Flying a drone without the need of learn how to do it? No worries, Skydio 2.0 is here and it claims to do exactly that: It does the flying and filming, you just do whatever it takes to make the resulting footage a lasting impression. Skydio 2.0 is the successor of Skydio R1 (read our coverage here) and it is the result of over 10 years worth of R&D. Is this a serious DJI Mavic 2 competitor? The Skydio 2.0 (still a render). This is not just a drone. But it can be just that since you still have the freedom of choice whether you want to fully control it or if you want it to take over and fly autonomously. The unique selling point here is the auto-pilot mode, of course. First things first, watch the intro video in order to get a full grasp of what Skydio 2.0 can do for you (note the catchy featured image!): So you can fly the Skydio just like a normal drone using either a classic handheld controller plus your phone or the new Beacon, a tiny controller without the clutter of a joystick-phone tandem. Each controller extends the range of the Skydio 2.0 in which it can operate and reliably track you. The Beacon allows for a 1.5km range, the fully-fledged controller extend that range to 3.5km (But please bear in mind that you have to obey the law in your country – In Germany you have to maintain a line-of-sight to your drone at all times for example). Skydio 2.0 Drone – a DJI Mavic 2 Killer? This drone is being marketed as a DJI competitor, there’s a video on their website which shows a side-by-side comparison of the Skydio 2.0 and a DJI Mavic 2 try to follow a ATV pacing through the woods. As expected (since this is a video by Skydio) the Mavic fails. If that’s a fair comparison? I don’t know and it is certainly biased. But the point here is: You could perform such a chasing shot with a Mavic 2, no problem but you have to be a very skilled and trained pilot in order to pull it off. If you don’t want to do this full-time, the Skydio 2.0 might be your guy here. When watching some sample footage, the Skydio sometimes hunts a bit for something to track, loses the subject or keeps track of a face but frames the bike the subject is riding on just to the very edge of the screen. So, there is still potential, but it does look promising, indeed! Three ways of controlling Skydio 2.0.   Fancy Artificial Intelligence, Tech Specs and no 25 fps This thing is fully packed with fancy AI algorithms and it is meant to be used without study long manuals and tutorials. But in order to get you up to speed what this this drone can do for you, here are some of the main specifications: 223 x 273 x 74 mm (l x w x h) 4K video at up to 60 fps in HDR, up to 120 fps slo-mo in HD resolutions 12-megapixel (4056 x 3040 jpg or DNG raw) photos in HDR, including interval mode Sony IMX577 1/2.3” 12.3MP CMOS sensor 20mm (35mm format equivalent) f/2.8 lens Records MPEG-4 h.264 / h.265 @ 100Mbps to micro SD Cards (minimum V30 class) 3840×2160 30 fps / 3840×2160 60 fps / 3840×2160 48 fps / 3840×2160 24 fps / 1920×1080 120 fps / 1920×1080 60 fps / 1920×1080 30 fps 3-axis gimbal with pitch ±124°, roll ±120° & yaw ±12.5° Top speed: 36 mph (57.93 km/h), flight time: 23 minutes per battery These are the facts and one thing left me a bit puzzled: The lack of 25 fps recording. Maybe (hopefully) this is something that will be added once the Skydio 2.0 is available. Flying Autonomously This the one big thing which separates the Skydio 2.0 from the rest of the competition. The team behind it put a lot of effort into making this drone really autonomous. The Skydio 2.0 utilizes 6 4K 200° navigation cameras just for scanning, observing and interpreting its environment at all times. 6 times 4K results in roughly 45MP worth of image data just for keeping the drone on track and out of trouble, aka collision. This data is processed in real time and it results in a 360° always-on 3D map of the environment so it acts as a very sophisticated obstacle avoidance engine. In a nutshell: Skydio 2.0 just works and it won’t crash into things. Let’s hope it can hold that promise. Skydio 2.0 in its bag. If you want to adjust the way this AI-driven drone operates a little bit, you can use the Beacon to just drag’n’drop it to wherever you want it to be and start tracking you from that angle. Once you’re satisfied Skydio will track the Beacon and you can do what you do. The so-called Beacon offers an amazingly simple way of operating the drone without the need to operate a clutterd screen full of controls. The Beacon controller. For now, Skydio 2.0 can track (multiple) subjects or cars. Maybe more options, like the ability to track animals will surface over time. Pricing and Availability The first batch of preorders is already sold out so if you order now, you’ll have to wait until early 2020. Please note that Skydio 2.0 is currently only sold in the US and Canada, but according to their website, they’re planning to extend to other countries soon. If you choose to purchase the Skydio 2.0, here is what you get: Skydio 2.0 Drone One battery Two additional propellers (one of each type beyond the four required to fly) One USB (type C) cable for charging and data transfer plus a wall adapter micro-fiber cloth Custom-fit hardshell carrying case for transport. The drone itself is $999 and you need to pay a $100 deposit in order to get in line. The controller and the Beacon is not included in the kit though. You have to pay extra for these items: Controller $149 Beacon $149 Extra Skydio batteries $99 each Extra Skydio propeller sets $24 each Full-size controller plus phone. Of course you can control the drone with just your phone and the app but especially the Beacon seems to an interesting way to control the drone and if you want to do more complex jobs with this drone a real controller seems to be mandatory. If you want to order, please make sure to read the FAQ on Skydio’s website for all the details. link: Website What do you think? Might this be a worthy DJI competitor? Do you have experiences with the previous model , the Skydio R1? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

