Announcing GoPro Fusion for capturing 360 degree video and photos

If you live an active lifestyle and you want to record your escapades, there’s nothing on the market like GoPro. Founded in 2002 by a surfer, skier, and motorsports enthusiasts, GoPro makes the pinnacle of consumer sporting cameras—and the line is just getting bigger. This season brings the GoPro Fusion, which captures video in 360 degrees. You can pre-order the GoPro Fusion now at Best Buy.

What makes the GoPro Fusion so special

The GoPro Fusion 5.2K Sports & Helmet Camera (currently on pre-order at Best Buy) lets you shoot 5.2K spherical video… And play it back in VR. With offset wide-angle front and back lenses, you can record your entire visual experience. GoPro’s software takes multiple images and transforms them into a single sphere, letting the viewer look forwards, backwards, and around for an immersive experience.

The VR playback of Fusion recordings is free of stitch lines on land and comes with gimbal-free stabilization, so there’s less to carry and hold. The brand’s aim for the Fusion is to let users “shoot impeccably smooth video,” with visual effects like Angel View, LittlePlanet, Panoflow, and Time Shift, and spherical surround sound audio capture.

The Fusion is waterproof without a case to 5m, and it’s mountable on stands or helmets, making it a great option for activities whether they’re on land or in water. Another great feature that comes with the Fusion is voice control: you don’t always have your hands free when you’re climbing, skiing, or otherwise engaged, so GoPro has programmed in simple voice commands like “GoPro, start recording” and “GoPro, shoot burst” to let you control recording without stopping to press buttons.

How do you know if the GoPro Fusion is right for you? There are four GoPro models available right now, and the Fusion is the newest one.

• If you want a device that can record video in 4K, 1080p, or 720p, the GoPro HERO5 Session, HERO5, or HERO6 are good options; if you want to record in 3K or 5K, then you’ll need to go with the Fusion.
• For better-quality stills, choose a newer model; the 5 Session, 5, 6, and Fusion take 10, 12, 12, and 18MP photos, respectively. For better audio, choose a newer model as well; the Fusion has 4 microphones to the 5 Session’s 2.
• All models shoot in burst mode, night mode, video, time lapse, and night time lapse. Only models before the Fusion can perform continuous photo capture.
• Only the Fusion records 360 degree audio and spherical video. 

Using the GoPro Fusion on the go

The Fusion records a spherical image, but it produces fixed-perspective results, too. You can record video, stills, and audio, then use GoPro’s OverCapture to reframe the content into fixed perspective video or photos, right from your phone. (OverCapture is currently only available on iOS, but it’s coming soon to Android.)

Use the GoPro app on the go to preview your content, play it back, edit videos, and share them right from your phone.  For more polished results, you can upload the video to your computer later on and edit it in Adobe Premiere Pro or After Effect.

What the GoPro Fusion comes with

The GoPro Fusion ships with the Fusion itself and a Fusion Grip—a mount that can be used as an extension pole, tripod, or monopod. It requires two high-performance microSD cards to record, which are sold separately.

Pre-order the GoPro Fusion here at best Buy.