GoPro Fusion 2 Rumors

GoPro Fusion 2 Rumors? GoPro made it official and announced that along with their new GoPro Hero 8 Black lineup they would be coming out with a brand new Fusion.

New GoPro Fusion 2

CEO Nick Woodman in GoPro’s May 2019 1st Quarter Earnings conference call mentioned that GoPro would be refreshing their entire lineup. “I’m happy to share that we’re planning an exciting refreshed lineup at all price points in Q4, including our next-generation spherical camera and an innovative multi-year roadmap that we believe will result in continued momentum, growth, and profitability for GoPro in 2019 and beyond.”.

Layoffs At GoPro

When GoPro launched the Fusion, they thought VR was going to be a big hit.

It really turned out to be a flop and really set back GoPro’s profitability.

In September of 2018, GoPro laid off its staff from Kolor, a 360 software company it acquired.

With the series of layoffs that started in 2017 and continued in 2018 GoPro refocused its efforts and it paid off. GoPro became profitable in the 4th quarter of 2018 when Revenue hit 377 million, a nice 13% increase YOY and the 2nd time GoPro showed a profit.

In January of 2019, Nick Woodman had an interview with PC Magazine’s Jim Fisher and talked briefly about the Fusion and what to expect going forward.

Competitors To The Fusion

Probably the biggest competitor in the 360 market right now and possibly the leader is the Insta360 One X. It’s not as bulky as the Fusion and it has some really innovative features like an invisible pole, the ability to be thrown and an easy to use interface.

New Body Design

It’s almost certain that GoPro will revamp the Fusion 2 body to be more compact and versatile. The blocky look and feel of the Fusion just never worked for those looking to use it as an action camera.

Comparing the Insta360 One X to the Fusion and you can probably see where GoPro might go. The fact that the Insta360 One X can be inserted into the Insta360 One X Dart and thrown adds some really cool filming options, that the current Fusion just can’t capture.

Fusion 2 Non-VR Content Driven

For the new Fusion 2, GoPro is going to focus on making it easier to use for the general consumer. Nick specifically stated that the new Fusion 2 would steer away from Virtual Reality and GoPro would concentrate more on non-VR content creation capabilities.

Simply User Experience

One of the main goals for the Fusion 2 will be to simplify the user experience. Nick is betting on consumers loving the fact that they don’t need to aim it at a particular spot to be able to capture amazing videos.

Nick wants to make the whole user experience from the time of capture to final video workflow easier and almost seamless.

The other advantage, of course, will be the amazing stabilization and performance that can’t be matched by existing phones or non-360 video cameras.

Reframing Video

GoPro’s perspective is they want to make it easy on the consumer to reframe the 360 videos without having to mess with reframing video footage. The functionality will be there for those who want it (i.e. Pros), but for the novice having something framed at the time of capture will be important and eliminate the hassle of reframing.

Fusion 2 Stabilization

Nick was quoted in PC Magazine saying “HyperSmooth is very impressive, but we’re not done yet.” This, of course, means GoPro will certainly be ramping up improvements to their HyperSmooth technology and passing it along to both the Hero 8 Black and other GoPro products like the Fusion 2.

GoPro Fusion Capture 5.8K Spherical Video

GoPro updated their Beta Fusion software capture to 5.8K/24fps. This translates into 5.6K when stitched.

5.8K/24p filming or 5.6K when stitched.
5.6K/24fps time-lapse video mode.

What We Know About The GoPro Fusion 2

GoPro Is focusing on improved Stabilization (Improved Hyperstabization)
Overcapture
Less emphasis on VR and in fact probably no emphasis.
GoPro is Focused on Ease Of Use
Real-Time Stitching (Easier to use)
Resolution 5.6K -> 4K video capture 6K maybe more, but would need to add more than 2 lenses
Possible Keyframing where an app chooses for the user.

What We Would Like To See For The Fusion 2

HDR Video Mode
Improved time-shift capabilities
Adding some type of Overlays for stats like miles per hour
Live Video Mode

FAQ

Will There Be A New GoPro Fusion?

YES! GoPro will be releasing a new Fusion, we think will be called the Fusion 2.

What IS The GoPro Fusion 2 Release Date?

We are expecting an October 2019 release

Will The New Fusion Have Better Stability?

GoPro hints at improving HyperSmooth capabilities.

What is OverCapture?

GoPro’s OverCapture is their editing tool you use to transform spherical media captured with Fusion, into traditional, non-spherical content, all from within the GoPro app.

Will The Fusion 2 have Real-Time Stitching?

According to Nick Woodman, they want to make the Fusion 2 easier to use, which may include real-time stitching.