When you think of GoPro cameras, you likely think of the modern, digital, go-anywhere models. But the original GoPro grew from an idea by Nick Woodman, a California surfer and entrepreneur.

After an earlier Internet venture failed, Woodman went travelling and surfing in Australia and Indonesia. He wanted photographs of himself surfing, but there was a fundamental problem: unless another photographer was in the water, it was extremely difficult for a surfer to photograph himself.

Woodman experimented with attaching waterproof disposable cameras to his wrist. One early arrangement reportedly involved a piece of surfboard leash and rubber bands. The important insight was that the real invention wasn't necessarily the camera – it was a wearable camera system that could put the viewpoint where the action was.

The camera itself was manufactured in China rather than designed entirely from scratch by GoPro. Woodman worked with a Chinese manufacturer to adapt an existing compact film camera to his mounting concept.

It was introduced in late 2004 or early 2005 – depending on who you ask – as the GoPro Hero, a small waterproof 35mm film camera supplied with Woodman's wrist-mounting system.

It was extremely simple: film, fixed-focus lens, mechanical controls and a waterproof housing. But conceptually it established nearly everything that would define the GoPro. The name was clever as well. Surfers wanted to “go pro”, because professional surfers were among the few people who regularly had photographers recording them.

But GoPro truly hit the big time in 2006 with the first Digital Hero – evn though by modern standards it was extraordinarily primitive.

It produced roughly 640x480 still photographs, while video was only 320x240 pixels at about 10fps, with clips limited to approximately 10 seconds. It had only about 32MB of internal memory. But the important change was digital video.

GoPro gradually improved the digital cameras, with the Hero 3 (3MP stills and improved video) in 2007, the Hero 5 (5MP stills) in 2008 and the Wide Hero in 2009, which offered a genuinely wide, 170° field of view.

The Wide was immensely popular, as it generated an exaggerated perspective that quickly became visually identified with GoPro footage.

But the real revolution was the GoPro HD Hero, of 2009. Simply put, the HD Hero was a tiny digital camera that shot FullHD videos in 16:9 and a 127° field of view.

It had a waterproof housing, removable memory card and an extensive mounting ecosystem. This made GoPro footage practical not merely as a novelty, but for serious video production. And that changed everything.

It was followed in 2011 by the HD Hero 2, with much better image quality. But the secret wasn’t in the cameras; rather, it was in the system.

A GoPro could be mounted to a helmet, bicycle, motorcycle, surfboard, automobile, chest harness, pole or almost anything else. The standardized two-prong mounting system became nearly as important as the camera itself, with third-party manufacturers producing thousands of compatible accessories.

At its peak, GoPro was almost synonymous with the action camera. Indeed, to this day people still refer to action cams as "GoPros" the way they refer to vacuums as "Hoovers".

The company went public in 2014 and was at one point valued at roughly $4 billion (around £2.4 billion / AU$4.6 billion). But action cameras turned out to be a relatively narrow market with long replacement cycles.

A Hero from several generations ago can still make very good 4K video, so owners don't necessarily have a compelling reason to replace the one they have.

At the same time, camera phones became dramatically better. For ordinary travel, family, social media, and casual video, a phone is usually good enough – and is already in the owner's pocket. GoPro’s sales suffered.

Then a second problem arose: GoPro no longer had the action camera field largely to itself. DJI and Insta360 became formidable competitors, offering image stabilization, 360° imaging, compact cameras and rapid product development.

As of June 30 2026, GoPro had roughly $27.2 million / £20.3 million / AU$39.6 million in cash but as much as $90 million / £67.3 million / AU$131 million in debt. The company itself admitted that it had “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern.

The company needed a savior, and fast! On September 01 2026, GoPro and privately held Starman Optical announced a merger agreement that is on track to close by the end of the year.

Starman isn't another camera manufacturer. It makes optical transceivers, including US-manufactured equipment aimed at AI data centers and other communications applications.

The proposed merger isn't simply intended to rescue GoPro's camera business; Starman wants access to GoPro's expertise and its enormous portfolio of almost 2,500 patents.

If the Starman merger fails to go through for whatever reason, GoPro an independent camera company could well disappear. If it does go through, will GoPro survive as part of a larger, non-camera making firm? The jury is still out…

Read more of David Young's ongoing series on classic cameras, as well as his book A Brief History of Photography.

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Take a look at the best GoPro cameras, the best GoPro alternatives and the best action cameras.

When screen-free camera maker Camp Snap launched its first retro camcorder, it grabbed the attention of celebrities and creators for its old-school looks. Now, Camp Snap is shrinking the CS-8 in half. The Camp Snap 8 Mini packs the same viral retro video quality into a design that’s less than half the size of the original.

The Camp Snap 8 Mini – or the CS-8 Mini for short – packs the same 2.7K resolution from a 1/2.7-inch sensor. Like the original, there’s no traditional screen – just an electronic viewfinder to preview the shots – and there are no apps or Wi-Fi connection either. Camp Snap is also keeping the same five film-inspired presets, as well as the 8x digital zoom.

But what’s changing is the size. The CS-8 is inspired by old Super 8 camcorders, including their bulky design and trigger-style recording. But the Mini shrinks that down to a camera that weighs .58 lbs / 262g. The Mini measures 6 inches (152mm) on the longest side, sitting around two inches (50mm) thick and 5.6 inches (141mm) wide.

The original grabbed the attention of nostalgic adults for its old-school-looking footage that feels like a home movie, including finding its way into the hands of celebrities from Taylor Swift to the US Men's Hockey Team. But there’s a new audience that the CS-8 Mini is directed for: Kids.

Camp Snap says the smaller size is made for the smaller hands of kids, as well as being more travel-friendly. Camp Snap got its start as a company building screen-free cameras to send with kids to summer camps, but the screen-free design immediately felt nostalgic to adults, sparking the launch of more grown-up cameras like the Camp Snap CS-Pro and the CS-8.

The CS-8 Mini keeps the trigger-style shooting of the original and the retro dials, including one to adjust the aspect ratio. The meters for battery life and memory card space remaining also remain but were reimagined to fit on the smaller design.

The Mini also trades the retro black-and-white for four bright color options in blue, green, orange, and pink.

I’ve gifted my kids Camp Snap cameras for still photos, and one of the things my 7-year-old misses compared to a traditional kid camera is the ability to take videos. But one of my biggest complaints about the original CS-8 is that it's a bit too bulky for packing on a trip – so I have to wonder if the Mini might also find a home in some adult hands.

Camp Snap just teased two upcoming cameras – and the Mini is only one of them, so it looks like another launch is also on the horizon.

The Camp Snap CS-8 Mini lists for $149.99 – about $50 less than the original. That converts to about £114 / AU$214 / CA$209. The first sales are opening at Camp Snap's online store and Target.

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After launching its first mirrorless camera and first one-inch sensor action camera, GoPro is stepping into another first. On Monday, November 02, GoPro teased its first “fully integrated tech-enabled helmet” in collaboration with Italian helmet brand AGV.

The teaser video showcases a full-face motorcycle helmet with a camera built in below the visor. The video also shows what appears to be footage from the helmet’s first time on the track.

GoPro says that the helmet is coming in 2027, solidifying the existence of a camera-clad motorcycle helmet after several hints since acquiring the Australian high-tech motorcycle brand Forcite Helmet Systems in early 2024.

Three years later, GoPro will finally bring its much-teased high-tech helmet to the market sometime in 2027. But outside of the date, full-face design, and the arguably obvious idea that it will have an action camera built in, the teaser doesn’t reveal many hints as to what other features the helmet will have.

Back in 2024, when GoPro first started hinting at helmets, GoPro’s flagship camera was still the Hero Black models. But now, GoPro has the Hero line and the larger-sensor Mission 1 series. Based on the sample footage that GoPro shared, I suspect the built-in camera will have more in common with the Hero13 Black than the new Mission 1 Pro.

The Mission 1 Pro’s larger sensor means the lens isn’t quite as wide, but most importantly for motorbike POV footage, the minimum focus distance is a longer 24 inches / 60 cm. The bike and hands in the sample footage look sharp, which hints towards a lens and sensor like the Hero13 Black with its 12-inch / 30 cm minimum focus distance.

I would be surprised if the upcoming helmet didn’t feature HyperSmooth, the stabilization that GoPro’s action cameras are known for.

The teaser says the helmet will give “riders all the tech + performance they need – built-in.” But GoPro doesn’t specifically mention what other tech will be built in. AGV currently doesn’t offer a full smart helmet, but models like the AGV Tourmodular offer a communication system built in.

Other smart helmets on the market that include built-in cameras often include other tech like a heads-up display, built-in speakers, Active Noise Cancellation, and crash detection technology. But GoPro fans will likely have to wait until 2027 to see what GoPro’s first tech helmet will entail beyond the integrated camera.

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In December 2025 we reported on the Z90 Master; DDPAI's then-new flagship dash cam. Boasting 4K front, 4K rear, and 3K cabin cameras, the 3-channel system looked like one of the best dash cams on the market. So how do you top that? Well, DDPAI may have just raised the bar even further with its latest flagship offering, the Z100 Master.

This is claimed to be "the world's first car camera with DualFocal technology and a smart aperture". Now, many products can be a 'world first' if you drill down far enough to find a unique detail, but the Z100 Master looks like a genuinely innovative dash cam. Its front-facing camera unit houses not one, but two forward-facing camera modules. One is a fairly standard 4K wide-angle camera with a 20mm-equivalent, 131-degree field of view. But the other front-facing module is a telephoto camera with an 86mm-equivalent, 28-degree field of view that records in 2K resolution. This pairing means you get the best of both worlds: a wide-angle field of view to capture as much of your surroundings as possible, supplemented by a telephoto camera that records the area of road directly in front of your vehicle in far greater detail, giving you a much better chance of accurately capturing license plates. DDPAI claims up to 100m of long-range visibility, with license plates being clearly readable at up to 60 meters.

This isn't the first dash cam with a telephoto camera: the VIOFO T340 also has a telephoto option, but in a separate camera that must be added alongside the main, wide-angle dash cam. The beauty of DDPAI's implementation is how the telephoto and wide-angle cameras are housed within a single dash cam unit, enabling easier and neater installation.

The Z100 Master also has a 4K rear camera, which like the front wide-angle camera uses Sony's IMX678 image sensor designed for dash cam and surveillance applications. So where some dash cams compromise on rear camera image quality, the Z100 Master should give you identical quality from both the main front camera and the rear camera.

But the telephoto camera isn't the only selling point with the Z100 Master. The wide-angle front-facing camera has a dual aperture lens that can automatically switch between f/1.0 and f/2.0 apertures. The idea is that in low light, the larger aperture allows more light in, resulting in brighter, clearer images with finer details, such as license plates. Whereas in brighter conditions the camera can switch to the f/2.0 aperture to achieve a more balanced exposure and reduce the chance of blown highlight details.

As you'd expect from a flagship dash cam, the Z100 Master has built-in Wi-Fi 6 connectivity for fast downloading of video clips to your phone in the event of a collision, or there's a 3" IPS LCD display that allows you to review recordings on the camera itself. 4G connectivity enables you to stay in contact with your vehicle and receive alerts wherever you are, for additional peace of mind.

GPS, BDS, GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS satellite location tracking systems are supported for reliable location and route tracking, while a supercapacitor provides a short-term power back-up that ensures crucial video date is saved in the event of a sudden power outage. The Z100 Master is also capable of parking monitoring with an optional hardwire kit. Choose between 5fps time-lapse continuous recording, or a collision detection mode that wakes the camera only if movement is detected. Parking mode also features advanced battery protection so your vehicle's battery won't be fully drained by the camera's operation.

Right now the DDPAI Z100 Master only seems to be available in Saudi Arabia, where it's priced at the equivalent of $480/£357. We look forward to more widespread availability soon.

Sony’s upcoming Rialto 65 cinema camera with a sensor that’s 2.2x larger than full-frame is no secret – but the camera giant has just unveiled the first footage shot with the upcoming camera system, along with the camera’s price tag.

The Sony Rialto 65 is an upcoming camera sensor that works with the company’s existing Venice 2 camera system. First teased back in July, the Rialto 65 has a sensor that’s 53.75mm wide and 35.83mm high. That’s about 2.2 times larger than a full-frame sensor. Sony says that makes it one of the largest commercially available sensors on a cinema camera, competing with other medium-format camera systems.

The Rialto 65 isn’t an entirely new camera but rather a sensor module for the existing Sony Venice 2, so it comes with the color science, 16-bit X-OCN recording, and other features already available from the Venice 2. Currently, the Venice 2 has two full-frame sensor options, one that’s 8.6K and one that’s 6K. The upcoming medium-format sensor will support 65mm format lenses, Sony says.

The upcoming sensor can attach directly to the camera system, but it can also be used in an extension mode where the head and camera body are separate for shooting in more compact spaces.

Watch the first sample footage from the Sony Rialto 65

Sony already shared that the new sensor was coming, but now the company has shared the first official footage coming from the upcoming sensor. Naturally, YouTube doesn’t even support 9.6K, and the footage is in 4K, but the footage offers some insight into the depth of field and low-light capabilities of the upcoming sensor.

"Local People," by Cinematographer Łukasz Żal, PSC, shows off the Sony Rialto 65's low-light capabilities and colors

Sony also offered one more bit of information that it didn’t share when first teasing the Rialto 65 back in July: the price. The Rialto 65 is expected to retail for $80,000 / CA$ 113,800 – which is about £59,811 / AU$113,658 at current exchange rates.

Sony is still expecting the Rialto 65 to arrive sometime in the first half of 2027, though the company notes that the timeline is still tentative.

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Dash cams have become increasingly popular in recent years – but these in-car boxes can often look rather boxy or plain ugly. South Korean manufacturer Vueroid is promising to change this with the introduction of its H1 QHD, which is designed to look different from its rivals.

The key attraction is its 1.6in circular touchscreen – which is meant to give you a device that feels similar to using a smartwatch. This interactive monitor works in conjunction with voice control to make it easy to set up the dashcam and make you less reliant on the phone app. We are told that users can easily start, stop, and save a manual recording, turn audio recording on or off, and activate Wi-Fi using voice commands, all hands-free.

Another useful feature is the simple parking feature, which allows you to recording when the camera is stationary without draining the car's battery. This is achieved by plugging the camera into an external power bank via its USB-C socket while you are parked up. An optional hardwiring kit is available if you want more advanced parking options.

The H1 QHD uses a 1/2.8in Sony IMX675 sensor with a 5 megapixel resolution, recording 2.5K (1440p) video. The lens of the front-facing camera gives a 120° view of the road in front of you. There is a built-in GPS to provide location data, a polarizing filter to minimize reflections from the windshiled, and a microSD card slot.

The unit measures 55 x 80 x 60mm and weighs 121g.

The Vueroid H1 QHD is now on sale for $167.99.

Check out our full guide to the best dash cams

When you think of cameras being hosted in museums, you probably think of early, Victorian era contraptions made of mahogany and brass. The sort of pioneering, cumbersome machinery that seems a million miles away from the sleek digital tech we covet today.

So it can feel jarring to learn that one of these modern devices has already earned its place in a major museum. But in this case, context is everything.

The Riedel RefCam weighs just 14g. It clips onto a headset. And it’s the actual unit that referee Slavko Vinčić wore during the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. This both helped him do his job and provided extra footage for broadcasters.

The tiny camera now sits opposite one from 1839, based on Louis Daguerre’s design, which weighs 7kg: that's 500 times heavier. It’s a neat visual shorthand to show how far technology has come.

Origin story

Riedel originally developed the RefCam with Patrick Kessel and Nicolas Winter, two referees in German's National League, as way for them to review matches from their own position on the pitch.

Its tiny head clips onto the headset that referees already use to talk to each other. It’s connected to a small beltpack, which can go in a pocket, on an armband, or on a belt. The camera shoots video up to 1080p, and a built-in mic picks up sound from the pitch.

Don't get too excited, though, because you can't actually buy one. Leagues and broadcasters can only book it as a managed service.

Shaky footage from a running referee is hard to use live, so FIFA’s technology partner Lenovo added a second, AI-based stabilization stage. That does, however, add a delay of about three seconds, so broadcasters mostly use the referee footage for replays.

The camera has also been used in handball and basketball, and Riedel’s brochure also mentions its use for fighting rings and ski slopes.

More broadly, it's a reminder to photographers and videographers that where you put the camera can matter more than how good the camera is. The RefCam puts viewers at eye level in the middle of the action, and the slightly shaky footage is part of what makes it feel real.

The RefCam is now on display in the Deutsches Museum’s photography and film exhibition. For more details, visit riedel.net.

The “handheld Hollywood” Sony FX5 cinema camera only existed for 24 hours before it was backordered due to the large number of pre-orders. After that initial popularity and a delay due to “production issues,” US retailers are now listing a mid-November ship date, while Sony UK’s ship date now appears to be pushed back until January.

Sony announced the FX5 on July 22, unveiling a compact cinema camera with a full-frame sensor, 5K open gate, and internal RAW recording. That puts the camera between the Sony FX3 and the FX6 in the company’s cinema lineup.

The camera was expected to be available in August 2026, but has since faced multiple delay announcements. Now, retailers in the US are listing a mid-November ship date for the camera, though Sony’s official US website doesn’t yet list a ship date.

Earlier this month, Sony UK was listing a November 16 ship date, but new orders for the camera now have a January ship date for the camera.

One day after the FX5 announcement, Sony Japan issued an apology saying that some customers could see delays due to a high number of pre-orders. Then in August, Sony Japan said shipments were delayed due to unspecified “production issues.”

Amid the production delay, some users on Reddit said they had experienced screen issues with the camera, leading to theories and rumors that the production issues could be related to the LCD screen housing.

Fans have long been waiting for a refresh of the 2021 Sony FX3, though the new FX5 doesn’t replace the FX3 but rather sits ahead of it in Sony’s cinema lineup. The initial delay suggests that the new body has been more popular than Sony expected.

The Sony FX5’s headline feature is 5K 60p open gate, recording to the full size of the 3:2 full-frame sensor for greater flexibility for formatting the video in post. At the announcement, Sony also said the FX5 would get 120p support with a future firmware update.

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You might already be familiar with the Viofo A329 – it’s a flagship dash cam that we awarded the full five stars to in 2025 – and now there’s a new version, called the A329S.

The biggest difference is this being a three-channel system, with forward, rearward and interior cameras all bundled into one kit. The standard A329 was a two-channel system that lacked an interior camera.

That interior camera looks good, too. It records infrared 2K video at 30 frames per second through an ultra-wide 210-degree fisheye lens. Not everyone needs a dash cam with an interior view, but for professionals like taxi drivers this extra view can be enormously helpful.

The rest of the system comes out swinging too. There are dual Sony Starvis 2 imaging sensors that promise strong low-light performance, Wifi 6, and support for recording directly to portable SSDs up to 4TB in capacity. The forward facing camera records 4K at 30 fps, or 60 fps when the interior camera isn’t in use.

At $470 the Viofo A329S is a seriously expensive dash cam, but all that money it promises to deliver a high-end three-channel system that leaves little on the table. Is it worth it? Read on to find out.

Viofo A329S: Specifications

Viofo A329S: Price

At £430 in the UK and $472 in the US, this is certainly an expensive dash cam kit. You get a lot for your money, but you should ask yourself if you really need everything the A329S has to offer before placing an order.

It’s more expensive than rivals like the Garmin X310 and Nextbase 622GW, but boasts features they miss, like an especially wide interior camera that could be invaluable to those who need it, such as taxi drivers.

