So, the new 360 GoPro is here, and as anticipated it’s neither a Fusion replacement (positioned as more of a normal gopro with optional 360) nor a successor (lower image resolution, and even the model code only got bumped from CHDHZ-103 to 201).
The good:
built in touchscreen should make it easier to control and frame without relying on a phone
(extra purchase) protective lenses, finally
smaller size, mounting teeth now integrated into the body, lower weight (154g vs 220g)
lower starting price (479 GBP/499 USD)
supposedly better hw and sw, offering better stabilisation and extra modes - seems useless for mapillary though
an actual new camera, not two hero5 bolted together, so one SD card! And in-camera stitching, both good and bad
it will probably bring fusion prices down (at least initially)
The bad:
LOWER (!!!) image resolution, 16.6 vs 18mp - unlikely there would be more detail
in camera stitching, ultimately likely to be worse than optical flow in Fusion Studio
gopro seems to be mothballing fusion completely, even removing the product page
GPS appears to be “Hero-mode only”, so just for mono-lens capture - what a weird limitation
smaller battery
no RAW capture
Some of these are properly subject to change, but I certainly won’t be rushing to buy one.
A shame really.
GoPro finally released firmware version 1.50 for the Max, which adds support for 360 time lapse images. Here is a sequence I shot with it: Mapillary
It does the stiching in-camera and writes equirectangular JPEG images to the SD card that can be directly uploaded to Mapillary. The older GoPro Fusion required processing the images on a computer to get JPEGs that Mapillary could use. Fusion Studio probably did a better job of stiching, but it is convenient to have it in-camera.
The image interval is selectable between 2s, 5s, 10s, 30s, and 60s. I’d prefer a shorter 0.5 or 1 second interval for driving, but 2 seconds is still usable.
I did notice that the camera isn’t properly tagging compass heading in the images, the EXIF data always has the heading as 0. When using the camera in “hero mode” (with only one lens, like a normal GoPro), it’s more of a problem. The Mapillary command line tools can use the GPS data to correct it, but still annoying.
this would make it easier to get started with, since many people disliked the fusion’s stitching requirements. It ain’t half bad either. Interval is a trade off
Image quality is still pathetic though.
Not sure if the Fusion was ever tagging heading properly (some sources said it had a compass), but I generally move the centre of the image to be facing direction of travel and then interpolate track heading after upload (as you probably did)
I did record a video and used the Mapillary command line tools to extract frames at a 0.5s interval, but it seems that the GPS data is missing. From what I can tell, when you convert the .360 file recorded by the camera to a normal video using the GoPro Max Exporter, the GPS data is lost. I did try the three codec options available (CineForm, h264, and h265), and get the same behavior with all of them. You could record a GPX track along with the video, but that kinda ruins the ease of capture with the GoPro.
I did double check to make sure I had GPS enabled in the camera, so I’m not sure if this is a limitation of the camera, the GoPro Max Exporter software, or if there is something else I’m doing wrong.
The mount I use is a RAM mount: RAM Mounts
A bit expensive and probably overkill, but it works well and doesn’t scratch the car.
I think the gps in video data was similar on other gopros, where they write it in their proprietary format.
There was, I think, software to extract the track from the video
I’d say yes, if you don’t mind the extra stitching workflow.
It’s cheaper, has timelapse on every firmware, and is supposedly longer lasting
(note that I don’t own a Max, basing this on internet feedback and photos I’ve seen)
I have not seen raw imagery to compare fusion vs max, but looking at what’s on mapillary, I don’t see the difference. I don’t know if Max uploads are frame captures or images, but the detail is still very low.
Fusion has been end of life for almost a year now, and still works ok. Knowing GoPro, I wouldn’t expect many new features for the Max.
If you are in the market for a standalone 360 camera for mapillary and don’t have the budget for an Insta360 Pro, I’d go for a Fusion
but if you have access to a Mac, the Go Pro Player does. More info