So how does the new firmware do compared to the good old OA1 now after updating with newest firmware.




A notice to mention is that when shooting in D-Cinelike that I did here,  then you need to do the sharpening in post yourself. But when you shoot  with colors it will be way sharper out of camera so no need to  sharpening in post.

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osmonauta Posted at 10-14 13:24
It does seem like there's some improvement. I didn't have a chance to test it during daylight so can't wait for the weekend!

BTW, have you seen this guy testing it against the Akaso Brave 8!? Sheesh! Never heard of Akaso Brave but if I did, I'm sure that's the camera I would've picked. And also the amount of accessories you get with it...

Yes I actually seen that video earlier today. He test out a lot of different action cameras against each other so I can recommend subscribing to him.
He asked me there in comment about the firmware, so I told him about this video I made.

I believe DJI is  the best Budget camera on the Market

I  feel low level Priority enable darkens the  video if a light is on you it becomes  better

Maybe worth it or not is out.

Fishycomics Posted at 10-14 15:05
I believe DJI is  the best Budget camera on the Market

I  feel low level Priority enable darkens the  video if a light is on you it becomes  better

Worth it or not is out?  lol,  The Action 3 is out of my hands and on it's way back to California.

Andre-WORTH IT OR NOT? Posted at 10-14 15:55
Worth it or not is out?  lol,  The Action 3 is out of my hands and on it's way back to California.

Andre- I donot blame you my Friend, you tried your best. really enjoy the work and time you placed in, DJI should with no question at all refund you and send for free a new camera at their expense for the troubles this has caused.

Fishycomics Posted at 10-14 16:08
Andre- I donot blame you my Friend, you tried your best. really enjoy the work and time you placed in, DJI should with no question at all refund you and send for free a new camera at their expense for the troubles this has caused.

I have been a long time DJI customer from drones to cameras and have always enjoyed their products, this focus issue was tough as I really wanted this camera to compete with GoPro in a big way much like the Osmo Action did vs the Hero 7.   I'm sure they'll get it sorted out eventually, I just didn't want to get stuck with a non functioning camera.

Andre-WORTH IT OR NOT? Posted at 10-14 16:15
I have been a long time DJI customer from drones to cameras and have always enjoyed their products, this focus issue was tough as I really wanted this camera to compete with GoPro in a big way much like the Osmo Action did vs the Hero 7.   I'm sure they'll get it sorted out eventually, I just didn't want to get stuck with a non functioning camera.

Alright, Andre.

Just testing some stuff with the Action 2 and have noticed that certain combinations of FOV and stabilisation result in a soft picture on the 2. Without testing a 3, it may be the same.

The most noticeable blurring for me was when using RockSteady, Steady was definitely sharper. Now the problem with that is most people will automatically switch to RockSteady as it's supposedly the "best" option and it does result in a wider FOV compared to Steady. However, for me personally, I'd forgo the preferable wider FOV for the sake of a sharper picture.

I'm wondering if what I've noticed with the 2 is similar to the 3.

Anyway, now you've got shut of the 3, maybe you'll be interested in giving more of your hard earned cash to GP and get the 11 Mini

Take care buddy.
Dave.

David_Harry Posted at 10-14 17:03
Alright, Andre.

Just testing some stuff with the Action 2 and have noticed that certain combinations of FOV and stabilisation result in a soft picture on the 2. Without testing a 3, it may be the same.

Hey David ! Haha @11 Mini.  It's only money right? Well until my Wife gives me grief then I have to buy her some jewelry and everything is fine again.  

A friend of mine came by with his Action 3 today with the new firmware and it looks slightly better, but when I zoom in a bit, it was just sharpness added and the image is still soft on focus.  

Not trying to be a pixel peep, just a certain expectation from this camera.  I've been tempted to get the Action 2, but Ian also said he was not found of his.  Hopefully this gets sorted out soon.  

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osmonauta Posted at 10-14 18:24
"Well until my Wife gives me grief then I have to buy her some jewelry"

Wait, you do know you can buy a neck mount, right? You buy the camera + a neck mount so your wife can wear it as a jewelry. Money problem solved

  Now there's an idea

Andre-WORTH IT OR NOT? Posted at 10-14 19:25
Now there's an idea

If you put the Action 2 on its lanyard, the wife might see this as art nouveau and wear it ……

Dave, I found the 2 and 3 pretty similar on same picture in terms of sharpness. I took a look at your Action 2 video and it does look as the the edges ‘twitch’ less on some settings than others. I might get the 2 back from Phil and try it again!!
Your footage looks sharper than what I was getting overall as well. I hope it's not a QC thing.