Viofo A329S: Design & Handling

Much like other Viofo’s dash cams, the A329S has a small display and five buttons on the rear, a microSD card slot and connections for the rear and interior cameras on the right, and a USB-C port on the left.

A polarising lens filter for the front-facing camera is included in the box, along with a 12-volt lighter socket power adapter, a cable installation tool, and a set of three windscreen static stickers for sticking the cameras in place in a way that makes them both secure but also easily removable.

Every component feels like a high-quality item, with a premium aesthetic (as far as dash cams go, anyway).

But there are some important design constraints to be aware of before you install the A329S, especially if you live in a right-hand-drive country like the UK. Since the dash cam is removed by sliding it to the left from its mounting plate, make sure you don’t fix it just to the right of your central mirror housing (as I did), as there won’t be enough room to remove it.

Also make sure to mount the interior and rear cameras the right way up, which is easier said than done given their cylindrical design. If you don’t, like me, the video stream will be upside-down – something that’s quickly fixed in the Viofo smartphone app.

Viofo uses coaxial cables for connecting secondary cameras to the main unit, instead of the USB-style cables often used by rivals. This is welcome, since Viofo’s cables are thinner and therefore easier to tuck behind interior trim.

Each component of this three camera kit is relatively small, but in a compact car the main unit and interior camera still take up quite a lot of windshield space.

Viofo A329: Performance

Above: sample video shot with the Viofo A329S 3CH dashcam

A look at the specification sheet might already be enough to portray the A329S’ capabilities. It’s a flagship dash cam that can record in 4K, has three cameras, and captures excellent video from all of them.

This is fundamentally true of the standard A329 too, which I reviewed in 2025. The primary difference here is how the S model comes with an interior camera. This records at 2K resolution, with infrared night vision that automatically switches on in low light, and through a 210-degree lens. This is extremely wide for a dash cam – wider than I’ve ever seen on a dash cam, in fact – and captures a field-of-view that’s far larger than the rear camera (160 degrees) and front camera (140 degrees).

The result is a camera that doesn’t just capture the interior of your car (and your occupants, if you’re a taxi driver), but also a view through the side mirrors too. This gives the A329S the potential to capture evidence of a side impact, or an altercation that occurs alongside your car, or through the window.

Video quality is excellent from all three cameras, with the front-facing unit producing especially good footage with its 4K sensor. There’s very little grainy noise, as you often get from dash cams, and even at night recordings remain decent. You often can’t read a number plate in full darkness, but other details like street signs remained legible with very little illumination.

The rear-facing camera is less impressive, with passable daytime footage but fairly grainy results when recording at night. That said, it’s about on par with other high-end dash cams, and at 160 degrees has a wide field of view.

Naturally, an interior camera won’t be for everyone. Private motorists are unlikely to need footage of themselves driving and passengers, even family members, might well object to being recorded on every journey. But for taxi and ride-share drivers an interior view can be useful. And, where some cabin cameras are of fairly low quality, with middling resolution and a regular lens, the Viofo A329S performs brilliantly.

Viofo A329: Verdict

There’s very little to fault with this three-channel dash cam system. The front-facing camera’s 4K footage is excellent both during the day and in the dead of night, while the rear camera is passable and the interior view is extremely wide. This will only likely appeal to a few people – taxi drivers, mostly – but for them the very wide cabin view, with infrared night vision, will likely put the Viofo A329S above most, if not all, rivals.

The system is fairly easy to install, set up and use. But the nature of a three-channel dash cam means there are lots of cables to deal with, and this can be especially noticeable in smaller vehicles. You’ll need to spend time planning where to route them to keep the installation as tidy as possible.

Alternatives

As a rule, I'm very positive about Ring cameras – especially during sales events (top tip: you just missed the Prime Big Deals day, but Black Friday is less than two months away).

The other day, though, I was shown some footage which changed my mind about the camera's smart features which I've already tested out a few ways that might surprise readers. Where I live, however, in London, we don't see much wildlife – just adventurous cats and urban foxes that have decided they prefer ransacking the scraps bins of chicken shops more than fending for themselves in the countryside!

As such, most of my tests of the Ring camera's subject detection A.I. have revealed 'a person' or correctly spotted a pet.

There have been some funny ones, of course. I was also amused when the camera seemed to feel it had seen a little too much and decided 'kissing' was as much as it would say. Then again, that puts A.I. in very much the same mood as most British people – and Britishness will be important in this article – famously a nation with an understanding of awkwardness.

Identifying 'a person' is one thing, however. Wildlife is a bit more complicated. There are thousands of species and many have similar characteristics.

When you think about it, it is amazing that children can so readily identify the difference between (and group different types of) dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits and more besides – as well as knowing to give rogue lions a wide berth.

Children are 'trained' on picture books, nature films, and toys. A.I. is trained too, and far more extensively, you could argue. So you'd expect it could identify animals too.

Well, apparently not.

Or at least not entirely.

Instead, the A.I. is very good at suggesting that what it can see is one of a certain collection of animals. Animals common to American back yards are more likely to be suggested by the AI, as this video makes plain.

I imagine that's fine in the USA, but where we Brits are very happy to see one of our cute but big, omnivorous European Badgers (Meles meles), Americans might be a little more worried by the specially agressive, smaller, browner variant from the other side of the Atlantic (Taxidea taxus).

The Ring, however, identifies the European Badger as a skunk – suggesting that perhaps the A.I. training favors the U.S. interpretation.

Now this is just a theory for now, but I've reached out to Ring for comment.

An FCC filing has been made for the Insta360 Ace Pro 3 – the next generation of the company's 8K action camera. The filing letter for the new one suggests a timeline of confideality on details until March – perhaps the release window?

The original 8K Ace Pro was the first action camera I reviewed to boast 8K, but in the time since it came out, both DJI and GoPro have caught up with the technology and arguably added benefits of their own – not least the sensor sizes which

• 🆕 Ace Pro 3 registered with 🇺🇸 FCC
• 📈 Leaked pictures have implied bigger sensor is coming
• 🔋 Larger battery of 2250mAh is in leaked specs

The two generations of the Ace Pro series, however, retain a degree of their own personality, with a hinged rear display more like those seen on popular vlogging cameras than other action cameras.

Together with a series of accessories which even includes a printer, the device has established itself in the market, as a solid competitor.

The FCC filing includes a larger 2250 mAh battery capacity (beating the 1800mAh of the Ace Pro 2), and plenty of confirmation that the new camera will have dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but the other kind of details photographers might be interested in aren't shared in an FCC filing.

In previous editions – and indeed in the entire premium action camera space in recent years – low-light capability has been a significant area of technical growth as companies have added ever bigger sensors, first DJI's Osmo Action series (most recent being Osmo Action 6) and, more recently, the GoPro Mission 1 cameras.

So, we're left with rumors. What we're expecting to see is a 1-inch 50MP image sensor tuned by Leica, which would be consistent with the key competition, previous generations, and the Insta360 Luna Ultra.

There are some photos in the EUT test which shouldn't have leaked from the FCC filing but we've seen, and they seem to show a protruding lens a little bigger than the previous edition, suggesting that bigger sensor might be on the way, and there appears to be a button on the upper left side (power button in a new place?)

It seems impossible to roll back on 8K video, but the more useful 4K at 120fps with 10-bit color might come too.

I've seen no discussion of a variable aperture anywhere yet. DJI has managed this with the Osmo Action 6, and noteably the iPhone 18 Pro series also has the same feature (though the GoPro Missions cameras opted not to and I was told by a representative that it was an unnecessary moving part on an action camera).

We will wait and see (and expect some discounts on the Ace Pro 2).

In the meantime the AcePro 2 has a low-light mode and is one of my choice for our best action camera guide, and I have also assessed it against its key competitors in GoPro Mission 1 Pro v Osmo Action 6 v Ace Pro 2

GoPro’s first mirrorless camera brings adjustable focal lengths and bokeh to the action camera giant – but the fixed-lens Mission 1 cameras just got a hint of that versatility with new lens mods. The new PolarPro Mission 1 close-up filters bring lens mods to GoPro’s new one-inch sensor cameras.

Compatible with both the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro, the new PolarPro filters come as a single .5x strength filter, or a three-pack that has a .5x, 1x, and 2x close-up filter inside. The filters allow the fixed-lens Mission cameras to shoot tighter shots, focus closer, and create more background blur.

The Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro use a fixed-focus wide-angle lens, which means everything from about 24 inches / 60 cm and farther is in focus. While that makes shooting action simpler, it leaves little opportunity to create dramatic background blur.

The close-up filters help with that – but also take away the camera’s almost-everything-is-in-focus style of lens. With the .5 strength filter, everything from about 19.6 in (50cm) to 59 inches (150cm) in front of the camera is in focus. The +1 strength filter takes that to about 17.7-35.4 inches (45-90 cm), and the +2 strength down to a narrow 11.8-19.6 inches (30-50 cm) distance for extreme close-ups.

While filters won’t create the adjustable focus of the swappable lenses on the mirrorless Mission 1 Pro ILS, the filters bring some flexibility to the fixed-lens models. The Mission 1’s larger sensor means the camera doesn’t focus as close as the company’s smaller-sensor cameras. The Hero13 Black, for example, has a minimum focus distance of about 12 inches / 30cm – about twice as close as the Mission 1.

The Mission 1’s longer minimum focus distance may be particularly challenging for holding out the camera for selfies and vlogging without using a tripod or selfie stick. The close-up filters can help the Mission 1 cameras get a close-focus distance closer to smaller sensor cameras like the Hero13 Black.

GoPro says that the .5 strength filter is ideal for vlogging and travel footage, while the stronger +1 and +2 diopters create a more dramatic subject separation and background blur.

The PolarPro close-up filters push onto the front of the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro. The filters are built with 16 different coatings to help reduce flare and repel fingerprints. The filters are splashproof, but not designed for underwater shots.

PolarPro says the filters are impact-resistant, and they come with a protective cover (which can also be used while mounted on the GoPro like a lens cap). The filters cannot be stacked, but the new diopters will still work with GoPro’s ND filters and also don’t interfere with the Point-and-shoot Grip or Media Mod.

While GoPro has made lens mods in the past, the new close-up accessories come from filter maker PolarPro – though they will also be sold directly from GoPro’s website.

The single +.5 filter retails for $49.99 / £49.99, with the three-filter set for $99.99 / £100.

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GoPro’s previously announced plans to merge with US optics brand Starman Optical Inc. are moving forward as the action camera giant files preliminary stock market paperwork.

On October 19, GoPro filed the preliminary proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, bringing the two companies closer to finalizing the proposed merger.

"Filing the preliminary proxy is the next step toward closing, and we're working closely with Starman to complete the remaining steps efficiently," GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman said.

The CEO of Starman Holding, meanwhile, says that the filing is a signal that the process is on track. “Both companies and management teams remain fully aligned and committed to completing the proposed transaction on the previously announced terms as quickly as possible,” Starman Holdings CEO Charles Tebele said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the action camera giant announced plans to merge with the US-based company that manufactures optical transceivers, a key component in building AI data centers. Woodman previously said that the merger would help GoPro become more diversified, reassuring fans of its action cameras that “Making amazing cameras for all of you is our core DNA and reason for being and that will never change!”

With the proxy statement, GoPro also released updated financial statements after an audit conducted as part of the merger indicated errors in debt accounting. The refiled quarterly and annual financial reports show that GoPro’s first-quarter loss and 2025 fiscal year loss were both better than originally reported, though the company’s second-quarter results were worse than originally reported.

GoPro says those accounting errors were for defaults on debt agreements, which do not affect the reported revenue and cash flows, and that the company has already obtained waivers.

The planned merger stems from GoPro’s announcement back in May that it was considering potential mergers or sale. Shortly after, GoPro filed stock market paperwork that warned of “substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue” if the company’s financials did not change.

If the merger proceeds as originally planned, the move would leave GoPro largely debt-free. Woodman said that the move could help GoPro "grow across consumer, commercial and defense markets."

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The Nikon ZR has been named by Time Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2026, praising the mirrorless camera for attempting to bridge the gap between social-media video creators and high-end video production.

It noted the camera’s integrated RED color science and arguably the Nikon ZR’s most high-profile creator, Jason Momoa. Just last week, the Aquaman actor was given a pair of custom all-brass Nikon ZR cameras for use in his On the Roam documentary series.

A growing list of accolades

Recognition from Time Magazine is the latest in a growing list of industry awards for the Nikon ZR, which took gold at the EISA Awards in the Photo/Video Camera category, while it also triumphed in the TIPA World Awards in the Best Advanced Compact Cinema Camera category, as well as earning product design accolades at the Red Dot Awards and iF Design Awards.

One-of-a-kind cinema camera

It’s not surprising that the Nikon ZR has proven a critical darling. Digital Camera World labelled the camera “a brilliant ‘baby’ RED cinema camera at a barely believable price.” Beyond the camera’s celebrated Z-mount lineage, it stands out among many of its peers for its fanless design, in-camera 32-bit float audio, 7.5 stops of in-body image stabilization, and gorgeous 4-inch rear LCD screen.

The shallow grip and rectangular, viewfinderless form factor is highly riggable, and despite lacking a chunky onboard fan, its passive cooling system manages to keep internals cool by allowing heat to pass through the camera’s magnesium-alloy body. As for core video specs, the headline is that coveted internal R3D NE recording, with video footage maxing out at 6K / 60p and 4K / 120p (cropped).

If you’re a run-and-gun videographer looking for an affordable and portable cinema camera that breaks the mould slightly, then the Nikon ZR comes highly recommended.

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The market for pocket-sized gimbal cameras is becoming increasingly crowded, with manufacturers seemingly falling over themselves to offer more features, better video quality, and ever more impressive specifications. But in a sea of products that often feel remarkably similar, Insta360 has somehow managed to cut through all the noise with the Luna Pro.

Just look at what the Insta360 Luna Pro offers: stunning 8K video recording, Dolby Vision color, Leica color profiles, and a beautiful Leica co-engineered lens. I mean, on paper, it sounds incredible. And having spent the past month using one, I can tell you that it really is incredible. But here is the thing. None of those features are what make this, in my eyes, the best pocket gimbal camera on the market. That honor goes to one seemingly simple addition that completely changes the way you use it: the removable control center with its 2-inch OLED touchscreen.

When I first saw that little screen detach from the camera, I genuinely thought I was looking at the future of filmmaking. Now, after a month of putting it through its paces, I am convinced that it is the future. It is revolutionary, not necessarily because the technology itself is particularly complicated, but because of the creative freedom it gives you.

Suddenly, you can position your camera almost anywhere, step away, monitor your framing, and control everything from the palm of your hand. It sounds almost too simple, but that is precisely why it works so well. However, the most important thing about this entire experience is something that rarely gets discussed enough when we talk about cameras. It is fun. Proper, laugh-out-loud, make-you-want-to-go-out-and-film-something fun. And in my book, fun is absolute gold.

I have never had so much fun with a little camera in my life. I am talking about the kind of fun that has me channeling my inner Casey Neistat, filming my morning coffee for absolutely no reason other than the fact that I can.

I have found myself putting the Luna Pro in trees, positioning it in ridiculous places, and standing several feet away talking to what must look like a small piece of technology growing out of a branch. Anyone walking past probably thinks I have lost the plot, but I genuinely don't care.

That is the beauty of this camera. It makes me want to create things, experiment with angles, and capture moments I would ordinarily walk straight past. And when a camera makes you want to use it more, that is when you know a manufacturer has got something right. Fun sells, but more importantly, fun inspires creativity.

Of course, all that enjoyment would mean very little if the results were disappointing, but the Luna Pro absolutely delivers where it matters. The 8K footage looks fantastic, the subject tracking is remarkably effective, and the combination of Dolby Vision and those lovely Leica color profiles gives you plenty of creative possibilities straight out of the camera. Then there is the audio.

Having a microphone built directly into the detachable control center is such a clever idea that I am surprised more manufacturers haven't embraced it. You can simply hold the screen in your hand, talk to it, and capture your audio without needing to rig up an entirely separate microphone system for everyday pieces to camera. It feels professional, it looks professional, and, most importantly, the results are professional. There is a reason this little camera has Pro in its name.

What really strikes me, though, as someone who also operates a Red cinema camera, is just how much creative freedom the Luna Pro offers without all the usual friction. If I wanted to create a comparable tracking shot with my Red, I could be looking at a tripod or support rig, a LiDAR autofocus system, and potentially another operator to manage the camera movement. Suddenly, what should be a simple idea becomes a production in itself.

There is equipment to set up, things to balance, cables to manage, and time disappearing before you have even pressed record. With the Luna Pro, I can switch it on, unfold those wonderfully simple paperclip-like tripod legs, position it on a fence post, trash can, or wall, activate the subject tracking, and start filming in seconds. No additional operator, no complicated setup, and no unnecessary fuss. Just an idea and a camera that is ready to capture it. That is practical, that is efficient and, above all, that is fun. Yet the finished footage can still look remarkably professional.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of situations where my Red cinema camera will absolutely be the right tool for the job, and I would never suggest otherwise. But for the other 99% of everyday life, the little moments, the adventures, the spontaneous ideas, and those occasions when you simply want to create something because you feel like it, the Insta360 Luna Pro is becoming an essential part of my everyday carry.

It is compact, capable, and genuinely exciting to use, which is a combination that is becoming increasingly difficult to find in a world obsessed with specifications and technical perfection.

I have spent years working with cameras of all shapes, sizes, and prices, and very few have made me feel quite like this. The Luna Pro has somehow managed to make this rather sensible, bordering-on-boring journalist want to go outside, experiment, create, and act like a complete goofball with a camera again. And you know what? That feeling is absolutely priceless.

Let’s face it, GoPro used to have a monopoly on the action camera market. Until fairly recently, if you went out to buy one, you’d expect one of the GoPro range to be at the top of your list, not least because there simply wasn’t all that much competition. Models like the revered GoPro Hero 13 Black were the go-to choice. Those days are a thing of the past, however, and today there is far more choice for consumers.

In fact, such is the variety of high-quality action camera models that GoPro’s fortunes have severely reversed, and the future of the American manufacturer who kicked off the action cam revolution in general circulation is looking uncertain, even after the recent release of the high-spec GoPro Mission 1 Pro.

Probably the biggest rival today is DJI, which has strayed from its already prime position in the drone market into action cameras, with promising results. In fact, the Osmo Action 6 is often rated as one of the best enthusiast options on the market today.

At the other end of the scale is SJCam. While DJI is already a brand with a pedigree, the Chinese firm is much less well-known and so obviously comes with a greater level of skepticism attached, not least because of the price.

The photography industry has become a little more accustomed to Chinese products being available for a lot less than their Western counterparts – the likes of Thypoch, TTArtisan, and Laowa lenses to name a few, along with Xiaomi on the smartphone side – but the jury is out on whether the same balance of price and performance can be applied to action cameras.

SJCAM SJ30: Specifications

SJCAM SJ30: Price

The SJCAM SJ30's biggest selling point is its specification-to-price balance. As far as action cams go, the SJ30 is cheap, being priced at $259 / £260 / $399.95 AUD in a wireless mic bundle. That's insanely good value for a first action cam, allowing you to get used to how they work and get creative with extreme compositions and action images.

For the basic camera-only option, you pick one up for as little as £199 in the UK.

