DJI’s next action camera has an adjustable aperture for better low-light performance
TL;DR
DJI's Osmo Action 6 features an adjustable aperture for better low-light performance and a larger square sensor for flexible video cropping. It offers 4K/120fps video, extended battery life, and is globally released excluding the US.
Key Takeaways
- •Adjustable mechanical aperture (f/2.0 to f/4.0) improves low-light video and reduces need for ND filters.
- •Larger 1/1.1-inch square sensor allows easy cropping to various aspect ratios for social media.
- •Captures 4K/120fps video with slow-motion up to 960fps and includes 50GB internal storage expandable to 1TB.
- •Battery lasts up to 4 hours in ideal conditions, with operation in temperatures as low as -4°F and waterproof to 65 feet.
Tags
After initially launching it exclusively in China last week, DJI has announced a global release (not including the US) for its new Osmo Action 6 action camera. The camera is not a radical departure from the physical design of last year’s model, but DJI is introducing some innovative new functionality. For example, it features an adjustable aperture that uses a mechanical iris (rather than relying on software tricks) and a larger square format sensor that offers more flexibility when you want to crop footage to various horizontal and vertical aspect ratios.
As with many of DJI’s launches over the past year, including the recent Neo 2 selfie drone, the company hasn’t confirmed if or when the Osmo Action 6 will be available in the US. Chinese pricing starts at 2,998 yuan, or around $422. In Europe it starts at €379, in the UK it’s £329, and in Japan it’s ¥61,270, or around $396.
Last year’s Osmo Action 5 Pro, like action cameras from DJI’s competitors such as the GoPro Hero 13 Black, used an aperture fixed to f/2.8. The aperture on the new Osmo Action 6 can be opened to f/2.0 to let in twice as much light and improve the camera’s ability to capture high-quality video in low-light conditions. The size of the aperture can also be narrowed to f/4.0 to reduce the amount of light coming into the camera. That increases the depth of field and brings more of what’s in frame into focus, and can also eliminate the need for using darkening neutral density filters when conditions are too bright.
The Osmo Action 6 uses a new 1/1.1-inch CMOS sensor that’s larger than the 1/1.3-inch sensor found in the Action 5 Pro, but its square shape is similar to the square sensor Apple now uses in the front-facing selfie camera on the iPhone 17 lineup, which lets the iPhone capture landscape photos and videos without rotating the phone. The Osmo Action 6 offers similar shooting flexibility, but the advantages of that square sensor especially come into play during postproduction, making it easier to crop and reformat videos into various aspect ratios, including vertical formats for smartphones and social media, while still keeping the action in frame.
The camera can capture up to 4K/120fps videos in a 4:3 aspect ratio, but its slow-motion capabilities improve to 240fps with the resolution reduced to 1080P, and can be boosted to up to 960fps using interpolation to generate additional in-between frames. Internal storage gets a small bump to 50GB that can be expanded using a microSD card up to 1TB in capacity.
DJI claims the Action 6 can record for up to four continuous hours using its 1,950mAh battery, but keep in mind that the company’s testing is done in ideal conditions while video is only captured at 1080P/24fps. Battery life will be reduced when capturing at 4K and higher frame rates, or while using it in temperatures that drop well below freezing. DJI says the camera can function properly at temperatures as cold as -4 degrees Fahrenheit, and it remains waterproof to depths of over 65 feet.