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The latest generation of the Osmo action camera is set to combine several innovative functions in its small housing and thus deliver film quality on a par with professional cameras. At least that's what Paul Pan, Senior Product Line Manager at DJI, promises. It is therefore clear that the civilian drone manufacturer DJI wants to compete with industry leader GoPro for customers. The latter recently launched its latest action cam, the Hero13 Black. We will be comparing both cameras, the Osmo Action 5 Pro and the Hero13 Black, shortly. But for now, here is an overview of the new functions of the Osmo action camera.
DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro - Info & Price
- 13.5 f-stops for maximum image quality
- Battery life of 4 hours thanks to new 1950 mAh battery
- Integrated motive centring
- 47 GB integrated memory with an optimised bit rate for smaller file sizes
- Transmission at high speed Up to 80 MB/s via Wi-Fi 6.0 or USB 3.0
- Wi-Fi live streaming Supported for different resolutions
- Timecode for fast synchronisation of film material from several cameras
- Live photos enable 3-second videos that can be converted into dynamic photos
- Pre-Rec starts the recording shortly before the official start of the recording
- Fast marking important moments to speed up the editing process
Price: 379 Euro (Standard Combo >> available here); 479 Euro (Adventure Combo >> available here).
Dynamic range of 13.5 f-stops
The Osmo Action 5 Pro action cam has a sensor of the latest generation, which offers a dynamic range of up to 13.5 f-stops with a pixel size of just 2.4 µm. This seems to put the camera on a par with professional devices. The action camera should be able to shoot high-resolution 4K videos at 60fps even in low light and capture detailed shadows without outshining bright areas. This could be a significant quality advantage for action shots on the MTB, especially in rapidly changing terrain between light and shade. Another feature is the SuperNight mode, which uses AI algorithms for noise reduction to ensure improved image sharpness even in poorly lit scenarios.
DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: battery life extended to 4 hours
The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro advertises a battery life of up to 4 hours, which represents a 50 per cent increase compared to the previous model. This improvement is attributed to the use of a chip that is designed to be more energy efficient, a larger 1950 mAh battery and an algorithm specially developed by DJI that ensures energy savings.
How long the battery actually lasts at the highest resolution is not clear from the information provided by DJI. However, we suspect values similar to with the competitor GoPro Hero13 Black. With its new 1900 mAh battery, it promises a runtime of approx. 15 hours with 4K30 recordings.
Even under extreme cold conditions of up to -20 °C, the DJI Osmo camera is still said to achieve an operating time of 3.6 hours, while the average battery life in the industry is only around 2 hours. In addition, a quick charge of 15 minutes with the corresponding DJI 30W USB-C charger should enable up to 2 hours of recording time.
Innovative: integrated motive centring
The new integrated subject centring feature, which we are seeing for the first time on an action cam, also sounds particularly exciting. It is designed to enable film makers to shoot without a gimbal. The camera has been equipped with a powerful chip and machine learning algorithms for this purpose. This enables the camera to recognise the position of a subject independently and dynamically adjust the image composition. This feature should be particularly interesting for mountain bikers who want to film riders in front of them, as the subject can always be kept centred in the image.
DJI action camera: Larger touchscreens & high waterproofness
The developers at DJI have also worked on the displays of the new action camera. The Osmo Action 5 Pro now has larger touchscreens made of tempered glass. Their extremely bright display should make it easier to take pictures in daylight. Because the edges of the displays have been significantly reduced in size compared to its predecessor, but the housing has remained the same, the screens have been made around 16% larger.
The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro also delivers top values in terms of waterproofness. For example, it enables underwater recordings of up to 20 metres deep without an additional housing. In addition, recording starts automatically as soon as the camera is submerged and stops when it surfaces. A built-in pressure gauge also records the water depth.
The Osmo Action 5 Pro is part of the DJI Osmo audio network and offers the option of pairing directly with the DJI Mic 2 microphone via Bluetooth. This connection is designed to enable recordings with extremely high audio quality and makes the use of an additional signal receiver obsolete. The camera also has a backup function for the integrated microphone, which can capture ambient noise to create a more realistic acoustic backdrop.
Stefan Frey
Editor