SJCAM SJ30: Design & Handling

Upon picking up the SJ30, it’s clear that there haven’t been too many compromises on the build quality. I guess there is only so much you can scale back on investment in the construction of a camera designed for extreme sports or underwater use, of course, but the body doesn’t feel any less robust than the DJI Osmo Action 6, for example.

The plastic and polymer composite shell feels like it could take a few knocks and scrapes. The High-strength structural ABS/polycarbonate doesn’t depress when pressure is applied and it seems resistant to light scratching.

I dropped it a few times, from head height, and it was unscathed, which is good news for those who plan to use it for mountain biking purposes or another extreme spot such as skiing or climbing. I’m not saying I’d be happy dropping it off the summit of El Capitan, but it holds its own against the competition.

It also has sealing in all the right places. At the bottom right side of the body you’ll find the microSD card slot and USB-C port, both neatly tucked behind a door that closes flush into the shell. Meanwhile, the power button and record button are both tightly integrated into the chassis to prevent water or dust ingress.

The layout is actually very streamlined. The SJ30 doesn’t have that many physical controls – I just listed all of them – which is potentially attractive to novice users. It’s pretty much set up and ready to go right out of the box, and with two clicks you can start capturing footage. Everything else is consigned to the menu system, which is both a blessing and a curse.

On one hand, it helps keep the body minimalistic, but on the other you need to navigate to the function you want to adjust by swiping across the LCD. Once you get used to the design of the menus, you’ll probably commit much of it to muscle memory, but I found it a little unintuitive across the several days I had with the camera.

Speaking of the LCD, this is one of the most notable aspects of the SJ30. It lacks a front screen, but instead makes use of an articulated main LCD that flips up through 180 degrees to enable selfie shooting (perhaps the inspiration was the Insta360 AcePro 2). I actually think I prefer this to using the tiny, 1.46-inch forward panel on the Osmo Action 6 or the GoPro Hero 13 Black’s 1.4-in monitor, which are questionably useful beyond roughly assessing video composition on the move.

It’s a neatly integrated feature that is more familiar to vloggers using larger mirrorless camera systems. It also allows a larger preview of the composed frame and at a higher resolution. The downside is potentially degraded rigidity when deployed. Any flippable screen requires a hinge that can prove to be a weak point when subjected to force – the type experienced when falling off a bike or rock wall, for example.

I’ll give the SJ30 its due; the said hinge is nicely reinforced, and you’d likely need to apply a strong twisting force to break it off, but there is no free lunch when it comes to working with technology in harsher conditions, and it’s something to be conscious of.

SJCAM SJ30: Performance

On paper, the specs are impressive, but that doesn’t always say much about how a camera actually performs in the field. The SJCam is not especially quick to boot up, nor is it the speediest in operation. After pressing the power button, there can be up to a ten-second pause before the camera is ready to use. This starts with a momentary black screen, followed by a message saying “System booting up” – not something I’ve seen in a camera since using a basic compact back in around 2008.

It even takes a moment to shut down too. Clearly, processing power is limited, which proves frustrating in the most fast-paced of shooting scenarios. On several occasions, my subject had moved on by the time the SJ30 was up and running. Not that you’d try to shoot wildlife or the Olympics with an action cam, but if you want to start shooting inconspicuously, it’s not ideal having to repeatedly look down at the screen to check if you’re able to start recording.

The same thing happens when moving through the menus. While the LCD itself is quite responsive to the touch, there is a notable hiatus before the next menu screen appears. Again, it’s not a deal breaker for absolute beginners, especially if you are using the camera for casual filming while on vacation, but it can hold you up if precise timing and quick reactions are paramount.

Now, let’s talk about image quality. SJCam was only too keen to shout about the 8K resolution, but I was dubious from the moment I read the press release. Yes, it is an 8K camera, but the big caveat is that, in this mode, you’re limited to a frame rate of 20fps. That’s not going to cut it for many action cam devotees.

Shooting at 20p isn’t sufficient for capturing ultra-fast motion – already a red flag for a camera supposedly designed to do exactly that – and it’s an irregular frame rate for editing purposes. Most cameras shoot at a standardized 24fps or 30fps as their minimum.

This might therefore cause you a headache if you plan to cut footage from the SJ30 into video captured by another model, or your mirrorless camera, on the same timeline in DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro. Even moderately ‘stretching’ clips from the SJ30 to fit a faster frame rate has the potential to cause distortion or ugly choppiness.

Thankfully, there is an option to shoot at 6K30p, 4K60p, or even 240p in FHD mode.

The image quality itself is acceptable in good light, if not spectacular. Footage is a little too processed by default (for my tastes, anyway) and video takes on an oversharpened look. When paused, or when looking at a still image, it almost looks like the detail slider in older versions of Adobe Camera Raw has been dragged too far to the right – that’s a descriptive, if not slightly niche, analogy.

Colours don’t have the organic flavor of the Osmo Action 6 or Hero 13 Black, and video from the SJ30 just looks very….digital. Contrast is too high in the 8K mode, while also suffering from a constricted dynamic range. Highlights are quick to burn out to solid white, and shadow areas block up rapidly, too.

The Dual-Lens System is an interesting approach, and I appreciate what SJCAM was trying to achieve. Having a separate lens with a wider aperture for low-light video is a good idea. However, there isn’t a huge difference in brightness between the two optics, and both sensors are still much smaller than the competition (the Osmo Action 6 has a 1/1.1-inch sensor). The result is comparatively poor low-light performance, not aided by rather aggressive noise reduction.

Battery life isn’t incredible but will be fine for most of the intended users of the camera. I managed around half a day on a single charge, shooting a “standard” mix of video and still images.

SJCAM SJ30: Verdict

The SJ30 isn’t going to win any awards for absolute image quality, and it is no match for the more powerful GoPro Hero 13 Black or DJI Osmo Action 6. The 8K resolution is, regrettably, more of a headline-grabber than a genuinely usable mode for high-end video capture. To be honest, I can’t see why a beginner would need 8K files to begin with, and they’d only serve to eat up storage capacity.

In good light, and when shooting in 4K or even 1080p, video is reasonable for social media use and general recording. It does tend to take on an over-processed, police body cam-like appearance, but for capturing basic B-roll for Instagram Reels or TikTok, it’ll suffice.

Of course, we can’t ignore the price. Starting at around $259, you’re getting a lot of features for the money, so the SJ30 wins quite a few points for value. If you’re looking for your first action cam, or need a sacrificial unit for placing in shooting positions that are almost guaranteed to destroy any imaging equipment, the SJ30 might be your best option. Otherwise, it’s probably better to invest a little more for a more established brand.

Alternatives

Camp Snap cameras are first known for the screen-free design – but the wide variety of color options may be a close second. Now, the screen-free brand’s first video shooter is getting its first set of custom colors. The Camp Snap CS-8 is getting three new color options.

The Camp Snap CS-8 is a digital video camera inspired by retro Super 8 cameras, down to the trigger-style shooting and oversized shape. The original launch mixed a classic black wrap with silver accents.

Now, the popular screen-free camera will gain three new color options in addition to the original black: Espresso (brown), Champagne (off-white), and Rose (pink). The new colorways also change up the accent color. Rose goes pink on even the shiny accent pieces, while Champagne goes for a gold hue instead of silver, and Espresso opts for white accents.

The launch brings a more custom look to the popular retro video camera while maintaining the same 2.7K resolution and five customizable video filters as the original.

But perhaps even more interesting is that Camp Snap is also dropping a major hint as to just how popular the CS-8 has been. The camera has sold $20M (about £15M / AU$28 / CA$28M) over an 11-month period, according to Camp Snap, which feels quite impressive for a camera that retails for $199 / £147 / AU$302.

The retro camcorder has also been spotted in the hands of several celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Alix Earle, Selena Gomez, Joe Jonas, and the US Men’s Hockey team.

Screen-free cameras have been rising in popularity, and now several brands have launched versions of cameras built for unplugging. The $20 million in sales hints that the screen-free trend is a pretty significant one.

When I shot with the CS-8, I loved how the footage felt immediately like an old memory. The small sensor isn’t built for modern videos – though the aspect ratio dial is – and the video footage feels just as retro as the camera looks.

The downside of that Super 8-inspired design is that packing one on a trip does take up quite a bit of room, but the retro dials are a charming trade-off.

The new Camp Snap CS-8 colors will be available alongside the original black from the Camp Snap store.

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I don’t often find myself agreeing with super-basic cameras that tout extreme simplicity in the same vein as instant cameras, because, like instant cameras, they typically end up being one-use-and-done kind of devices with customers.

However, this forthcoming Super8-inspired video camera that is designed not only to replicate the nostalgic aesthetic of the legendary film cine camera, but also to be super intuitive with only the bare essential features, has caught my eye.

What's more, it looks to borrow heavily in terms of both looks and functionality from the Camera Snap CS-8 cine-inspired camcorder that was launched last year – a camera which my colleague, Hillary Grigonis, loved for its simplicity and retro footage.

The Aura6 is currently a Kickstarter project set to launch on October 13, and its creators are really touting the whole less-is-more approach. The camera, which is an obvious tribute to Kodak Super8, features a record button, an electronic viewfinder, a built-in lens, and a detachable mic. That’s it – no LCD playback screen, no settings menu, and no switching between recording modes.

And while none of that stands out as anything truly different to what we’ve seen in countless point-and-shoot cameras over the years, it’s how the camera processes the digital footage that I really like.

The Aura6 only records up to 6-second clips in 4:3 aspect ratio and at 18 frames per second. A “roll” of footage can only be up to three minutes long, with the creators saying this is to “keep you in the moment.” But where the magic seemingly lies is the in-built functionality that automatically compiles your roll in the order you shot the clips into a final movie.

This, for me, is what could see the Aura6 could be a handy first foray into filming, or even a fun device for more experienced filmmakers looking to capture moments without being in “pro” mode. I have to say, I can really see the appeal with this camera, especially as it’s seemingly a perfect social media content generator.

While the device is geared toward simplicity, and a more premium-looking finish could put people off, the overall build of this camera does, to my eye, reflect throwaway cameras to an extent.

Hopefully the early bird price – $179 (excluding sales tax) or approximately £163 in the UK (where sales tax is 20%) – means that it is sturdier than an instant film camera and boasts longevity.

Anyway, the Aura6 goes live on Kickstarter October 13 at 12pm EDT / 5pm BST. Are we about to see a flurry of more Super8-esque nostalgic short movies flood Instagram? Maybe…

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I have been testing quite a few video or cine cameras recently because – no pun intended – this is where all the action is at the moment. For various reasons, things have gone a bit quiet in terms of new mirrorless cameras, which are, as is now a popular phrase – ‘photo first’. In comparison, things seem to be ticking along very nicely in the world of cameras which are primarily intended for video applications – from social media posts all the way up to television or cinema productions. Both Canon and Nikon are really ramping up their video activities with Nikon, in particular, diving in at the deep end with its acquisition of RED, which is already a well-established name in professional cinema cameras.

However, the hot category at the moment can be loosely classified as the compact cine camera… as exemplified by Nikon’s ZR, Canon’s EOS R6 V and EOS C50 and Sony’s recently-arrived FX5… ultimately to replace the hugely popular FX3. The Canon and Nikon models are hybrid designs so they’re also well-equipped in terms of their stills capabilities… largely using the same sensors and processors as cameras in their systems that are more traditionally photographic. Video, of course, is an immensely powerful communications medium and everywhere these days – even on advertising billboards, once the exclusive domain of professional photography – so it’s not surprising that demand for higher-end ‘video-first’ cameras is increasing, but would you necessarily go down this route when the higher-end hybrid mirrorless cameras are also now so good at video?

A distinguishing aspect of the compact cine camera is its form factor, designed primarily to make for easier use with a gimbal or in a cage. To some extent these applications also dictate the control layout and the user interface plus – in most examples so far – the deletion of a built-in viewfinder. This primarily allows for a smaller, lighter, and more uniformly shaped camera body.

Yet an attraction of the compact cine camera is that it can be used handheld with all the mobility and spontaneity that this allows… which is when you’ll be wanting an EVF, right? So Sony is offering an add-on finder for the new FX5 and this looks like a good compromise solution because, for the times when you don’t need eyelevel viewfinding, you can simply take it off. ‘Smart’ hotshoes make the accessory EVF easy to do these days and I reckon it’s just what this camera needs so it’ll work as well for photographers as videographers.

An interesting aspect of the ZR is that its external control arrangement and largely monitor-based operation – ostensibly optimized for video – also work equally smoothly and efficiently when shooting stills. And, in this department, it’s pretty well the same as the Z6III except for the absence of a physical shutter (not such a big deal given the faster read-out speed of its partially-stacked sensor). With the option of an add-on EVF, would the ZR be a better buy than the Z6III? The cost of the accessory finder would reduce the current price difference, but for some photographers – especially those also shooting video for clients – the ZR could be the more flexible camera, not to mention its smoother operability compared to the old-school DSLR-derived mirrorless bodies.

It really was a revelation how nice the ZR was to use for photography – with the absence of a viewfinder being its biggest failing in this application – so perhaps if video is going to be a key driver of future mirrorless camera designs, it will actually be a positive for everybody. Flexibility and adaptability are the essentials of today’s professional imaging business – both for the practitioners and the equipment. And because of the widely varying demands now on them, these are the inherent design elements of this new breed of compact higher-end video cameras. Fitting whatever accessory component is needed for a particular application – an eyelevel viewfinder, for example – was the brilliance of Victor Hasselblad’s original modular 6x6cm SLR – and it could now also be the future of professional cameras… hybrid in both function and form.

The twice-delayed popular Sony FX5 cinema camera may not begin shipping until November after two delays.

The Sony FX5 had only been around for a day before Sony announced that an unusually high number of pre-orders meant the cinema camera would be delayed. But then in August, the camera was delayed again, this time “due to production issues” with an unknown ship date.

Sony Japan updated that delay announcement again in September, changing the estimated shipping date from “unknown” to “late October or later” (translated by Google).

Now, Sony UK is listing a November 16 ship date for pre-orders. Sony’s US website isn’t currently taking pre-orders and doesn’t list a ship date, though pre-orders are open at a few retailers. In the US, Adorama lists the expected availability as October 15.

The first delay announcement was due to an unexpected number of pre-orders, suggesting that the FX5’s 5K open date and internal RAW made the cinema camera more popular than Sony first anticipated.

The second delay, however, was announced for “production issues,” but Sony didn’t specify what those issues were.

While Sony hasn’t specified what the production issues are, one Sony user based in Mexico City shared a video on Reddit suggesting that the production issue could lie in the LCD screen. In the video, the LCD screen appears to be coming loose from its housing, exposing some of the camera’s electronics inside the housing for the flip screen.

The post shared on Reddit claims that the videographer received three Sony FX5 bodies from initial pre-orders and that all three cameras are sharing the same screen issue. Another Reddit user posted a video in the comments showing a slight separation of the screen, while many Redditors are theorizing that the LCD screen could be the reason behind the delay.

While a production issue is rarely a good thing, original rumors worried that the AI-fueled memory shortage could be having an impact. Sony Rumors is hoping the LCD issue is something that's easier to correct than a global chip shortage.

Sony’s warranty against manufacturer defects varies by country, but the company has a one-year warranty on the FX5 in the US and two years in the UK.

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The compact camera sits among the photography industry’s biggest trends – but a new report suggests that there’s actually a non-pro, compact category that may be outselling the viral point-and-shoot: the gimbal camera.

A new report from market research firm IDC hints that brands have sold nearly 2.8 million gimbal cameras in the second quarter of 2026 alone, a massive 87 percent increase over the same time last year.

Looking at data from the Camera and Imaging Products Association – which only tallies numbers from participating Japanese brands – the number of compact cameras sold in all of 2025 numbered 2.3 million.

That means that, globally, gimbal cameras sold more in three months than compact cameras from Japanese camera brands for all of last year.

Comparing the numbers that only come from Japanese brands and a global report is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. CIPA data includes the biggest camera makers from Japan, but in the compact camera category in particular, that’s going to exclude point-and-shoots like those from Kodak. Some Kodak-branded cameras have been particularly popular, like the viral Kodak Charmera, so excluding brands outside Japan may skew the numbers more than just a little bit.

Regardless, the numbers are staggering and suggest explosive growth for the gimbal camera category. The gimbal camera was first popularized by the DJI Pocket series, but the viral success of cameras like the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 – now on its fourth generation with the Pocket 4 and 4P – has led to an uptick in competition, such as the Insta360 Luna Ultra and the upcoming Hohem Eyepic.

The report predicts that gimbal cameras, together with action cameras and 360 cameras, could reach 41 million cameras sold annually by 2030 – and the gimbal camera is currently the largest of those three categories.

According to the report, gimbal cameras outnumbered the more standard action camera category in the second quarter as well, selling 2.8 million compared to 2.55 million action cameras. “Panoramic cameras” – better known as 360 cameras – grew four percent but numbered far fewer at 530,000 in that three-month period.

I immediately understood the draw of the gimbal category after first trying one out. Gimbal cameras are built for stabilized video without the complexity of pro rigs, but beyond that, they can track moving subjects and simplify cinematic camera moves. Video tends to be the medium with the most engagement on social media in recent years, likely adding even more to the appeal of a capable but uncomplicated video camera.

Another relatively new camera format is also rising in popularity, according to the report. IDC says that “thumb cameras,” tiny action cameras that detach from a larger base, have grown 300 percent compared to the same time frame last year. The category includes tiny wearable cameras like the Insta360 Go 3S and the DJI Osmo Nano.

The report also offers an unusual look at what brands are dominating those three camera categories. DJI remains the dominant player, responsible for 73 percent of the cameras in those categories shipped in the second quarter. While DJI has led the segment for some time, IDC says that’s a record high and an 11 percent jump from the same time last year.

While DJI is responsible for nearly three out of every four cameras in those categories, Insta360 follows with around one in five. Perhaps even more interesting is that other brands, including GoPro, account for only around ten percent.

That data highlights GoPro’s recent financial struggles as the action camera maker finalizes plans to merge with another company to pay off its debts. IDC suggests that GoPro’s second-quarter camera sales declined 49 percent compared to the same time last year.

But several recent changes will make it interesting to see where future reports put the camera known for creating the action camera category in the first place. First, GoPro has now launched a new larger sensor series, the GoPro Mission 1. The camera is arguably less unusual than the introduction of DJI’s Pocket series, but brings a long-awaited larger sensor as well as a more niche mirrorless camera.

The other factor that will be interesting to watch play out is shipments to the US. DJI’s newly announced products – including the Pocket 4 and Osmo 360 II – can’t get the necessary FCC approval to be officially sold in the US. The IDC data suggests that 65 percent of GoPro’s sales are already focused on the Americas.

The report predicts that the “handheld smart camera” category that includes everything from gimbal cameras and action cameras to thumb cameras and 360 cameras will grow to 41 million by 2030, a one million camera increase over IDC’s prediction from earlier this year.

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Browse the best gimbal cameras or the best action cameras.

70mai has revealed two new high-end front+rear dash cams capable of 4K front and 4K rear video recording. Headlining the duo is the A900 Ultra. This front+rear dash cam uses Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 sensors in both cameras, enabling true HDR recording from both cameras, with smart HDR switching that adapts to different lighting conditions. With this advanced sensor tech, 70mai states that the A900 Ultra can capture sharper details, clearer license plates, and more reliable road evidence in every driving scenario.

