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GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS Review (2026): Cinema-Quality Action Cam
Don't let the GoPro in the name fool you, but its new Mission 1 Pro ILS (short for interchangeable lens system) isn't really an action camera. It's not even waterproof, and it uses potentially fragile interchangeable lenses. It's really a cinema camera crammed into the form factor of a GoPro.
While the average action camera user probably won't want the ILS version of the Mission 1 (the standard Mission 1 Pro serves that need), professional filmmakers, creators, and camera nerds have been clamoring for something like this for years, and it's finally here. It isn't perfect—in fact, it has some serious shortcomings—but this initial ILS camera does what it is meant to do quite well and, with incremental improvements, could become a truly great, tiny 8K video powerhouse.
The Mission 1 Pro ILS joins the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro to round out GoPro's high-end line of cinema-quality action cameras aimed at professionals. The major advantage over more consumer-oriented cameras like the GoPro Hero 13 or similar offerings from DJI and Insta360 is the large 1-inch (Type 1) sensor, which produces clearer, sharper video. The Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro are still traditional action cameras, though, with a fixed ultrawide lens and rugged, waterproof bodies. Both deliver outstanding image quality, and the Mission 1 Pro is our favorite action camera on the market.
The Mission 1 Pro ILS is a different beast in one important way: It has a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) lens mount. Yes, a GoPro with interchangeable lenses. Before you go thinking, “No one wants that,” consider that people have long clamored for this capability, and accessories already exist to modify the GoPro Hero Black with an interchangeable lens mount.
But first, what's the same as the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro? Just about everything. The body is essentially the Mission 1 Pro with the lens removed and a mount added. It even weighs the same (207 grams, before you put a lens on the ILS). The screens, buttons, and controls are identical, so working with the camera will feel familiar to anyone who has used a GoPro.
In terms of video recording, the specs are similar to the Mission 1, topping out at 8K/60 frames per second (fps), with all the same phenomenal slow-motion options, including 4K at 240 fps all the way up to 1080p at 960 fps.
Probably the biggest physical difference between the ILS and the Pro (aside from lenses) is that the ILS is not waterproof.
Photographers and videographers know the benefits of interchangeable lenses in bigger cameras, giving them different focal perspectives and moods to suit the look they want. But why would someone want this capability in a small camera like a GoPro?
When videographers realized they could use smaller DSLRs (and even smartphones) for Hollywood productions, they've been employed as primary cameras for small-budget indie films or as secondary “cheaper” options to ultraexpensive cinema rigs for shooting in tight spaces, or that could be written off. In fact, even big camera companies like Sony, Nikon, and Canon have developed compact cinema cameras for such purposes.
Which leads to two obvious use cases where the Mission 1 Pro ILS will shine. First, it's a great little crash camera for bigger productions (a crash camera is one that's disposable; imagine it installed in a car to capture an action sequence that might well destroy the camera in the process).