The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is here

I am becoming a massive DJI fan, sometimes you can see a company breaking through the ranks with constantly good innovations.
Drones, cameras, and now even competitive E Bikes, I have just ordered the new DJI Nimo drone, so keep a look-out for my review.
DJI have certainly delivered a harsh wake-up call that many leading competitors needed.
A short time back I tested the DJI Pocket 3, despite the excellent image quality, I decided it was not the best choice for use in harsh outdoor conditions, due to the exposed gimbal and lack of weather protection.
I mentioned the DJI Osmo Action 5 in the review, although it had not been released, thinking the predecessor to the 4 would be a logical choice for my metal detecting videos.
Well here it is, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, will it live up to my expectations?

Form factor and specifications – A quick look
At a glance, the Action 5 Pro and the Action 4 look very similar in size and weight, I was hoping for a 1″ sensor, but DJI opted for the 1/1.3-inch CMOS again.
The front and rear screens are slightly bigger, so easier to see in bright conditions.
Here is a link to the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro specification page :
https://www.dji.com/uk/osmo-action-5-pro/specs
Thank you, DJI
I was happy to see, voice activation, a superfast boot up time and a battery life up to 2 hours.

Metal Detecting with the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro

Being weather resistant is only a small part of what I need from a camera, image quality, ease of use, battery life and reliability are all boxes my other cameras fail on in some way or another.
These are big boots to fill, as a content creator the Action 5 needs to be a part of my kit that I can operate without a second thought, imagine filming the recovery of an ancient coin from 1800 years of resting in the soil, only to find out your camera has frozen…. You simply can’t replicate that moment again.
And this is what I have been dealing with using my other action camera, on more occasions than I can remember.

Switch on – Film
The boot up was instant, there are 2 methods of approach, press the red button on top of the Action 5, and it starts filming instantly, or switch on using the side button to go into standby, then hit the record button or give a voice command to start filming.
The loud bleeps tell you recoding is in progress or stopping.

DJI – Seriously !!
This is where things start to really annoy me, what is going on with the notification panel, let me explain.
When the DJI wireless mic 2 is connected, every time the camera is set to record, a notification panel pops up on the front and rear screens.
On the front, it is about 17 seconds before it disappears, and you can actually see what you are filming.
This panel is not necessary, an option to turn it off in the menu would be a good idea for future updates.
Talking of menus
The Osmo Action 5 Pro menu has been very well-thought-out and user-friendly.
It was a nice bonus to see the Action 5 has 64Gb of internal storage, 120Fps slow motion, Timelapse, Hyperlapse and a low light mode.
Let’s not forget the legendary DJI stabilization.

 

DJI screwed up
Or should I say the lack of it !
Every review I see, people are gushing over the unique way that the DJI action camera magnetic mount system mounts to tripods.
Personally I am not so enthusiastic, I much prefer the traditional 1/4″ tripod thread, so I can choose what system I mount the camera with.
I have just purchased an alternate conversion clamp (pictured above), so it’s no big deal.

Action 5 Pro still images
The image quality for the still camera is surprisingly good, with a small amount of tweaking you can get some usable images.

Images can be up to 40Mp, or you can use the burst mode, producing up to 30 images in just 3 seconds.

 

So what are my thoughts about the DJI Action 5 Pro
I think it’s fantastic, the image quality does require a little tweaking in post, but like all colour grading it is subjective.
Reliability, gave no cause for concern, and the whole overall experience was just what I wanted.
OK – There are a couple of annoyances, I am sure DJI will address them in a future update.
You can see my full experience by watching my metal detecting with the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro video below.