LVDS (Low-Voltage Differential Signaling) Lossless Digital Transmission preserves original image data from the rear camera without compression or quality loss, while also maintaining an ultra-low 20ms latency and consuming minimal power. 70mai has also leveraged the power of AI to enhance image quality in day and night conditions, courtesy of its Owl Vision 2.0, MaiColor Vivid+ Solution 2.0, and Lumi Vision technologies. These intelligently balance exposure, reduce noise, enhance detail, and preserve critical evidence with "exceptional clarity".

As you'd expect from a premium dash cam, the A900 Ultra is capable of parking monitoring. Features such as collision detecting with pre-recording, AI-powered motion detection, and dual-channel time-lapse recording help keep your vehicle protected while you're away, with the camera’s low power consumption enabling up to 30 days of parking protection without draining your vehicle's battery. An optional hardwire kit is required for parking monitoring, but if - like me - you'd rather not have the hassle of installing a hardware kit, 70mai also offers Battery Pack Mini. This is an optional battery that can be stored inside the cabin which provides dedicated power for parking surveillance and is charged through your car's 12V power outlet.

Another optional upgrade is the 4G transmitter module. This allows you to access the dash cam remotely to view or download footage, locate your vehicle, or upload an emergency video. The camera's Wi-Fi 6 5GHz also enables close-range wireless viewing and downloading of footage via the companion app with fast transfer speeds.

The 70mai A900 Ultra is available to pre-order now, with shipments commencing on November 1st. Prices start at $239.99/£206.79, rising to $399.99 for the camera, 4G transmitter and parking mode battery bundle.

Launched alongside the flagship A900 Ultra is the regular A900. This is also a front+rear dash cam with both cameras recording in 4K, however the A900 doesn't use the same premium STARVIS 2 IMX678 sensors as found in the A900 Ultra. Otherwise its parking mode and wireless connectivity features seem the same as you get with the A900 Ultra. The A900 is available to buy now, priced at $199.99/£199.99.

Pre-order the 70mai A900 Ultra from 70mai direct
Buy the 70mai A900 now from Amazon US

There is something slightly amusing about seeing the Leica name attached to an action camera.

Leica, after all, is a company we associate with beautifully engineered rangefinder cameras, expensive glass and a photographic philosophy built around slowing down and concentrating on the image.

Action cameras traditionally occupy almost the exact opposite end of photography: tiny boxes strapped to helmets, handlebars, cars and occasionally places where no sensible camera should ever go.

Yet the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 has been developed with Leica involvement, pairing its 1/1.3-inch sensor with Leica optics and promising image quality that goes considerably beyond what we once expected from this category.

That got me thinking: are these great images for an action camera or are they simply great images, period?

There was only one sensible way to find out, so I took the Ace Pro 2 into the field alongside my own Leica M240 to see whether a camera engineered with Leica could really stand beside one actually made by Leica.

Before anyone reaches for the pitchforks, this is absolutely not a scientific comparison. We already know which camera should win.

My Leica M240 uses a 24MP full-frame sensor, while the Ace Pro 2 is built around a much smaller 1/1.3-inch sensor capable of producing 50MP still images alongside 8K video. The lenses, sensor areas, image processing, shooting experience and frankly the entire purpose of these cameras are completely different.

I was never expecting the Ace Pro 2 to suddenly make my M240 redundant. What interested me far more was seeing just how close an action camera could now get to producing an image I would genuinely be happy to call a photograph, rather than simply a frame grabbed from an action camera.

Viewed through that lens, the comparison becomes much more interesting – because it demonstrates just how ridiculously far these little cameras have come since the early generations.

The biggest thing that changes the Ace Pro 2 experience for me is the fantastic Xplorer Grip Pro.

This substantial metal-bodied grip wraps around the Ace Pro 2 and connects directly via USB-C, adding extra battery capacity alongside a proper shutter button, zoom control, and a rear dial that can be used for exposure adjustment. Suddenly, this little action cam starts feeling remarkably like a compact camera.

That might sound like a cosmetic difference, but in use it completely changes the way I approached it. I began holding it like a camera, composing with it like a camera and actually going out looking for photographs rather than thinking exclusively about video.

Combine that with the ability to apply Leica-inspired looks such as Leica Vivid directly to JPEGs, while still having the option to record a DNG RAW file for editing later (I used Affinity) and the boundaries between action camera and traditional compact camera start becoming surprisingly blurry.

Hats off to both Insta360 and Leica, because this is where the collaboration starts feeling like more than a badge on the front.

Then there is the sheer flexibility of the files. Using the full 4:3 sensor gives you a 50MP image measuring 8192 x 6144 pixels, which is frankly a slightly bonkers number to be discussing when we are talking about an action camera.

Switch to 16:9, and you are naturally cropping into that sensor area, but you are still left with a roughly 37MP file, which is hardly something to complain about.

More importantly, having that resolution available gives you freedom when editing, cropping, straightening and reframing afterward. It also means the Ace Pro 2 does not feel like a device where photographs are simply an afterthought beneath the video specifications.

The photography side of the camera feels genuinely developed, particularly once you start treating those RAW files like you would images from any other camera rather than assuming everything has to come directly out of the box and onto Instagram.

So, what happened when I put the photographs next to those from my Leica M240? Well, spoiler alert: the Leica won. Of course it did.

The larger full-frame sensor produces a completely different quality to the image – and there is a depth, tonality, texture, and natural rendering that the tiny Ace Pro 2 simply cannot replicate.

But that really was not the surprising part of this experiment. What surprised me was just how good the Insta360 images looked beside it.

They did not suddenly fall apart the moment they were placed alongside photographs from a “proper” camera. There was plenty of detail, the colors looked excellent, and the Leica Vivid and Leica Eternal looks are almost cheat codes if you want polished images ready to share within seconds.

Yet traditionalists are catered for, too, because taking that DNG file into a photo editor gives you a genuinely useful amount of latitude to work with. Considering this image came from a camera that can also be thrown onto a mountain bike and record 8K video, that is remarkable.

And that, ultimately, is what I took away from this slightly ridiculous exercise.

No, the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is not going to replace my Leica M240, and I suspect nobody at Insta360 or Leica seriously expects it to. But that was never really the point. What it proves is that the term “action camera” is becoming increasingly restrictive for devices like this.

Fit the Xplorer Grip Pro and the Ace Pro 2 becomes an incredibly capable little compact camera that happens to be rugged, tiny, capable of shooting 8K video and able to go places I would never dream of taking an M camera.

Its still images are not merely good because they came from an action camera; in the right conditions, they are genuinely good photographs.

So, can Leica engineering help make an action camera feel like a “proper” camera? After using the Ace Pro 2 this way, I think the answer is yes.

And right now, when it comes to taking still photographs with an action camera, I think Insta360 might just be leading the pack.

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Want to dive further down the rabbit hole? See how the best action cameras from all brands compare to the best Leica cameras around!

Action camera giant GoPro’s financials are beginning to show signs of a turnaround. After news broke of an in-progress merger with Starman Optical, GoPro has now reversed its dire stock market warnings in new filings shared on September 17.

Earlier this year, GoPro’s stock dropped so low that it was in violation of Nasdaq regulations, prompting an automatic warning that if the company failed to bring its stock price above $1 within 100 days, the company could be removed from public trading.

But after GoPro announced that it was in talks of merging with Starman Optical, the action camera giant’s stock rose above that minimum $1 mark for more than 10 consecutive days, reversing the Nasdaq warning.

The stock increase is a positive sign that the company’s moves this year, including not only the in-progress merger but the launch of the larger-sensor Mission 1 series, may finally be showing signs of easing the camera maker's financial struggles.

GoPro isn’t out of the choppy financial waters yet. While the merger with Starman Optical has been approved by both sides, the merger is still subject to regulatory approval. The merger is expected to close before the end of 2026. Stockholders are expected to receive a $1.14 aggregate payment per share while retaining a ten percent ownership after the merger.

GoPro’s latest financial report shows a 38 percent drop in sales and a 31 percent drop in revenue compared to the previous year – but the previous year also had a 23 percent drop in sales and an 18 percent drop in revenue.

GoPro has posted annual net losses since 2024, in part from increasing competition mixed with rising cost of components.

GoPro’s answer to the competition is the Mission 1 series, which brings a long-requested larger sensor into the longstanding action camera brand. GoPro calls the Mission 1 series “compact cinema cameras” rather than action cameras, thanks to 8K capabilities and a one-inch sensor, but the two fixed-lens models, the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro, continue much of what’s loved about GoPro, including ultra-wide lenses, HyperSmooth stabilization, and waterproofing.

This fall, GoPro also announced its first mirrorless camera, the Mission 1 Pro ILS. Unlike the fixed-lens models, the ILS uses a Micro Four Thirds mount that supports lightweight manual focus lenses. That brings options like telephoto lenses, ultra-wide apertures, and the ability to pull focus onto a GoPro for the first time, but the ILS is purpose-built for filmmakers rather than the more widespread action-camera audience.

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Read the GoPro Mission 1 Pro or the Mission 1 Pro ILS review, or browse the best GoPro cameras.

VIOFO has launched three new dash cams, each offering different levels of camera coverage, catering to a range of price points:

VIOFO T340

Headlining the trio is the T340, which stands out from previous VIOFO dash cams thanks to its new cylindrical design. The T340 is available in 3- and 4-channel configurations, all based around a 4K front-facing camera that uses Sony's STARVIS 2 IMX678 image sensor. This has been designed specifically for surveillance applications and is capable of HDR recording for high image quality even in challenging lighting.

The front-facing camera unit also incorporates a built-in rear-facing cabin camera that operates at 2K resolution. It's capable of infra-red recording in order to capture good detail even if the interior of the vehicle is almost completely dark, with a 210-degree field of view helping to minimize blind spots.

You can then choose to team the front-facing/cabin camera unit with either a 2K rear-facing camera, or a 2K waterproof rear camera, resulting in a 3-channel dash cam set-up.

VIOFO will also supply the T340 in a four channel kit, containing the same front+cabin+rear/waterproof rear cameras, but adding a 2K telephoto camera that provides a more focused view of details at longer distances.

Whichever version you choose, you get Wi-Fi 6 connectivity for faster access to recordings and quicker file transfers through the VIOFO app. Add the optional hardwire kit and the T340 can record in parking mode, even when the vehicle is turned off, with Hybrid Parking Mode able to switch to Low-Power Impact Detection after a pre-set time or voltage threshold. This helps preserve key evidence while reducing power consumption and helping protect the vehicle's battery.

The VIOFO T340 is available now, with prices starting at $459.99/£460/€460.95 for a 3-channel configuration, rising to $519.99 for the 4-channel kit including the telephoto camera.

VIOFO T330

The midrange option in VIOFO's three new dash cams is the T330. This flexible design enables 2- or 3-channel configurations, with the option to combine two or three of the following cameras: front, interior, standard rear, waterproof rear, and telephoto. STARVIS 2 sensors are used in the front, interior and rear cameras, with the front camera running at 4K resolution, and the other cameras at 2K. Like the T340, the T330's cabin camera gives a wide 210-degree field of view to capture not just the vehicle's interior, but also exterior detail through the side windows. The T330 also boasts the same Hybrid Parking Mode and Low-Power Impact Detection parking protection as the T340, along with rapid Wi-Fi 6 video downloading.

Expect to pay from $359.99/£360/€360.95 for a standard 2-channel front+rear camera T330, while a 3 channel front+rear+cabin camera T330 costs $419.99.

VIOFO A149 Pro Duo

Lastly, there's the new A149 Pro Duo. This is a more simple 2-channel (4K front + 1080p rear) dash cam, which promises simple, streamlined installation and clear video quality, with HDR helping to record vital evidence even in harsh or low lighting conditions. Although it's the most accessibly-priced of VIOFO's three new dash cams, costing $249.99/£250/€250.95, the A149 Pro Duo still benefits from the same Hybrid Parking Mode, Low-Power Impact Detection and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity found in the more expensive T330 and T340 dash cams.

Purchase any new VIOFO dash cam model before September 22nd and you'll also receive a free 128GB microSD card.

Buy VIOFO T340 from VIOFO direct

Buy VIOFO T330 from VIOFO direct

Buy VIOFO A149 Pro Duo from VIOFO direct

With the launch of the Insta360 Luna Pro – a seemingly high-end product name – the company has actually filled the gap beneath its Luna Ultra, to offer both a single-camera and a dual-camera variant of its new pocket gimbal camera.

This kind of lightweight, wand-held camera – with stabilizing technology reminiscent of a tiny Steadicam – was pioneered by DJI with its Osmo Pocket series, and both companies have recently delivered two models in the category. The difference is that, for Insta360, this is a first. The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 and Pocket 4P have generational improvements, while Insta360 has started from scratch.

Given that blank slate, Insta360 has made some different choices when it comes to build, value for money, and the surprising (but welcome) remote control system. Does that make it the best proposition? That's what I'm testing...

Price

The Insta360 Luna Pro is launching at $599.99 / £469 / AU$809 for the Standard Version. This is the model I tested, and is supplied with a goos-quality zip case, a rubber protector for the gimbal, a wrist strap, and a USB-C cable. That puts it at $170 / £180 less than the Insta360 Luna Ultra – putting a very specific price on the additional optics (curiously, a higher one in the UK).

Specs

Build & handling

The Luna Pro feels a lot like the Luna Ultra, but without the extra-wide WALL-E like 'head'. The Ultra hasn't been out long, so there is a decent chance you won't have held one in your hand either, but it's worth knowing that the Pro and Ultra share the same core mechanics.

Both versions share the detachable touchscreen remote control (even though a lot of A.I. summaries inaccurately suggest that this is an optional upgrade).

Personally I feel like the Luna series devices have a pleasing weight to the grip's body, and perhaps it is even better on the Pro because, with a single camera at the top, the balance is closer to perfect.

The 90-degree flick of the 2-inch touchscreen to activate the camera – acting like a power switch – is a brilliantly natural maneuver, albeit first seen on the DJI Osmo Pocket 3.

Where Insta360 have definitely pushed things ahead (in my view) is their arrangement of the other controls. By creating a dedicated zoom switch, separate from the thumbstick, you don't need to switch the main camera controls from one to another using an unnatural touchscreen control, as you do on the DJI alternatives (both Pocket 3 and Pocket 4 series have the same flaw).

The entire control array is detachable. That is the screen/switch, two buttons at the bottom of the screen, thumbstick, zoom controller and record button. Obviously that has some risk in terms of dirt and dust, but a gimbal camera is far from invulnerable anyway, so it doesn't seem an unacceptable risk (as I discovered, the control section will let you know if it is having trouble communicating with the rest of the camera, and let you know how to clean it!)

Like its sibling, the camera has a detachable base that extends the controller and has a tiny fold-out tripod which, despite being made of paperclip-like materials, is actually very useful a lot of the time. In the middle of that is a standard tripod thread, too, so it's just a handy backup.

Not in the standard bundle, but an option, is an extended battery that can attach here instead (and, thoughtfully, Insta360 put the tripod and thread in that, too).

The device also boasts a microphone in the detachable remote, and 47GB of built-in storage (should you forget your MicroSD card, for which there is also a rubber-sealed slot on the right-hand side as you look from the operator's side.

Performance

While the Luna Pro does indeed lack a second camera, so also drops 12x telephoto (3x and some digital help, since you ask), virtually nothing else is missing.

The closest focusing distance is 9cm (3 inches), meaning that if you have vlogging in mind you won't have to hold the camera too far away from you (that's good as some newer action cameras with larger image sensors do have issues here).

The Luna Pro still boasts the abilities of the Ultra when it comes to video; 8K30 video, or 4K120, and shoots in SDR, Dolby Vision HDR, and its own I-Log for editing. It also panorama photo mode, slow-mo mode and 'PureVideo' – Insta360's night mode.

There is still enough telephoto fun, digitally, for 3x zoom at three different speeds, and 4x coming with a software update I've yet to test. You do need to pop the settings out to change tracking speeds fast, medium and slow are the only choices, it's not touch-sensitive, but you can't have everything.

I did find that, in some situations, the camera overheated when recording extended 8K – a problem it shares with its premium sibling.

Overall Verdict

First impressions of the Luna Pro are very good, and if you have no need for the longer tele camera, then this is a choice that could save you a good deal of money.

Personally I'd do my best to find the extra cash, though, because I always see the advantage in optical zoom. I found (when testing the Luna Ultra) that I had a lot of use for the telephoto camera because it created a natural softening of the background and – since there are several ways to record sound wirelessly – that didn't' come at the expense of audio quality.

More casual users, though, more interested in finding a replacement for a DJI Osmo Pocket or equivalent, could do a lot worse than this.

Alternatives

There was a time when an action camera really was a press-and-play device. You strapped it to something, pointed it vaguely in the right direction, pressed record and hoped that whatever happened next was worth watching.

I was a very early adopter of the now positively ancient GoPro Hero4 Black, back in 2014, and while it wasn't the first GoPro capable of recording 4K, it was the model that finally made 4K genuinely useful at 30fps.

For most of us, though, the shooting process remained wonderfully uncomplicated: choose your resolution, hit the big red button before the action started and forget about it.

If you were feeling particularly pioneering, you bought the remote control and suddenly felt like Steven Spielberg because you could start recording from several feet away.

I suspect that is still how plenty of photographers and filmmakers think about action cameras today. They are tiny boxes designed to record your mediocre mountain-bike session, capture the awesome surfing line that took you 12 attempts to nail or sit on the dashboard during a road trip.

And having not really owned an action camera since 2014, I was guilty of thinking the same thing. Then I started digging properly into the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 Videography Bundle and realized just how dramatically this category has changed.

From the outside, it might look like another fancy rugged action camera ready to be thrown into the sea, clipped to a bike or attached to something questionable at high speed. And that is absolutely still true. But start exploring its menus and accessories, and it quickly becomes apparent that this is far more than an action camera.

In fact, I think the best way to describe the Ace Pro 2 is as a miniature video production suite. The camera's 8K sensor enables a 2x 4K Clarity Zoom, while the Xplorer Grip Pro adds physical exposure and zoom controls and its own 2010mAh battery.

Attach the dedicated Cinematic Lens and you can shoot in a 2.35:1 widescreen format, with deliberately cinematic flare characteristics, rather than simply cropping conventional action-camera footage afterwards.

The grip and camera together can also provide up to 140 minutes of recording at 4K 60fps with Active HDR enabled, according to Insta360's own testing.

Sample images

4K video sample

Then you get to the color options – and this is where things become slightly ridiculous for something small enough to disappear into a jacket pocket.

There are built-in Leica color profiles, including Leica Eternal, Leica BW HC, Leica Natural and Leica Vivid, giving you distinctly different approaches to contrast, saturation and mood straight out of camera.

There are also film-inspired profiles and filters, while I-Log gives more serious filmmakers additional information and flexibility for grading in post-production, complete with an official LUT preview on the camera.

That is the sort of terminology and workflow I normally expect to encounter when discussing mirrorless cameras and dedicated cinema cameras, not something traditionally associated with being cable-tied to a helmet.

Portrait Mode is another example of how far things have moved beyond simply recording whatever happens to be in front of the lens. The Ace Pro 2 can optimize faces while simultaneously working to prevent the background from becoming overexposed, and you can separately control skin smoothing and brightening.

More importantly for creators, Portrait Mode can still be combined with Leica and film profiles, so this isn't merely a beauty filter bolted onto an action camera; it is part of a much more sophisticated attempt to make the tiny camera capable of producing finished-looking footage without requiring a large production setup.

