Close-Up Filters for the GoPro Mission 1 Pro Solve the Camera’s Biggest Issue

GoPro has announced a new set of close-up filters for the Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 cameras made in tandem with PolarPro. With these new filters, which come in three strengths, the camera can overcome one of its biggest complaints: poor focus distance.

Back when the Mission 1 launched, one of the highlight features was the improved resolution and detail provided by the larger Type-1 sensor. The improved quality bolstered the camera to a Strong 88 on PixelMeter.

Unfortunately, a side effect of that larger sensor was that the minimum focus distance ballooned out to two feet (60 centimeters), which suddenly made it far less useful for vlogging or any type of situation where the camera needs to be physically close to the subject, like mounted on the inside of a vehicle. This drawback, combined with the high price, made some reviewers pause more on a recommendation than they otherwise would have.

"Unfortunately, the move to a larger sensor means that minimum focus is pushed quite a bit farther away — nearly two feet — compared to one foot on the previous model. This certainly changes how you shoot with this camera, as my number one instinct when using ultra-wide lenses is to get close to my subject. Helmet shots of your environment will look great, but flipping the camera around to look at you will often lead to out-of-focus, unusable results," PetaPixel's Jordan Drake wrote in his review.

"As a huge GoPro fan, I really wanted to like the Mission 1 Pro. There are some great things about this camera... there are just a few flaws that really hamper this wonderful piece of hardware. The first is the minimum focus distance, which is 60 blooming centimeters. So if I'm vlogging to it, I'm not in focus," Emily Lowrey said on Instagram.

GoPro has seemingly heard those complaints and addressed them via a filter system it designed in collaboration with PolarPro. The company announced a set of three: the PolarPro +0.5 / +1 / +2 Diopters. These have an increasing strength of close-focus that decreases the standard 24 inches down to 19.6 inches (50 centimeters), 17.7 inches (45 centimeters), and 11.8 inches (30 centimeters), effectively cutting the close-focusing distance in half when using the strongest +2 diopter.

Narrowing the focus closer does have the effect of reducing focus at a distance, however. The +0.5, +1, and +2 filters reduce the far focus distance to 59 inches (150 centimeters), 35.4 inches (90 centimeters), and 19.6 inches (50 centimeters), respectively. So users will have to decide what they want in focus before choosing to use one of these filters.

Both the standalone Close-Up Filter, which is the +0.5 strength, and the full Close-Up Filter Set of three are available starting today for $50 and $100, respectively.