Rock-steady and rugged

The new DJI Osmo Action Camera has “Gopro killer” written all over it. The maker of drones has also always manufactured compact, high-quality cameras, stabilising gimbles and brilliant imagestabilising software.

It’s a no-brainer then that DJI has made a standalone action camera, which it has launched under the Osmo handheld brand.

The unimaginatively named Osmo Action Camera is exactly that: a compact Gopro-like camera to capture all your high-adrenaline activities. It is dustproof, shockproof and waterproof, and will work in subfreezing temperatures, DJI says.

One suspects Joburg winters won’t test that latter feature, so I have no way of confirming it. But the other rugged features are necessary for action cams, and the Osmo cleverly uses the same mounts that Gopro does. This means that if you have the Gopro kit, you can carry on using those accessories and mounts.

Unlike the Gopro, which has a rear camera, the Osmo has a smaller selfie screen in the front too. Obviously. If you’re hanging from the side of a mountain capturing your climb, you need to know what’s in the picture.

The tech specs are impressive: it can record 12MP photos and 4K video up to 60fps at 100Mbps — enough to capture any adventure sport, even extreme ironing. It is the first of DJI’S handheld cameras to feature its electronic imagestabilisation technology, appropriately called Rocksteady, for “smooth, stable, high-quality” video.

It’s an obvious growth area for DJI to expand its excellent product range into action cams given its photographic expertise.

The Osmo retails for R7,000 (myistore.co.za).