PureVideo might be the feature that surprised me most. The Ace Pro 2 uses its sensor and dual-chip system with real-time AI noise reduction and enhanced brightness to deal with difficult low-light scenes, and it can now operate at up to 4K 60fps.

PureVideo Plus goes further at 4K 30fps and below, while Insta360 specifically highlights improved highlight compression around bright light sources and better stabilization in dark environments.

Think neon signs against a black night sky, streetlights surrounded by deep shadows or an interior with a bright window in the background – exactly the sort of contrast that used to make tiny action-camera footage scream "action camera".

It isn't magically going to turn every clip into a Hollywood production, but use these tools properly and the resulting footage can look astonishingly controlled for something this small.

And that, ultimately, is what has changed my mind. Modern action cameras can still be the wonderfully simple devices we remember: press record, do something stupid, come back and watch it later.

But dismissing them as nothing more than that now feels hopelessly outdated. Spend some time learning the Ace Pro 2, experiment with I-Log, Leica profiles, PureVideo, Portrait Mode, the Cinematic Lens and the various exposure controls, and you begin treating it less like an accessory and more like a camera.

After more than a decade away from action cameras, I genuinely wasn't prepared for how sophisticated they had become. The 8K Insta360 Ace Pro 2 feels like the pinnacle of that transformation: a tiny powerhouse that can document the action when you want it to but, in the right hands, is also capable of some seriously advanced filmmaking.

Insta360 has just launched the Luna Pro, a pocket gimbal camera with 'Pro' at the end of the name. I thought that adding 'Pro' to the name and launching after the first version almost always meant upgrades that some – but not all – needed were coming. But that isn't what happened here.

Insta360 launched the Luna Ultra first, a camera which shares the same physical components when it comes to the handle – but that camera boasted a dual-lens system that allows for long telephoto shots, at the expense of, literally, expense.

In a very similar timeline, DJI launched its Osmo Pocket 4 (a single-lens pocket gimbal camera), then eventually a Pocket 4P with a dual-lens system. DJI is worth mentioning since the company essentially created this camera type by attaching a drone-like camera gimbal to a hand grip.

While DJI took the 'mass market first, premium model second' approach, Insta360 delivered the Luna Ultra system before DJI could get the 4P on sale. It also beat DJI's design in a number of ways – a built-in detachable remote control with a preview screen and microphone that works at up to 20m, more tactile controls, and 8K video mode.

DJI's 4P brought some impressive color science but couldn't add a detachable remote.

Now Insta360 has brought out the Luna Pro model and, by so naming it, the company seems to be sticking to its promise of targeting premium customers with its new models. The Ultra is the most powerful in terms of tele, but the new Pro still boasts all the benefits of the detachable controller – including the built-in mic and the ability to use it 20m from the base.

If you do need telephoto, the optics can't change (without an adapter), but there is a 4x digital zoom system built into the camera. For 4K, at least, it'll be lossless at 2x too.

The main camera is also still the 1-inch sensor, and Insta360 says that it can capture 4K vertical video in a cropped mode. The DJI camera switches to 3K when used in vertical video mode, so this puts Insta360 ahead in the crucial social media space.

Open gate is the video buzzword nowadays, and despite the Nikon ZR boasting supreme image quality, internal 32-bit float audio, and a huge four-inch rear screen, I couldn’t help but be disappointed about the lack of open-gate recording. Well, not anymore! Kind of…

You see, Nikon’s big announcement yesterday was the development of a range of nine Z Cinema lenses, but it’s a firmware development announcement that’s really got me champing at the bit. Nikon has said that it’s developing firmware 2.00 for the Nikon ZR, and beyond that it’s developing several requested features, including open-gate recording and a de-squeeze display for anamorphic lenses. Nikon is aiming to roll these out at some point next year.

This is huge news for both existing and prospective Nikon ZR owners. Due to the ZR’s fanless design, I had assumed a lack of open gate was the compromise since it produces more heat, but clearly Nikon has found a workaround.

Nikon ZR: Firmware 2.00

What’s destined to arrive before then is firmware 2.00. This is currently scheduled for release before the end of the year and, according to Nikon, is set to feature…

• Support for Log3G10 and REDWideGamutRGB in H.265 video file type for a greater ability to stand up to color grading while keeping file sizes minimal
• A new [High ISO NR] option available with H.265 Log recording that enables imaging tailored to filming intent and the tone of the work
• Support for the focus peaking display with recording at an R3D NE1 video file type setting for more precise focus confirmation

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Check out the best Nikon cameras and the best Nikon Z lenses. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

Fujifilm’s cinema camera just got both a dedicated eyelevel viewfinder and support for controlling and monitoring the camera with an oversized iPad screen. On Tuesday, September 09, Fujifilm announced two key updates to the GFX Eterna 55: an upcoming viewfinder as well as a new mobile app for both iOS and iPadOS.

The two updates create additional workflow options for working with Fujifilm’s first dedicated cinema camera, the GFX Eterna 55. The launches bring both a distraction-free viewfinder option and the ability to control focus and zoom and monitor what the camera sees using a mobile app.

Eterna ProRemote brings monitoring and remote controls to iPhone and iPad

The app, Eterna ProRemote, is set to launch first, with an arrival slated for mid September 2026. While the cinema camera comes with a detachable 5-inch monitor that can be rigged to the camera’s box-style design from multiple attachment points, the app offers filmmakers another option for monitoring and control, even when the camera’s controls may be inaccessible, such as in certain crane and rigged setups.

The Externa ProRemote can connect in three different ways, depending on what the filmmaker needs to control. A simple Bluetooth connection allows for a quick connection and access to controls to start and stop the recording, control zoom, and save or copy settings, but doesn’t offer live view.

An advanced single-camera Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection mode adds live view without requiring an access code, while an advanced Wi-Fi or Wired LAN connection requires an access code but supports live view for up to four cameras, as well as remote recording.

Fujifilm says that the app can also adjust the camera’s focus, iris, and zoom parameters. But the app also supports multiple advanced monitoring tools, including waveform, vectorscope, and histogram.

The app will also allow creators to save and load custom camera settings.

The Fujifilm VF-GFXC2 is a new viewfinder built for the Eterna 55

While the new app is expected to arrive by the end of the month, the Eterna 55’s new viewfinder, the VF-GFXC2, is expected to debut sometime before the end of 2026. The electronic viewfinder offers a 2048x1536 resolution in a native 4:3 aspect ratio, built for the cinema camera’s open-gate shooting.

Adding the viewfinder to the cinema camera supports enhanced visibility in bright scenes, where reflections may make the camera’s screen more challenging to read. An eyecup helps block light, while the viewfinder itself is designed with a cylindrical shape for gripping and the same machined aluminum exterior as the camera body itself.

Along with a diopter, the viewfinder also has several function buttons built in, giving filmmakers quick access to shortcuts like a 1.0x magnification mode to check focus.

Fujifilm has not yet announced a price or shipping date for the VF-GFXC2.

The simultaneous launch of both a dedicated viewfinder and a mobile app shows Fujifilm is continuing to expand on the GFX Eterna 55, the brand’s first dedicated cinema camera that boasts a 102MP medium format sensor.

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Take a look at the best cameras for filmmakers.

Even if you take a hidden camera detector with you on your travels, a study has shown that more than half the time you'll miss a hidden camera – but a new device might be the solution.

The University College of London study, by Akhil Polamarasetty, was presented last month, and showed that 59% of the time, the typical hidden camera detector was unsuccessful because they are "often difficult to operate and hard to interpret."

In fact the comparison is even worse when you compare the success in finding hidden cameras with a device against simple common sense – 66.7% of hidden surveillance devices were missed when participants in the study searched without a detector (so 33% were found), with that only improving by 7% to 58.8% missed when a detector was used.

How do these detectors work, you might ask? There are a number of methods covered in our best hidden camera detector guide, but the main technique is to shine light around the room, and it is up to the user to spot reflections from lenses.

The study also pointed out that these confusing detectors come with an emotional cost. If you're likely to be troubled by the idea of a concealed camera, a confusing device will leave a user troubled. As they put it, "missed surveillance devices can leave [users] at continued risk, while false positives may trigger unnecessary anxiety."

After all, many things can reflect light, so when something is flagged as suspicious even though it is not, "participants sometimes became trapped in anxiety spirals, repeatedly searching the same area without finding an explanation."

Others also look for the RF signals from Wi-Fi, but that can only detect an active camera, not one recording.

Dr Leonie Tanczer, Associate Professor in International Security and Emerging Technologies, suggested that "companies have a responsibility to think about how their products can be misused at the design stage rather than after the harms emerge."

The flip side of this discussion is that AI could be pressed into service to help minimise the mistakes, and a combination of an app and a device – SweepLED – is presenting itself as the solution.

Developed by KAIST, the Korean Institute for Science and Tech, Iand possible to construct for $7, the 'sweep' in question is a small array of LEDs that move the light while using a phone's camera. The result is that a short video is available for an AI-model to examine and, according to the study, 94% detection accuracy is achieved (because the shape of a camera means it responds differently to reflection).

Whether this model will be refined into a product remains to be seen, but the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University were involved too, so it seems eminently possible.

The old Chinese curse that states “May you live in interesting times” seems particularly apt right now. The idea of a period of uncertainty, instability and chaos being a curse is still pretty spot-on.

The global uncertainty is certainly making for interesting times in the camera world. For a few reasons, supply chains are again disrupted – including the rapid increase in AI data centers creating a global shortage of memory chips.

The result has been a distinct slowing in the number of new cameras that have been launched this year, at least as far as the mainstream categories are concerned.

Yes, there have been a few significant arrivals such as the Panasonic Lumix L10, Canon’s EOS R6 V and the Sony A7R VI, but you’d have to say it’s been very quiet otherwise – no new Nikon, Fujifilm or OM System mirrorless bodies (the specialized OM-3 Astro aside) and no new photo-orientated Canon RF bodies.

Nikon’s last major new camera release was the ZR back in September 2025 and, like the EOS R6 V, it’s aimed at video shooters. And this looks to be a shiny new category of hybrid camera… with, of course, the potential for extra sales. Even better for the camera makers, there are various levels of video user.

Content creators working solo on output mostly for social media; more advanced operators producing for corporate presentations or perhaps a YouTube channel; professional or semi-professionals working at the standard of TV broadcasting or cinematic productions…

There’s plenty of crossover between these various breeds of video-first cameras. And even with the more purely hybrid models, such as Canon’s EOS R6 Mark III and Nikon’s Z6 III, targeting a specific group of potential buyers is obviously Marketing 101.

I have recently been testing the R6 V and the ZR – and what an informative and enlightening experience it turned out to be. Coming from a photography perspective, both were far more enjoyable to use than expected – but the Nikon ZR was a revelation with its rangefinder-style body and yet a very contemporary, monitor-based user interface.

Consequently, it’s quite similar in operation to Hasselblad’s X2D II 100C and it also has a big, high-brightness, high-contrast monitor screen which makes everything work quite efficiently and effortlessly.

Given Nikon’s tendency to stick with design conventions with its Z mount bodies so far, the ZR is out there but it’s brilliant. And, notwithstanding the absence of an EVF, it has the potential to be a great stills camera.

However, it’s as a compact cine camera that it obviously excels. And Nikon has packed so much into it – including superior audio recording – that it does the job without needing to be connected to numerous accessories in a cumbersome rig. What’s more, it’s ridiculously affordable given what it can do.

With its acquisition of US cine camera-maker Red, Nikon clearly sees this arena as an important part of its future business. So where does all this leave photographers? Is the video / cine business going to be more profitable in the future than building cameras that put photography first?

Video is now everywhere because it’s a powerful means of communication, but it’s also a very different discipline to photography if you want what’s on screen to look good.

Many professional photographers now shoot video, too, but there are commercial returns that make any investment in additional equipment and the time taken to learn new skills worth doing (including editing).

In reality, you can’t just ‘dabble’ in video. It must be a commitment – and there’s a lot to learn if you’re going to do it well. Understandably, putting all this effort into bettering your photography will often look like a better plan.

Unless you have the luxury of affording a photo-only Leica or Hasselblad, today’s hybrid mirrorless cameras enable us to still have state-of-the-art cameras for photography.

So even if you have absolutely no interest in video, be thankful that it’s driving a more diverse and constantly developing camera market that is actually good for all of us. And that clever video-first models like the Nikon ZR can inform future designs, which will benefit both video makers and photographers.

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Take a look at our full Nikon ZR review along with our pick of the best lenses for the Nikon ZR.

What do Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Robert Downey Jr, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Jet Li, Jack Nicholson, Barbra Stresiand, Sean Connery, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Pierce Brosnan, Michael Douglas, Steven Seagal and DMX have in common?

They've all had a camera pointed at them by Andrzej Bartkowiak, the award-winning director and cinematographer renowned for his visual flair.

The Polish filmmaker – whose credits span everything from Schwarzenegger vehicles like Twins to flims about exploding vehicles like Speed to videogame adaptations like Doom and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li – recently sat down with Panavision to share some stories from his sets.

"Action – it has to be executed that it looks real. [That] objects, people are in real jeopardy. They’re as truthful and as dangerous as possible."

He relates the case to 1994's Speed, which catapulted Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock to superstardom, noting that "there are big challenges, of course."

ABOVE: Watch the Andrzej Bartkowiak sitdown

He points out that the interior shots on the bus all look like natural lighting, but in fact the vehicle is rigged with about 10 HMI lights on the roof with giant 8x10ft cells to bounce the in illumination – because otherwise the exposure on set would blow out the buildings outside.

"If you look at [the] bus, it looks real to the eye, but for the film, we had to build it up, right? If you see the rigging… on the front of the bus for the frontal shot, we have five cameras on the bungee cords with what we call the Popemobile. We have to put a plexi around for the window to hit Keanu and Sandy."

Movie magic for the lighting aside, though, the verisimilitude is achieved by shooting practically; when the bus is whipping around, with the actors slamming into the sides, it's because the bus is whipping around and the actors are slamming into the sides.

"But that's what makes it good… To me, [there’s] no substitute for the real thing. You know it."

The coverage, though, very much depends on the production. On Speed, Bartkowiak only had thirteen cameras – a maximum of seven for first unit shooting. But on Dante's Peak, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, it was a different story.

"We had full 27 camera crews, including focus pullers, second assistants. I mean, we could outvote any union meeting we wanted to on the set. [Because there] was more people on the set than in the union meetings!"

And of course, some directors are more efficient than others, such as frequent collaborator Sidney Lumet, who essentially only shot two takes: "The first take was the first take for Sidney. Second was just a backup for focus."

Efficiency was likewise a hallmark of John Huston. On Prizzi's Honor, starring Jack Nicholson, Bartkowiak only shot 180,000 feet of film for the entire movie. On Doom, starring The Rock, he shot 150,000 feet in a single day!

His affinity for Panavision goes back to the start of his career, when he was filming commercials for the likes of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, American Express, Chrysler and Toyota. He graduated from the old Mitchell cameras to the Panaflex Lightweight system.

"I started shooting with that camera. That's the camera that, in Hawaii, I dipped under the wave, brand new! Oh, we sent it back [and] it came back. That’s why Panavision [is] always incredible."

The whole video is only short and is a treat for fans of cinematography, so is well worth a watch.

Nick Woodman, CEO of GoPro, has shared a letter with the world – and especially the company's customers – promising that the $285 million / £211 million / AU$396 million merger with Starman Optical will not be the end of the GoPro camera and other consumer products.

On September 01, the company entered into an agreement with the little-known, privately held US optical-photonics company. The deal clears GoPro's $92 million / £68 million / AU$128 million cash debt and pays shareholders $1.14 / 0.84 / AU$1.58 per share to acquire GoPro, but not much was known about Starman Optical in the camera community.

What was known is that the company concentrated on delivering equipment for military purposes (national security was mentioned in the GoPro statement), so understandably a lot of people started putting two and two together and concluded that the GoPro consumer brand might not be long for this world.

This despite the fact that Starman does bring US-based production facilities to the table, potentially enabling GoPro cameras to be produced despite the ever-tightening restrictions on foreign imports facing American consumers – restrictions that make it harder to choose the latest action cameras from brands like DJI, which is based in China.

Nick Woodman also confirmed that the Starman deal meant GoPro would "grow across consumer, commercial and defence markets," although the fact that consumer is only a third of that list was already chipped away at by his own addition that GoPro would "continue to fully support its existing consumer products and its subscription and cloud platform."

The use of the word 'existing' is the key warning sign for anyone; it suggests that GoPro might not be developing any new devices for the consumer / pro photographer market, which is never a good place to be with a brand.

The speculation fueled by that news, shared through GoPro's investor relations, no doubt explains Woodman's subsequent letter.

In it, he says, "Making amazing cameras for all of you is our core DNA and reason for being and that will never change!" He goes on to suggest that Starman shares the 'passion' for the GoPro brand, and the improved finances should boost innovation at the company.

He doesn't roll back on his previous statement, but does acknowledge consumers' concerns. "Our goal is to become a more diversified company which can make us stronger financially, enabling GoPro to become as awesome as we (and you) want us to be."

Signing off "with respect and admiration," GoPro's founder promises that following up on capturing life's moments is "what we were founded to do and it’s what we will always do."

Whether he has that power in the new corporate structure remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely that recent customers need be unduly concerned; support for the cloud services continues.

Arguably, replacing the cameras iteratively every year made little sense in the action camera space anyway. People don't even replace their phones each year, so GoPro was always going to face a limited market for a product that – for most – is used far less frequently than a phone.

Perhaps some smarter decisions are inbound and need not threaten the consumer division.

If you're interested in checking out the best action cameras, you'll see, by the way, that GoPro has some serious competition in any case.

Panasonic has introduced two new PTZ cameras, the AW-UE200 and AW-UER200, which are the world's first with a new global shutter MOS sensor, a sensor of 1.2-inches and capable of 5K oversampling.

Panasonic highlights that the global shutter (which captured the whole frame at once, rather than scanning it line by line) will make the new PTZ cameras especially well suited to sports and action broadcasting, as the image will not be subject to motion distortion.

Another benefit is the ability to use the cameras with LED walls, so video can be captured of gigs with constantly changing lighting with a much more natural-looking output, or the cameras can be used in adaptable studios with LED walls.

Both boast impressive specs, with 22x zoom, the full range of which can be delivered as quickly as half a second – or slowed to 180 seconds. (The equivalent range in 35mm is 22.5–500mm).

The AW-UE200 can also turn at a rate of 400 degrees per second, and a roll mechanism with a range of –200° to +200°.

It also features simultaneous 16:9 and 9:16 output so streaming can be delivered

Setup is assisted using one-touch levelling, which can be invoked using the remote controller, making the camera easier to set up quickly on robotic mounts, or in difficult locations where you face angled ceilings.

The new cameras also support both the open IP standard that is SMPTE ST 2110 and the Dante® system popularly used for low-latency audio over networks.

The low-latency system is being shown at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) show next week, but will not be available to buy until February 2027 (for the AW-UE200W/K variants) and Q2 2027 for the AW-UER200W/K roll models.

In both cases, the IP Protocol variants will gain an extra ten in the name (e.g. AW-UE210W/K), while W denotes White and K means black.

Check out our guide to the best PTZ cameras you can buy right now

After years of declining profits and increased debt, GoPro, the household name for action cameras, will merge with another US-based company in an effort to rescue the camera brand from bankruptcy. But what does the merger mean for action cameras?

On September 1, GoPro announced a planned merger with Starman Optical Inc, a US-based company that makes high-speed transceivers that are in high demand amid the AI data center boom.

