GoPro Mission 1 Pro Review: The Best Action Camera You Can Buy
Wired · LC · trust 40/100
WIRED Large, 1-inch sensor with 8K video. Excellent slow-motion capabilities. Solid low-light performance. USB audio support. Footage has a more cinematic look than other action cameras. Fast charging with better battery life. TIRED Slightly heavier than other cameras. No built-in storage. GoPro shook up the action camera world earlier this year, announcing the Mission 1 series of cameras, offering 8K video and the biggest image sensor you can get in an action camera. The Mission 1 series is now here, and after spending several months shooting with it on bikes, paddleboards, sailboats, zip lines, and more, I can say with confidence that this is the best action camera you can buy.
The Mission 1 Pro offers sharp, clear 8K footage with class-leading color-accurate video, excellent dynamic range, and great low-light performance (a place where other GoPro's have struggled). And they're every bit as waterproof, durable, and capable as you'd expect from a GoPro. The downside is that the $699 price also makes this the most expensive action camera you can buy, meaning it's not necessarily the GoPro for everyone .
Anyone who has ever tuned in for a GoPro earnings call (could be just me) knows that GoPro has long wanted to make a camera aimed at cinema professionals. That's what the Mission 1 series is—it's the Hero camera but with video quality that can be mixed with cinema-level cameras. There are three Mission 1 cameras, the entry level Mission 1, the slightly better Mission 1 Pro, and the Mission 1 Pro ILS, which uses interchangeable lenses based on the Micro Four Thirds mount. The ILS is the model that pro filmmakers will probably be most drawn to, while the other two cameras, while still chock-full of features for pros, will appeal to the original GoPro audience—those of us looking for a tough camera that can withstand just about any adventure.
The ILS model hasn't been released, but both the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro are available today. I've been testing the latter for several months. The differences between the Pro and non-Pro models are minimal, mostly in terms of frame rates that are available to each. Generally speaking the Pro can shoot higher frame rates and is better for slow-motion footage.
The first thing that jumped out at me on unboxing the Mission 1 Pro is that it's very nearly the same size as the Hero 13. I was expecting the larger sensor to require more space, and it is wider due to the enlarged lens housing, but otherwise the Mission 1 Pro is almost exactly the same size as the Hero 13.
The Mission 1 Pro is still very much a GoPro and sat well on all the mounts I normally test action cameras with. It is heavier, and that weight feels more to the front thanks to the larger lens housing, but the only time I noticed this was when mounting on a helmet.
The other significant design difference from the Hero 13 is the much larger buttons. They are raised up higher and easier to press, making the Mission 1 Pro the first GoPro I've used that's just as easy to use while wearing gloves or even mittens.
The exterior of the camera may show its GoPro DNA, but the internals of the Mission 1 Pro are unlike any action camera that's come before. There are two big upgrades inside, the first being the new Type 1 50-megapixel sensor. Note that some people refer to this a 1"-type sensor, but there's nothing about the sensor that's 1 inch, so we're using the name Type 1 sensor. A Type 1 sensor is 13.2 x 8.8 mm, which, while quite a bit bigger than anything else in an action camera, is definitely not physically 1 inch in any dimension. With that confusion out of the way, it is a big sensor, and it yields much higher-quality video than I've ever seen from an action camera.
The larger sensor area allows for 8K video capture at up to 60 fps. It's actually a little bit bigger than 8K, because that 8K footage is still 8K even with HyperSmooth stabilization turned on. (HyperSmooth makes about a 10 percent crop.) The sensor can even do 4:3 open gate capture at up to 8K 30 fps, which is as high (even higher) than what some mirrorless cameras are capable of shooting.
I am tempted to say that very few of us need 8K footage. You might have had the same thought. But 8K allows you to crop and zoom in significantly, while retaining the ability to export 4K video. This is especially true with the GoPro's very wide, 156 degree field of view (146 with HyperSmooth on). Even if you have no plans to ever export anything as 8K, the ability to crop in post makes the Mission 1 Pro a more powerful camera than most action cams.
Interestingly, there is no 5.3K video option like you find in the Hero 13 Black. The Mission 1 Pro does 8K, 4K, 1080p, and 1440p if you shoot in 4:3. I found that I did kind of miss the 5.3K because I rarely needed all 8K (which makes for huge files), but have become accustomed to having more than 4K. I should also note that the ratio options have changed to 16:9, 9:16, and 4:3, there is 8:7 as in the Hero 13 Black.
Along with the higher resolution, you get much better slow-motion video in the Mission 1 Pro, which can shoot 4K at 240 fps and 1080p at a staggering 960 fps. Shooting at 960 fps allows for some remarkable footage that still looks very good, and plenty sharp enough for YouTube and web video. The catch, because you knew there was one, is that you can only shoot 10 second bursts at this frame rate.
The second major upgrade inside the Mission 1 Pro is the GP3 processor, which is responsible for many of the video and image improvements, including the new low light modes, high frame rates, and in-camera subject tracking.
There's also the new GP-Log2 recording option. This is the second version of GoPro's log format and it's considerably better in my experience. Getting too in depth on log recording is beyond the scope here (GoPro has a great overview of the GP-Log2 format ), but much of the power of the Mission 1 Pro lies in shooting log. More on that below. At the same time,…
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