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DJI have announced their first 'action' camera. Aimed at consumers interested in action-sports and travelling, the pocket-sized Osmo Action features advanced image stabilisation, is capable of capturing 4K footage at 60FPS and 8x slow motion!
We have very, very limited stock in right now but have plenty of units on the way. You can place your pre-order on our webstore here.
The headline 4K UHD Video at 60FPS will be popular, as will the HDR video mode expanding dynamic range for fantastic low light videos. Otherwise known elsewhere as 240 frames-per-second, the DJI Action Camera can shoot stabilised 8x slow-motion footage. Naturally the camera can also shoot in 720P/1080P/2.7K as well as 4K video. It can take 12MP stills in JPG as well as JPG+RAW modes. DJI have included a D-Cinelike faux-LUT which records video in lower contrast similar to GoPro's Protune.
GoPro's hypersmooth technology has garnered much praise so we are glad to see that DJI have produced a competitor. Titled 'RockSteady' this Electronic Image Stabilisation smooths your footage (even when filming in 4k 60FPS!) using hardware, software and gyro data allowing you to shoot handheld or in situations when the camera would be violently thrown around (on a drone, rc car, scooter handlebars etc). Sadly you cannot use RockSteady in the 4k HDR mode.
Interacting with the camera is simple, with a record and display/menu on top, whilst the quick-switch button is on the side. Holding this later button for 2 seconds will swap which display the camera uses from rear to front and vice versa.
The touchscreen is responsive (so far tested with bare hands) and intuitive, swiping right for playback, left for options and up and down for modes.
Ensure you have the latest version of DJI Mimo from the iTunes store or Google Play store (we had to restart our play store app after spamming refresh all this afternoon), login to your DJI account and follow the onscreen instructions. Its likely your camera will need a firmware upgrade so let the app do its thing before you start filming.
We were lucky enough to get our hands on the DJI Osmo Action before the launch, so here is a quick set of unboxing photos to show you what you get.
The retail packaging is tidy, a large percentage of it being recyclable. Included in the box is the camera, a USB-C cable, a battery case with battery and SD card holder, a flat mount, a curved mount, camera cage and attachment screw.
The protective battery case is a nice touch which will doubtless come in handy when organising our gear. Note that the battery itself has an orange rubber seal to aide the waterproofing. The side door for the SD card slot and USB-C plug features a similar waterproofing plate.
The included cage is only needed for mounting the camera to things. We are so glad that DJI went for a GoPro-compatible pronged mount, meaning we could re-use all our inexpensive action camera mounts!
In the coming week we hope to answer the question everyone is asking. Is the Osmo Action better than the GoPro Hero 7 Black? We have both cameras on hand, so if you would like to see any specific footage, leave us a comment below!
As stated we have a very limited amount of stock in this first week but are expecting plenty in the coming week. Should we be out of stock by the time you read this, stick your email address into our stock notifier there and we will email when they are back in!
Interested in other DJI Osmo products? Check our review of the Osmo Pocket, our super resolution tutorial with the same device and when we got our friend Kevin Talbot to mount one to an RC Car. Osmo has been a byword for consumer handheld stabilisation for a while now so check out the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 as well as the original DJI Osmo articles too!
Written by
Tom Begley