Over the Winter we’ve been experimenting with new cameras for an updated version of our Trek Pack.
In addition to a whole heap of other things, we’ve spent the last few months improving the Trek Pack for 2020.
Our Trek Pack is a backpack mounted 360-degree camera system designed to capture stunning 360-degree Street View tours in all terrains.
The old GoPro Fusion cameras we used have served us well, shooting in temperature ranging from below freezing temperatures to well over 40 degrees. From 20 metres down to 4000 metres up. In rain, snow, and glorious sunshine.
It really is a “take on any adventure” camera.
OK, it wasn’t perfect.
One of the biggest gripes with the Fusion was that photo stitching had to be done on a PC using bundled software, rather than on-camera (like most current cameras in the consumer market).
Trekkers in the field complained about the Fusion Studio software making their computers unusable during stitching process (which can often take hours, even on high performing computers). In fact, some could not use it at all.
In 2019 we captured 100,000 images in the UK alone… I despair to think how long they took to stitch… and how many times the dreaded “GoPro Fusion Studio has crashed” message was displayed.
Last year GoPro released the successor to the Fusion, the GoPro MAX, and we were delighted to hear it was offering on-camera stitching.
The Trek Pack V2
As such, I’m really excited to announce the next iteration of the Trek Pack today.
The features and specifications of the MAX have not changed much from the Fusion.
But we’ve been more than happy with the image quality of the Fusion
On-camera stitching, however, was worth its weight in gold to us.
This will make it much easier and faster for people to process their photos and get them online.
Another massive benefit of sticking with GoPro is that all the mounting points are the same which meant we did not need to modify the old trusted backpack design.
But please, please, please GoPro, for the next 360-camera iteration, keep to same battery dimensions!
The MAX battery is a slightly different shape to the old Fusion ones meaning we’ve had to invest in a whole inventory of spare batteries and chargers for our loan program.
Whilst battery recycling exists, it’s not perfect and we’d rather reuse them.
The reduced battery size also results in a lower battery capacity, 2620Mah for the Fusion, to just 1600 MAH on the MAX. This too reduces the shooting time from around 4 hours on the Fusion in timelapse mode to 2.5 hours on the Max.
In this release we’re shipping 4 different models:
Trek Pack (Hike)
The classic pack. Designed for day-hikes.
Trek Pack (Multi-day)
17 times more battery power (over 30 hours of shooting). Perfect for week-long adventures.
Bike Pack
A helmet mounted camera for cyclists.
Scuba Dive Pack
A dive bubble to shoot down to 10 metres with crystal clear clarity.
Get a Pack
For full details about the Trek Pack, and how you can get a Trek Pack to shoot outdoor panoramic tours, see the Trek Pack page on our website here.
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