Now, new internal emails between GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman and employees, as well as an email between the action camera brand and GoPro customers, are offering more hints as to what the merger means for the longstanding action camera brand.

The announcement has fueled a myriad of opinions over the merger, which has been agreed to by both parties but still faces regulatory approval. The concern stems, in part, from the announcement’s heavy reference to AI data centers, which is where much of the tech that Starman Optical builds is headed.

Even YouTuber Mark Plier, who became GoPro’s largest shareholder a few weeks before the merger announcement, says he is “not gonna be on board” if GoPro pivots away from cameras.

With the merger not yet finalized, emails originally marked as “confidential” but filed as part of stock market paperwork offer additional insight into what the merger could mean for GoPro.

GoPro’s action cameras aren’t going anywhere

Both the official merger announcement and the newly revealed internal emails stress that the merger doesn’t mean the end for GoPro’s cameras.

“Day to day, your GoPro experience does not change,” the email to customers and distributors reads. “We will continue to operate the business as usual. GoPro will remain a publicly listed company and will continue to fully support our existing products and our subscription and cloud service while developing a broader, diversified product roadmap. Products, services and support continue as they are. The current product lineup stays in production and remains available for purchase.”

While the announcement stressed a potential expansion into AI data centers, defense and aerospace markets, Woodman’s internal email to employees hints that the merger could help expand GoPro’s consumer products as well.

“Starman Optical has the resources to help us scale-expand our consumer product roadmap, grow our software and subscription business, and broaden the categories we compete to include commercial and defense markets,” Woodman wrote to employees.

The news of the merger comes on the heels of the GoPro Mission 1 series, which GoPro says is the camera that fans have been asking for since the Hero7 Black in 2018. The new series, with its larger one-inch sensors and the company’s first mirrorless camera, further hints that GoPro still wants to be known as a camera maker.

But, GoPro wants to expand beyond the action camera

The word “GoPro” is often interchangeable with the word “action camera.” While GoPro also has accessories and 360 cameras – and once launched a drone – the brand has always been known for largely one thing.

But, with the merger, GoPro wants to push into more categories – and while GoPro cameras may not be going anywhere, the word “GoPro” in the future may not necessarily mean a camera.

Woodman continues in the email by saying that Starman Optical “are very strategically positioned in the AI infrastructure industry as an up and coming U.S. manufacturer of optical transceivers that we believe will bring in meaningful high-margin revenue to help fund GoPro's growth initiatives into new markets – establishing GoPro over time as a diversified optics and imaging company across consumer, commercial and defense while creating significant value for shareholders.”

GoPro’s desire to push into more industries isn’t a secret. When Woodman announced the search for a potential buyer or merger earlier this year, the company said that GoPro had been receiving “unsolicited” inquiries after announcing that the company was looking into the defense and aerospace industries.

The merger could also push GoPro into AI infrastructure

The initial announcement for the search back in May, however, didn’t mention a push into AI data centers. Starman Optical builds optical transceivers, the hardware that moves data by using light.

In his official statement, Woodman said that the merger would help address “important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure.”

GoPro wouldn’t be the first struggling consumer brand eyeing the AI boom. But a camera maker known for small, durable cameras may make sense in the AI space – or at least more sense than a shoe brand moving into AI – as cameras are increasingly built into more smart products.

Last year, GoPro announced an opt-in program that allows GoPro users to submit their footage for AI training, with GoPro subscribers earning up to 50 percent of the revenue from that AI licensing.

The merger could mean moving to US-based manufacturing

Another key phrase was mentioned across both GoPro’s official announcement and the internal emails: US onshore manufacturing. “The combined company also expects to invest in growth and onshore the manufacturing of products for strategic markets,” the email to customers reads.

That echoes the same phrase from the initial merger announcement: "We expect this merger to enable GoPro to grow across consumer, commercial and defense markets as a leading American imaging and optical solutions company, addressing important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure,” Woodman said.

Charles Tebele, Chief Executive Officer of Starman Holding, echoed the sentiment on US manufacturing: "Advanced optics and imaging are essential to AI, national security, and the broader economy, yet much of the critical hardware supporting these technologies continues to be manufactured overseas. The combination of GoPro's world-class optical expertise and intellectual property with Starman's advanced transceiver capabilities and U.S. manufacturing platform creates a unique opportunity. Together, we intend to bring production of these critical components back to the United States."

Like drones, the Trump Administration has labeled the overseas manufacturing of semiconductors as a threat to national security, including the semiconductors integral to AI.

While GoPro is a US-based company, its action cameras are currently manufactured in Mexico and China.

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Take a look at the best GoPro cameras, or read up on the new GoPro Mission 1 Pro or the Mission 1 Pro ILS.

GoPro’s search for a potential buyer or merger has found a solution to the action camera maker's financial struggles. On Tuesday, September 1, GoPro announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Starman Optical, Inc., a US-based optical photonics company.

The merger will keep GoPro’s existing presence in the consumer camera space, leaving the company's action cameras, 360 cameras, subscriptions, and software intact. But the merger aims to help push GoPro into AI data centers, government, defense, and aerospace industries while rescuing the action camera giant’s struggling finances and leaving GoPro largely debt-free.

While the GoPro name is well known, Starman Optical is less so. The US-based company builds high-speed optical transceivers and similar technologies. The company’s optical transceivers are used in AI infrastructure and data centers.

GoPro says that the company will continue in the consumer camera space, but the merger will also position the brand to expand into other areas, including the rise in demand for AI infrastructure.

"We expect this merger to enable GoPro to grow across consumer, commercial and defense markets as a leading American imaging and optical solutions company, addressing important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure,” GoPro CEO and founder Nicholas Woodman said in the announcement. “We're excited to combine with the Starman team to capitalize on this opportunity and play an important role in America's future."

While GoPro is a publicly traded company, Starman Optical is privately held. The action camera brand will remain on the US stock market following the merger, with the current stockholders taking about a ten percent stake in ownership.

The exchange will also give shareholders a $285 million cash payment, or about $1.14 per share. After the announcement, the company's stock that had previously been sitting below the $1 mark and was at risk of becoming delisted, surged to $1.40 a share.

GoPro says that its current $92 million in debt will be largely repaid at closing, which would give the action camera maker a clean balance sheet.

The proposed merger has been approved by both companies’ boards, but is still subject to regulatory approvals. If everything goes as planned, the two companies will merge before the end of 2026.

GoPro has been struggling with sluggish sales recently, sharing a stock market warning that the company could face a potential bankruptcy if its finances did not turn around.

GoPro announced that it was looking for a potential buyer or merger in May. The proposed merger with Starman Optical will leave the action camera maker without debt moving forward.

The announcement of the merger agreement comes on the heels of GoPro's first mirrorless camera, the Mission 1 Pro ILS, which opened for pre-orders last week.

Take a look at the new GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS mirrorless camera, or browse the best GoPro cameras.

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro, DJI Osmo Action 6 and Insta360 Ace Pro 2 are three action cameras that all go in a slightly different direction.

GoPro has gone all-in on raw resolution and frame rate, cramming a 1-inch sensor into a body that shoots 8K 60fps. DJI has gone the other way, prioritizing real-world image quality with an adjustable aperture and swappable lenses on a square sensor. Insta360 sits in-between, pairing an 8K sensor with Leica color-tuning and a flip-out screen built for vloggers.

At the same time, they also have a lot of common. Each camera is waterproof without a housing. Each shoots serious slow-motion. And each supports some kind of interchangeable optics, whether that's GoPro's identifying lens adaptors, DJI's screw-on FOV Boost and Macro lenses, or Insta360's more conventional fixed lens with software-driven crops.

So, how to choose? Read on to learn more about where each camera pulls ahead of the other, and where and when the differences actually matter. Let's get into the GoPro Mission 1 Pro vs DJI Osmo Action 6 vs Insta360 Ace Pro 2 rumble…

GoPro Mission 1 Pro vs DJI Osmo Action 6 vs Insta360 Ace Pro 2: Specifications

GoPro Mission 1 Pro vs DJI Osmo Action 6 vs Insta360 Ace Pro 2: Photo and video quality

On paper, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro looks the most impressive when it comes to image and video quality.

It's the only one of the three that shoots 8K at 60fps, the only one with an open gate 4:3 mode at full 8K resolution, and its slow-motion ceiling of FullHD 480fps (with a 960fps burst mode) comfortably beats the Ace Pro 2's FullHD 240fps. Stills are equally strong, with a genuine 50MP mode pulled from the full sensor.

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 isn't far behind on the spec sheet: it also shoots 8K, tops out at 50MP stills and adds Leica color science that gives footage a more graded, polished look straight out of the camera. Where it falls short is slow-motion, capping at FullHD 240fps against the GoPro's much higher ceiling, and it sticks to 8-bit color rather than the Mission 1 Pro's 10-bit GP-Log2.

The DJI Osmo Action 6 was the odd one out at launch, but a firmware update unlocked an 8K 30fps mode and pushed the photos to 38MP. This was possible because, despite launching as a 4K-limited camera, DJI's larger sensor and adjustable aperture give it a clear advantage in low light.

The square sensor also means footage can be reframed between portrait and landscape after recording, without sacrificing the sensor's low-light advantage. In real-world low-light terms, then, it's arguably the most capable imaging system of the three, even with the smallest numbers on the page.

🏆: DJI Osmo Action 6

GoPro Mission 1 Pro vs DJI Osmo Action 6 vs Insta360 Ace Pro 2: Design and handling

Each camera solves handling differently. The GoPro Mission 1 Pro sticks closest to the traditional action camera formula: a rugged block with a removable lens cover that accepts identifying adaptors, plus a new point-and-shoot grip accessory for anyone who wants to hold it more like a compact camera. It's also the heaviest of the three at 212g, and the only one without any built-in storage.

The DJI Osmo Action 6 introduces swappable lenses, including a FOV Boost lens for a wider field of view and a forthcoming macro option, both of which the camera automatically detects when fitted. Its adjustable aperture is unique among this trio and it's also the only one with 50GB of built-in storage – so it's usable even without a memory card. At 149g, it's comfortably the lightest and most compact.

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 takes a different approach entirely with its 180° flip-up touchscreen, which makes it the most natural choice for vlogging or any shot where you need to see yourself in frame. It's the heaviest to hold in the hand relative to its size and the hinge is one more moving part to worry about – but the flexibility it offers for framing is something neither of the other two can match.

🏆: Draw

GoPro Mission 1 Pro vs DJI Osmo Action 6 vs Insta360 Ace Pro 2: Price

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro is comfortably the most expensive of the three at $699.99 / AU$1,099, dropping to $599.99 / AU$949.95 only if you already hold a GoPro subscription. The DJI Osmo Action 6 sits in the middle at around $433 / AU$669 for the standard combo or around $546 / AU$839 for the Adventure Combo bundle that includes a selfie stick and extra batteries.

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 undercuts both, launching at $399 / AU$551 for a single battery bundle, and it's since become considerably cheaper still in some markets. At the time of writing, it's been discounted to as little as $367 at US retailers – its lowest price of the year. For buyers working to a budget, that makes the Ace Pro 2 hard to argue with on value alone.

🏆: Insta360 Ace Pro 2

GoPro Mission 1 Pro vs DJI Osmo Action 6 vs Insta360 Ace Pro 2: How to choose

There isn't a single winner here, because these three cameras are built around different priorities. If you want the highest resolution, the fastest slow-motion and the most rugged, no-nonsense action camera experience, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro leads on specs – but you'll pay the most for it.

If real-world image quality matters more than numbers on a spec sheet, the DJI Osmo Action 6's adjustable aperture, swappable lenses and square sensor make it the most genuinely versatile camera of the three, and the one I'd reach for most often day-to-day. It's still very rugged, too – it was the one chosen to go on the outside of the rocket in China's reusable rocket space shot, and survived, which tells you something.

If you're working to a budget, or you shoot a lot of vlogging and talking-to-camera content where a flip screen actually matters, the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 offers 8K, 50MP stills and Leica-tuned color for meaningfully less money than either rival.

There's no wrong answer, only the wrong camera for what you actually shoot.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already racked up over $2.2 billion (around £1.6 billion / AU$3.1 billion) in theaters. But behind the blockbuster is a character whose visual identity is very different to that of other superheroes – so choosing the cameras, lenses and LUTs to bring his latest outing to life were all crucial considerations.

While Batman verges on chiaroscuro, bathed in deep shadows and brooding blacks, the pop art palette of Spider-Man's suit meant that director of photography Brett Pawlak had to pay precise attention to how the character would be rendered on-screen.

"I found myself really inspired by a lot of the comics, particularly the way the Spider-Man suit was depicted on the Amazing Fantasy cover," he told Panavision.

"His suit has these incredibly saturated reds and blues, but the majority of the suit falls into almost complete black. As I started looking through more of the comics, I realized that was a common thread – how the artists depicted shadow as an inky black but still allowed the colors to stay vibrant.

"That idea of pairing rich, saturated color with deep blacks and shadow became one of the foundations of the look… Throughout camera testing, I worked closely with Tom Poole at [post production house] Company 3 to develop a show LUT that ultimately had a contemporary look with a classic film print curve, taking particular care to protect the reds and blues of the Spidey suit."

Getting the colors right was just the first step, though; choosing the lens outfit to capture the action meant a traditional trip to Panavision to see which optics fit the bill. However, Pawlak wasn't satisfied with an off-the-shelf solution and required customized lenses to achieve the look he wanted.

"I knew we would have to protect for 1.90 within our preferred aspect ratio of 2.39. I knew I was going to be shooting on the Alexa 265… I had an idea for what I loosely described as a ‘classic hybrid.’ I appreciate lenses that have character, falloff, and all the things that Panavision is great at giving its cinematographers, but instinctively I was looking for something cleaner.

"I knew the large-format 65mm sensor would give me that canvas, and I was after lenses that simply performed well. I didn't want to fight them when it came to flares or coatings."

Ultimately, Panavision's Special Optics team modified a set of Panaspeed lenses for the production – and the customizations it made for Brand New Day laid the foundation for the company's new Primo 65 optics.

"Panavision is so collaborative with lensing. I had a brief conversation with Dan [Sasaki, Panavision's senior vice president of optical engineering] one afternoon, and he asked me what I was looking for."

Pawlak explained that he wanted the classic Panavision look, and that he would shoot on Primos if he could, as he needed high-performance glass to maximize the capabilities of the Alexa 265.

"After a moment of Dan’s wheels turning, he suggested modifying the Panaspeeds for the 265 to give me that Primo look on a 65mm sensor. I had tested the Panaspeeds a number of times – they’re beautiful, sharp and relatively clean, with great contrast. The idea of pushing the glass to its limits on that sensor excited me.

"When I put them on the 265, I instinctively knew they were the right lenses. I was at Panavision London prepping when I got the first few. I was with [technical marketing director] Charlie Todman, and neither of us could quite put our finger on it, but we both agreed there was something special.

"They asked what I'd like to do to them, and I told them to leave them exactly as they were – they were perfect. The next few weeks of testing confirmed my choice in how well the lenses responded to the LUT Tom and I were developing. They really went hand in hand."

Panavion's full interview with Pawlak is a fantastic read and gives a great insight into the making of the movie, so I highly recommend checking it out. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out in theaters now.

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The pocket gimbal camera has been a DJI category since the original Osmo Pocket, but the launch of the Insta360 Luna Ultra is the first time it's had real competition at the high end.

The latter landed within days of the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P. Both pair a 1-inch wide-angle lens with a second telephoto camera aAnd both target the same buyer: a creator who wants a pocketable, gimbal-stabilized camera capable of a proper piece to camera without a crew.

Beyond that, DJI has stuck close to the established Pocket formula by adding a second 60mm lens to a body that still handles much like the Pocket 3 and Pocket 4 before it.

Insta360 has gone further, building a detachable remote control with its own screen and microphone into the Luna Ultra, along with built-in fold-out tripod legs and an 8K video mode that DJI's camera can't match.

So which should you buy? That's the question we'll explore as I pit the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vs the Insta360 Luna Ultra.

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vs Insta360 Luna Ultra: Specifications

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vs Insta360 Luna Ultra: Video and photo quality

The Insta360 Luna Ultra has the more impressive spec sheet here.

It shoots 8K at 30fps, while the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P caps out at 4K (albeit at up to 240fps for slow-motion). Insta360's I-Log 10-bit profile is also consistent across both the 20mm and 60mm lenses, and there's a 200MP stitched panorama mode alongside a more conventional 37MP UltraPhoto setting.

DJI, however, counters with LOFIC (Lateral Overflow Integration Capacity) tech on its 20mm sensor, a system that adds extra capacitors to capture more highlight detail and reduce the risk of blown-out skies.

The catch is that DJI's newer D-Log 2 color profile only works on the wide lens: switch to the 60mm telephoto and you're dropped back to standard D-Log, which makes matching footage between the lenses fiddly.

In practice, both cameras produce natural, filmic color with minimal grading required, and the difference in dynamic range between the two is small enough that it rarely matters day-to-day.

🏆: Insta360 Luna Ultra

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vs Insta360 Luna Ultra: Design and handling

Both cameras use the wand-and-rotating-screen design pioneered by DJI's own Pocket 3. Neither is particularly rugged, as both rely on exposed gimbal mechanisms that aren't suited to sand or water.

The Luna Ultra comes with a detachable remote, which pulls away from the gimbal body complete with its own screen, physical controls and a built-in mic.

This means you can set the camera down, walk away, and frame and monitor a shot from a distance. That's something neither the Pocket 4P nor any previous pocket gimbal camera can do without a phone app – and phone apps are never as quick, simple or tactile.

It also boasts fold-out metal tripod legs, while you still need a separate screw-in tripod accessory for the Pocket 4P. Plus the separate physical zoom controller is easier to use by feel than DJI's default setup, which relies on a single 5D joystick that has to be switched between panning and zooming via an on-screen icon.

The Osmo Pocket 4P does has the advantage, though, of familiarity and backwards-compatibility. The existing Pocket 3 battery will fit it and its accessory ecosystem is well established. It has been built on, too, in the Pocket 4 generation with a new magnetic mount on the gimbal for a fill light.

🏆: Insta360 Luna Ultra

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vs Insta360 Luna Ultra: Battery and accessories

Both cameras claim an identical battery life of up to four hours. In real-world use, though, the two diverged sharply. The DJI consistently delivered around 210 minutes in testing, while the Insta360 tended to run closer to 120 minutes (especially when shooting in its 8K mode) and ran out entirely mid-interview on one occasion.

In practice, it's also worth noting that both will overheat and power down sooner on a continuous shot at top specs (8K 30 for the Luna or 4K 60 for DJI) – though in Adam's tests it was the Luna Ultra that went first. But most of the time you won't want very long continuous shots, so this is only a concern in some scenarios.

DJI's fast charging is another strength, topping up to 80% in under 20 minutes thanks to USB 3.1 support, and the WiFi 6 connection makes offloading large video files quick. Insta360 charges over USB-C, too, and spare battery handles are available, but there's less margin for error if you're relying on the battery for a full day.

🏆: DJI Osmo Pocket 4P

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vs Insta360 Luna Ultra: Price

The DJI Osmo Pocket 4P is the cheaper of the two at $710 / AU$959 for the Standard Combo. The Insta360 Luna Ultra starts higher at $769.99 / AU$1,099.99 for its Standard Bundle, with a pricier Creator Bundle available that adds a Mic Pro wireless microphone, a wide-angle lens and an extended battery.

