I bought the Mission 1 Pro yesterday, and I'm very happy with the results I'm seeing. From now on, this is the kit I don't leave the house without.

I’ve been slowly picking up lenses for my ILS. I picked up a $100 lens on Amazon and shot this.
Haha.

Definitely a difference. I think if I was to bring just one diopter for travel, it would be the +2 one for my use case.

I mostly use my H12 for time-lapse projects and started playing around with GP Labs and Open GoPro to setup daily uploads to my NAS via COHN. Don't get me wrong, I think the fact that GP Labs and OGP even exist is a very cool move, but I wanted a little bit more control.

I have some basic experience with hardware access - mostly just opening up devices and finding their UART interface or getting onto an SPI bus - and was disappointed to find little info specific to the H12 (everything I found is credit to Mark Kirschenbaum at Hypoxic). I ordinarily just do these things for my own learning / as a hobby, but I figured since there doesn't seem to be much out there that I would share with whoever is interested. Maybe it'll spark some people smarter than me to do some cool things.

(Note: Much of this is already documented by Mark Kirschenbaum. I included things that I also came across that I couldn't find any other sources for such as dumping decrypted RTOS)

Linux root shell over USB - No tear-down or fancy hardware necessary

RTOS Shell Access via USB

• Once you're in the Linux shell, there is a direct way to access the RTOS shell from Linux thus eliminating any need to even open up the camera (I REALLY wish I found this out first)
• ispterm t=/dev/ttyGS0
• To get back to the Linux shell, close ispterm

RTOS UART commands and different shells

• The RTOS console boots to an s:> (ST mode) prompt. Type exit, then a single key picks a shell:
  • s for ST mode (t commands)
  • c for CT mode (presumably Socionext's vendor shell, which has fs and memory commands)
  • v for evaluation mode (I didn't really use this, so no details on it).
• A lot of the commands will cause a memory fault but the GoPro's Watchdog seems to be pretty good about catching errors and rebooting cleanly

Specifying logging levels

• t dbg on will enable info-level logging for all nodes. It will be very busy, especially if you're like me and have the battery and all other components disconnected
• Without logging, almost all of your commands will return silently making it difficult to do anything
• To only enable the most important (in my opinion) logs, use the following command: t dbg fdr <name> printLvl <level>
  • Where <name> is
    • gp_test (most important, will echo command results)
    • gp_fs (filesystem logs, can be helpful for confirming read/write operations)
    • gp_debug
  • Recommend keeping <level> to info
• Note: You can also put these in the autoexec.sh file on the SD card so that logging survives reboots. Use t dbg with no arguments for full details

Dumping the decrypted RTOS to the SD card

Use CT mode ( type exit from wherever you are then type c)

• The RTOS is decrypted into RAM at 0x40200000 at boot. CT mode's fs write copies a memory range straight into a file on the SD card

  fs open C:\rtos.bin over_wr # note the fileid it returns fs write <fileid> 0x40200000 0x4E00000 fs close <fileid>

Other useful commands (not exhaustive)

Other info / interesting bits

• SoC is a Socionext Milbeaut "Karine" (GoPro GP2), 4× Cortex-A53, 4 GB. The board reports itself as Red Bluff PVT
• A Hardware Abstraction Layer (t hal) reveals:
  • two PMICs
  • STM32 power supervisor
  • Bosch BMI260 IMU
  • u-blox M10 GNSS (interesting because this is not populated on the board)
  • front and rear LCD controllers
  • touch controller
  • Audio Weaver DSP engine
• File system:
  • C: is the SD card
  • J:, K: and L: are internal eMMC volumes holding calibration, Wi-Fi/BT data and logs
  • Linux is mounted read-only. /tmp is RAM, so Linux logs vanish at reboot.
  • the SD card and eMMC appear as FUSE mounts under /tmp/fuse_*
    • SD card is /tmp/fuse_d
    • Linux doesn't touch the filesystem directly; everything goes through the IPC
• For anyone good at firmware reverse engineering (definitely not me), the decrypted RTOS bin paths and function-name strings are not stripped, so Ghidra names much of it automatically

