It's no match for what you can do in post-production, but if you're publishing straight to the web it can save otherwise poorly lit scenes.

The Hero7's fish-eye removal is limited to 2.7K at 60 fps.Īnother nice touch is the HDR video mode, which applies a slight HDR effect to open up shadows and give scenes a slightly more vivid look. This is one place DJI manages to surpass the GoPro. The Action can remove fish-eye from all resolutions and frame rates, even 4K at 60 fps. There is a tiny bit of cropping involved, and the finished look will be familiar to anyone whose used a DJI drone. The Dewarp option mentioned above removes the fish-eye aspect from the lens.

That way I had a quick way to toggle stabilization without having to even look at the screen. Then I went into the QS menu and unchecked everything else except my custom modes. I created several custom modes for QS, including a 4K video with stabilization mode and one without stabilization. Out of the box, the QS brings up a menu of shooting modes-Video, Photo, HDR video, Timelapse, and so on-but this menu can be customized. The good news is that there's an easy way to custom program settings and quickly switch between them using the Quick Switch button. The touch menus worked well enough, though they were sometimes unresponsive when I had wet fingers. Other ND filters are sold separately and there are already a few third party filters to choose from. I found the included ND 16 filter perfect for bright days at the pool. Letting less light through the lens means you can select aperture and exposure settings that would otherwise produce overexposed images. (GoPro also supports filters.) My test unit included four Neutral Density filters to reduce incoming light in the bright situations action cameras often find themselves, like skiing on a sunny day. The Action is fronted by an F2.8 lens that's covered with a screw-in clear filter. The Osmo Action also uses the same sensor as the DJI Mavic Air, and supports the same frame rates and video options, which is handy if you're mixing footage from the air and ground. Your phone's screen isn't huge, but it's bigger than what the Osmo Action offers. Technically there is a way to monitor footage if you really need to you can use DJI's mobile app on your phone. It's meant to be on your helmet or handlebars recording the, ahem, action. You won't have to seal a flap on the HDMI port because, unlike the Hero7, there is no HDMI port on the Action-no real-time monitoring from the comfort of your director's chair. The Osmo Action is waterproof up to 36 feet, just be sure you seal the flap that covers the USB-C port and MicroSD card slot before you dive in. DJI wisely included a case and mounting system that mirrors GoPro, which means that many mounts that fit a Hero should also work with the Osmo Action. You probably aren't going to hold this thing anyway. It makes the Osmo Action slightly wider than a GoPro, but it still felt about as comfortable as any tiny rectangular camera can feel. DJI tweaked the basic action camera design enough to squeak in a nice, bright 2.25-inch rear LCD with true 16:9 aspect ratio-no letter-boxed video playback like you'll find in the Hero series. In the hand, the Action isn't an exact clone of a GoPro, but its form factor is similar. Either way, you can swap screens nearly instantaneously. There are two ways to switch between the Action's dual screens: either use a touch gesture (a two-finger double tap on the rear LCD) or a long press of the Quick Switch button. That alone will make it a compelling buy for anyone primarily shooting from a stick. The front screen is just large enough that you can tell where you are in the Action's sweeping 145 degree field of view. The front screen is tiny, but it offers a full-color display and it's incredibly handy for selfie videos. The Osmo Action's headlining difference, and what sets it apart from other action cams we've tested, is its bonus 1.4-inch front screen.

Osmos camera