So yesterday drone manufacturer DJI unveiled its all new action camera to the market. It’s square, it has a touchscreen on the back, function buttons at the top and is shock, dust and waterproof. Sounds all too familiar to that company who pretty much invented the blueprints for the modern day action camera, doesn’t it? Hint: They’re called GoPro.
I’ll be honest, I’m a bit of a DJI fanboy these days. I love their drones and therefore would be happy to bet that the stability on this thing will be pretty damn good.
“DJI promises that it’ll deliver shake-free footage ‘no matter how heavy the action gets’”
For that reason, I chose not to delete the newsletter from DJI prompting me to buy the latest cam. Instead, I thought I’d dive a little deeper and see if there’s anything that separates this thing from the action sports pack. Or is it really just another GoPro copycat?
Well, first things first, it’s got a screen at the front. That’ll please much of the vlogging scene that we’re seeing these days. Not much use for action sports though. Second visible difference is the round shaped lens on the front of the camera, that’s designed to keep off any oil, water and dust that’s likely to get in the way of your rad shot.
The ‘RockSteady’ stabilisation built into this cam is the big selling point of the cam. DJI promises that it’ll deliver shake-free footage ‘no matter how heavy the action gets’. Even the giant sceptic in me feels like I should trust this quote. DJI have been providing reliable stabilisation technology to filmmakers for years and on top of this, they’ve got it in their drones too (although I’m aware a gimbal does a lot of the work).
Otherwise, we’ve got the following familiar modes that can also be found on the Hero 7 Black;
11m Waterproof (Hero 7 has 10m) | 4K / 60 fps video | 8x slo-mo @ 1080p | Custom exposure settings | Timelapse | Timed shooting mode | 12 megapixel photos | Voice-activated controls.
Onto price. The new Osmo Action from DJI comes in at £329. That’s £50 cheaper than the GoPro Hero 7 Black.
Even though the two devices look remarkably similar on paper, I bet GoPro are pretty nervous about this tech giant joining the action camera market. As although they’re similar, DJI has great software built into its cameras that has already proven the test of time and helped to grow the company into what it is today.
Keep your eyes peeled as I’ll try to get my hands on one of these to compare it directly with the Hero 7 and see if it really is time for a new kid on the block.