🏆: DJI Osmo Pocket 4P

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vs Insta360 Luna Ultra: How to choose

Overall, choosing between these cameras is a close call. The Insta360 Luna Ultra is the more ambitious camera: 8K video, a detachable remote that changes how you can shoot solo and built-in tripod legs that DJI still makes you buy separately.

If you're a content creator who values flexibility and composing shots from a distance, it's worth the extra money.

The DJI Osmo Pocket 4P is the safer, cheaper choice, with better real-world battery life, faster charging and a mature accessory ecosystem that rewards anyone already invested in DJI's Pocket line. Its 60mm lens alone is reason enough to upgrade from a single-camera Pocket.

If price and reliable battery life matter most to you, buy the DJI. If you want the most capable, most flexible pocket gimbal camera money can buy, buy the Insta360 Luna Ultra.

Looking to buy a GoPro? Then you should probably be looking at the Mission series, announced this April and launched in May. It's the biggest shake-up to GoPro's lineup in years, moving away from the Hero name and placing a significantly larger 1-inch sensor into a rugged, waterproof body for the first time.

There isn't just one fixed-lens Mission action camera, though; there is a Mission 1 and a Mission 1 Pro, which appear from the outside to be really similar. (To confuse things further, there is also a third option – the newer GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS – but this offers interchangeable lenses and is aimed more at cinematographers.)

So how do you choose between the seemingly identical GoPro Mission 1 vs GoPro Mission 1 Pro? Well, they are pretty similar. Both cameras share the same 1-inch quad Bayer sensor, the same GP3 processor, the same Enduro 2 battery and the same waterproof-down-to-66ft / 20m body.

They shoot the same 50MP stills, use the same fixed-focus ultra-wide lens and support the same accessories, from the Media Mod to the new Grip Edition that turns either model into something closer to a point-and-shoot camera.

The main difference, then, comes down mainly to top-end video specs: frame rates, resolutions and slow-motion modes that most people won't use day-to-day. Read on to learn the full details of what separates these two models.

GoPro isn't ditching the Hero series cameras, either – these are a new cinematography-friendly tier, which makes sense. The GoPro Hero 13 Black still has some advantages – and not just price; the optics with a smaller sensor provide for a smaller camera with a deeper depth of field (handy for POV shots).

GoPro Mission 1 vs GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Specifications

GoPro Mission 1 vs GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Video

Video is the main differentiator here, although it's still not a big one.

Both cameras use the same sensor, processor and color science, so footage shot in any shared mode looks identical: same detail, same dynamic range (GoPro claims up to 14 stops), same natural, relatively unprocessed look in low light.

Where they diverge is right at the top of the spec sheet. The Mission 1 Pro shoots 8K at 60fps and adds an 8K 30fps open gate 4:3 mode for creators who want maximum cropping flexibility across aspect ratios. The standard Mission 1 tops out at 8K 30fps in 16:9 and doesn't offer open gate at that top resolution at all, though it does keep open gate for 4K modes (including 120fps slow-mo).

Slow-motion is the other gap. The Pro pushes to 4K 240fps and FullHD 480fps, with a 460fps (16x) mode and a 960fps burst option for extreme slow-mo. The standard Mission 1 caps out at 4K 120fps and FullHD 240fps, which is still a serious toolkit but noticeably short of the Pro's ceiling.

As for resolutions and frame rates, there's no difference whatsoever. Both support 10-bit color, the same Rec.709 and Rec.2020 HDR profiles, and the flat GP-Log2 look for grading. Both also manage around 2 hours of continuous 4K 60fps recording without overheating.

🏆: GoPro Mission 1 Pro

GoPro Mission 1 vs GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Photo

Photographers get an identical experience with both the Mission 1 and the Mission 1 Pro.

Both cameras use the full sensor for 50MP wide stills or drop to a combined 12MP mode for better low-light performance, and both lack any kind of zoom or variable aperture. Both use a fixed 15mm equivalent ultra-wide lens with fixed focus, so anything from about 60cm onwards is sharp.

Build quality, battery life and waterproofing are all identical. Both use the same Enduro 2 battery (and both accept the older Enduro 1 if you're upgrading from a Hero13 Black). Both are rated to 66ft / 20m without a housing. And both support the full range of Mission accessories, including the new point-and-shoot grip, the Media Mod and GoPro's first wireless mic kit.

🏆: Draw

GoPro Mission 1 vs GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Price & availability

The Mission 1 Pro costs $699.99 – or $599.99 direct from GoPro if you already hold a GoPro Subscription past its first renewal. The standard Mission 1 is $100 cheaper across the board at $599.99, which puts it level with what most people will actually pay for the Pro once the subscriber discount is applied.

There's also a distribution difference worth knowing about. The Mission 1 Pro is sold widely through retail and photo stores, and comes in several bundles including a Grip Edition, a Creator Edition and a forthcoming Ultimate Creator Edition. The standard Mission 1 is only available directly from GoPro, with no bundle options.

🏆: GoPro Mission 1 is cheaper; Pro has better bundles and deals

GoPro Mission 1 vs GoPro Mission 1 Pro: How to choose

Given how much these two cameras share, the GoPro Mission 1 vs GoPro Mission 1 Pro decision really comes down to a single question: do you need 8K 60fps, 8K 30fps open gate or frame rates above 4K 120fps and FullHD 240fps?

If the answer is yes, because you're delivering multiple aspect ratios or you regularly need extreme slow-motion for sports or action work, the Mission 1 Pro's extra headroom is worth the $100.

If it's no, the standard Mission 1 gives you the same sensor, the same processor, the same battery life, the same durability and the same image quality in every mode it supports, for significantly less money.

For most buyers, that makes the GoPro Mission 1 the smarter pick. The Pro is there for the few who'll actually use its top-end modes.

That said, this whole line is aimed at top-end users – and the bundles with GoPro's accessories reflect that. Of the two of us, Adam would definitely choose the Mission 1 Pro (the model he reviewed) every time.

The first successful launch of China's new self-landing reusable rocket, the Landspace Zhuque-3, was filmed by 12 DJI "consumer grade" cameras including the upcoming Osmo 360 II – making aerospace history, according to the company.

While consumer action cameras have flown to space before, the Osmo Action 6 was able to withstand the 932°F / 500°C conditions and return to Earth without any physical alterations. DJI has shared unedited footage of the nine-minute flight in which the rocket takes off, travels to space and lands – and as you can see, it's utterly captivating:

ABOVE: Watch the rocket launch, shot on DJI cameras

That's not to say the cameras were stuck on with off-the-shelf mounts, mind you. The team built mounts for the rockets that could withstand the high-frequency, high-intensity vibration as well as the extreme heat of space flight.

Inside the mount, the camera – an off-the-shelf, mass produced model – recorded the whole flight in 4K (including, of course, through the re-entry blackout zone where no direct communication is possible).

It brought back video that can be used to assess the journey by the engineers, who are hoping to repeat the flight again within six months as they strive to catch up with SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The Osmo Action 6's normal image stabilization algorithm handled it all. I should also add that, as a journalist, I've heard some other companies criticize the potential vulnerability of DJI's adjustable aperture mechanism (one they don't offer on their own action cameras), but it clearly survived a trip with significant G-force.

The camera also has a 1/1.1-inch sensor, which is evident in details picked up in other shots – includng the paddles that control the rocket's flight.

A lot of other DJI cameras were used to capture details of the launch, including the as-yet-unreleased Osmo 360 II, already teased by the company, the Mavic 4 Pro for aerials and the DJI Matrice 4TD for thermal shots, all of which give a new perspective on a space shot.

The 216ft / 66m high Zhuque-3 rocket is China's answer to the SpaceX Falcon 9, a reusable rocket that can lift satellites into low-earth orbit. It has a payload of 14.2 tonnes – less than the Falcon 9's 22.8 – but both aim to be workhorses.

This flight, on August 19, was the second attempt with the Zhuque-3 (the first, 8 months ago, fell back and exploded on the pad).

It is a big leap for China, though, because previous efforts at a reusable rocket required some kind of net or catching device. So, despite the smaller payload, the speed of development is impressive and the inclusion of off-the-shelf tech highlights the race to make space cheaper and more sustainable than the original space race.

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The DJI Osmo Action 6 is currently my choice for best action cameras, despite recent efforts from GoPro, and these videos go some way to showing why. Some of the drones used also appear in our guide to the best camera drones, including the spectacular Mavic 4 Pro, which I tested myself.

The EISA Awards are back, celebrating the year’s very best tech, and the Nikon ZR has picked up the Photo/Video Camera 2026-2027 award. EISA’s jury of experts praised the Nikon ZR’s “attractive features” and “reasonable price,” while acknowledging the camera’s RED color science and codecs.

They went as far as calling the camera a “unique tool,” and I couldn’t agree more. In a world where, for a better word, compact cinema cameras like the Sony FX5 and Canon EOS C50 rule the roost, the Nikon ZR does offer something different. Beyond the aforementioned RED tech, you also get that giant 4-inch rear screen, a still baffling fanless design, and access to the incredible Z-mount of optics.

EISA also highlights the “excellent audio,” presumably due to its internal 32-bit float recording, as well as praising the camera’s 7.5 stops of IBIS, and autofocus performance. The Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) is a curated collective of experts from 51 magazines, websites and social media outlets from across 26 countries, delivering their verdict on the latest and greatest consumer technology.

I’ve been lucky enough to use the Nikon ZR, and I couldn’t agree more with EISA’s assessment. When Nikon surprised the world by acquiring RED in 2024, it wasn’t a major player in the video sphere, and many questioned how the two brands could maintain their very different identities while also complementing each other.

And I think the Nikon ZR is a huge step in the right direction. If this is what Nikon can turn out at the first time of asking, I couldn’t be more excited for what Nikon x RED collaboration we can expect in the future.

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Want more EISA news? Just released months ago, and already crowned as the compact camera of the year. EISA Awards 2026: no Sony clean sweep this year as Nikon snags "Lens of the Year" crown as photography winners announced. Plus, the latest camera news.

The Insta360 Luna Ultra is a bold step into a new category for Insta360, the pocket gimbal camera, which was a space established by DJI a few years ago. That is far from a surprise, though – Insta360 and its partner brand Antigravity are treading on a lot of toes at DJI – already competing for spots on the best action camera, best 360-degree camera, and best 360-degree drone.

How do you come in, guns blazing, against the established competition? With more features and innovation, and that is exactly what the Luna Ultra promises. Though it only preceded DJI's Pocket 4P by a few days, the Luna Ultra was the first dual-camera device of this type, for a start. And if that wasn't enough, it also brought other innovations, like a detachable remote control and microphone.

How, though, does it measure up where it matters, when it comes to use and results? Is this new device going to lead the charge from now on, or is it all talk? I've been out testing it for some weeks, starting with a pre-release version and updating it to the launch firmware, and this is my experience and my verdict.

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Price

Priced at $769.99 / £649.99 / AU$1,229.99 for the Standard Bundle at launch, this is undoubtedly a premium price compared to previous pocket gimbal cameras. The Creator Bundle is more, but includes a Mic Pro wireless mic, wide-angle lens, and extended battery.

The only truly relevant competition is actually the DJI Pocket 4P, which hasn't even been launched in the USA for legal reasons. It does come in at a rather cheaper £529 / AU$1,099 for the Standard Combo, however, so the key question in this review won't be "Is this device good?" (obviously that needs covering) "But is it worth the price premium over the DJI – assuming you can get it?"

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Specs

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Build and handling

The pocket gimbal camera has become an established form factor, and in many ways, especially at first glance, there isn't a lot new here. The buttons are below the screen, so the camera can be gripped like a wand in the hand, and the thumb used to reach the more tactile buttons.

Above is a touchscreen which rotates 90 degrees and serves as a switch, a design concept first seen on the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 but no less useful here. In fact slightly more useful as Insta360 has added a couple of physical buttons to the bottom of the rotating screen which are always accessible (an interesting contrast to DJI's approach on the Pocket 4).

Beyond the similarities, the Luna Ultra is innovative in a very obvious way – its detachable remote with built-in screen. Two little red clip releases on either side will release the controls and screen, which then come away in something a little like a hybrid of a TV remote and a broadcaster's microphone (and it does actually contain a mic).

I found this to be a brilliant design benefit. It was easy to use a tripod, or just a nearby resting place, to place the camera, then I could walk a few steps away and compose a shot using the remote for a piece to camera, which is infinitely better than doing the same thing and being dependent on the automated subject tracking.

It's not that Insta360's system for automated tracking isn't good, but as a creative, it's much nicer to have the choice. A choice which is also bolstered by a subtle improvement against the competition – controls designed to be used by feel. The separate zoom controller is much more like a video camera, and is separate from the thumbstick which can be used to pan and tilt. This is a lot more natural than DJI's default either/or process.

I personally found it difficult to go back to not having a remote when I was out and about (and it's all so much quicker and easier than a phone app!)

Insta360 has placed a USB-C socket on the base, and allow the connection of a small base or a larger battery extension – this is all very familiar if you've seen DJI's Pocket 3 or 4. The difference is that clever fold-out tripod legs, made from metal little thicker than a paper clip, are cunningly tucked in by default. DJI's alternative requires an additional screw in tripod base.

Some people have said that the device is a bit heavy, but that wasn't my experience – I felt that the extra couple of grams over DJI's Pocket 4P made for a device that felt much more balanced.

The Luna Ultra has a wind guard over the built-in microphones rather than just the drilled hole, which is a nice touch, even if for most talking pieces you'll likely be using an external mic.

Some bundles are supplied with a zippable protective case, and the camera comes with a plastic shield. When powered down, the gimbal also places the lenses into a position where they are protected by the arm itself. Nevertheless this isn't a camera for tough conditions. There are mechanisms in the gimbals which aren't likely to be sand or water friendly.

By default, one of the buttons below the screen opens the menu of built-in effects, including some styles designed with the help of the Leica team to replicate Leica film. These are a quick and easy way to get visual effects that do look good. I'd also note that it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with this menu, not least because the OS isn't good at explaining the effects on screen. (On one occasion I accidentally left this feature on and got photos that I couldn't really use, which was a shame.)

Pros will prefer to use the I-Log 10-bit for videos anyway, of course, and shoot with the raw mode.

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Performance

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with the camera's performance on picture, subject tracking, and display.

Video might ever-so-slightly lack some of the dynamic range of the DJI Pocket 4P when shooting in Log, but there is more than enough range to achieve results that look essentially identical if you do shoot with Log, so I'm not certain it is the advantage some suggest.

In terms of telephoto, the optical zoom is great, and the digital zoom is good too – though I did see some problems with noise artefacts at 12x, so I'd think of that as a last resort.

The sample video I took of the eclipse – I simply left the camera running during the whole event at maximum zoom – is interesting because there is a detectable drop in resolution as the event reaches totality (ring of fire). That is presumably the camera auto-switching to an equivalent of "PureVideo," the low-light mode, which ordinarily only works in 4K anyway.

The battery life was not, in my experience, four hours, but nearer to two. That's in part because I tended to use the 8K mode, while staying in 4K will deliver more time. On one crucial occasion, the battery did run out while I was shooting an interview (with an Insta360 co-founder, ironically) and I was a little caught out by the fact it stopped recording but the screen stayed on reassuringly, so we just finished the interview and then found the problem. A loud beep in this scenario might be an idea in a software update!

Topping up the charge with USB-C is easy, however, and it is possible to buy spare battery handles. I should have planned better for that interview, but sometimes things just go wrong, and it was near the end of a busy day.

It's also worth noting that Insta360 has been quick to come up with innovative accessories – I've also already tested a neck strap that lets you wear the camera while it automatically follows your head movements with the gimbal and (once I'd got used to connecting it) I was impressed. It might not be to the taste of a photographer or creator used to composing each shot, but it's very practical.

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Overall verdict

Sometimes when a new company enters a market and makes significant changes to the genre, a reviewer (yes, like me) may end up using words like "ambitious." That's code for "I admire what you tried..." and is then usually followed with a "but here's why it didn't quite work."

Here, however, there is no evidence that Insta360's innovations have done anything but deliver more options to creatives, and they don't really seem to come with any compromise. Sure, there are contacts behind the removable remote, but gimbal cameras already have vulnerable elements, so there is a big gain and no loss.

It is not quite perfect. There are moments I found the operating system a little off. It has a lot to say on screen about the Leica image styles, but doesn't give me time to read them, for example. A few other usability tweaks for future software updates could definitely help. But that is par for the course.

On the other hand the I-Log is consistent across both lenses, whereas the DJI Pocket 4P frustratingly stops your workflow and requires you to switch down from D-Log 2 to D-Log if you want to use the telephoto. Now that's frustrating.

Ultimately, any high-end content creator – especially one looking for portability and flexibility – will find the Luna Ultra a near-peerless device. Some may question the price, but the relative ease and simplicity (compared to a phone app or remote) of the remote make this ideal, especially for solo creators, and comfortably pay for the difference.

Insta360 Luna Ultra: Alternatives

How I tested the Insta360 Luna Ultra

It's firmly my belief that the best way to review a camera is to experience it over as long a period as possible, so you can use it in everyday shooting situations – coping with the slightly unexpected all the time.

Insta360 provided me with a Luna Ultra camera before it's release, and I have added it into my bag and taken it with me to a number of locations. On many of those occasions I've also had the new DJI Pocket 4P with me, so I've had the chance to compare the two against each other.

The Technaxx TX-164 is a tough piece of kit. Dustproof, heavily splashproof and able to operate in temperatures ranging from -20°C up to more than 50°C, it’s the kind of time-lapse camera you could mount securely on a construction site in the windiest and rainiest of climates and not worry about leaving it there.

However, unlike some specialist time-lapse cameras, which can carry price tags brushing up towards four figures, the Technaxx TX-164 is also very affordable. If you’re looking to capture the kind of long-term imagery that a smartphone or mirrorless camera simply wouldn’t be suitable for, then it’s a cost-effective means of doing so – and it comes with a range of mounting accessories that allow you to tie it to a tree or pole, or even screw it into a wall.

But of course, none of this is much use if the imagery itself isn’t up to snuff. Unfortunately, I don’t currently have any multi-month construction projects on the go (maybe next year), so instead I took the Technaxx TX-164 out to create some short timelapses to get a better idea of what it can do.

Technaxx TX-164: Specifications

Technaxx TX-164: Price & availability

As mentioned, the Technaxx TX-164 is on the affordable end of the time-lapse camera scale. Its listed price from its (German) manufacturers is €179, and it can be found via third-party sellers like Amazon for around $256 in the US or £101 in the UK. This is cheaper than the entry-level Brinno BCC300, and a similar price to the tiny ATLI Eon.

However, one thing that is both essential and not included is a microSD card, meaning that if you don’t have one already, you’ll need to add the cost of one to that price tag.

Technaxx TX-164: Build & handling

A chunky black box of a thing, the Technaxx TX-164 is not about to win any camera beauty awards, but it earns points for functionality. All the various mounting accessories already mentioned give you enormous flexibility for how you want to set the camera up, and you can use the screws, clamp and rope to make sure it is extremely secure if you plan to leave it for a long period. For quicker, simpler mounting, the TX-164 also has two standard tripod screw threads – one on the base and one on the rear.

You get more than just the camera in the box – it comes with a range of mounting accessories, including a mounting rope, a clamp and a wall-mounting kit with screws and plugs. There are also twelve AA batteries included – a slightly odd choice, given that the camera takes eight. The makers claim that these batteries are enough to keep the camera going for as much as six months, making it a potential good choice for extremely long-term projects.

