Action cameras hit the ceiling, can DJI break the wind?

People would never have imagined that ten years ago, a camera that can record 4K high frame rate video, take photos, is waterproof and dustproof, can withstand low and high temperatures, and has good anti-shake performance can be "condensed" into Only 145g, and this is exactly the new category that is extremely hot in the domestic market - action cameras.

As the overlord in the drone field, DJI actually launched Osmo Action as early as 2019 to enter the action camera market. However, since the early action camera market was basically "monopolized" by GoPro, DJI action cameras did not make much of a splash in the market at that time.

(Picture source: DJI official)

However, with the continuous upgrade and iteration of DJI action camera technology, and the lack of progress of GoPro next door, the subsequent Action 3 and Action 4 All have achieved good sales and reputation. Relevant data shows that in the action camera market, DJI’s market share has reached 40%. It can be said that it is the number one player in action cameras at the moment.

Recently, according to relevant news, DJI Action 5 Pro is already on the road. This is also the first product in the DJI Action series with the suffix Pro, which may bring surprises in terms of functions and configurations.

Action 5 Pro, the new benchmark for action cameras?

According to the spy photos released by blogger @OsitaLV, the Action 5 Pro is almost identical in appearance to the Action 4/3. The only difference is that the gold decorative ring on the lens part is changed to red. Maybe this is One of the signs that distinguishes the Pro version from the regular version.

(Photo source: Blogger @OsitaLV)

The spy photos also reveal that the Action 5 Pro is equipped with a 155° viewing angle, maximum aperture F2.8, 1/1.33 inch camera sensor. As an old fan of DJI, Xiao Lei could tell at a glance that this was the sensor parameter of Action 4. Why is it that in the new generation of Pro version, the most important camera sensor still has not been upgraded?

Not to mention that Pocket, another product line of DJI, has used the Sony IMX989 sensor in the latest generation of products. Readers who are familiar with mobile phones must be familiar with this name. Yes, it is the biggest contributor to leading mobile phone photography into the one-inch era. Xiaomi 12S Ultra, OPPO Find X6 Pro, vivo X90 Pro+ and other imaging flagships all use the Sony IMX989 sensor. I believe everyone is familiar with its strength and actual performance. learn.

(Picture source: Xiaomi official)

But if you think about it carefully, you can understand that although the Sony IMX989 sensor has a huge improvement in image quality and resolution, it brings The power consumption and heat generation are also huge. For a product like an action camera with a small volume and heat dissipation area, the disadvantage of forcing a large-size sensor is that the heat generation is greatly increased, and the probability of crashing during long-term recording is greater. .

Secondly, the IMX989 sensor will inevitably bring higher cost. Take DJI’s own Pocket 3 as an example. Although its shape and positioning are not consistent with Action 4, the price difference between the two is 901 Yuan, it’s hard not to think of the cost difference in camera sensors. You must know that the original Action series relied on affordable enough pricing to beat GoPro. If the pricing of Action 5 Pro increases too much, its sales and reputation may be affected.

(Picture source: DJI official)

As for whether the Action 5 Pro will add various new features in video, such as 6K image quality, higher frame rate, and multiple times. Xiao Lei thinks the possibility of high slow motion recording is very high. After all, if there is no improvement in the sensor, then there must be improvement in functionality and algorithms. Otherwise, how could DJI dare to name it Pro?

In addition, foreign media broke the news that the battery capacity of Action 5 Pro will also be increased from 1770mAh to 1950mAh. Logically speaking, the battery life performance will be improved to a certain extent, but considering that Action 5 Pro will most likely add some new image quality options And functions, its specific performance will not be determined until the actual machine is released.

The last aspect is the price that everyone is most concerned about. Considering that the current price of action cameras is between 2200-2500 yuan, the price of Action 5 Pro should be within 3000 yuan, but how much can it attract consumers? If you buy it, you have to wait for the subsequent revelations.

How else can action cameras be innovative?

