Action 1 vs Action 3. Action 3 dewarped view.
Displayed on Windows PC via VLC at 100% and a small screen shot taken with Sniptool 2.0.
Straight from the cameras with no editing.
About 18 inches from cameras which were held side by side against each other.
Shooting in 2.7 at 30 FPS with RS on.


Does anyone know what the warranty period is for Action 3? I am tempted to keep the camera and have DJI fix it later under warranty. DJI has been very good to me in the past. I had the GoPro 7, 9 and 10. They all had problems and I never knew if they were working. Loved the Action 1. It always worked. I really love this camera and want to keep it. After 2-3 feet the image is fine and is slightly better than my GoPro Hero 10 with normal color and sharpening at low.

Action 1

Action 3

All I know is that OA1 is really sharp compared to OA3, and I have them both.
Also have Gopro 10 but considering selling it and buying Insta360 with 4K boost lens because it is actually better in most ways, and my Gopro 10 have same issues that my Gopro 8 had since I never know if it is recording or not.

This is the definitive test in my opinion - OA1 vs OA3.  I (stupidly) sold my perfectly fine OA1 with case, batteries, filters etc. at the same time I impulsively ordered the OA3 because it had a number of feature upgrades I had been longing for.  I was expecting nothing less than the quality of my OA1 but with added functionality.  Better image quality would be a plus.  Upon seeing the horrible overall image quality of the OA3 in comparison to the OA1 I made a quick decision to cancel my DJI order.  Seeing more reports since then has sadly convinced me that I made the right decision.  I hope more people do the same so that DJI seriously corrects the issue because they have an overall great product with one major fault.  Correct this fault and they have a game-changing winner in the action camera field.  I'll be watching for the forum thread titled OA3 Problem Solved!  Until then I will hold onto my money.

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That's a good way of testing it.

Hello there. Thank you for reaching out and for giving out these information For reference I will post a DJI Link where in you can check the DJI After-Sales Service Policies for your DJI Osmo Action 3 below for additional reference. Thank you.

https://www.dji.com/service/policy

Yes, this sample shows a distinct problem.  Other samples show no problem.  I'm very much of the view that this is a problem with a particular batch of Action 3's.  We have to bear in mind that we won't see a deluge of reports where people go out of their way to say that their cameras are fine.  People only report problems.  And I suspect that a very large percentage of Action 3 purchasers haven't seen these reports and haven't come along to say theirs is fine (membership of these forums is probably tiny compared with customer base).  I'm not suggesting that the concerns reported here are not valid.  I'm just suggesting that perhaps this camera is not a global disaster but that there's a definite problem with a (small??) proportion of the manufacturing run.

I should be DJI to acknoledge the problem and explain if the issue affect only a batch of the products or all the cameras. Silence is not assuring customers to buy a new one. I was about to order one and I will defo never buy one with the risk of getting an out of focus camera.

fansfe82067d Posted at 10-14 00:45
Yes, this sample shows a distinct problem.  Other samples show no problem.  I'm very much of the view that this is a problem with a particular batch of Action 3's.  We have to bear in mind that we won't see a deluge of reports where people go out of their way to say that their cameras are fine.  People only report problems.  And I suspect that a very large percentage of Action 3 purchasers haven't seen these reports and haven't come along to say theirs is fine (membership of these forums is probably tiny compared with customer base).  I'm not suggesting that the concerns reported here are not valid.  I'm just suggesting that perhaps this camera is not a global disaster but that there's a definite problem with a (small??) proportion of the manufacturing run.

This is funny, I bought two at separate times and both had the focusing issue.

To pretend like this is an isolated issue is silly. DJI wouldn't try pushing out a firmware fix if it was just an isolated issue, they would try to just process replacements.

SadFan Posted at 10-14 10:42
This is funny, I bought two at separate times and both had the focusing issue.

To pretend like this is an isolated issue is silly. DJI wouldn't try pushing out a firmware fix if it was just an isolated issue, they would try to just process replacements.

If you check the box label, do the two you bought have similar S/N and Y/M?

aliveathome Posted at 10-14 10:50
If you check the box label, do the two you bought have similar S/N and Y/M?

Does it matter? If I bought two cameras a week apart and both have the focusing issue, then the problem isn't just a small "batch". It's a widespread issue.

SadFan Posted at 10-14 11:05
Does it matter? If I bought two cameras a week apart and both have the focusing issue, then the problem isn't just a small "batch". It's a widespread issue.

Just asking, mine is manufactured Y/M 2022/09 and not sure it looks as worse as many others? Could be imagination but was just curious because you bought two.

aliveathome Posted at 10-14 11:08
Just asking, mine is manufactured Y/M 2022/09 and not sure it looks as worse as many others? Could be imagination but was just curious because you bought two.

From what I've read, it seems like if you're using either Wide or Ultrawide, you'll probably get image quality that is still decent. Are you using those views?

The standard (dewarped) is definitely really bad though.