GoPro built its name on the small cameras you strap to a helmet or a surfboard. Its newest line wants to be the camera you shoot a short film on, and it is already on sale here through a Malaysian camera retailer. On 13 October the company pushed a free firmware update to its Mission 1 series that adds serious stills and monitoring tools to cameras that already shot 8K video.
The Mission 1 range is three cameras, and it was already an unusual step for GoPro. The fixed-lens models shipped first, with the interchangeable-lens Mission 1 Pro ILS following. The line uses a 50-megapixel 1-inch sensor and shoots up to 8K video, at up to 8K30 on the base model and 8K60 on the Pro versions. The Pro models also record Open Gate at up to 8K, using the full height of the sensor so an editor can reframe for both widescreen and vertical from a single take. The Pro ILS is GoPro's first Micro Four Thirds interchangeable-lens camera, swapping the fixed lens for a standard mount, as Engadget reported when the line was announced.
What the 13 October update adds
The update is aimed squarely at photographers. In its own announcement, GoPro describes a Continuous Shutter mode that holds the shutter button to capture photos until the buffer fills, more than 100 at 12 megapixels or more than 20 RAW files at 50 megapixels, alongside a zero-lag shutter response and an on-screen buffer indicator. Its Mission Monitor app, on iPhone and iPad, gains four professional exposure tools, a histogram, a waveform, an RGB parade and false colour, over a wireless connection to the camera. "For photographers, by photographers. That's how we approached updating the MISSION 1 Series photo experience," GoPro's creative director of photography Jensen Granger said, in coverage by No Film School. Separately, a new GoPro Labs beta adds anamorphic support, across five presets from 1.33x to 2.0x, to the Mission 1 Pro ILS only. DPReview noted the update improves the Mission 1's occasional still capture, though its reviewer was not yet convinced it replaces a dedicated compact camera.
Why GoPro needs this
GoPro is aiming the Mission 1 at serious shooters, not only the helmet-cam crowd. On paper, an 8K body that shoots RAW stills and takes interchangeable lenses is, to our eye, a more ambitious camera than the action cams that made the brand's name, and the 13 October update leans hard into that. If you want the fuller competitive picture, our earlier report looks at how DJI and Insta360 came to lead handheld cameras.
What it costs in Malaysia
You do not have to wait for it. A Malaysian camera retailer already carries it: Scuba Warehouse lists the Mission 1 Pro at RM3,799 with an add-to-cart option. GoPro also details the range on its own Malaysian site. Prices and stock move with the retailer and with whether a model is in stock or on pre-order, so check the shop at the time of buying, because camera prices here change often.
If you already shoot on a capable phone, our guide to the settings that give phone video a film look is a cheaper place to start. The Mission 1 is a real statement of intent from GoPro, and Malaysian creators can already buy the Pro model from Scuba Warehouse.
Photo illustration by ProductNation.