Andre's Action 3 footage was bang on in line with what I was getting.

Iancraig10 Posted at 10-14 23:39
If you put the Action 2 on its lanyard, the wife might see this as art nouveau and wear it ……

Dave, I found the 2 and 3 pretty similar on same picture in terms of sharpness. I took a look at your Action 2 video and it does look as the the edges ‘twitch’ less on some settings than others. I might get the 2 back from Phil and try it again!!

Alright Ian.

There’s definitely differences in sharpness depending on what stabiliser option and FOV is being used on the 2. I’m going to imagine that this may be similar for the 3, seeing as there’s very little difference between them. This would obviously also compound any issues with the lens focus of any camera if the factory focus wasn’t set correctly in the first place.

There’s also the problem of geometry correction and whatever that process is doing with the likes of RockSteady. You’ll see parts of frame looking smudged as the processing is stretching pixels and averaging  them for parts of the FOV, this also makes stuff look out of focus. Add to that that some of the lenses won’t be even either across their focal plane and the obvious issues of quality control. It doesn’t surprise me that there’s focus issues and softening being added by the processing/averaging/evening of the pixels.

Steady works best on the 2 as it’s using more of the centre of the sensor and therefor the lens, which means it’s avoiding most of the heavy barrelling at the edge of the lens which will also avoid the heavier geometry distortion. I’d imagine that this will be similar to the 3, again, given the similarities.

Wide and Steady are the best combination on the 2 for the best trade off between FOV, stability and retaining the sharpness/focus. Even if optically it may be less than 4K due to the sensor crop being scaled up, it still looks better than the mess that RockSteady makes of the geometry, which in turn is also softening the picture even though optically it’s higher resolution

BTW. You were spot on about the mic on the 2, I think it’s awesome and easily beats the crap out of any GoPro.

I’ve not even got around to messing with the picture settings on the 2 yet but even if it’s not as good as I’d like, I’m defo keeping it based on the mic. I’m absolutely blown away with just how good the thing is when using just the camera module. Plus, I was pleasantly surprised with battery and record time for the camera module on its own.

The best thing about the 2 for me is that after a year of it being around and its issues being well documented, it’s a known quantity and I knew exactly what I was getting before I bought it. Although, I’m still really surprised by just how good its mic is on the camera module, that was a nice surprise.

The big problem for DJI is that they’ve basically rehashed last years camera and released it on the same day that GoPro would appear to have finally gotten their sh1t together with the Hero 11.

Cheers,
Dave.

But did you guys check the last clip in my video? The camera was shaking really much, but the footage was really rock steady while driving.<

And when shooting in D-Cinelike you have to add sharpening in post, but with choose color in camera you doesn't need any more sharpening from what I could see earlier.
I will do a quick test to show it later on today.

osmonauta Posted at 10-14 13:24
It does seem like there's some improvement. I didn't have a chance to test it during daylight so can't wait for the weekend!

BTW, have you seen this guy testing it against the Akaso Brave 8!? Sheesh! Never heard of Akaso Brave but if I did, I'm sure that's the camera I would've picked. And also the amount of accessories you get with it...

Nice find and that was a great side by side test.  No doubt about the OA3 focus issue.  

Andre-WORTH IT OR NOT? Posted at 10-14 16:15
I have been a long time DJI customer from drones to cameras and have always enjoyed their products, this focus issue was tough as I really wanted this camera to compete with GoPro in a big way much like the Osmo Action did vs the Hero 7.   I'm sure they'll get it sorted out eventually, I just didn't want to get stuck with a non functioning camera.

Yep  been there  too.   it is best to be  returned and get later then be stuck and try to get a repair that may  get charged

Focus is still not really good.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-15 12:02
Focus is still not really good.

Yeah it's not, but I should recorded in ordinary colors since it is actually way sharper than my sharpening in post on some of the clips here.

Just on the face of it, the OA1 is sharper in all scenarios in that video. That being said, once you applied sharpening to the OA3, whilst it wasn't great, it is passable for most things. Especially for action video. I could live with it no worries.

Did see your video. I really do want oa3. To bad it is useless. Waist of time and money. Love oa1 and mavic. Perfekt. This is a recall. 1080p on my old action looks better. Sorry.

hurtighansen1 Posted at 10-16 04:20
Did see your video. I really do want oa3. To bad it is useless. Waist of time and money. Love oa1 and mavic. Perfekt. This is a recall. 1080p on my old action looks better. Sorry.

