TESTCENTRE
Glory box
Osmo Action 4 camera
COMPANY : DJI PRICE : £ 289 FOR THE STANDARD COMBO ; £ 379 FOR THE ADVENTURE COMBO WEB : STORE . DJI . COM
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few years ago , GoPro had a stranglehold on the action camera market , but DJI ( known for their drone cameras ) has emerged as a credible rival , offering comparable systems at a better price .
DJI ’ s latest is the Osmo Action 4 , 185 grams of cutting edge camera tech , featuring a 1 / 1.3-inch CMOS sensor and a 155 ° lens . The latter is important , because underwater we need a wide lens to mitigate the visibility .
Out of the box , the Osmo is waterproof to 18 metres and thus ideal for snorkelling and entry-level scuba . It comes with a natty plastic cage to prevent an accidental opening of the battery or USB-c compartments during use . Whatever depth you dive at , I ’ d recommend buying DJI ’ s waterproof housing , which is rated to 60m . It also protects the camera from physical knocks , and should you get a few drops inside , it shouldn ’ t kill the Osmo .
Operating the camera is as straightforward , but take your time on land to explore the sub-menus and set things up as you want them , so that you ’ re not faffing underwater . Chances are you ’ ll be using it as most divers do : a button to switch on , and the recording starts . If something amazing happens on your dive , you ’ ve got it on the drive ; if not , delete and repeat . The Osmo has no internal storage of its own , instead taking micro SD cards up to 512 gigabytes ( you can find a list of recommended cards at dji . com / uk / osmo-action-4 / specs ). I tested the camera while snorkelling in clear water , with the Osmo mounted on a 1.5m extension rod . Snorkelling with a selfie stick is fun , and editing programmes can automatically clone out the rod , making it seem as if you ’ re being filmed by an attentive buddy .
Though I view it primarily as a video camera , Osmo ’ s capability with still images is not to be sniffed at . It has options for JPEG or RAW modes and maximum resolution of 3648 x 2736 pixels – comfortably enough for a half page in this magazine .
For this review , I was loaned the Adventure combo , which includes the 1.5m extension rod , a multifunctional battery charging case and two additional batteries . Quite handy , but for diving purposes I ’ d recommend DJI ’ s Osmo Action Diving Accessory kit , which includes the 60m-rated housing and a floating handle and lanyard ; it ’ s £ 59 from the DJI store . A battery lasts up to 160 minutes ( a little less in real world use ), so I don ’ t really feel the need for three of them .
The Osmo performs best on video mode , and has no shortage of options
to customise frame rate , resolution and aspect ratios . Standard recording mode is 4k video ( 3840 x 2800 ) with a choice of frame rates . There are both hyperlapse and time-lapse functions , and a slow motion mode which can manage 240fps at 1080pixels , which I ’ d define as standard high-definition mode . Most of us don ’ t need the hassle that comes with massive files , so the full 4K mode isn ’ t always necessary .
This is a clever camera and I ’ m only starting to explore its capabilities , so stand by for a follow-up review later in the year . Simon Rogerson
SCUBA SAYS
DJI ’ s Osmo Action 4 is a robust , high spec action camera with smart features , a wide lens and impressive low light performance . The price is competitive , but DJI ’ s tempting accessories will add to it . Still , we recommend it highly in terms of performance and value .
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