Osmo Action: the first action camera from DJI

DJI continues to hold the brand. At this time, the company was not afraid to release the device in a niche, which has long been occupied by several major industry leaders. We are talking about action cameras - indispensable devices for recording videos with the most dynamic scenarios and extreme character. Combining the experience of creating video equipment and the latest technology, DJI expanded their product line with another device designed for shooting in virtually any environment. Osmo Action is a shockproof and waterproof pocket camera with a wide-angle lens and two color displays. Let's take a closer look at the new device.

Appearance

In this regard, DJI decided not to reinvent the wheel - Osmo Action looks like 90% of all action cameras. There are some design and technical improvements, but the original design of the device can not be called.
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Osmo Action is made of durable plastic light gray and dark gray in color, there is a special anti-slip coating. All elements of the body are adjacent to each other very tightly, in the hands of the action camera is felt completely monolithic. The weight of the device is very comfortable - 124 grams.

On the front side there is a screen for self-portraits, a lens with a unscrewing protective lens, a grating for removing heat from the processor and an LED indicator.

On the top there are a microphone hole, a second LED indicator, a button to start recording or shutter release, a power button, which is also responsible for turning on / off the screen.

On the left side we see the Quick Menu key (QuickSet) and the cap, under which the slot for the microSD card of up to 256 GB and the USB-C port are hidden. On the right - the speaker and the connector of the second microphone. The battery compartment carried on the lower edge, it opens with two latches. The back side is almost completely occupied by the touch screen.

Design features

Osmo Action has several key features that DJI emphasize users. First of all - a shockproof and waterproof case that can withstand falls from a height of up to 1.5 meters and use it at a depth of up to 11 meters without additional protective covers. So immediately after the purchase, you can begin to take off their extreme adventures, without thinking about additional accessories.

Secondly - two color displays. The main screen is touch, has a diagonal of 2.25 inches and a high level of brightness: 750 nits. This is quite enough to work with the camera on a clear day. The image will be juicy and clear. And the anti-reflective coating of the display will allow you to shoot even in direct sunlight. The front screen is not touch-sensitive, but it has exactly the same characteristics, only in size it is almost half the size - 1.4 inches. Its activation takes place by long pressing the QuickSet button. The same button switches modes if you are wearing gloves or using a front display.

Like the competitive models, the main screen Osmo Action is not in the center of the back panel, but slightly shifted to the left. Thus, during the shooting for the thumb there is an emphasis and you can not worry that you will touch the display.

An interesting innovation is the protective lens on the lens, which is easy to replace simply by turning it counter-clockwise. In other similar cameras, it is necessary to make some effort and all the time I had to worry about how to break the glass and the frame. DJI significantly simplified life for many.

Camera

Osmo Action has a lens with a viewing angle of 145 degrees, a three-layer aspherical lens for shooting with low level of distortion, a protective glass with a double-layer oleophobic and anti-reflective coating. 12-megapixel camera with 1 / 2.3-inch CMOS-matrix and aperture value f / 2.8 captures high-quality video in 4K at up to 60 frames / s and a bit rate of 100 Mbps.

By the way, this is the first DJI device, which does not use mechanical image stabilization. Osmo Action uses electronic stabilization technology called RockSteady. The principle of operation is as follows: the camera analyzes the received images, cuts off their edges and combines multiple frames into one sharp. And all this in real time. The maximum quality of the movie, at which it is possible to activate the stabilization - 4K at a speed of 60 frames / s.

The user has two options for shooting: in wide-angle lens mode and with the active function of eliminating distortion (Dewarp). The second option allows you to eliminate the effect of "fish eye", while practically without sacrificing the viewing angle.

In the settings there are both automatic camera settings and manual ones. The range of exposure values ​​is from 1/8000 to 120 seconds for a photo and up to 1/60 second for 4K video (or up to 1/25 second for 1080P). The ISO spectrum is also quite wide - from 100 to 3200. There is also RAW-format photography, video recording in D-Cinelike color mode, white balance adjustment from 2000K to 10000K.

Hardware capabilities

Osmo Action is turned on in just a second and you start work right away. Moreover, in the settings it is easy to select the desired mode, which will be activated after switching on the device.

