GoPro goes bigger and pro-er with support for Micro Four Thirds lenses

GoPro is announcing its Mission 1 cameras, a new line of video-centric action cams with 50-megapixel, 1-inch-type sensors and the company’s new GP3 in-house processor. Pricing is still TBD, but there will be three models launched in two waves: a base-model Mission 1 and the Mission 1 Pro will be available May 28th, and a higher-end flagship Mission 1 Pro ILS with interchangeable Micro Four Thirds lenses is expected in Q3 2026.

The base Mission 1 can shoot video at up to 8K / 30 frames per second in 16:9 as well as open gate of its whole 4:3 sensor at up to 4K / 120 fps. It can do slow-motion of up to 240 fps at 1080p. The Mission 1 Pro ups its 16:9 and open gate recording to 8K / 60 fps and 8K / 30 fps, respectively. For slow-motion, the Pro can do high-speed capture up to 960 fps at 1080p. Both of these Mission 1 cameras use a permanently attached 15mm equivalent f/2.8 lens.

The big draw of the Mission 1 Pro ILS top-of-the-line model, when it comes around, will be its interchangeable lens mount for using Micro Four Thirds lenses — opening it up to hundreds of options from various lens makers like Panasonic, OM Digital, and many more (especially with lens adapters). Lenses mounted to the Pro ILS camera will have a 3x crop factor, which will limit ultrawide use but allow high magnifications from telephoto lenses.

Being GoPro’s highest-end cameras, the Mission 1 family has other new features aimed at professionals, like improved thermals for over three hours of continuous filming in 4K30 or more than five hours of filming in 1080p30. The Mission 1 cameras also have live metering, up to 240mbps bit rate, and a new Enduro 2 battery with higher capacity and Power Delivery 2.0 fast charging support (the battery is backwards compatible with the GoPro Hero 13 Black). For audio, the Missions have four built-in mics, 32-bit float recording, and support for USB-C audio as well as Bluetooth 5.3. And for photos, they can capture 50-megapixel RAW files or take 12-megapixel processed JPGs, in a mode GoPro calls SuperPhoto, for something more easily shareable. When filming at 8K, screengrabs have 44 megapixels of resolution.

There’s a lot going on in this little camera. While it’s a bit larger and a little chunkier than a GoPro Hero, the Mission 1 models are still compact, waterproof, and shockproof. GoPro will offer various kits with included accessories aimed at different types of shooting and filming, including a Grip Edition that makes the Mission 1s handle like small mirrorless photo cameras and a Creator Edition that bundles a new GoPro Wireless Mic System. The new mic is designed to compete with other mini mics from DJI and Rode and will also be sold separately and be compatible with other systems (but there’s no price for it yet either).

Some of our video team members got an early, though very brief, hands-on with the GoPro Mission 1 cameras. Stay tuned for our initial video and a full review to come later.