The camera opens up, lunchbox-style, revealing on one side the battery compartment, and on the other, the controls, screen, card slot and micro USB port. This port allows you to download your files directly rather than taking them off the card, and the makers have included a micro USB to USB cable – which is handy, because I’m not sure if I even own a micro USB cable anymore. Come on, lads – we’re firmly in our USB-C era.

The screen makes the camera completely self-sufficient, with no mucking around with apps required. It provides a real-time image preview for composing your shot, and the buttons below allow for navigating the menus and selecting your shooting mode. It takes a little getting used to – I’d advise spending some time reading the manual and familiarising yourself before you head to your location – but I felt I was up to speed pretty quickly. I recall the menus on the Brinno BCC300 being much more of a headache.

On the front is the lens, which sports a 110° field of view, and above it is an LED to provide a burst of illumination for night-time capture.

Technaxx TX-164: Performance

The shooting options provided by the Technaxx TX-164 are pretty basic. You can capture your timelapse as a video, converted in-camera to an AVI file, in a maximum resolution of Full HD. Or, if you prefer, you can retain the content as a sequence of photos, with a maximum resolution of 2MP.

Recording can be scheduled for set times and days; alternatively, you can simply activate ‘Endless’ mode and the camera will keep recording images at your chosen intervals – if the microSD card fills up, it will simply overwrite the oldest files and keep going. Interval-wise, you can choose from a minimum of 3 seconds to a maximum of 24 hours. There’s not a lot of control you can exercise over the actual look of your images, save for an exposure-compensation function that allows you to dial in +/-3EV, in case it’s needed.

I set the Technaxx TX-164 up next to my local river. With a minimum interval of 3 seconds – other specialist time-lapse cameras will go as fast as 0.5 sec, which is more useful for shorter-term projects – it was going to take some time to capture a video long enough for testing. So, I parked myself next to it and sat by the river reading a book and drinking a Coke Zero while the camera did its thing (reviewing’s a tough gig sometimes). Once sufficient time had elapsed, I retrieved the TX-164 and hit the button to stop recording – only to be confronted with a dead screen and an unresponsive camera. Hmm.

Naturally my first thought was that the video would have failed to capture, and this would necessitate another peaceful forty to fifty minutes sitting by the river (clearly something to avoid at all costs). Fortunately, checking the card revealed that the video had indeed been successfully captured, and removing and reinserting all the batteries was enough to get the camera working again. Still, not ideal – and I can only imagine that kind of heart attack I would have experienced if I’d been retrieving the camera after a six-month project.

As for the video itself: it’s okay. The image quality is about what you’d expect from a small 1/2.7-inch sensor – there’s a decent amount of details with near and far subjects legible, but the dynamic range is poor, with bright skies easily blown out. The final video file that the camera creates also lacks a polished feel, due to the fact that it outputs at just 5fps. There’s none of the smoothness you get from Brinno or ATLI timelapse cameras, which produce video at much higher frame rates. Granted, you could always save the sequence as individual photos and stitch them together yourself in editing software – but part of the point of a time-lapse camera is that it does this leg-work for you.

Technaxx TX-164: Sample video

The sample video was captured over a period of just under an hour, with the TX-164 capturing at 3-second intervals. It was converted to video in-camera.

Technaxx TX-164: Verdict

The Technaxx TX-164 is a cheap time-lapse camera that I would describe as functional. I appreciate its sturdy build and the raft of mounting accessories included in the box, but with video quality that’s adequate at best, the content it creates is serviceable rather than awe-inspiring.

Still, it’s more affordable than many of its competitor time-lapse cameras, and if you are looking for a long-term solution for capturing something like a construction project, it’s a cost-effective choice. It offers robust scheduling functionality, but very limited scope for tweaking the actual image – and the 5fps output of the in-camera converted output makes for a juddery viewing experience.

Alternatives

The ATLi Eon is all about making time-lapse photography easy. A small, simple, app-controlled camera, its operation is about as close to point-and-shoot as a time-lapse camera gets, so if you’re a novice looking for a time-lapse camera, it’s the kind of option that will likely capture your attention.

Some time-lapse cameras are hardy things, designed to be screwed into walls and left for months on end for seriously long-term projects like documenting building construction. That isn’t really the ATLi Eon’s bag – it’s a small, non-weatherproof device that’s about the size of an action camera, better suited for indoor timelapses like houseplant monitoring or brief outdoor sojourns.

Still, with a manual-focus lens, tripod mount and full manual settings control via the app, the ATLi Eon offers a surprising depth of control for such a lightweight and affordable time-lapse camera. Could it be the ideal entry point for time-lapse enthusiasts? Let’s find out.

ATLI Eon: Specifications

ATLI Eon: Price & availability

The ATLi Eon is one of the cheaper dedicated time-lapse cameras on the market. Its price fluctuates regularly; at time of writing, it can be bought for around $179 / £127, either directly from ATLi or via third-party retailers like Amazon. I bought mine a few weeks ago for £97, so don’t be surprised if you see the price move significantly in either direction. Other entry-level time-lapse cameras tend to be more expensive – the Brinno BCC300 costs $249 / £269 standalone without any accessories.

ATLI Eon: Build & handling

Upon unboxing the ATLi Eon, I was quite charmed. In form, shape and size it essentially resembles a GoPro with a big round lens stuck on the front, smaller and lighter than many other time-lapse cameras. There are minimal physical controls – just the power button on top – and no screen, meaning that you’re going to need to use the app to operate the camera.

With that said, there is one piece of manual control that I found rather delightful – the manual focus lens. The f/2.8 optic on the front turns with a smooth, well-regulated action, allowing you to bring your chosen subject sharply into focus, with a range spanning from 7cm to infinity. Not everyone will like this piece of physical admin, but for me, it made the ATLi Eon feel much more like a real camera than other webcam-style time-lapse cameras do. Plus, that 7cm minimum range opens up some interesting potential for macro shooting.

This focus range makes the ATLi Eon suitable for a broad range of time-lapse applications, from tracking the growth of a houseplant to capturing the changing view outside of your bedroom window. The ATLi Eon also has a tripod screw thread on its base to make it easier to set up in a secure, consistent position – ideal for long-term projects.

However, as we’ve discussed already, there is one aspect of the camera’s design that majorly restricts the time-lapse functions it can be used for: it isn’t waterproof. The ATLi Eon is not designed to be used in rain, unlike many other time-lapse cameras which can be left for months in the worst of the elements and still capture usable footage. Previous versions were apparently sold with a weatherproof silicon casing, but mine was not.

If you’re looking for a time-lapse camera to leave outdoors for long periods, I’d go with the Brinno BCC300 (as long as you get the waterproof housing).

ATLI Eon: Performance

As a rule I’m not a huge fan of cameras that are dependent on an app to function, but I suppose it makes a reasonable amount of sense for a timelapse camera, and the ATLi app is a good one. The shooting interface is simple and well-designed, making it easy to set up, shoot or schedule a time-lapse, or switch to photo and straight video capture modes. The photo mode isn’t bad – it’s difficult to imagine getting much use out of it, not least because you have to awkwardly juggle the camera and your phone, but it captures acceptable-looking images.

You can output your timelapse as a Full HD video, a photo sequence to stitch together yourself (which will give you the higher 2.7K quality of the camera’s photo mode), or both. Delve into the settings on the app and you’ll find a wealth of options for customising the look of your content, including exposure and white balance controls. There are profiles for different conditions such as ‘Sun’ and ‘Cloudy’, or you can take complete manual control over your shutter speed, aperture and white balance – useful once you’ve got the hang of the basics.

Still, no matter how many settings you tweak, you are ultimately still at the mercy of quite a small sensor, and the resultant narrow dynamic range can be a problem. During my time testing the ATLi Eon, the UK was experiencing extremely hot and sunny weather, and those scorchingly bright skies blew out very easily. The conditions also presented challenges for the lens – I found that harsh directional sunlight could easily cause an unsightly lens flare, and there’s no means of attaching a hood.

In less harsh light, though, it acquits itself well, producing bright and vivid imagery with a decent amount of detail.

I’d call the image quality sufficient. It’s no great shakes, and your smartphone is almost certainly capable of producing better-looking video without even trying, but you’re not going to leave your smartphone in front of a houseplant for two weeks – and there’s a lot to be said for the straightforward time-lapse functionality of the ATLi Eon. Once you’ve set it up, you can simply close the app, leave it to its own devices, and then come back to pick up your completed time-lapse.

ATLI Eon: Sample video

The following video was captured over a short period of 20 to 30 minutes, with the camera shooting at 0.5-sec intervals. It was converted to an MP4 video in-camera.

ATLI Eon: Verdict

The ATLi Eon isn’t going to produce the kinds of stunning, Einaudi-soundtracked, Icelandic starscape time-lapses you’ve seen on YouTube and Vimeo – those are made using proper mirrorless cameras with expensive lenses. However, what it will do is produce a decent-looking timelapse in most conditions, even when operated by someone who has little familiarity with cameras.

This ease of use, combined with the temptingly low price tag, makes the ATLi Eon a solid choice for anyone looking to dip their toes in the world of time-lapse. And once you’ve got a handle on the basics, its range of settings controls provide a solid platform for improving the quality of your footage – before, perhaps, you upgrade to something more sophisticated.

Alternatives

Action camera brand GoPro has pulled off a pivot, branching off the longstanding Hero line to launch the Mission 1 series of cinema-action cameras, complete with the first mirrorless GoPro. But if GoPro has anything to say about it, it’s this: GoPro isn’t done yet.

The shift to the Mission 1 series couldn’t have come at a better time for GoPro, which is facing serious financial struggles and looking for a potential buyer amid a downturn in sales. Yet, amid the company’s struggles and the biggest GoPro launch in years, the company is still looking towards what’s next.

“We’re going to continue to build from there,” GoPro’s senior vice president of product management Pablo Lema told me. “We've got exciting new products coming in different categories that are not even Mission. We're excited to put the same power that we put into Mission One into those new products when they come out and see how the world takes them. I think they're gonna want them.”

While GoPro couldn’t talk specifics about what’s next, Lema’s comments hint that GoPro is still working behind the scenes on what’s next, even amid a financial downturn and the company’s biggest launch in years.

The Mission 1 series is, Lema said, the GoPro that fans have been asking for since the Hero7 Black. The move to Mission jumps to a larger one-inch sensor, along with specs like 8K and slow-mo down to 960fps.

Among the series is perhaps the most unusual GoPro yet: the Mission 1 Pro ILS mirrorless camera. While GoPro’s first mirrorless was teased alongside the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro, the ILS isn’t set to make its debut until September.

The ILS carries much of the same specs as the Mission 1 Pro, including the same sensor, resolution, and frame rates, but slices off GoPro’s usual ultra-wide for a Micro Four Thirds mount.

GoPro fans have been asking for a camera with a larger sensor for years, and the Mission 1 series marks that much-requested shift – though Lema says there’s still space for "Hero-like” cameras in GoPro’s line.

“What we do best at GoPro is to be authentic listeners of the core user base that uses these products and what they need,” Lema said. “We have the best relationships with some of the best videographers in the world. And from them, we can get all the input on what we need to go next. If there's a next Mission, if there's a Mission after that.”

“And that's where we're cranking on, so we're excited to get those out when it comes,” Lema continued. “But first, we'll get ILS in the hands of folks and start to build out that powerline. And then we'll see what goes from there. We continue to work as hard as ever on our products.”

The Mission 1 launch comes as GoPro faces a downturn in sales. The company’s stock market filings suggest that the company could “be required to significantly reduce, restructure, cease operations, or seek protection under the Federal bankruptcy laws” if the company doesn’t manage to turn things around.

The Mission 1 cameras – and the unnamed future products Lema alludes to – aren’t the only solution that GoPro is working on. CEO Nicholas Woodman says that he fully supports GoPro’s search for a potential buyer or merger.

This is part four of a four-part series on the GoPro Mission 1 series and what’s next for GoPro. Read more about GoPro’s first mirrorless camera, the future of the Hero line, and why the Mission 1 is the biggest launch in years.

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The GoPro name is synonymous with the action camera, but the brand’s latest launch sits somewhere between action and cinema camera territory. The move, however, was a long time coming: GoPro says that the Mission 1 series is the biggest leap since the introduction of HyperSmooth.

I met with GoPro’s senior vice president of product management, Pablo Lema, after the launch of the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro and ahead of the launch of the company’s first mirrorless camera.

Lema, who has worked with the action camera brand since 2014, says that the series is the GoPro that fans have been asking for since the Hero7 Black in 2018.

“Mission 1 has been a long time coming for us,” Lema said. “I don't say this lightly when I say it to other folks: it was the most important camera we've launched since Hero7 Black. The step up in performance is real, and it's valued by the user reception of it. And we're gonna continue to build from there.”

The Hero7 Black introduced GoPro’s HyperSmooth, a stabilization algorithm that made a significant difference in capturing steady footage from the variety of mounting scenarios that GoPro is meant for.

HyperSmooth continues in the Mission 1 – and in fact, the combination of HyperSmooth with interchangeable lenses is one of the reasons that Lema is most excited for the company’s first mirrorless camera.

But, while DIYers have been hacking GoPros to use different lenses since the Hero4, what GoPro fans have been asking for for several years is a larger sensor. The Mission 1 series delivers that with an 8K-capable 1-inch sensor

GoPro users started getting particularly loud about demanding a larger sensor as competitors like DJI and Insta360 began introducing 1/1.3-inch and 1-inch sensors on competing action cameras.

“The Mission 1 series is probably the GoPro that everyone was asking us for since Hero7 Black,” Lema said. “Myself and the teams, we were pumped to be able to finally get it out to the world. And what's good is that it gave us insights and motivations as to what to build next, which we're already working on.”

While GoPro couldn’t share data on just how many Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro cameras the company has sold so far, Lema said the series has been “the best reviewed and best-received camera we’ve had at a product level since Hero7 Black.”

But, with the move to a larger sensor comes an entirely new category. GoPro isn’t calling the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro an action camera, but refers to the series as a “compact cinema camera” instead.

“We saw that the types of creators that would extract the most out of a 1-inch type sensor with big dynamic range, massive fps, much better low light capabilities as a result of the imaging package were, what we considered to be, well, for lack of a better word, compact cinema creators,” Lema said.

“The high-creativity folks that are on Instagram and YouTube are the ones that we extract the most out of a package like this.”

While GoPro isn’t calling the Mission 1 an “action camera,” the company’s love for accessories remains with the new series. Lema said that the new point-and-shoot grip and wireless microphone – a GoPro first – have been particularly well received, along with bundles that pair the Mission 1 Pro with the Fluid Pro gimbal.

GoPro’s most-asked-for camera couldn’t have come at a better time. The launch of the Mission series comes as the action camera giant faces significant financial struggles.

The company’s latest financial reports indicate a 38% drop in camera sales. Stock market paperwork filings indicate that the company could “be required to significantly reduce, restructure, cease operations, or seek protection under the Federal bankruptcy laws” if the Mission 1 doesn’t help to turn its finances around.

The action camera company is also in the “later stages” of looking for a potential buyer or merger.

The GoPro Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro have already begun shipping, but GoPro CEO Nicholas Woodman says the ILS will be arriving next month.

This is part of a four-part series with an exclusive interview on the GoPro Mission 1 series. Read part one on the Mission 1 Pro ILS here, or read what GoPro says about the Hero series in the Mission era here.

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The rise of the camera phone was met with a near-instantaneous plummet in the traditional camera industry. Now, more than a decade later, the industry is starting to show signs of a recovery – but can video cameras say the same thing?

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan – where several key camera brands are located, including Canon, Sony, Fujifilm, Nikon, Panasonic, Ricoh and OM System – recently shared statistics suggesting that camera production is showing signs of recovery after both the growth of the smartphone and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report echoes what the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has already shared, but the chart that tracks the rise of the smartphone with the crash of the camera industry highlights another interesting trend: while the camera industry is recovering, video cameras are not.

Video, which is represented in blue while stills cameras are orange, drops off the chart entirely in 2021 – and, despite signs of recovery for still cameras, does not reappear in subsequent years.

Social media algorithms are far more video-heavy than ever before, so why aren’t cameras for video more popular than before? I believe there’s a very simple technological shift that highlights why video cameras have not recovered despite the popularity of the format on social media: the hybrid camera.

Dedicated camcorders are becoming fewer and farther between, as the industry shifts towards a hybrid approach. The transition towards hybrids started slowly with the rise of the mirrorless camera. While DSLRs could shoot video (albeit without the optical viewfinder), the transition to mirrorless brought smoother, smarter autofocus performance and in-body stabilization.

While camcorders are more scarce, “video cameras” are not – they’ve just taken on a new format. Video-focused mirrorless cameras have risen along with the social media video trend. Nearly every major manufacturer now offers at the very least a hybrid camera, but most now have entire series of mirrorless cameras that are video-first, photo-second.

Sony has the FX cinema camera line that includes models like the FX3 and dedicated cameras for vlogging like the ZV-E10 series. Canon has models designed with V for video, like the Canon EOS R50 V, and C for cinema, like the Canon EOS R5 C.

Nikon went and bought cinema-maker Red and launched the Nikon ZR. The Panasonic Lumix S1H even earned the Netflix stamp of approval, a first for mirrorless, with bodies like the Lumix S5IIX being a staple for content creators.

While the chart looks worrying for video cameras, it all comes down to how cameras are categorized. Cameras like the Sony FX3 are technically a mirrorless camera, but are far more geared towards video than still photography.

As the technology has shifted, cameras are becoming increasingly versatile – and harder to fit in just one single category.

And while camera makers have been selling more in the past couple of years than in the early 2020s, CIPA is predicting a slight slowdown for mirrorless cameras in 2026…

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Take a look at the best hybrid cameras, or dive into the best cameras for video.

Sony’s latest cinema camera, the FX5, was announced back in July to enormous fanfare, huge excitement and massive sales. However, those who put their pre-orders down are going to have to wait – as the previous warnings of shipping delays until September have now turned into an indefinite postponement, with no official release date.

In a statement on its Japanese website, Sony announced that the release of the FX5 and its related accessories – an OLED viewfinder, an XLR handle unit and a timecode adapter cable – will be postponed due to unspecified "production issues".

The announcement comes pretty close to the last-minute, shortly before the camera’s stated release of August 21. And Sony has been unable to specify a new release date, meaning it could be a while before filmmakers can get their hands on the new camera.

The FX5 is billed as a lightweight cinema camera for professionals, slotting into the range between the Sony FX3 and FX6. Its headline feature is its capacity to shoot 5K 60p open gate video that uses the full 3:2 sensor area – though many features like 5K 120p open gate and cropped 4K 240p modes have been confirmed as coming along later, via firmware, and won't be present on the camera as released.

Billed as 'handheld Hollywood', the FX5 proved much more popular than Sony anticipated, with pre-orders flying in immediately after the camera was announced on July 28. It’s unclear whether the delay is related to the huge volumes of pre-orders, or some other unanticipated issue – Sony is remaining pretty tight-lipped about the specifics.

The Sony FX5 costs $4,898 / £4,700 / AU$7,849 body-only, or $5,498 / £5,200 / AU$8,849 in a bundle with the XLR handle. Pre-orders are still open – but I’d say it might be worth holding off for the time being. There are plenty of other excellent Sony cinema cameras you can get your hands on instead…

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Check out our roundups of the best Sony cameras and the best cinema cameras for some options that you CAN get your hands on.