Variable Aperture and New Sensor: A Fresh Take

DJI’s upping the ante for image quality out of its action cams with the new Osmo Action 6. It’s the first of its kind to get a variable aperture, and it’s got a larger sensor that should make for better photos and videos than its predecessor.

The Action 6 looks a lot like the previous model, with an outsized lens breaking out of the boxy rectangular body alongside a front-facing display. However, its variable aperture means the lens opening can be adjusted to let in more light, allowing for brighter images, greater depth of field, more vivid macro shots, and better performance in low-light conditions. The Action 5 Pro was locked at f/2.8, but the Action 6 adjusts from a wider f/2 down to f/4.

Being able to reduce the aperture to f/4 gives you more control when shooting in brightly lit scenarios, so you can prevent overexposure, and have more objects in focus in your frame. That can come in handy when you’re shooting on the beach, out in the desert, or on a ski slope.

This will give you more flexibility when shooting, particularly when you consider it pairs with the Action 6’s new 1/1.1-inch sensor, which should capture more light, and result in sharper, brighter images with less noise.

As with the previous model, you can shoot 4K footage at up to 120 frames per second (fps). What’s neat about the Action 6 is its new 4K Custom mode that lets you crop your video for landscape- or portrait-oriented output after shooting, so you’ve got options for framing your content for different platforms.

The larger sensor also works in tandem with updated noise reduction chops in SuperNight mode to deliver brighter results in low-light conditions at 4K/60 fps.

DJI

Beyond this, the Action 6 carries over a lot of what made the previous model great:

• 10-bit D-Log M video that preserves highlight and shadow detail for flexible color grading.
• 3 mics to capture audio, and the ability to connect to two DJI wireless mic transmitters without the need for a dedicated receiver.
• 4 hours of shooting time, with fast charging to 80% in just 22 minutes.
• Waterproof operation down to 65 ft (20 m) without an enclosure.
• Dual OLED touchscreens.
• Built in storage (with a slight bump up from 47 GB to 50 GB) and support for 1 TB microSD cards.

DJI

There’s a new macro lens accessory that takes advantage of the Action 6’s improved specs, as well as a FOV (field of view) lens to expand your 155° FOV to 182°. Oh, and new for this model is the ability to use hand gestures to control recording when you’re in the frame.

The only thing I’m missing on here is an accessory case to make this Action 6 feel more like a traditional camera in the hand, like Insta360’s Xplorer Grip Pro.

That makes the Osmo Action 6 a compelling choice for people who are looking for high image fidelity in a new action cam, or are upgrading from a few generations back. But with so many shared capabilities and similar hardware in the Action 5 Pro, it doesn’t make upgrading if you have last year’s model.

The Action 6 comes in at €379 (US$438 or £329); that’s a fair bit more than GoPro’s comparable Hero 13 at $320 and Insta360’s $400 Ace Pro 2. Heck, if you’re not all that fussed, you can save a fat chunk of cash and get the Action 5 Pro at €300 (£265/$347).

The only trouble is you can’t buy DJI products in the US right now, and the company might be entirely banned from launching new products stateside depending on how a December ruling lands. However, it’s listed on DJI’s Canada site at US$389, if shopping across the border is an option for you.

Check out the Osmo Action 6 on DJI’s site.

Source: DJI

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