Best known for its collection of gimbals and drones, the DJI Osmo Action camera has been a staple of the range for quite a while now. Now in its fourth edition, DJI’s entry into the best MTB action camera segment packs one hell of a punch, especially considering its quality-to-price ratio. Although, it’s limited in its stabilisation and lens-width options.
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DJI Osmo Action 4 camera - Technical details
In a market where GoPro dominates and brands such as Insta360 are making a serious name in the segment, DJI has found itself among the best options having relied on its extensive background in camera technology. The Osmo Action 4 is a force to be reckoned with as it possesses all the features of its rivals at a comparatively modest price.
At the heart of the camera is a 1/1.3in sensor with Low-Light Imaging. That sensorare provides 10-bit and a D-Log M Color mode. The camera’s battery is said to be resistant to super-cold temperatures while providing a lengthy life in all conditions. The brand goes on to say that the camera can record up to 150 minutes at negative 20-degrees centigrade.
The Action 4 can shoot up to 4K at 120 frames per second and its lens provides up to a 155-degree wide field of view and that’s pretty impressive given that a GoPro Hero 12 151-degree field of view in its Hyperview mode. As for stabilisation, the Osmo Action 4 offers five modes, off, Rocksteady, Rocksteady+, HorizonSteady and Horizon Lock, with Horizon Steady working on a 360-degree plane.
DJI says that the camera is waterproof up to 18m and there’s a touch screen both front and rear.
A feature that I’ve really enjoyed is the pair of magnets and some clips which makes removing the camera from a mount incredibly simple. It also allows the user to replace the camera in the exact same position. Another positive of this system is that it provides Native Vertical, with a secondary magnetic clip mount on the side of the removable housing.
Other cool features come in the form of an exceptional app that allows for in-app video editing and Bluetooth tethering, users can highlight key moments of a video in-camera, they can remove selfie sticks using AI and the battery can last over two and a half hours. Rapid charging then claims to get the camera up to 80 per cent charge in 18 minutes.
DJI Osmo Action 4 camera - Packages and combos
Much like any other action camera brand, DJI offers the Osmo Action 4 in a number of bundles. The camera can be bought individually for £289 but DJI kindly sent the camera with its Adventure Combo, which includes two spare batteries, a battery holster and multi-charger and an extendable stick.
DJI also provides a mountain bike-specific pack that comes with a chest mount and a bar mount that comes in at £348.
On top of that a range of neutral density filters are available, which have come in handy in areas where light is bright and I’ve wanted to use slower shutter speeds or to balance highlights better with the camera’s impressive low-light abilities.
In the standard, camera-only pack, you’ll get the camera itself, a small housing, a single battery, a magnetic mount and a stick-on curved mount. There’s also a lens hood to help keep flare at bay and some stick-on anti-slip pads.
DJI Osmo Action 4 camera - Performance
As a bit of a GoPro fanboy, moving to the DJI Osmo Action 4 has been a welcome change and the brand’s mass of experience creating pro-level equipment really makes itself known.
To start with the usability, it's a really simple bit of kit to get around. The Action 4 presents all of its settings behind quick swipes of the screen which then allows the user to delve into frame rates and resolutions. A tap of the corner then lets you pick the stabilisation mode. Swipe from another direction and you get camera settings, where you can choose with lens width, or field of view and turn off the auto settings to get proper nerdy with the shutter speed, exposure bracketing and ISO figures.
Never has there been a moment where I’ve found myself lost in the camera’s user interface, and everything has come intuitively and just… Easy. Of course, turning on the camera takes a tap of the power button, and to start filming, that’s just the red button on top. Simple. All of this is very accessible when the camera’s in its cage, too, as is the USB-C port used for charging and fitting an external mic, which is a great feature. With other cameras, you’ll need an extra accessory to run an external microphone.
With all these settings so quick to the fingertips, the Action 4 has proven to be one flexible bit of kit. Not only have I shot riding footage with the camera, but shooting quick slithers of b-roll has been taken well within its stride. The camera’s 120fps slow-motion mode is a fun but useful addition, too.
All of its little audio cues are rather cute. They’re far from abrasive but even when turned up so they can be heard over heavy wind noise, the Osmo Action 4 is a friendly little character. Battery life is good, too, as I’ve managed a day’s worth of riding while filming the fun bits. If you’re serious about your filming though, or looking at documenting multi-day rides, the Multifunctional Battery Case carries three batteries at once, which can be charged simultaneously and act as a power bank if necessary.
