Camera Action Camera Discussion.

[solo_wing]

So I got a message from a member asking for a suggestion on action camera.
Since I have used quite a few thought why not open a discussion and put my points and hear from other users too.

Here it goes...

Firstly let's understand few things. There are 3 major players in Action Camera for high end users - GoPro, DJI and insta360.

( Some brands have tried too like Garmin ,Sony etc but they are not as popular as the above 3 and bit of effort is required to get hold of them).

Also here are some cheap budget action camera like -Xiaomi Yi ( which no longer makes I believe but some of their old version might still be available), Sjcam is another brand that still makes and they are getting not so bad reviews too .


So here is my take...If you are looking for action camera.

First ask this question to your self .

what exactly is it going to be used for? Is it, just for making home and family memories.? Or are you a person who will be doing some vlog or motovloging ?
Or are you very adventurous person do some serious outdoor activities in tough environment?

Above questions will help you get to choose a good action camera that is neither overkill nor a poor choice.

As the options today in the market is crazy. It's becoming like a mobile phone industry.

Now let me tell you some of the clear pros and cons of the one I have experienced.

I have Used Yi action camera, GoPro 7, 12, go pro Max. DJI OA3 and DJI OA2.

Let me share what are the pros and cons j have noticed in GoPro , DJI and insta360( not used so cannot add much but still have little something to add based on reviews and friends using it).

GoPro
Pros - Stabilization ( I genuinely thing GoPro has best stabilization among all three). Its not a big gap but about 10-20%. ,
GoPro warranty service specially if you buy their subscription plan($50). Absolutely best. They will replace your broken GoPro without a single question asked or single penny.
Plus unlimited cloud service for GoPro footage.

Cons -> poor touch screen response. It is little unresponsive at times...which is not acceptable in today's time. It's not bad but like out of 10 times 4 times you will be pressing the screen 2-3 times for it to register your choice.

Poor performance for night footage. Specially when DJI and Insta360 has bought night shooting to quite a decent start. Specially insta360 with ace pro.

Battery charging still takes 2 hrs. So you will have to carry quite a few extra battery if you going to shoot over long period .

DJI.
Pros- crazy battery back up. Best in class. It can go for as long as 2 hrs video recording or atleast 1.30 mins with 4k . Which is insane.
Plus the battery charges from 0%-80% in just 20 mins. That's just amazing. You can just go for entire outdoor activities with just one battery or max 2 battery.

( DJI OA4) Decent night footage. Not exactly much usable but still easily better than GoPro but below Insta360.

Great touchscreen response. Both front and back.

Cons - I am not impressed with DJI stabilization in footage as much as GoPro . Again it is not bad at all but I feel it falls shorter than GoPro in stabilization.
I can't compare it with insta 360.

Chinese apps. This is more personal I would say. I don't like giving access to Chinese apps. You cannot even start DJI action camera without some of the permissions.

Another Chinese manufacturing related issue... I feel they lack proper quality control when they release their stuff.
Look at both DJI OA2 and DJI OA3...both had issues during their initial launch. It took many firmwares and even DJI giving away free case for DJI OA2 to control the heat dissipation.

With DJI OA4 I have not heard anything like that much but its like taking a bit of chance if buy them early.

I dont like DJI app to edit videos . I feel it's worst out of all 3.

Insta360.
I honestly have very little to add here.
But based on reviews on YouTube and seeing some friends footage.
I feel they are happy with it and this new Ace pro has really impressed most people...but I have seen some genuine youtubers also saying that there is bit focus soft issue with Insta360 ace pro.


One thing I feel that Insta360 has best software app for editing your videos. Very easy and fun to work with.


That is it for general pros and cons from all three major players.

Let's talk about
Image quality.
It only makes sense to talk about this generation( DJI OA4, GOpro 12, Insta360 ace pro)

They way I see it...I feel all three are great. I have noticed that it's bit hard to choose the perfect specially for day videos as all 3 can outperform each other in certain environment.
Like DJI has more natural colours whereas GoPro really has vivid colours ..insta360 ace pro with AI processor can outperform both too in certain scenarios.


So as far as video image quality goes ...all 3 will not disappoint you. It just boils down to more personal choice of How you would like your video.

Btw if you are going to shoot many night time or low light footages...just go for insta360 ace pro.




Now which one should you go for ..

If your budget
5k-15k - first try looking for second hand ones for GoPro 7, 8 etc if not check Sjcam and others and decide if it is worth going for .
Because remember one thing though.
It is much easier to resale GoPro, DJI and Insta360 compared to these Sjcam and all.
As you will literally have to sell it for throwaway price to recover some part of your investment.


