Which action camera should you buy?

GoPro
GoPro Hero 12 Black

Greatest picture high quality

GoPro’s newest motion digital camera is similar to its predecessor, but it surely nonetheless gives the best decision and body charges of any motion digital camera available on the market. Mix this with sensible updates to its UI and options and you’ve got one of the vital compelling motion cameras round.
Execs

Larger decision and body charges

Distinctive 8:7 capturing choices

Bluetooth mic and earbud pairing
DJI
DJI Osmo Motion 4

Greatest for low gentle

The DJI Osmo Motion 4 packs a 1/1.3-inch sensor, which suggests it gives unmatched low-light picture seize. In the event you repeatedly shoot at night time, or indoors, this might be the one to go for. As well as, it has quite a few distinctive options like a entrance touchscreen and magnetic mounting.
Execs

Giant sensor for low gentle capturing

Entrance touchscreen

Fast launch mounting system

For the previous couple of years, GoPro and DJI have been duking it out aiming for the highest spot within the motion digital camera market. This 12 months, the competitors is fiercer than ever, with each cameras carrying the identical price ticket and that includes comparable specs.

So, which digital camera must you go for? We have had hands-on expertise with each cameras, and we have additionally poured via the spec sheets to see the place they differ. This is every thing it’s essential to know concerning the newest flagship motion cams.

Specs, worth and availability

The Osmo Motion 4 was launched on August 2 2023 and prices $399, which is a major worth bump over its predecessor, however places it proper in step with the most recent GoPro flagship.

The GoPro Hero 12 Black was revealed on September 6 2023 and likewise retails for $399. In contrast to in years previous, there isn’t any GoPro subscription required to unlock this worth, it is the identical value whether or not you select to subscribe or not.

	GoPro Hero 12 Black	DJI Osmo Motion 4
Sensor Measurement	1/1.9-inch 8:7	1/1.3-inch
Video Decision	5.3K 60fps	4K 120fps
Picture Decision	27MP	Approx. 10MP
Battery	1720 mAh Enduro	1770 mAh Excessive battery
Measurement	71x55x34 mm	70x44x33 mm
Weight	154g	145g
Water Resistance	Waterproof as much as 10m	Waterproof as much as 18m
Lens	Replaceable hydrophobic lens protector	Replaceable hydrophobic lens protector

Design

Each cameras share a chassis design with their predecessors, so there aren’t too many surprises to be discovered with the looks of those fashions. The GoPro Hero 12 Black does sport a barely totally different look to older fashions, although, because it has a brand new end adorned with blue speckles.

The Hero 12 Black additionally provides a 1/4-20 tripod thread in between its fold-out mounting tabs, which suggests you’ll be able to mount it to all method of photographic equipment with out utilizing an adapter.

The Osmo Motion 4 takes a special method to mounting, it makes use of a magnetic latching quick-release system as an alternative. We love this mounting resolution as it’s totally fast and simple to swap your digital camera between mounts, as long as you put money into just a few further baseplates. The draw back, in fact, is that if you happen to neglect to pack a baseplate, you will not have the ability to mount it to something, whereas the GoPro possibility is totally self-contained.

One other space the place the Osmo Motion differs is in its front-facing display. The Motion 4 has a fully-featured entrance touchscreen, which suggests you’ll be able to change your settings without having to entry the rear of the digital camera. The Hero 12 Black show would not assist contact enter, it is only for monitoring.

Elsewhere, the designs are pretty comparable. Each cameras are of comparable dimension and weight, and each have rugged waterproof housings with replaceable lens covers. In the event you’re into aquatic actions, the Osmo Motion 4 gives higher water resistance, because it’s rated for as much as 18m depths, fairly than simply 10m on the Hero 12 Black.

Software program and options

Each cameras supply the identical fundamental options, they will each have companion apps that will let you handle your footage and remotely management the digital camera, they will each be used as a USB webcam, they usually each assist livestreaming internally.

