate low budget slow motion rig.
Just bear in mind that despite the increased low light performance of the camera, ultra-high frame rates generally need a good amount of light to get the best out of them.
When using the 960fps mode, it’s a shame that there’s no option to loop record. Often when you are shooting subjects for slow motion, you don’t know that the action has happened until its over. A good example of this would be with wildlife. Although GoPro is open to the idea this might be something that could be added in the LABS firmware.
Luckily, in the 480fps mode and below, the camera’s HindSight function can be switched on, which can buffer up to 30 seconds of footage before you press the record button.
Another big gain for the Mission 1 Pro is much improved low light performance over the HERO series. GoPro’s cameras have long been criticised over their low light imagery with HyperSmooth compared to Insta360’s and DJI’s offering. In good light, make no mistake, the HERO13 Black produces a great image. But take it into a dingy forest in winter while mountain biking, and its limitations start to show.
The Mission 1 Pro adds a new low light mode, which aims to remedy this once and for all. GoPro has been constantly tuning the low light image to get the best balance of digital enhancement without it looking too artificial. Users can select between five options for shutter speed priority. For most who are not using a gimbal, the camera can be set to maximise the shutter speed for the best stabilisation. If you’re using a gimbal, you can set various degrees of motion blur to achieve a more cinematic look.
In the Natural color profile I compared the GoPro to the current low light action king, the Ace Pro 2. The two are very comparable, with the differences becoming apparent when you start to pixel peep a bit. Of course, the GoPro has the advantage of 10-bit recording, so a lot of detail in the image seems less ‘forced’ and processed. For example the lettering on petrol pumps as I ran past a petrol station are much smoother and less ‘cartoon like’ in appearance on the GoPro.
I did notice that in some instances the dynamic range on the Mission 1 lost out to the Ace Pro 2, but I think this is probably going to be something that can be addressed in firmware. Insta360 went through a few updates to its camera before it truly got the low light mode dialled in, and I think it might be the same with GoPro. The sensor on the Mission 1 Pro naturally has more dynamic range available to it than the Ace Pro 2, so we’ll see if this is something that gets tuned further.
The winning card here though, is that the Mission 1 Pro can use GP-Log 2 in the low light mode. Once you enable this and grade the image, the differences are greater. I noticed that in extreme low light, there was some jittering in the background as the shutter speed vs stabilisation ratio struggled a little. But, GoPro is keen to stress that this isn’t about seeing in the dark
The Mission 1 Pro hasn’t neglected vloggers. The system has a new wireless microphone system available for it, which we’ll be reviewing once we can get our hands on one. But from the perspective of the camera itself, the dedicated vlogging mode offers specific settings to make you look your best. For instance, if you’re using the Natural colour profile, the camera’s tone mapping is adjusted to be less aggressive and more friendly to peoples facial features.
Subject tracking is another notable feature here. The camera will automatically recognise a human face and will lock onto it. An icon that says “Active” illuminates alerting you to the fact it is tracking you. It will then use the sensor area to effectively pan around and keep you centred.
This type of feature was first seen on DJI’s Action 6. But, the picture settings on that camera are limited compared to the GoPro. Not only does the Mission 1 Pro do a great job of tracking the subject, but once again, full 10-bit GP-log recording is available at 4K resolution, and the quality is excellent. In contrast, the Action 6 doesn’t allow its log mode to be used while using a similar function.
One thing to consider if you’re using it on a selfie stick is the hyperlocal distance. Because of the larger sensor, the minimum distance at which things appear sharp is greatly increased over the HERO13. GoPro’s official data is that the minimum focus distance is 60cm, although I found that things looked acceptable at around 40-50cm.
While most of this review is focussed on the video side of things, the stills mode is certainly worth mentioning. The camera can take 12MP or 50MP stills, with the former being best for achieving cleaner images in low light.
Burst photos can be taken at up to 60fps in JPEG or RAW. There's not quite as much image control as there is in the video modes, but those who take night lapses will be pleased to know that although there's no manual control over the shutter in stills mode, the camera can drop right down to 1/30th of a second in very low light.
Image quality is always a subjective thing to a degree. I’ve always liked GoPro’s colour science, particularly in log modes, and the Mission 1 Pro is no exception. GP-Log 2 is exceptionally good for being able to grade creatively.
