DJI has released its third action cam in less than four months, the Osmo Action 6. The new GoPro rival offers something we've never seen in this type of camera: a variable aperture for more control over exposure. It also has a new, square sensor (like the one we saw on the Osmo 360) that makes it easier to crop video for social media-friendly aspect ratios. I've had the Osmo Action 6 for a few days and it looks impressive so far.
Rather than a fixed f/2.8 setting as before, the Osmo Action 6 offers a variable f/2.0-4.0 aperture, which offers several benefits. When at f/2.0, it allows twice as much light as before. That in turn allows for higher shutter speeds in dim conditions, which reduces the motion blur that can hurt image quality and stabilization. It also delivers shallower depth of field to help separate the subject from the background. On sunny days, meanwhile, changing the aperture to f/4.0 lets you lower the shutter speed so video looks less staccato and more natural.
Steve Dent for Engadget
Oddly, DJI doesn't let you fully control the f-stop, however. You can either choose a fixed aperture at f/2.8, or Auto aperture with a range of ISOs, varying from f/2.0 - 4.0 up to f/2.8 - 4.0. That's unfortunate, as it would be nice to be able to select a fixed f/2.0 aperture, for example, to have a shallow depth of field for portraits. (Note that you can pick an f/4.0 fixed aperture as well to get a "starburst" pattern on bright parts of the image.)
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The Action 6 has a new, 1/1.1-inch square sensor (9.8 x 9.8mm), as well. It doesn't boost resolution as some people had hoped, but does allow for more aspect ratio choices. As with the Action 5, video can be shot at up to 4K 120 fps, or 4K at 60 fps in SuperNight Mode. However, it now offers a 4K Custom mode that lets you capture 3,840 x 3,840 square video at up to 60 fps, for cropping at full 4K resolution in both horizontal and vertical formats. It also supports 4:3 4K (3,840 x 2,880) at up to 120 fps for more cropping options when shooting slo-mo.
Steve Dent for Engadget
The new sensor is also considerably larger than the 1/1.3-inch sensor on the Osmo Action 5 and the 1/1.9-inch sensor on the GoPro 13. That allows for improved low-light performance, according to DJI, and the larger pixels also boost dynamic range to a claimed 13.5 stops. That, combined with DJI's D-LogM and 10-bit capability, should make footage from the Osmo Action 6 easy to adjust, even on high contrast sunny days.
DJI has also taken a page from Fujifilm by introducing a Film Tone function to get six distinct looks straight out of the camera, including "cool tones," "classic negative film" and "pleasing skin tones." The Osmo Action 6 also offers a 2x lossless zoom (a digital zoom, effectively), portrait mode and subject centering and tracking. Finally, the new "Natural Wide" mode gives you a wider field of view without the usual ugly distortion at the corners.
For closeup photography, the Action 6 is available with an optional macro lens, as well as an FOV Boost lens that increases the field of view from 155 to 182 degrees.
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