與專業相機領域不同，運動相機的目標群體並沒有將畫質放在第一位，畢竟運動相機受限於體積重量和價格，肯定是不能跟又大又重的專業無反光鏡相機相比，而且4K解析度的影片規格已經能夠滿足95%以上用戶的需求。

就以小雷自己為例，除了有時好奇去體驗4K分辨率有多麼高清有多麼耗電外，其餘時間自己的大疆Action 4的畫質和幀率選項全程都固定在1080P /30幀，對於微信、QQ、小紅書這類常用社群平台來說，這個規格的影片已經完全足夠。

（圖片來源：大疆官方）

運動相機作為目標明確的品類，就是有很多它最適合的特定情況。它盡量精簡不必要的功能，減少體積重量，把料往一個方向上堆。比起做出一台水桶機型，消費者更希望看到一台長板夠「長」的好產品。

但在小雷看來，運動相機市場早已進入到技術方面的瓶頸期，論畫質去年發布的Action 3放在當下依舊能打，論功能性很多運動相機的功能已經有些過剩。這個局面也讓小雷聯想到當今的手機市場，同樣在硬體方面捲到卷無可捲，用戶也早已進入到換機疲勞期。

但手機市場近兩年還拿出了另一個有意思的點：折疊屏手機，其獨特的形態吸引了很多用戶下單購買，那麼運動相機呢？是否也能從手機市場學到些許經驗，改變一下產品的形態呢？

其實是可行的，例如早期大疆的Action 2就是一個非常大膽的嘗試，它的形態不同於GoPro，與其說它是一台運動相機，不如說它是一個單獨的組件，它可以透過與不同的拓展模組連接實現不同的功能，可以說玩法多多，創意拉滿。

（圖片來源：大疆官方）

但受限於大疆早期的技術不夠成熟，Action 2在散熱和續航方面的表現比較一般，也難怪後的Action 3又用回了常規設計。而如今隨著技術方面的成熟，這些廠商或許可以重新拾起這個有些「復古」但又有點「創新」的設計。

（圖片來源：大疆官方）

還有就是運動相機APP方面仍然不夠成熟，以小雷使用過的大疆維 4和影石Insta 4和影石為例，兩者的APP體驗只能用一般來形容。尤其是將相機中的影片傳輸到手機這一流程，受限於網路頻寬的緣故，匯出一分鐘的影片往往需要半分鐘甚至更久的時間，在這段期間你還不能退出APP介面，否則手機和相機之間的連結就會斷開，一切都要重來。

更讓人不解的是，Action 4的傳輸介面僅支援USB 2.0傳輸協議，這意味著它用數據線傳輸檔案的速度甚至比APP還要慢上不少，這對於需要錄製大量素材的群組來說，每次匯出影片都是一件特別痛苦的事。

因此運動相機除了可以改進APP的操作邏輯和傳輸速度之外，也可以適當考慮將如今主流的Mirco SD卡槽更換為SD卡槽，這樣用戶便可以直接使用高速讀卡器導出素材。

最後一點則是技術層面的問題，運動相機受限於體積大小，不可能像無反相機那樣配備更專業的機械快門，但電子快門由於在拍攝時採用的是逐幀曝光的拍攝形式，在拍攝一些高速場景或慢動作場景時，就會出現明顯的果凍效應，（影像中的物件產生扭曲或傾斜）影響成片率。

而解決辦法也只有用上讀取速度更快的CMOS，或是為其配備掃描面積更大的全局快門，但這兩個方法都會提高相機的造價成本，至於如何解決，這個問題還是交給各位廠商們吧。

寫在最後

運動相機從來都只是一個屬於小眾群體的品類，對於絕大多數用戶來說，它無比雞肋，甚至很難被稱作是一台真正的相機。

但對於整個相機市場來說，運動相機的存在大大豐富了相機的應用場景，如今我們可以將運動相機掛在頭盔上、貼在車上甚至是掛在無人機上，其獨特的視角是傳統相機根本無法比擬的。

（圖片來源：大疆官方）

而大疆作為近些年熱度最高的運動相機品牌，它能否在未來為我們帶來更多有創新意義的好產品，就得看大疆的研發團隊們能不能想出什麼新點子了。

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