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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