Hi,

this is my first posting. First up I have watched many Youtube videos of vbloggers using Action Cams of various types and brands going around and creating really interesting content. The ones I enjoy the most have to be from Canada and Alaska from adventurers and people going on road trips (or should that be off-road trips?).

My full idea is to combine the use of a drone, probably the Mavic 3 Pro and a VDSLR of somesort maybe a Panasonic GH6 or GH5s and 2x Osmo Action 4's. Right now I will start simply with the two Action 4's due to budget constraints and drone training which I'm required to have as I need an A2 certification.

Currently I have been invited on a photography adventure (as I do still photographry and have 2x DSLR's for different things from: astro, wildlife, landscape, and macro; and I want to make a video of the trip among many more trips like this in the future.

What type of things should I start thinking about when doing this in general? I realize this is more advice based and a bit open ended but as I have no experience it would great to get some feedback form people who actually do this.

I have two directed questions in addition.

1. What type of accessories should I be looking at? The Osmo 4 Adventurer pack does come with a nice selection of addons including selfie stick, would it be worth getting a gimbal though?
- currently my thought on this one is to use a headband mount coupled with the selfie stick (or gimbal) but it might also be a good idea to get the "mini extension rod" which also acts like a tripod too...

I also feel the suction cup mount and even a headrest mount would be useful for times when I am driving. I could point one of the cameras out the front towrads the windshield and the other pointed towards me at an angle while mounted on the passenger side front window.

2. I've gone through all the accessories on the webpage and I think the GPS bluetooth remote controller will be a good idea, however, what happens if I wanted to start and stop both cameras simultaniously? I'm just thinking along the times when I'm driving on the highway and don't have the ability to start/stop each camera manually. I could tie the GPS remote to the steering wheel and use it in that way which makes things safer too. However, for this would I need two of them I wonder?


Obviously this will be the first ever thing I do with these cameras aside from a little testing and getting to know things before - especially night time settings when I only have my headlamp available or high beams in the car as the only light source around.
Again an advantage using the Action 4 as it's got a larger sensor.....

It's really exciting and I'm looking forward to it!!

Hopefully someone can offer some advice and a few tips  as there are probably many things that I have not even thought about and considered.

Many thanks.

The remote can control upto 16 cameras and i beleive it turns them all on and off at the same time

Bashy Posted at 2-21 07:05
The remote can control upto 16 cameras and i beleive it turns them all on and off at the same time

Thanks! That's great information :-)
Ps. do you know if the remote can turn them "on/off" as you said or just start/stop the recordings?

I'm wondering if the cameras can go into like a sleep mode or something (maybe standby mode) to not use full battery for long distance trips basically....

kayasaman Posted at 2-21 07:45
Thanks! That's great information :-)
Ps. do you know if the remote can turn them "on/off" as you said or just start/stop the recordings?

It can wake them up from sleep, but if the 30mins has past with no usage then you will need to turn them back on again

You should consider your sound options since poor sound kills videos so consider something that supports input to your existing cameras.  I’d suggest the Air3 might be the better drone especially if you will be hiking & use the saving on your sound or other accessories.

BaynhamPhoto Posted at 2-21 11:41
You should consider your sound options since poor sound kills videos so consider something that supports input to your existing cameras.  I’d suggest the Air3 might be the better drone especially if you will be hiking & use the saving on your sound or other accessories.

Sound wise I think you made a great suggestion.

Actually I'm just glossing over the Action 4 manual right now in fact....

My idea was to use the Mic2 with it. That would definitely work while using the camera while walking around or stood still.

Where that will have problems I feel is if I leave the camera out to record say my car passing by or even inside the car (I guess I could still use the Mic2) where I want to get more of an ambient style sound to make things feel more live so that would be road noise basically.

As I mentioned up top that I am even considering something like a Panasonic GH6 down the line.... for video needing interchangeable lenses such as super telephoto's etc... so for that I am looking at a Sennheiser shotgun microphone which is a hotshoe based one similar to the popular Rhode models.
Unfortunately you can't mount that on to the Action 4 as there is no hot shoe, so I'm wondering what the best solution there is??

The internal mics I have read/heard are not that great but if they will be good enough for wider field work then maybe I just stick with those??


