Action camera advice

[Tim Sewell]

My middle child, 11yrs, has always like taking photographs - and he has a very good eye! Recently he's watched some Jesse Driftwood videos about transitions and other editing stuff, plus he's gotten into TikTok and the outcome is that he's downloaded the Resolve free version and is asking for an action camera for Christmas. I'm naturally inclined to encourage this new direction (although you would have thought I'd have learnt my lesson after the Great Electric Guitar Debacle).

Any road up. I'm sufficiently knowledgeable about the action cam scene to know that GoPro these days is more marketing than substance, so - given my budget of GBP200 - if it's the choice between a couple-of-generations-old GP model or a more up-to-date off-brand camera that ticks the necessary boxes I'd happily go with the latter.

Any suggestions?

[Danyyyel]

I really like my DJI osmo action, with firmware update it has really become a very nice action camera.

[Trek of Joy]

I personally like the Hero7 with its stabilization. Though the OSMO Action has some really nice features too including the front LCD. Does he need the benefits of an action cam specifically? The OSMO Pocket is also a pretty amazing little piece of kit. I initially dismissed it, but with updates its gotten a lot better and after shooting with it I've really grown fond of it, I use it more than my GoPro. The thread here has a lot of great video samples. I'd get something that you'd want to use if it didn't pan out.

LOL, great electric guitar debacle. I did the same thing with drums when I was a kid. I did get a guitar and stick with it, but after the drums debacle my parents said no to a guitar, had to get a job and pay for it myself. Been playing for over 20 years now, so it paid off. Anyway.

Chris

[Tim Sewell]

He wants to experiment with underwater stuff, so it does need to be an action cam, really.

Drums! That one’s coming down the road at us as his 5yr old brother is mad about them.

[Emanuel]

I'd buy the new GoPro then.

[MrSMW]

I had the OSMO Action and it was great, but I just wasn't using it as I hoped to so sold it.

But it was very good and I was coming from Go Pro previously.

[kye]

16 hours ago, Tim Sewell said:

although you would have thought I'd have learnt my lesson after the Great Electric Guitar Debacle

LOL.  I saw something about this the other day, can't remember where.  The purpose is to give your kids a well-rounded set of life experiences.  

We have a strange concept the the goal of doing anything is to get stupidly good at it.  If that was the case then success at school is becoming a university professor with a doctorate, and everyone else in the world is a failure at school.  Hardly!

16 hours ago, Tim Sewell said:

My middle child, 11yrs, has always like taking photographs - and he has a very good eye! Recently he's watched some Jesse Driftwood videos about transitions and other editing stuff, plus he's gotten into TikTok and the outcome is that he's downloaded the Resolve free version and is asking for an action camera for Christmas. I'm naturally inclined to encourage this new direction (although you would have thought I'd have learnt my lesson after the Great Electric Guitar Debacle).

Any road up. I'm sufficiently knowledgeable about the action cam scene to know that GoPro these days is more marketing than substance, so - given my budget of GBP200 - if it's the choice between a couple-of-generations-old GP model or a more up-to-date off-brand camera that ticks the necessary boxes I'd happily go with the latter.

Any suggestions?

I went the Sony X3000 route because it has OIS, but that's getting pretty long in the tooth and is out of your budget it seems.

The GoPro market only has a few players with theDJI Osmo Action being the other contender, which also appears out of your price range.

In a sense, GoPro is kind of the default choice because it's what everyone else is using and so there's so much more support for it because everyone has one.  GoPro has a system of generations (i.e., Hero 6) and tiers (i.e., Black, Silver, White) and often the Black of one generation becomes the Silver of the next generation and the White of the following generation, although sometimes they get new features or whatever.  It's worth comparing models across this grid to see which has the best specs.

[leslie]

i have a gopro four silver and a 6 black , just bought a 75mm cinewoop or 3" for those not metric 🙄.  As their small but large enough to mount a go pro. there's a chance i might get an 8 black, still undecided about that. The seven has good image stabilization, the 8 is better i understand. The 7 can be buggy or glitchy, again thats what i have read. no personal experience. My brother has had no issues with his 5.  The 6,7,8 are popular for taking the casings off and running naked on cinewoops to get them at light as possible, however you want to keep the cover on it if your venturing underwater lol.

Unless you shoot with a narrow or linear field of view you get the distinct look or the gopro its hard to hide the fisheye look, you can defish to an extent but if you know what your looking for its still hard to hide.

I like the gopros for their size they do a pretty good job, and their robust, well its been my experience others may differentiate, I have done some stuff that i would never contemplate with my p4k 😊.

Their not cinema cameras but you can turn alot of stuff off and shoot flat or close enough and do the rest in resolve.