I have to mention that I did record this in D-Cinelike that have no sharpening from camera, so need to do a new and quick test with ordinary colors in camera.
Looks like it is 1440p upscaled to 4K

Here is a quick test with normal colors and with and without sharpening.. OA3 vs OA1

johansenfoto Posted at 10-15 13:42
Yeah it's not, but I should recorded in ordinary colors since it is actually way sharper than my sharpening in post on some of the clips here.

What parts have you sharpened. OA3?

Montfrooij Posted at 10-16 11:23
What parts have you sharpened. OA3?

Both on that clip

johansenfoto Posted at 10-16 11:33
Both on that clip

Ok, but that made it look worse?

Montfrooij Posted at 10-16 11:34
Ok, but that made it look worse?

It look better after sharpening, but when recording in D-Cinelike it need a lot of sharpening in post.
If you check my newest video, it actually look almost good enough after sharpening when I have recorded in normal colors.

johansenfoto Posted at 10-16 12:53
It look better after sharpening, but when recording in D-Cinelike it need a lot of sharpening in post.
If you check my newest video, it actually look almost good enough after sharpening when I have recorded in normal colors.

Maybe they have lowered the sharpness in this color profile too.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-16 21:49
Maybe they have lowered the sharpness in this color profile too.

Idk it could be

johansenfoto Posted at 10-17 01:41
Idk it could be

Looks like it then.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-17 02:12
Looks like it then.

Yes D-Cinelike is really soft, on OA1 it is actually good

johansenfoto Posted at 10-17 03:08
Yes D-Cinelike is really soft, on OA1 it is actually good

Weird. On Pocket 2 it is not soft either.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-17 03:32
Weird. On Pocket 2 it is not soft either.

Same have I seen with my Pocket 2.

johansenfoto Posted at 10-17 03:37
Same have I seen with my Pocket 2.

Ok, I only shoot in D-cinelike and really like the outcome.
Not soft at all.
It has less 'sharpening'.
(contrast)
But that is exactly what I want. I don't want DJI to make my footage too contrasty.
There is a big difference in sharpness and contrast, but some camera manufacturers seem to believe they can hide a bad lens by making the output very contrasty.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-17 04:02
Ok, I only shoot in D-cinelike and really like the outcome.
Not soft at all.
It has less 'sharpening'.

It's not good when companies cheat on the quality of a product, so I wonder if they do it with noise too?

If I buy a good lens for my dslr, I expect it to be sharp enough without having to sharpen too much afterwards.

johansenfoto Posted at 10-17 04:54
It's not good when companies cheat on the quality of a product, so I wonder if they do it with noise too?

If I buy a good lens for my dslr, I expect it to be sharp enough without having to sharpen too much afterwards.

Yeah, exactly.
Unfortunately all compact camera's have to rely on some sort of correction because of the bad quality of the lens + sensor.
Even your Nikon DSLR will auto correct for lens faults.
And this is not bad 'per se', but only if done in a good way.
So in essence the camera system (lens + sensor) has to be 'good enough' so you only need mild adjustments.
Just look at some DNG files from any DJI camera and you will see how 'good' (or bad) the system is.
My Mini2 is horrible.
But the Pocket 2 is quite ok in its DNG output.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-17 05:29
Yeah, exactly.
Unfortunately all compact camera's have to rely on some sort of correction because of the bad quality of the lens + sensor.
Even your Nikon DSLR will auto correct for lens faults.

That is true.
And like with my Mini 2, I never take pictures with it other than for thumbnail or instagram since the quality is terrible.

I see when I make snow plowing videos, I sometimes use my Nikon D7500. And with it I can record in 1080p @ 60 fps and it still look better than any of my action cameras.

johansenfoto Posted at 10-17 06:04
That is true.
And like with my Mini 2, I never take pictures with it other than for thumbnail or instagram since the quality is terrible.

True.
Although an iPhone somehow manages to let software do better corrections than my D750 can.
(mainly by taking multiple exposures quickly, merging them in post to overcome the dynamic range)

Footage from my car

EpicTree Posted at 10-17 06:07
Footage from my car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z_sEDsX7cg&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=HeidenPalmer

It is actually not looking bad

johansenfoto Posted at 10-17 06:18
It is actually not looking bad

My thoughts exactly. He lucked out.