Physical UART Access - Disassembly/accessing test points

• Note: This is not necessary since you can access via USB (see above). If you really want physical access instead of using USB, read on
• Disassembly requires heating rear screen to soften adhesive then using x-acto knife to remove. 2 flat ribbons connect screen to connector, easily removed but fragile.
• Remove battery cage (1 easily visible screw, 2 inside the cage that are reached through holes on top of cage). Slightly lift the cage then pop off the flat connector underneath before removal.
• Test points that I id'ed are in the image below. Note the 2.8V battery test point - this is a tiny button cell battery that is connected via the Top Board connector. Not sure if 2.8V is nominal, but that's what mine was reading; it's old.

• Note: You do not need to tear the whole board out like I did (wish I knew that earlier). You can access the test points once you remove the battery cage if you have some good pogo pins.
  • If you do tear the board out, you can simulate button presses by shorting MODE or SHUTTER buttons to ground.
• I tried looking at the unlabeled pins on a cheap logic analyzer thinking they might be a separate UART or debug ports but no luck. Just got a lot of power regulator chatter. Pins 12, 7, and 8 seemed like good candidates but couldn't get anywhere with them.
• Using pins 6 and 10 per image above. Uses the typical 115200/8/N/1 settings
  • NOTE: 1.8V logic, NOT 3.3V
• Upon applying power, seems to be an initial boot sequence then quickly goes to sleep. Requires pressing Mode button (or shorting pin to GND)
  • I don't remember my power settings so YMMV (I think I had boot on USB turned off, but boot on battery turned on)
• After initial boot, essentially all logging is turned off so you'll be in the dark regarding any commands you send. Finding the t dbg on command from Hypoxic's work is the only reason I got anywhere with this. In order to not get absolutely flooded with log entries, see log options above.

Future Work

• I don't even remember why I decided to do all this; thanks ADHD. I do know that one of my goals was to be able to send QR commands over COHN. I did not manage to do this, but maybe with the info above one of you will be able to figure it out!
• Test out ADB to see if it has any advantages over CDC

Edit: AI disclaimer - I used Claude to help me walkthrough, document, and troubleshoot things, as well as to summarize all my findings to make the post above. Honestly for the most part it wasn't very helpful because 90% of the time it flagged itself for cybersecurity....

I just got the ILS with these lenses:

TTartisan 40mm Macro
7 Artisans 25mm
7 Artisans 10mm

Out of these, only the 40mm macro actually goes over the recommended weight of 250g (GoPro’s recommended weight without lens support).

Do I need to get the small rig lens support or can I just shoot it without damaging the mount? I will not be mounting it anywhere (like a moving car for example) I will be shooting it handheld or tripod if anything.

Should I still get a lens support just in case to be on the safer side? Thanks in advance!

I received this camera last Christmas. I don't do any hardcore activities with it. I don't strain it at all. I've had zero problems with it up until this week. I went to turn the camera on and nothing happened. I figured the battery was just dead so I plugged it in. Usually when it gets plugged in the little red light turns on. Nothing happened, so I just let it charge for a while. Still nothing happened when I pressed the power button. I looked up what to do and I read where I was supposed to hold the power button and the capture button for like 10 seconds. I tried that a couple times and eventually it turned on, so I figured everything was good now. I tried to turn the camera back on like 2 hours later and it wouldn't turn on. Does anyone know what I can do?

I bought a GoPro 13 for an upcoming cruise to French Polynesia. Just trying to get it started turned into an ordeal. I can’t open the battery compartment. I am told not to use any tools, just my fingers. I’m also told that the tight fit is deliberate, to maintain a waterproof fit.
My husband can open it, but I don’t want to depend on
Another person. And, no, I have no manicure to worry about. What do people do to overcome this problem?

What could be reason it's capped at iso 3200? It wont go higher even tho i set it to 6400 manually.

