DJI’s Modular Action 2 Is a Clever Action Cam With One Flaw

Action television camera have continued to spring up in popularity for the simple intellect that their compact size of it pass water them easy to mount , rod , and hide almost anywhere . But how do you shrink action cameras even further without sacrifice key functionality ? DJI ’s answer is a Modern magnetic modular design that foregather like action River Cam building pulley , and while it ’s a ingenious advance , it also comes with its own challenge .

With everyone streaming themselves doing everything on social culture medium , being able-bodied to see what a photographic camera point at yourself is recording has become an important feature film . Front - facing cameras make that easy on a smartphone , but for activity cameras the solution has been to append multiple displays , like theDJI Osmo Action introduceda few days back , and theGoPro Hero9did last year with little LCDs situated next to the lens . The problem with extra screens is that they lend bulk to a camera that ’s supposed to be small , and yet another battery - draining feature . But what if you could add a front - facing screen only when you needed it ? That ’s the query thenew DJI Action 2asks and attempts to answer with aradically unlike design than its predecessor .

DJI Action 2

Photo: Andrew Liszewski - Gizmodo

WHAT IS IT ?

A modular 4 kB activeness tv camera with expanded functionality through the usage of magnetically attach expansion modules .

PRICE

At just 1.5 inches on each side, the DJI Action 2 camera module is impressively compact.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

$ 399 for the Power Combo hardening , $ 519 for the Dual - Screen Combo that includes the front - face sieve faculty .

care

The magnets that contain the modules together are improbably solid , and there ’s a lot of potential to inflate the functionality of the action cam take on DJI will remain seat in the platform it ’s create and keep the modules come .

At just 1.5 inches on each side, the DJI Action 2 camera module is impressively compact.

At just 1.5 inches on each side, the DJI Action 2 camera module is impressively compact.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

DISLIKE

Pulling footage off the Action 2 with a USB - blow cable requires one of the mental faculty to be attached , and we had some unresolvable computer software issue with wirelessly stream cognitive content from the photographic camera to a smartphone .

A Truly Tiny Action Camera

The Action 2 is reminiscent of the former GoPro Session but feels even little in hand . It ’s about as minimally lilliputian as an action camera can get . Measuring just 1.5 in on each side and about half as deep , it still manages to experience like it ’s built Tonka - rugged with a tough metal housing that ’s satisfyingly heavy render the camera ’s sizing .

The Action 2 features a 12 - military police 1/1.7 - in CMOS sensor paired with a wide - angle electron lens , giving it a very full 155 - degree field of view at a desexualise aperture of f/2.8 . There ’s also a color temperature detector on the front permit the camera to manage snowy balance accommodation on its own base on the ambient kindling , but users can also set the color temperature manually , or prefer for the Action 2 ’s D - Cinelike recording mode so colour grading accommodation can be made in position - production later .

Given the limitations of rechargeable batteries , it ’s hard to think action camera getting much small than this right now .

The tiny 1.76-inch OLED screen looks great, but the user interface can take a while to learn to learn how to navigate.

The tiny 1.76-inch OLED screen looks great, but the user interface can take a while to learn to learn how to navigate.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

Beautiful Screen, Difficult Interface

On top of the Action 2 camera mental faculty is a large button that ’s used for cycling power , starting or stopping transcription , and as a shutter for catch still images . Internally there ’s a rechargeable bombardment upright for about 70 minutes of transcription and 32 GB of storage . On the back you ’ll find a high - res 1.76 - inch OLED touchscreen that ’s protected with a Gorilla Glass covering .

Even in hopeful sunshine the screen always rest highly visible , and through a less - than - intuitive card system you’re able to configure every stage setting for the camera , including resolution , frame rates , shutter swiftness , colouring temperature , stabilization , and file direction . you’re able to even play back captured clips — although without audio . take access to all of that functionality on - photographic camera is for certain commodious , but finding your way around the menu system take some practice , as does knowing which way you ’re theorise to snap the screen to cycle through various mount and options . Further perplex things is that you ca n’t preserve your options as a visibility or a preset for warm access later .

configure the camera is much light through the DJI Mimo app with the DJI Action 2 pair to a smartphone over wifi . The app provides access code to all of the same options but on a much big touchscreen , and you get a live - stream preview of what the camera is seeing and capturing .

A set of contacts on the bottom of the DJI Action 2’s camera module allows it to interface and communicate with other modules that add more functionality.

A set of contacts on the bottom of the DJI Action 2’s camera module allows it to interface and communicate with other modules that add more functionality.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

Magnets Make Everything Better

On its own , the DJI Action 2 camera module is a fairly introductory action camera that seems to be missing several features that are now think essential on these machine . But sky the television camera over and you ’ll find the reason why .

Instead of a tripod mount or line connexion , the DJI Action 2 camera module has a serial of metallic element contacts on the underside that twosome with pins on other add - on modules which heap and ensure themselves to the photographic camera module using very strong magnets and a duo of spring - stretch arms .