As for drone.... that would be next year so plenty of time to decide and finance it. The thing that attracts me to the Mavic 3 Pro is the 3x cameras.
Currently, as mentioned above I do still photography so I have a Pentax K1 mkII and Nikon D500, the Pentax is great for tripod based work and low light stuff like astro while the Nikon is better for fast paced action stuff like wildlife and insects using the Sigma 105mm macro lens with auto focus and Godox MF12 Macro flash kit. It's a combination that works really well for me....

But I will definitely think about your suggestion as there is no harm in having 2x drones.


Though right now I have about a million questions in my mind that I'm scouring the web for answers on regarding things.
I know the Action 4's can be powered from the USB port instead of using the internal battery so how would that work out for me while on the road for a long time, as the above suggestion is that the cameras go into sleep mode after a while then need to be powered off/on to wake up again.
Maybe external power bank? and tell the cameras to never go to sleep? But then the Bluetooth Remote manual says that it will go to sleep and eventually power off....

Of course this is really my lack of experience having never used these things before so I'm trying to work out the whole trip before hand kinda thing to not get into trouble and anticipate all use cases that I may need

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. With the DJI Osmo Action GPS Bluetooth Remote Controller, you are allowed to control the camera remotely to capture footage using the remote controller. The remote controller supports single-camera and multi-camera control modes so that you can shoot with up to 16 cameras simultaneously. The built-in satellite positioning modules enable you to record accurate data in motion. We highly suggest using the recommended accessories that are available on our store website for your DJI Osmo Action 4. To learn more about the GPS Bluetooth RC, please click this link https://support.dji.com/help/con ... ;paperDocType=paper . Feel free to contact us if you have any technical inquiries for your unit. Have a nice day.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-22 00:22
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. With the DJI Osmo Action GPS Bluetooth Remote Controller, you are allowed to control the camera remotely to capture footage using the remote controller. The remote controller supports single-camera and multi-camera control modes so that you can shoot with up to 16 cameras simultaneously. The built-in satellite positioning modules enable you to record accurate data in motion. We highly suggest using the recommended accessories that are available on our store website for your DJI Osmo Action 4. To learn more about the GPS Bluetooth RC, please click this link https://support.dji.com/help/content?customId=en-us03400008289&spaceId=34&re=US&lang=en&documentType=artical&paperDocType=paper . Feel free to contact us if you have any technical inquiries for your unit. Have a nice day.

Thank you for the response!

I have watched this video as a video for accessories and mounts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKwldYW3v9I

there is a big difference as the camera used is a GoPro so it doesn't apply here as of course "official" accessories are going to be different.

I am looking at the store for "official" accessory ideas:

https://store.dji.com/list/handheld?tab=102&page=1&sort=recommendation&category=101%3D101.201.304&from=site-nav

I believe that is the US store so all the bundles and accessories don't apply to my region..... but there are certain things which DJI does not have like head mount or even an articulating clamp mount.
It would be amazing if they were officially produced but since they are not I will need to look for them from a third party

Of course I understand what you are trying to say in that the accessories developed by DJI are specifically tailored to DJI products and that is great but certain things are not there.....
For external microphone for example, there is a lapel mic but no shotgun mic though there is an adapter for USB to 3.5mm connector.

kayasaman Posted at 2-22 06:19
Thank you for the response!

I have watched this video as a video for accessories and mounts:

We appreciate this valued feedback. Rest assured that we will record this as a suggestion of yours and will forward it to our relevant team for attention. Regarding the store website, kindly change the country in the upper right-hand corner (if you are using the web browser) and select your region to browse the available products in your location. Should you have further inquiries, feel free to contact us. Thank you for your valued support.

I have just started filming some Motovlogs using 3x Action 4 cameras, DJI Mic2 and the GPS remote. Whilst the remote does start and stop the cameras at the same time, one thing that isn't made clear until you read the small print in the manual is that if the cameras go into auto power off mode, you cannot wake them up with the remote. This seems crazy to me as in single camera mode, the remote will wake the camera up. The only thing you can do is change the "auto power off" setting to 30 mins and accept the fact you will go through more batteries. For me, it is a real disappointment as I can sometimes be riding for 3 hours and only want to turn on the cameras when I see something I want to record. I have to stop all the time to turn the cameras back on if they have gone to sleep, which is a real pain in the butt.