The Hero 12 Black now helps pairing with Bluetooth microphones and earbuds, so that you could seize audio in addition to set off voice instructions remotely. Essentially the most compelling use case we have seen is when the GoPro is mounted on the surface of a case. In that case, the GoPro will report the engine sounds utilizing its inside mic, whereas concurrently capturing the driving force’s commentary with the wi-fi microphone contained in the automobile. The audio is captured on separate tracks, and you may combine and match between the 2 in your modifying software program.

The DJI Osmo Motion 4 cannot pair with earbuds, however it’s appropriate with the DJI Mic, so wi-fi audio transmission is feasible on this digital camera too. It is a vital funding, however the audio high quality is miles higher than something you will get from a set of earbuds, so it might be effectively definitely worth the preliminary outlay.

Each cameras assist Timecode Sync, which is a characteristic that is solely actually relevant to skilled work environments. Nevertheless, in case your typical workflow entails capturing with a number of motion cameras, it is a large timesaver. One other area of interest characteristic, however one which’s extraordinarily necessary to some customers, is the power to export gyro knowledge for further picture stabilisation in publish. Each cameras now assist this.

One characteristic that is distinctive to DJI is InvisiStick. This makes use of software program to masks out your selfie stick, creating an impact that is much like footage shot with a 360 digital camera. It is not excellent, but it surely actually seems higher than having a stick protruding via the center of your footage, and GoPro would not at present supply something comparable.

Neither digital camera has GPS onboard, that is regular for DJI, but it surely’s often one thing that is current on GoPro cameras. GPS in an motion digital camera is often used to show your pace, altitude and different knowledge as overlays or ‘stickers’ in your footage. DJI gives an elective $79 GPS distant that provides this performance, however so far as we are able to inform, there isn’t any method so as to add this knowledge to footage from the Hero 12 Black.

Picture and video efficiency

The GoPro Hero 12 Black gives the best decision and the best body charges of the 2 cameras. Picture high quality is considerably subjective, however we are inclined to favor the look of the GoPro footage, too. Nevertheless, that solely applies to footage shot within the daylight, when it will get darker, the tables are turned.

The DJI Osmo Motion 4 has a considerably bigger sensor at its core, and this enables it to seize way more gentle. It produces far brighter and fewer grainy footage in darkish situations, and this makes it the apparent selection if you happen to often shoot at nighttime.

Each cameras can seize in 10-bit color and each have Log profiles which can be appropriate for color grading. Being motion cameras, they each supply an especially large area of view in addition to glorious picture stabilisation. Within the daylight, we expect GoPro has the smoother stabilisation, however in dimly-lit conditions, the Motion 4 comes out on prime but once more.

The Hero 12 Black has an unusually tall 8:7 sensor, and this lets you report movies in an almost-square format which might then be cropped into horizontal, vertical and square-format movies after the very fact. It is nice if it’s essential to reuse a clip for various social media platforms. The Osmo Motion 4 would not supply a comparable characteristic, however it may possibly report vertically utilizing the included vertical mounting bracket.

New on the Hero 12 is the power to report vertical-format movies whereas the digital camera is mounted horizontally, which makes issues even simpler if you already know you are solely going to wish the vertical clip.

In the case of nonetheless photos, the Hero 12 Black has a transparent benefit. It shoots at as much as 27MP, in comparison with simply 10MP on the Motion 4. Nevertheless, the big sensor advantages apply right here too, so if you happen to’re capturing in low gentle, you will get a lot better outcomes from the Osmo Motion 4.

Conclusion

The GoPro Hero 12 Black and DJI Osmo Motion 4 are two of the most effective motion cameras available on the market proper now, and both one is a good selection for capturing high-octane moments. They’re the identical worth, so there isn’t any query of worth, it is simply all the way down to which mannequin fits your particular wants higher.

The Hero 12 Black gives greater decision recording, greater body charges at 2.7K and better decision nonetheless photos. It additionally has the most effective in-camera picture stabilisation, in our opinion, and it is our prime decide for general picture high quality in good lighting circumstances.

GoPro

As we have talked about, the DJI Osmo Motion 4 actually comes into its personal in low-light situations, so if you happen to’re typically capturing in sub-optimal circumstances, it is the one to go for. It additionally gives an especially helpful front-facing touchscreen, a superb quick-release mounting system and higher water resistance.