Canon to partner with GoPro in some capacity? [CR0]

Canon Rumors Guy

Canon EOS 40D
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Jul 20, 2010
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www.canonrumors.com
Back in November, we were told by an unknown source that Canon and GoPro were working on a partnership, we dismissed it a viable rumor and didn’t bother posting about it on this site.
Other sites have started to post about a Canon & GoPro partnership. So we figured we’d also address it, as readers have already started emailing us about this.
The original source told us the following:
Canon will sign a cooperation deal with GoPro. They are interested in the digital image stabilisation and video capabilities of 4K without a crop. GoPro will profit by getting the Canon colour science and undisclosed other key technologies
Canon doesn’t seem to be a company that is much into these types of partnerships, and with GoPro being for sale, it seems like an acquisition Canon could make quite easily if there was a business case for it.
Stranger things have happened, but be mindful of the...

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Being interested in 4K without a crop from GoPro is the dead giveaway of this being a false rumor. The 4K crop is primarily due to a slow readout speed(just take a look at how bad the rolling shutter is on the EOS R in 4K crop), along with a few other variables. GoPro sensor technology is nonexistent, they use off the shelf Sony sensors.
 
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RunAndGun

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Dec 16, 2011
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I seriously doubt this rumor. Unless Canon is contemplating a line of action cameras and they just buy GoPro. But Canon products are rock solid and reliable. GoPro's are unreliable at best. About a decade ago, GoPro's became the darling of TV production, because you could stick them anywhere and get shots that were either almost impossible before or would require tons of time and rigging to achieve. I stopped offering them to clients and try to talk them out of using them if they have their own and want to use them on the shoot. The latest generation(s) are the worst. They overheat(in the open frames), shut down, corrupt files, and reset settings. Even gear rental companies post warnings about their unreliability, and not to use them in a situation where you need the footage from them(they won't refund your rental if they fail). It's kind of a shame, too. The old ones were pretty solid as far as reliability(stay on/keep recording), but a PITA to set-up and operate. The new ones are incredibly easy to set-up and operate, but also incredibly unreliable. What good does it do that they finally made them easy to use with everything built-in, when it's a roll of the dice if you're going to get any footage back from them?
 
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Hector1970

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Mar 22, 2012
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I don't see any benefit for Canon working with GoPro as GoPro has just been bypassed by other companies especially DJI. They didn't forsee the drone market early enough. They were doomed to rely on one small part of the market. They will run out of road eventually. The sensor was always going to be too small in the long run.
However GoPro's themselves are pretty good and always have been from the start.
I've always found them reliable. Yes overheating in hot weather was a problem but not in normal weather. I've had Canon shutting down overheated too. Certainly no more unreliable than any other gear. Very robust too and excellent waterproofness. I'd highly recommend them as an action camera.
 
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There is a whole lot of software under the hood of a GoPro that runs on an Arm SOC.
https://gopro.com/help/articles/block/Open-Source-Software

Canon could certainly use some GoPro expertise to ditch their aging and proprietary Digic platform.

What kind of features could this actually enable? How about:
- Voice control
- Computational photography
- Better drivers and UI for 802.11 ac / Bluetooth wireless.
- Auto sync to Dropbox / Android / NAS etc
- Animated menus
- h.265 / AV1 video encoding
- Encryption
- Face detection / tagging
- Auto lens micro adjustment

Software ... IMHO, this is where Canon is falling the most behind. Some of these features would bridge 'Entry Level' cameras for cell phone shooters looking to upgrade, and that's a sizable chunk of the market.
 
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