GreyBiker Posted at 2-23 05:44
I have just started filming some Motovlogs using 3x Action 4 cameras, DJI Mic2 and the GPS remote. Whilst the remote does start and stop the cameras at the same time, one thing that isn't made clear until you read the small print in the manual is that if the cameras go into auto power off mode, you cannot wake them up with the remote. This seems crazy to me as in single camera mode, the remote will wake the camera up. The only thing you can do is change the "auto power off" setting to 30 mins and accept the fact you will go through more batteries. For me, it is a real disappointment as I can sometimes be riding for 3 hours and only want to turn on the cameras when I see something I want to record. I have to stop all the time to turn the cameras back on if they have gone to sleep, which is a real pain in the butt.

This is along the lines of what I'm thinking about too....

For me, with my coming up trip I will be on the road for 10.5 hours and would love to be able to start/stop the cameras on a whim

I don't know if the cameras are capable of this as unless there is a setting to "never power off" or "go to sleep" and keep them powered from the car adapter or external power supply of some sort like inverter, I am actually not too sure of how to deal with that one?

kayasaman Posted at 2-23 05:55
This is along the lines of what I'm thinking about too....

For me, with my coming up trip I will be on the road for 10.5 hours and would love to be able to start/stop the cameras on a whim

That's exactly what I thought the remote could do, but I'm afraid it can't. The only work-around is to set the auto power off time to 30 mins in each camera and make sure you record something every 30 mins to keep them awake. There is no option to never power off, even though it has been requested many times in the past. It's really pretty annoying after spending £80 on the remote only to find it has such stupid limitations.

GreyBiker Posted at 2-23 06:14
That's exactly what I thought the remote could do, but I'm afraid it can't. The only work-around is to set the auto power off time to 30 mins in each camera and make sure you record something every 30 mins to keep them awake. There is no option to never power off, even though it has been requested many times in the past. It's really pretty annoying after spending £80 on the remote only to find it has such stupid limitations.

Atcha.... that's not good news :-(


I am thinking too much here but it would have been kinda cool if the remote could switch between recording and webstream mode too. I guess that's a very particular use case and probably not wanted or needed by anyone other then a specific scenario that I have in mind

Way to overcome that one would be use 3x cameras instead I guess and keep one streaming as much as possible but pretty pointless for most intensive purposes - (guess I'm getting over excited here!)

Actually... how long does the remote battery last? Can that be kept on for 30 mins so that you within that time you push the REC button and it wakes it up or something?

I have to ask first, how advanced are you in making videos?
Thought it sounds like you might mean to use a bit too many cameras for your vlogs.
And what type of vlog are we talking about? If you are thinking of going around documenting, then you really only need ONE action camera and drone in addition. Syncing everything afterwards with more than 3 cameras will be a pain.
In any case, the sound is the most important thing, the DJI Mic can work well to get good sound if you are talking.
And if you plan to record sound from the area you are in, then a Zoom H1n may be good enough, can also be combined with, for example, Røde Video Micro.

johansenfoto Posted at 2-23 06:54
I have to ask first, how advanced are you in making videos?
Thought it sounds like you might mean to use a bit too many cameras for your vlogs.
And what type of vlog are we talking about? If you are thinking of going around documenting, then you really only need ONE action camera and drone in addition. Syncing everything afterwards with more than 3 cameras will be a pain.

Thanks for the response!

The simple answer to your question is basic or beginner level at making videos. What attracted me to this is basically that I started making a few short selfie style things while doing my nighttime photography and enjoyed the process and wanted to take it further.
- though I do have experience in audio engineering at the studio level and currently do still photography as mentioned above also.

The whole thing for me really is that I enjoy being out in the middle of nowhere and want to start adventuring more. I feel that I also respond well to the whole process as I have ASD in where going out with cameras really does stimulate me in a positive way:
(for reference
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23154-neurodivergent

Some short examples of this are these:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TeChyxhMkkmhp1zC6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LkTeMnrKqxkoowAi7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/q3RBpuvNuw13jPA19

Then I started watching a few Youtube channels of people doing road trip style things or adventuring like the channel from "Jim Baird" which I popped a link up above in a comment

But more to the point I am more inclined to try and achieve something along these lines:

https://www.youtube.com/@LucasTJahn/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@LifestyleOverland/videos


That's the sort of idea that I have right now....  you may in fact be right that all I need is a single camera and drone but of course me being me I was thinking about the "road trip" portion and having different cameras and different angles in the car and that type of thing.

