Why is the image quality compared to my 6yrs old GoPro Hero 7 so bad?

With ''image quality'' I mean mostly the texture / lack of details at the Action 5 footage.


The quality looks just like upscaled from 1080p to 4K compared to the Hero 7.
Or a 4K Console Game vs. 4K PC.



Here some comparision pictures (snapshots of a 4K video) with a slider.
I reduced the size of the GoPro pictures, because of the wider fov of the Action 5 (no extra quality reduction due resizing of the OA5 pictures)
Settings for the Action 5 are texture and noice filter -2, 10bit normal profile, iso max 3200.
Settings for the Hero 7 are sharpnes high (low or medium looks like someone forgot to put on his glasses) and iso max 1600.
Sharpness and texture are NOT the same on this cameras.. ''texture'' only reinforces the ugly ''upscaling'' look.. so i set it on -2.
For example, it makes power lines thicker and more visible, but doesn't sharpen the image at all.




Just look at the power pole.. or the branches on the tree.. waaaay more details from the GoPro:
https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=d0ab989c-cf51-11ef-9397-d93975fe8866


The next one has some pro/cons for both cameras;
+GoPro: look at the neighbours brickwall.. details! Our roof and the neighbours wall! more crisp image! or the parked white car behind the fence? did you see a fence at the Action 5? No? Me neither..
+Action5: this time, the rooftiles far away are a bit more detailed and the paved footpath/parking space also.
Looks like the Action 5 has a polarized lens? Look at the neighbours window! You can see the plants behind the glass way better.. or the windshilds of the parked cars.. thats nice!
https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=569e8a0c-cf5e-11ef-9397-d93975fe8866


Yes, the Action 5 has a much wider fov, but this costs so much quality details?
I don't know.. lets wait for the Hero 14 with hopefully a better low light performance.
At low light, the Action 5 is king! Even at mediocre light (3 levels above low light) the Hero 7 produces a pretty noisy image.. (the newer models aren't better)

Or DJI, just give us a SHARPNESS option instead of a ''texture'' and I'm happy with this cam.

I compared the new OA5PRO to my ancient sony x3000 camera from 2016 and was amazed, the Sony in good conditions gives a more detailed picture. Insanity

You're right. On certain circumstances GoPro shows higher details. The issue is the low light performance. To get better low light performance DJI added a bigger sensor and this leads to focusing issues (it's just physics). There is a reason the new Action 4 and 5 have a wider field of view. It is because they needed to counter balance the lower depth of field caused by the bigger sensor.
Moreover, to make user "mostly" happy, they set the focusing on a "near" range, so in general a landscape is slightly out of focus on latest Action models. So, when vlogging, people is happy because they are in focus, and who cares the background. I'm one of those people by the way. But the limitations are still there. When you shot landscape photos or videos, you get sub optimal focusing. This is the reason because GoPro shots higher details in videos and photos. But you buy an Action series for the bigger sensor, because you don't want to deal with low light iso noise.
Honestly, i'd never shoot photos with Action 5 until i'm in extreme necessity. And when i shoot landscape videos, i try to counter balance with post sharpening, but it's a trick.
Action 5 is not a "do everything" tool, it's just mostly a vlogging camera. If you are trying to push it to other limits you'll discover them easily.
As it's said... "choose your poison"

GP7 is a tighter lens (smaller FOV) and the areas with "better detail" you mention are clearly magnified compared to the OA5.

To answer the question if the larger FOV justifies the loss of detail: Of course. Otherwise people wouldn't bother making lenses with different focal lengths, and would use digital zoom instead.

Are you trolling? I find it hard to believe that someone would draw the conclusions you did when looking at the images.

fish sticks Posted at 1-11 02:04
GP7 is a tighter lens (smaller FOV) and the areas with "better detail" you mention are clearly magnified compared to the OA5.

To answer the question if the larger FOV justifies the loss of detail: Of course. Otherwise people wouldn't bother making lenses with different focal lengths, and would use digital zoom instead.

What would be the benefits of trolling? I am not a fanguy of specific brands..
I just couldn't believe how much this (in my eyes) only slightly larger field of view negatively affected the image quality.

It's the same when I change the lens of my DSLR from 15mm to 35mm. Smaller FOV but more details because the objects are closer to the sensor.
But the differences in image quality are nowhere near as high as with the Action 5 and Hero 7 (12mm vs 17mm)
Yes I know.. the lenses and the sensor of a DSLR are much bigger and better to compensate this..

Evertime I watched my (daytime) Gopro footage, I was impressed how clear and crisp the image is.
The first time I reviewed the Action 5 footage was more like ''uhm.. did I really switched to 4K?''

I don't think it's all about the lenses.. the image sensor and the software are different and playing a big role when it comes to image quality.

But I will not giving this cam back.. besides the image quality at daytime, the Action 5 does almost EVERYTHING better than my old Hero 7!


@Umberto Uderzo (silly forum software here :/ why I can't reply to multiple users in one post?)
The Gropro shows more details at near AND far away distance.
But I have to say, at near distance, the difference is less noticeable at far distance.

And yes, like you said: noice reduction.. thas a true fact.

The Hero 7 has almost no (very light) noise reduction, but delivers a clearer image.
The Action 5 has a pretty nice noise reduction (even at -2 setting) but shows a slightly less detailed image.

For Vlogging, the Ace Pro 2 is the best I think.
Same sensor as the Action 5 but with a flipable backscreen (pretty useless feature for an actioncam I think)
So you can watch yourself better on the big screen insteat of the small front screen.

Alright, I guess you are looking at the images more critically than I am.

I am not saying that the FOV is the only contributing factor to the images looking differently. The A5Pro leaves some detail out and the GP7 image has more noise, which I prefer too. However, reading your emotionally laden post, I would have expected a night and day difference in the comparison images. I see two very similar images taken using different lighting conditions, increased pixel footprint of the objects in the GP7 image, which improves detail and sharpness. So, I thought you are joking...

Anyway, you should use the camera that delivers the better image to your eyes.

GoPro has less internal sharpening and yet great detail (sharpness ≠ detail) making the image look a lot more coherent.

The Action 5 Pro on the other hand is by default oversharpened (texture setting is useless) and just looks cheapish. Like an 80$ aliexpress cam.

Sunship Posted at 1-12 15:36
GoPro has less internal sharpening and yet great detail (sharpness ≠ detail) making the image look a lot more coherent.

The Action 5 Pro on the other hand is by default oversharpened (texture setting is useless) and just looks cheapish. Like an 80$ aliexpress cam.

Ah yes! The more coherent image changes everything. Incoherent images are worse than confusing sharpness for detail.

Honestly, if i had to shoot in strong sun light, hands down i'd use the GoPro (11 in my case). Better image overall, better lens flares.
But i find myself shooting frequently in low light so while the Action 4/5 have their defects, the overall experience is best for me. But there is no absolute rating for each camera, it's up to you and your needs.
So, nothing strange in preferring the GoPro or the Action. They're just tools.

Umberto Uderzo Posted at 1-13 01:42
Honestly, if i had to shoot in strong sun light, hands down i'd use the GoPro (11 in my case). Better image overall, better lens flares.
But i find myself shooting frequently in low light so while the Action 4/5 have their defects, the overall experience is best for me. But there is no absolute rating for each camera, it's up to you and your needs.
So, nothing strange in preferring the GoPro or the Action. They're just tools.

Same for me with GoPro 10.
The Action 5 Pro is better in low light but GoPro looks better for anything else. It has a much more coherent and less digital looking image.