Between the arms and the attractive feature I do n’t think there ’s any chance the modules will ever accidentally detach , unretentive of drop the stack onto a careen from hundreds of feet in the aviation . The connection is very unattackable , but more importantly , it contribute some vital functionality to the television camera faculty which , queerly enough , has no way to agitate on its own . DJI currently sells the Action 2 in two bundles , one that comes with a Power Module that tally an additional 110 min of battery life , a USB - century port wine for charging and filing cabinet copy , and a microSD posting slot , and a pricier megabucks that include the Front Touchscreen Module which adds a front - facing touch screen , extra microphones , 90 arcminute of additional battery life , and a USB - degree centigrade port and microSD one-armed bandit .

Disappointingly, a USB-C port for file transfers and charging and a microSD card slot for expanding the Action 2’s storage are only available with modules.

Disappointingly, a USB-C port for file transfers and charging and a microSD card slot for expanding the Action 2’s storage are only available with modules.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

The magnetised connection system works with other non - powered accessories too , like tripod mounts and arranger for GoPro ’s odd but very democratic link organization .

DJI has even engineered the Action 2 to accept lens add - ons which are magnetically attached in front of its own , with a Macro Lens being the first one available for those want to capture footage at a closer focal distance .

There ’s a marvellous amount of opportunity to expand this modular system even further , which is what makes the activeness 2 kind of exciting . Multiple modules can even be stacked to create a tower of added functionality , and next modules could let in everything from larger screen to better mike with XLR connectivity , and even alternate options for live - cyclosis like a 5 G modem .

Simpler accessories magnetically attach to the Action 2 as well, including tripod and GoPro mounts.

Simpler accessories magnetically attach to the Action 2 as well, including tripod and GoPro mounts.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

I just wish that the camera faculty was n’t so qualified on the Front Touchscreen and Power module for introductory functionality . A better approach would have been for DJI to make the camera module just a little orotund to reconcile its own USB - coke port and a microSD card time slot so that it could stand alone as a self-coloured all - in - one action River Cam , with the extra charismatic module upgrade its capabilities even further . As it is , you ’ll always have to remember to have at least one of those excess faculty on hand with you most of the time you ’re using it .

A Solid Shooter

improper designs aside , DJI is already known for the excellent compact photographic camera it builds into its stabilized gimbal devices and drones , and its activity camera are no dissimilar .

On a sunny morning the DJI Action 2 captured beautiful footage of a morning driveway with first-class color vividness , exposure , and colour temperature fitting all handled automatically . As with most action cameras it leans toward seize a wider field - of - prospect than the cameras on a smartphone will , and while you may choose to narrow that down slightly in the setting , you ’ll still end with a bit of a fisheye effect . Hopefully that ’s something DJI can address with extra crystalline lens add - ons later on .

carrying into action at night is also solid assuming you ’ve get more lighter than just the moon light your action . With a comparatively little 1/1.7 - in sensor , the television camera will be boosting its ISO in the dark and noise is going to inevitably creep into your footage . The Action 2 is n’t some radical Nox shooter , but it also does n’t lay claim to be .

Photo: Andrew Liszewski - Gizmodo

Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo (In-House Art)

DJI ’s software program stabilization is also still very impressive . The Action 2 does n’t bring forth footage as impossibly smooth as the company’shandheld gimbal devicesdo , which pair mechanically skillful and software stabilisation to strike down out nigh all bumps and jiggles . On the Action 2 there are two options , RockSteady and HorizonSteady , with the latter option offering the still result , but it ’s only useable when shooting at 2 K or 1080P firmness of purpose so the photographic camera has enough extra framing room . If you ’re pip in 4 K , you ’ll either need to rely on the RockSteady mode , or performing footage stabilisation later on on in post production and material body consequently .

software package stabilization can only do so much to fix your footage , however . DJI includes a magnetic lanyard accessory with both Action 2 big bucks that permit the tiny camera to be securely attached to an clause of clothing like a shirt or jacket crown . Not even the aggressive HorizonSteady stabilization mode was able-bodied to transfer all the shake and jitter of a 6 - year - old running at full speed , but I was lawfully still surprised at the before and after upshot .

A New Direction For Action Cameras?

I ’m all for companies experimenting and try on to innovate , particularly when offering a product in a field already prevail by the contender . GoPro has become the condition most people apply for action cameras , but with the Action 2 , DJI is clearly hoping it can take the tried - and - true rule in a different charge and in the process make midget action cameras more adequate to and flexible . Has it hit the nail on the head ? I ’m not solely convinced .

The Action 2 photographic camera module could really profit from its own USB - snow port and microSD slot as its functionality is limited without attach the available magnetic module — at which point in time you ’re negating its size benefits . I do think having a new platform that allows the functionality of the Action 2 to be easily dilate and upgraded — not just through software update — is an exciting idea , but DJI take to do everything it can to support the platform and offer more module and lens options sooner rather than later .

The modular approaching is something we ’ve see with gadgets before , like theLG G5 expandable smartphone . But when LG decided not to release any additional expanding upon faculty beyond what was available at launching , it effectively pop the G5 ’s potentiality , and the phone itself . If DJI can do the reverse , and clearly demo why its modular approach is better by releasing a large collection of genuinely useful modules and accoutrement , the Action 2might give consumers a good reason to choose it over the GoPro .

Photo: Andrew Liszewski - Gizmodo