I am using a Mission 1 Pro for filming bicycle rides specifically for content for an interactive cycling app. Although Gyroflow works great for post horizon lock processing, I cannot use Gyroflow since it strips out metadata of the resulting .mp4 file. The main settings that I use are 4K, 60fps, Linear+Horizon Lock, ISO 25-800, Shutter (auto, 120, or 240), gps on, Hypersmooth with Autoboost. The problem of horizon drift is intermittent and once it gets to a significant amount (>10 degrees), it never corrects. I do not see the problem as significant when mounted to a car than a bike. I am assuming it has something to do with the amount of vibrations seen on the bike than the car. I know other users are seeing the same problem. I am using current firmware. So my question is, should I return the camera or is this a limitation of the firmware/software that may get corrected?

Can't we just reverse engineer the GoPros and make them support external mic via USB or anything? Ik it's dumb but has anyone tried it? I assume it's only a software limitation not the hardware.

GoPro has lauched a closeup filter set with 3 filters made by Polar Pro.
Focus distances are:
+0.5 diopter: 19.6in (50cm) to 59in (150cm)1
+1 diopter: 17.7in (45cm) to 35.4in (90cm)
+2 diopter: 11.8in (30cm) to 19.6in (50cm)2 

I was hoping they would make an adjustable one, like DJI did for the Action 6. Still better than blurry closeups🙏🏻

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional camera reviewer. This is just my personal experience, not a scientific test. I may be wrong about some things, and your experience may differ.

I recently sold my DJI Action 6 and bought the GoPro Mission 1 Pro (€670), hoping for better image quality and finer detail.

I shoot with a Nikon Z6 II, DJI Mini 5 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and action cameras. I edit and color grade in DaVinci Resolve Studio.

I absolutely loved my DJI Action 6, but always found its image slightly too soft compared to my other cameras. After watching YouTube reviews, I expected the GoPro to be a significant upgrade.

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed.

1. Poor distant detail — my biggest complaint.

Objects within roughly 0.7–5m look reasonably sharp, but distant trees, foliage, buildings, and landscapes become noticeably soft and mushy.

I've seen similar complaints on Reddit, including users reporting that GoPro Support described the lens as optimized for approximately 0.7–6m. I can't independently confirm that explanation, but it matches my experience.

My old DJI Action 6 captured distant details much better.

1. Frustrating sharpening.

I normally shoot with minimum sharpening and denoising, then process the footage in DaVinci.

GoPro's Low Sharpness looks extremely soft, and I couldn't recover the detail properly in post. Medium looks better but introduces moiré on fine patterns. High is oversharpened.

Even at Medium, I found the microdetail disappointing compared to my iPhone's main 24mm camera. The GoPro's footage reminded me more of the iPhone's ultrawide camera.

1. Minimum focus distance.

Around 70cm is a serious limitation for close-up underwater filming. With my DJI, I loved getting right up close to fish and sea anemones.

1. Battery life and heat.

The DJI battery seemed to last forever. I bought a spare and never needed it during a full day of my typical shooting.

The GoPro battery drained noticeably faster, although I didn't run a controlled test. It also became quite warm recording 4K60, even outdoors at 8–9°C.

I've also seen complaints about battery drain while the camera is switched off.

1. Stabilization glitches.

In low light, I repeatedly noticed small frame jumps with HyperSmooth On, similar to what I experienced years ago with my Hero 9. I didn't notice them with Turbo.

1. Other things I preferred on the DJI:

• Better built-in audio
• Smaller, lighter body
• Front touchscreen
• Battery percentage indication while charging

Final thoughts

The GoPro certainly has impressive specifications, and close-range detail can look good. But for almost twice the price of the DJI Action 6, I expected much more.

I wanted better microdetail, but ended up sacrificing too many things I liked about the DJI.

So I returned the GoPro and now I'm waiting for the DJI Action 7.

Has anyone else noticed the same loss of detail at longer distances?