As for the important stuff, picture quality is up there with the best. Straight out of the camera in its 10-bit colour mode, colours are rich but without saturating and the quality of the image it produces has left me without complaint. The camera’s built-in colour temperature calibration is spot on, too, where dusk sun pierces through the harsher but pleasing greens of the forest canopy. As far as colours and contrast go, I’ve not felt the need to tinker with the footage in post-production which sings praises for the Action 4’s power. But if serious colour grading is a must, the D-Log colour calibration flattens everything down beautifully, allowing for impressive post-production adjustment.
That said, under very contrasty conditions, such as the dappled light we usually get in all kinds of forests, the camera doesn’t quite have the dynamic range to keep detail in all the tones. However, that’s where the neutral density filters come in – not to mention the camera’s good performance in low light. The combination balances the difference between light and dark, making for a flatter and more pleasing image.
And in low light, this camera is quite the powerhouse. Of course, there’s a point where excess noise comes in, but that’s way beyond the remit of good riding light. For daytime mountain bike rides the image has remained smooth and clear.
There are downsides, however, and they lie within the Action 4’s digital lens widths and stabilisation modes. Before diving right into that, without stabilisation, the camera shoots native 4K but that quality drops marginally as the stabilisation crops into the frame, where the camera outputs upscaled 4K.
And yes, with more powerful stabilisation modes, the camera crops into the frame so that 155-degree field of view isn’t available in HorizonSteady, for example, and that’s where this camera starts to lose out against the GoPro, for example. However, the GoPro requires a pricey add-on to achieve horizon levelling stabilisation with a wide lens. But, with the Action 4 set in its widest modes, lens distortion is present but it’s not harsh, distracting, or obvious like it can be with other cameras.
Going back to the stabilisation, this camera forces a compromise. What we really want from an action camera is a mega-wide lens to get lots of the bike in the shot and lots of the trail. But with Action 4, it’s almost one or the other, as we need to take the crop factor into account.
Using a chest mount for nearly all of my time with the Osmo Action 4, I’ve used RockSteady stabilisation which has kept a good portion of the bike in shot, as well as plenty of trail. However, under heavier compressions or rowdier sections of the trail, the footage gets chaotic as the camera bounces around on the chest mount. Upping the stabilisation certainly makes things smoother, and it's fantastic to have a horizon levelling as standard for this money but the footage becomes rather tight and claustrophobic. Then, with Horizon Levelling on, the stabilisation struggles to keep up when navigating tight berms as its view jumps and fights to work correctly.
Of course, if you mount the camera on a helmet, that’ll easily smooth out the footage and provide a better angle if you run a camera mounted onto a full-face helmet chin.
On a final note, the companion app is excellent. It allows for Bluetooth tethering, meaning full camera operation can be performed via your phone. It also comes with a small editing suite.
DJI Osmo Action 4 camera - Verdict
While I have my complaints, in the grand scheme of things, they’re somewhat minor as the DJI Osmo Action 4 has so much to offer, especially for the asking price of £289.
Compared to the GoPro Hero12 Black, that’s a considerable saving as GoPro’s flagship camera costs £400. Again, the DJI comes with horizon levelling stabilisation out of the box, whereas to achieve that with the GoPro, you’ll need to spend another £100. Although, you do get a wider field of view with the Max Lens Mod 2.0. The GoPro also shoots up to 5.4K and the lens is a teeny bit wider at 156-degrees as standard. Slo-mo can also be boosted to 240 frames per second on the GoPro whereas the DJI can run up to 120fps. But it must be said, slo-mo isn’t something that’s a must-have personally and considering the saving that the Osmo Action 4 poses, it’s something I can certainly go without.
Insta360’s Ace action camera comes in at £360 and it gets a 1/2in sensor, it can shoot at the same resolution and the same frame rate. It gets horizon-locking stabilisation and a similar magnetic mounting system. Its field of view isn’t quite as wide at 151-degrees but it does share several smaller features with the DJI, just as voice activation, AI selfie-stick removal and more.
While it's easy to say that the DJI Osmo Action 4 is a cheap camera, it’s more of a value-packed option. It’s a powerful bit of kit that produces excellent quality footage at a fraction of the price of its competition. It’s super easy to use and understand and requires little to no in-camera tinkering to get the best out of the footage. Steadfast chest-mount users might find the tighter crops of the stabilisation settings limiting but, for anyone who wants to record top-notch footage of their day-to-day rides, there’s little to moan about.
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