Again this is where this type of advice and having different things to think about is brilliant for me as I get a little one track minded basically... so thank you for that :-)

kayasaman Posted at 2-23 08:14
Thanks for the response!

The simple answer to your question is basic or beginner level at making videos. What attracted me to this is basically that I started making a few short selfie style things while doing my nighttime photography and enjoyed the process and wanted to take it further.

Checked out all the links and videos you posted so now I know more what you are thinking of creating.
The first channel is perhaps more "advanced" since he/they are two people who create a documentary style over the places visited with good drone shots, voice over with history of the places.

The second is perhaps easier to execute, good B-rolls, and creates an interesting story that tells about the trip itself and what they experience and see.

As you can probably see from my username, I also do photography. In addition, I have watched several videos like these two you refer to. So I think I know roughly what you are referring to, and what you are thinking about creating yourself.

I don't know if you are very limited with money, but both of these channels have, for example, paid to use music and sounds for their videos. It is almost "a must" to pay to be able to have almost unlimited music and sound effects for your videos if you are thinking of producing a story (creates an atmosphere).

But if this is not what you are really asking about, then back to the equipment you can/want to have.

Your DSLR, of course, to be able to take high-quality photos and videos.
And otherwise, you will be fine with, for example, an Osmo Action 4 around your neck with a neckstrap. And maybe a DJI Mic for talking out in the field.

If you plan to have voice over, you also need a good microphone for your computer.

You don't need more action cameras than one, and if you later see that you will need it, you buy it. But you'll go a long way with the D500, a drone and the OA4.

johansenfoto Posted at 2-23 10:52
Checked out all the links and videos you posted so now I know more what you are thinking of creating.
The first channel is perhaps more "advanced" since he/they are two people who create a documentary style over the places visited with good drone shots, voice over with history of the places.

That's really fantastic advice, I really appreciate it.

I haven't played with video much on Nikon D500 but I did do a demo at night and I was really unimpressed. AF doesn't work well in video mode, I think you only get a single spot; also the lens I used wasn't the best either... it was the 18-300mm zoom which I think is f/3.5 to f/5.6 and no markings on the focus ring either for MF.

I tried in low light with me in the car in the dark and ISO hit 51.200 and the footage is unusable.

I did manage to create a nice GPS map overlay though using my Solmeta GPS receiver:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/81YT1TWLvgYkWbCu7

again that was an exploratory for me to learn of my equipment in different areas and contexts.
The Action4 would probably do better and possibly even a Panasonic GH5s or GH6 if I need something like that down the line as apparently AF and tracking is far superior - good for wildlife and perhaps static sequences when the camera can be mounted on a tripod and just walk around and talk into it.

Music wise... that is important I feel. Might be a good time to break out my studio equipment from hibernation in boxes or there are websites where you can subscribe to get a vaster range of stuff.
Or I think in the past I have found there are some places where you can find free samples with no copyright restrictions on them, then one can use those to build up some audio in the background to accompany the scene....

kayasaman Posted at 2-23 11:22
That's really fantastic advice, I really appreciate it.

I haven't played with video much on Nikon D500 but I did do a demo at night and I was really unimpressed. AF doesn't work well in video mode, I think you only get a single spot; also the lens I used wasn't the best either... it was the 18-300mm zoom which I think is f/3.5 to f/5.6 and no markings on the focus ring either for MF.

Panasonic G5/G6 have smaller sensor and will do worse than D500 in low light, but probably have way better auto focus in good light.
But I can recommend Panasonic G9ii, it is way cheaper that G5/G6 and have the best stabilization I heard. I have the older G9 that I use for video and photo and it perform really good and also have good stabilization.
And you get cheap lenses for M43.
Can not recommend recording videos in the car, or not in low light in general.

johansenfoto Posted at 2-23 13:28
Panasonic G5/G6 have smaller sensor and will do worse than D500 in low light, but probably have way better auto focus in good light.
But I can recommend Panasonic G9ii, it is way cheaper that G5/G6 and have the best stabilization I heard. I have the older G9 that I use for video and photo and it perform really good and also have good stabilization.
And you get cheap lenses for M43.

Thanks! That's for the future anyway....

I need to make a proper start so probably as you suggested the best way forward would be to go for a drone and action cam.

Will look at grabbing the Air3 and Action4 soon and learning about them before heading off to my trip then seeing what I can do with the limited knowledge I have with both.

