Dji's Osmo Action 6 Is The First Action Cam With A Variable Aperture

DJI has released its 3rd action cam successful less than 4 months, nan Osmo Action 6. The caller GoPro rival offers thing we've ne'er seen successful this type of camera: a adaptable aperture for much power complete exposure. It besides has a new, quadrate sensor (like nan 1 we saw connected nan Osmo 360) that makes it easier to harvest video for societal media-friendly facet ratios. I've had nan Osmo Action 6 for a fewer days and it looks awesome truthful far.

Rather than a fixed f/2.8 mounting arsenic before, nan Osmo Action 6 offers a adaptable f/2.0-4.0 aperture, which offers respective benefits. When astatine f/2.0, it allows doubly arsenic overmuch ray arsenic before. That successful move allows for higher shutter speeds successful dim conditions, which reduces nan mobility blur that tin wounded image value and stabilization. It besides delivers shallower extent of section to thief abstracted nan taxable from nan background. On sunny days, meanwhile, changing nan aperture to f/4.0 lets you lower nan shutter velocity truthful video looks little staccato and much natural.

Oddly, DJI doesn't fto you afloat power nan f-stop, however. You tin either take a fixed aperture astatine f/2.8, aliases Auto aperture pinch a scope of ISOs, varying from f/2.0 - 4.0 up to f/2.8 - 4.0. That's unfortunate, arsenic it would beryllium bully to beryllium capable to prime a fixed f/2.0 aperture, for example, to person a shallow extent of section for portraits. (Note that you tin prime an f/4.0 fixed aperture arsenic good to get a "starburst" shape connected agleam parts of nan image.)

The Action 6 has a new, 1/1.1-inch quadrate sensor (9.8 x 9.8mm), arsenic well. It doesn't boost solution arsenic immoderate group had hoped, but does let for much facet ratio choices. As pinch nan Action 5, video tin beryllium changeable astatine up to 4K 120 fps, aliases 4K astatine 60 fps successful SuperNight Mode. However, it now offers a 4K Custom mode that lets you seizure 3,840 x 3,840 quadrate video astatine up to 60 fps, for cropping astatine afloat 4K solution successful some horizontal and vertical formats. It besides supports 4:3 4K (3,840 x 2,880) astatine up to 120 fps for much cropping options erstwhile shooting slo-mo.

The caller sensor is besides considerably larger than nan 1/1.3-inch sensor connected nan Osmo Action 5 and nan 1/1.9-inch sensor connected nan GoPro 13. That allows for improved low-light performance, according to DJI, and nan larger pixels besides boost move scope to a claimed 13.5 stops. That, mixed pinch DJI's D-LogM and 10-bit capability, should make footage from nan Osmo Action 6 easy to adjust, moreover connected precocious opposition sunny days.

DJI has besides taken a page from Fujifilm by introducing a Film Tone usability to get six chopped looks consecutive retired of nan camera, including "cool tones," "classic antagonistic film" and "pleasing tegument tones." The Osmo Action 6 besides offers a 2x lossless zoom (a integer zoom, effectively), image mode and taxable centering and tracking. Finally, nan caller "Natural Wide" mode gives you a wider section of position without nan accustomed disfigured distortion astatine nan corners.

For closeup photography, nan Action 6 is disposable pinch an optional macro lens, arsenic good arsenic an FOV Boost lens that increases nan section of position from 155 to 182 degrees.

From my tests truthful far, low-light video value looks considerably cleaner and much color-accurate than nan Action 5. In addition, nan SuperNight Mode is much useful arsenic shutter speeds are higher and frankincense stabilization successful debased ray is improved complete nan Action 5. I'll person much accusation successful my afloat review, coming soon.

There are a number of different improvements arsenic well. DJI has boosted nan soul retention to 50GB from 47GB before, truthful you tin mostly sprout without a representation card, though a microSD slot is besides available. As before, it's waterproof to 20 meters (66 feet) by itself, aliases astir 200 feet pinch DJI's waterproof case. And connected apical of sound control, nan Action 6 now supports gestures arsenic well. With nan aforesaid 1,950mAh Extreme Battery Plus arsenic before, shooting clip betwixt charges is 4 hours astatine 1080p and 2 hours astatine 4K, some pinch Rocksteady 3.0 stabilization enabled and nan surface off.

The Osmo Action 6 is compatible pinch DJI's progressively generous accessory lineup, for illustration selfie sticks, bike, helmet and assemblage attachments, suction mounts and more. However, nan institution upgraded its Quick-Release Adapter Mount to a dual-latch strategy (first introduced connected nan Osmo Nano) that "can beryllium attached successful either guidance without mechanical limitations," nan institution said. That's a large quality-of-life betterment complete nan aged mounts, which could only beryllium attached 1 way. That said, nan aged mounts are still compatible pinch nan caller camera and vice-versa.

So what astir US availability? It looks like, arsenic pinch nan Osmo 360 and Osmo Nano, that DJI's Action 6 won't beryllium disposable connected nan company's US store, but it will beryllium sold astatine Amazon, B&H Photo Video and different third-party resellers, pinch pricing tba. In Europe, nan Osmo Action 6 is now disposable astatine DJI's store and Amazon astatine €379 for nan modular combo pinch 1 battery, aliases €479 successful nan Adventure Combo that includes 3 batteries and nan Battery Case 3 charger.