The GoPro MAX2 waterproof 360 action cam records the whole sphere around it in true 8K, so you never aim it at anything. You press the shutter, and the framing gets decided later in the app. Two replaceable glass lenses handle the capture, and they twist off by hand if one gets scratched, which means a damaged lens doesn’t turn into a damaged camera. Waterproofing is good to 16 feet with no housing, GPS is built in, and six microphones record spatial audio to match the video. Everything in the box centers on the camera itself, with an Enduro battery, two lens caps, an adhesive mount, and a USB-C cable.
Head over to Amazon to get the GoPro MAX2 action camera for just $300, down from its usual price of $500. That’s a discount of $200 and 40% off.
Get footage of all the action with this full-featured camera
Shooting 360 works backward from a normal camera. Every direction gets recorded at once, and you choose the shot afterward in the GoPro Quik app, cropping and reframing the sphere into a flat video from whatever angle you want. One take can produce a selfie, a third-person follow shot, and a clip of your face reacting to what’s in front of you. An extension pole disappears from the footage entirely, so third-person shots look like somebody else was filming you.
Resolution peaks at true 8K, which GoPro states is 21% better than other 360-degree cameras. Slow motion records in 4K100 for a 3x effect or 5.6K60 for a 2x effect. The MAX2 can take a 29MP image in 360 degrees as well as a 12MP still from one of the lenses. The serious editor will enjoy 10-bit color for over a billion possible shades, along with GP-Log encoding with LUT support and bitrate levels up to 300Mbps using GoPro Labs firmware.
The lenses are the piece GoPro rethought most on this generation. Chemical strengthening makes the optical glass hard to break, and the coatings on top repel dust and water droplets. When one does get scratched, it twists off in the field and a replacement twists on, no service visit and no new camera. Waterproofing holds to 16 feet without an external housing.
The MAX2 has HyperSmooth image stabilization, which helps prevent camera shake, and 360 Horizon Lock, which maintains an even horizon even when the camera is in a mount that would normally leave it tilted at an angle. If you’re familiar enough with what you need to shoot, there is a HERO Mode, and turning that on lets the MAX2 act as a regular one-lens action cam. The MAX2 also has built-in GPS tagging for video clips, so they carry information about where the clip was shot, how fast you were going, and what altitude you were at. Lastly, the Quik app gives you AI object tracking and MotionFrame editing on your mobile device.
At $300, down from $500, the box holds the camera, a 1960mAh Enduro battery, two protective lens caps, a curved adhesive mount, a mounting buckle and thumb screw, a USB-C cable, and a microfiber lens cloth. A microSD card isn’t included, and 8K footage fills one quickly, so plan on buying storage before the first shoot.