The camera has a removable LiPo 1300 mAh battery. It's enough to shoot 93 minutes of 4K video at 30 frames per second with electronic stabilization turned on or for 135 minutes at 1080p at 30 frames per second. Charging time is 88 minutes.

There are a couple of communication modules for connecting to a smartphone and transferring the footage: the connection is made via Wi-Fi (802.11a / b / g / n / ac) and Bluetooth version 4.2. Synchronization is done through DJI Mimo. The application turns the smartphone into the second viewfinder, besides it provides the ability to select the necessary camera settings, apply video templates, download files from the camera, edit them, and so on. But to complete the work with Osmo Action, it is not necessary to install the program.

Software functions

Moving through the camera menu using swipe, as implemented in Osmo Pocket. The system is simple and intuitive - just a few minutes to work with Osmo Action, as you immediately understand, where it has various settings hidden. For example, to go to the point with shooting modes, you need to tap on the icon in the lower left corner. To adjust the parameters of the selected mode, do a svayp up. Additional settings, activation of the function of eliminating distortion of the wide-angle lens (Dewarp) and the mode of manual adjustment of the shutter speed and ISO - do the swipe to the left. Swipe down - go to the Control Center (basic settings Osmo Action).

The camera can be controlled and voice commands. Unfortunately, only in English or Chinese. Now five commands are available: start recording, end recording, take a photo, switch screens, turn off.

There are many shooting modes, so you definitely won't get bored with Osmo Action. For starters, there's a stunning slowmotion that slows down video four times or even eight times!

As with almost all DJI devices, Osmo Action has TimeLapse shooting. Just choose a quality between 4K, 2.7K or 1080P, set the interval (from one frame in 0.5 seconds to one frame in 30 seconds) and the duration of the final movie.



Present and shooting mode in HDR, and a large number of recording quality settings. Without stabilization, 4K video is available with a 3: 4 aspect ratio and a frame rate of 30, 25 and 24 fps. With active EIS - 4K video with standard aspect ratio and frame rates from 60 fps to 24 fps. Other video resolutions: 2.7K, 1080P and 720P. And the last two support frame rates up to 240 fps! There is a continuous shooting that allows you to do three, five and seven frames per second.

The selected settings can be saved in a separate profile to further select them in a couple of clicks. A total of five user profiles are stored in memory.

Swipe right and open a simple file manager. Here you can choose your favorite videos and photos or delete them. There are filters to display files by type - slowmo-video, timelapse, AEB, just a video or photo.

The Control Center or Osmo Action main menu hides various camera settings. Here you can easily adjust the brightness of the touch screen or lock it, set up user profiles, choose between widescreen display of the image on the additional screen and full screen, perform spot metering, activate automatic screen rotation depending on the camera position, turn on voice commands. In addition, there is a menu with advanced settings. In it, add or remove items from the quick menu, activate noise reduction, adjust the speaker volume, Wi-Fi settings, menu language, and so on.

Accessories

Together with Osmo Action, the manufacturer put in a box and a pair of additional accessories. This is a frame-mount kit that includes a universal mount for additional accessories and a self-adhesive accessory mount that can be attached and detached with one hand, as well as an adhesive-based platform for installing Osmo Action on flat or curved surfaces.

In addition, DJI announced a whole line of additional accessories for their action camera. It includes a waterproof case for diving Osmo Action to a depth of 60 meters, a 3.5 mm adapter for connecting an external microphone, a monopod with a 1.4-inch screw mount, a monopod-float, various filters for the lens and a charging hub that charges up to three batteries.

Osmo Action - the first pancake is not lumpy

There is nothing to hide: Osmo Action is a new and not yet explored direction for DJI. But the company coped with its task by 100%. If from the point of view of design it was not possible to make a breakthrough (although there was no such task), then in functional terms we were shown the highest level of performance, to which many competitors still have to grow and grow. These are superb and comfortable displays, an excellent camera, rich shooting and device settings, proprietary modes, and amazing DJI quality. In general, if you are a lover of extreme sports and often take off your adventures, then Osmo Action will give you genuine pleasure.