The Natural color profile produces a very acceptable result for those who want to set it and forget it, though it’s worth playing around with the tone mapping settings to get the best results for your purposes. I found that the Balanced and Face tone mapping gave the most pleasing image. The camera also has a Cinema setting, as well as a Flat colour profile, which gives you a very natural looking image out of the box.
For people who want ultimate control, turning the sharpness and noise reduction down to a minimum is recommended. For others who want a nice image out of the camera, the medium sharpness setting combined with the low noise reduction appears to give a good balance between not looking overly processed and the overt sharpening of the High setting.
Because the camera has much more dynamic range than the HERO13, its tone mapping can afford to be less aggressive in general, and that’s something that becomes apparent when comparing the two. The image is also exceptionally clean, even with noise reduction turned to low. Though obviously there’s a limit depending on how high up the ISO scale you go.
The maximum bitrate of 240Mb/s does require a suitably high performance SD card, and Micro SD Express is not supported. If you install the Labs firmware, the bitrate can be bumped up to 300Mb/s.
GoPro chose 240Mb/s because it's the minimum acceptable recording bitrate for Netflix production. The chipset inside the Mission 1 is capable of going much higher, but according to the engineers, once you start going above 300Mb/s in HEVC for current resolutions, you see the laws of diminishing returns kick in, so there's not a huge benefit in doing so. Particularly given the efficiency of modern encoders.
The Mission 1 Pro has a five mic array, including a stereo pair on the front of the device. There are various options for selecting the mic’s focus, such as voice focus. Wind reduction can also be set. As I mentioned earlier, users have full control over automatic gain, the limiters, and whether they record a 32-bit float version to a separate audio file.
In previous cameras the onboard audio in high wind conditions was barely usable. I found with the Mission 1 Pro, while I could still audibly hear the wind, my voice was still completely coherent (a first for me!) This was during some quite gusty conditions, too.
One thing I should note is that the Insta360 Mic Pro system doesn't play nicely with the camera when using the RX plugged in via USB. The sound comes out sounding very stuttery and odd. I checked the Mic Pro with other cameras and it works just fine, and I tested the Mission 1 Pro with the DJI Mic 3 system using the RX plugged in via USB, and it worked fine also. I methodically worked through every conceivable setting on both the Mic Pro and on the camera itself to see if it would make a difference.
Further investigation points to it possibly being down to the way the USB audio protocol is being implemented by Insta360, which the Mission 1 Pro has difficulty interpreting. But, until the two manufacturers can test it and get to the bottom of it, the DJI Mic 3 and others work just fine.
There’s a lot to talk about with the Mission 1 Pro, and despite the long length of this review there’s actually much, much more I could talk about. But for now, let’s go into who this camera is for, and importantly who it’s not for.
Action cameras are increasingly being used for ‘cinematic’ travel videos by full time YouTubers who want much more from their cameras. Professional filmmakers also want compact cameras that they can mount in confined spaces and not have to worry if the footage will intercut well with the big A-cam. Adventure sports participants and documentary filmmakers also want a very high quality device that isn’t going to weight them down, yet give them a step up in creative possibilities.
These are the people the Mission 1 Pro is aimed at, and from what I’m seeing from it, it would appear to fulfil those briefs very well. The slow motion quality is sublime, and we are no longer limited by the modes we can use GP-Log in. The fact that it can also shoot 8K open gate up to 30p and 4K open gate up to 120fps is the icing on the cake.
Make no mistake, the Mission 1 Pro can absolutely be used as a premium action camera in the same way that the HERO13 is traditionally used. But, at last we have a compact "action cinema cam" that has minimal restrictions on how you can set it up. The only thing really missing from it is a front touch screen, but I feel I’m nitpicking with that even though it would be very useful to have for self shooting.
GoPro set out to make a camera that addressed all the things it has been criticised for in the past, and surpassing them. Despite the company's recent woes, it would seem that finally, we have the camera that people have been asking GoPro to make for years. Now, I can’t wait to try out the ILS version!
The Mission 1 Pro is out now and priced at $699 or $599 for existing GoPro subscribers.