Hopefully I will end up with some interesting content :-)

kayasaman Posted at 2-23 14:22
Thanks! That's for the future anyway....

I need to make a proper start so probably as you suggested the best way forward would be to go for a drone and action cam.

Not sure if you plan to start a fresh youtube channel? But don't give up if you don't see views/subs come from the first year or two. It takes time, long time for some of us to reach our goals.
But never give up, and good luck.

johansenfoto Posted at 2-24 04:45
Not sure if you plan to start a fresh youtube channel? But don't give up if you don't see views/subs come from the first year or two. It takes time, long time for some of us to reach our goals.
But never give up, and good luck.

Thank you so much!! :-D

Yeah I realize at first things won't be that great and no one will want to watch. I had a channel previously as I was part of a car group but closed it as the group disbanded.

Let's see what happens and hopefully one day I might even get to go to Norway too as the region is gorgeous. I have been to Sweden when I was a a child visiting family but I don't have many memories.

I think the key thing is to have fun and enjoy the process mainly.

Oh good news, I just passed the "drone test" so I have now gotten an "operator ID" and "flyer ID". I also did a few tests last night with my Nikon in the dark at home and really in ultra low light the camera is struggling at ISO 800 and by 1600 all you can see pretty much is sensor read noise - I hope the Action4's will perform better. I will also try to play around and work out settings... maybe higher rate in camera noise reduction or if there is a good software similar to Topaz Photo AI which I use for stills that might be the answer....

kayasaman Posted at 2-24 05:56
Thank you so much!! :-D

Yeah I realize at first things won't be that great and no one will want to watch. I had a channel previously as I was part of a car group but closed it as the group disbanded.

Congrats on the drone license, great to have have legit papers.
I had D7500 before and it was not the best for recording in low light even with a faster f/1.8 lens.
OA4 do perform well with ISO 1600, even ISO 3200 with noice reduction in post do also work.
I do recommend Davinci Resolve Studio, it is the one I use for video editing.

If you visit Norway, I can recommend most coast lines in the west, and Hardangerfjord is one great place from May when apple flowers are blooming.
Else all the way to the far north where I live is also great, but a bit remote for those used to big cities. But clean and quiet here in the north

johansenfoto Posted at 2-24 14:25
Congrats on the drone license, great to have have legit papers.
I had D7500 before and it was not the best for recording in low light even with a faster f/1.8 lens.
OA4 do perform well with ISO 1600, even ISO 3200 with noice reduction in post do also work.

I am really eager now to check out the OA4 for low light and see how it performs!!

Just did some more D500 tests at ISO100 and there is a lot of grain noise even during lit shooting for comparison.

I tried my Pentax at 1080p 24fps... I could go all the way up to around ISO 800 which still showed noise but seemed more usable. ISO 1600 had considerably more noise.
I checked out the Wavelet noise reduction in Shotcut which helped but then you ended up with a kind of square blocking effect.
Will have a look at DeVinci too as it might be better.....

Perhaps I should be looking at something like a BlackMagick LOL! I have seen the output from a $22k RED camera flying over Tokyo mounted in a helicopter and that was spectacular but not cheap or practical.

Once I have the OA4 and Air3 I can start finding out how they perform under various conditions. Will probably give some feedback on Monday after I speak to a certain place that deals with them and also offers instructor based training... probably a good idea as I have never used one before and there aren't many places that are convenient to practice.

Norway... yes! Definitely I prefer less populated areas in general otherwise I start getting nervous and don't enjoy crowds in general.
Lofoton is gorgeous ;-)

Actually the north would probably be a perfect place for my astro photography. Where I am there is so much light pollution that it is very difficult to get anything at all....

Orions Belt using my Pentax on quite a humid evening:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XfUYHS4djdCVnwRh9

Doable with a drone? Pehraps dJI could implement a "Star Tracker" mode... that would be amazing!

A bit of feedback: Today I managed to speak with the local distributor/reseller and got some more ideas....

They have suggested to go with a Mini 4 Pro as it is under the 250g local regulation weight limit meaning more options to fly with less restrictions.

I have also been suggested to go for the OA4 and couple that with a Pocket 3.


I'll probably head over to them in the next few weeks for a final rundown on things then pick everything up and away I go :-) :-)


Thanks everyone for the help!!