15k-20k...this is where you may find GoPro 8 or even GoPro 9 during sale. Otherwise
Dji OA2 is already going for 15k powercombo version.
So between this budget your choices are much better.

20k-25k- GoPro 10 /11, DJI OA3 should not be hard to get it for this price and they really good action cameras.

30k-40k. Under this budget . You can literally choose to go for latest and best ones in the market.

50k-60k ... This is where right now DJI Pocket 3 is the king . With 1 inch sensor it is becoming the best gadget of the year. The footage specially of the night is mind blowing.
But but this exactly is not an action camera. It is quite a delicate gadget compared to real action cameras which can take a beating easily and also be waterproof.

But I am still mentioning here because for normal vlog at indoors or normal outdoor activity and if you are a careful person . You will not find anything better than this in the market.



Now let's talk about 360 camera.
Currently we have only GoPro Max and Insta360 X3 .
Both are great and other than Insta360 app being more easier to use . The quality of both camera are very much in par and some feel insta has better image and some feel GoPro Max has better image but it is hardly a big difference to debate .
Just check some YouTube videos and decide for yourself.
I have not used Insta360 X3 but friends have and I could not make out much difference out of them . Infact I feel GoPro Max is very slight a bit better but Insta360 has little better hdr.

Again both slight difference. You can go for any of the two.

Hope all the above info helps.
I tried my best to share whatever I have learned and experienced using these action cams.

Would be nice if other members can add a thing or two about their experiences with the brands and their choices.

 

[logistopath]

what exactly is it going to be used for? Is it, just for making home and family memories.? Or are you a person who will be doing some vlog or motovloging ?
Or are you very adventurous person do some serious outdoor activities in tough environment?

Nice info. Can you try to answer this question that you had posed? I don't vlog or motvlog. But I do go on treks. Which one would you suggest for this use case? Ideally, I would like to record some sort of time-lapse video of my trek.

 

[ibose]

It would also be useful to compare these to the Gimbals for Mobiles.

 

[solo_wing]

Nice info. Can you try to answer this question that you had posed? I don't vlog or motvlog. But I do go on treks. Which one would you suggest for this use case? Ideally, I would like to record some sort of time-lapse video of my trek.

I really enjoy doing time lapses too.
Infact have done hundreds of time lapses videos on all that I owned and have right now.

If you are doing day time timelapse...both DJI ( OA3) and GoPro 12 will not disappoint you. (Not used others so not feel right to comment)

GoPro 12 might actually be more interesting as 8:7 aspect ratio and 5.3k resolution gives you more choices to shoot timelapse.

Plus it has good options for night timelapse too like star trails and normal night lapse.


Now if you want a motion like timelapse...you can use 360 camera like GoPro Max or there is something very interesting what I have started to do .

I use a egg timer thing with my DJI OA2 and let it rotate slowly to give 360 motion time lapses.

Here check this out.( Pic attached).

You will need a very light weight action camera for that though because when I tried same with GoPro 12 or DJI OA3 ..it's weight was not allowing the egg timer to rotate.

Btw for night footage for GoPro 12 you will need it to attach it to power bank . The main battery will not even give you more than 2-3 seconda of footage as it is done through long exposures.

Generally speaking most action camera of upto even 2 generation back with 4k will give you great timelapse footage.

Just that latest ones have added more choices for timelapse like cloud, people, light trails etc.

It would also be useful to compare these to the Gimbals for Mobiles.

I have seen many vloggers actually going around with mobile phone and gimbal and they have done great job too. It all comes to down skill level in the end.

People can still create magic with GoPro 7. Which is almost 5 years old.

These people with gimbal and mobile Even making food videos, gear videos and even marriage videos.
And mobiles phones can really capture great quality videos too specially for quick social media content.

For me personally though Gimbal setup is a hassle and it adds weight and also it's quite a hassle to carry around .

I love the durability of gopros and dji action cams.
They can really take some serious beating and still work flawlessly for years to come.

It is a better long term investment in my opinion compared to mobile phone + gimbal.

 

[solo_wing]

One suggestion that I forget to add on OP when considering buying an action camera. I have suggested upon low budget, Mid-budget and even for people having no budget issues.

but I was going through some of my old videos and some of the most beautiful places I had been and some amazing things I have experienced ....but my videos were not exactly great because of the cheap Budget Action camera I was using those days . Though it still anytime better than not having at all.

So my point is try to buy a good one instead of cheap ones because even though money is a factor for many of us....the memories you going to capture is priceless. So think about that too.

Having a Good quality action camera is a good investment in long run especially when you sit someday watching your old videos.