SmallHD just updated their line of professional grade reference monitors with two new lines, called the “Cine Series” and the “Vision Series”, all of which in 4K resolution.. Both lines feature three monitors each at 13″, 17″ and 24″ and features like 100% DCI P3 Coloraturas, HDR, and daylight view ability. Let’s have a closer look. The new “Small4K” monitors. Image Credit: SmallHD SmallHD’s two new lines share the same sizes, chassis and resolution: all are available in the three sizes mentioned above, with some controls on the lower left side of the front panel, all of them have 4k resolution and 4 independent 12G SDI inputs and SmallHD’s full suite of exposure tools. As probably a marketing gag, they are calling them “Small4K” monitors, but the company name remains SmallHD (and they’re owned by the Vitec Group). Small4k Vision Series. Image Credit: SmallHD SmallHD Vision Series – Video Village & Post Production The Vision Series seems more geared towards video village and the post production studios. With ‘TrueHDR’ and a contrast ratio of 1000000:1 as well as 114% DCI P3 coverage these monitors are well suited for the higher end of grading and any reference usage. In addition to the wide color space covered here, the Vision Series features SmallHD’s proprietary zone dimming technology, with over 2000 zones for local dimming. Here’s an overview of the key specs: TrueHDR with 1000000:1 contrast 2000+ local dimming zones 114% DCI P3 coverage 4x 12G-SDI inputs Sizes of 13, 17 and 24 inches small4k Cine Series. Image Credit: SmallHD SmallHD Cine Series – Production Use, High Brightness As mentioned above, the Cine Series features the same sizes, chassis, exposure tools and the four 12G SDI inputs. But unlike the Vision Series, the Cine Series sports daylight viewable brightness of 1000-2500 nits. This works to the slight detriment of the color space, which in turn features “only” 100% DCI P3 coverage. Again here are the key specs: 1000-2500 nit displays 100% DCI P3 coverage 4x 12G-SDI inputs Sizes of 13, 17 and 24 inches Going forward these new lines of monitors are sure to deepen SmallHD’s hold on the monitoring space with a more pro-oriented profile. We’ll keep you posted once we have have additional information on these new lines. There is no definite pricing or availability yet. What do you think? Do you use monitors like this in your production and would the ‘TrueHDR’ features of the Vision Series suit you? Let us know in the comments!

At IBC 2019 our own Nino Leitner had an interesting in-depth sit-down with Atomos CEO Jeromy Young, talking about 16bit RAW on the Sony FX9, updates to ProResRAW with regards to support in NLEs, as well as the pending multicam switching software updates to Atomos’ Sumo and Shogun 7. At this year’s IBC Atomos has not announced any new products, but has instead concentrated on consolidating support for its ProResRAW collaboration with Apple, as well as integration into new and already existing cameras like the Sony FX9, Panasonic S1H and Nikon Z series. Additionally there had been some pending updates to the Sumo and Shogun line of products, as well as a rather surprising brightness improvement on the Shogun 7 via software update. State of the union for ProResRAW Atomos has been central in the proliferation of ProResRAW and Apple’s closest ally within the industry regarding the same. Now, where Apple might just advertise ProResRAW as the future of any RAW workflow, Atomos founder and CEO Jeromy Young has a more nuanced view of the niche that ProResRAW might live in in the future. Whereas Hollywood will probably continue using very high-profile resource-heavy RAW workflows that will most likely stay cost-prohibitive for most other parts of the industry, the wide-spread adoption of RAW workflows might just change and improve the way that video is shot in broadcast and independent filmmaking communities. In particular, Atomos CEO Jeromy Young sees a lot of potential for cameras with a more photography-related DNA like the Panasonic S1-H, Nikon Z6 and Z7 being able to be more closely matched with A-cameras in broadcast related contexts, namely the Canon C200 and C300, Panasonic EVA-1, or the new Sony FX9 which is set to take over the FS7’s hold on the broadcast market. Sony FX9 RAW recording While Sony has apparently given up on creating their own RAW recorders to be integrated with the FX9’s XDCA extension unit, there is a solution involving the Atomos NEON line, with a master control unit (which is basically an additional Ninja on the NEON’s backside), giving it the ability to actually process the 16bit RAW that the Sony FX9 outputs. This is not yet a standardised solution, but Atomos is working out how this might look. Jeromy Young mentions that pricing might be somewhere around $ 5000.00, but this still needs to be ironed out. Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro CC adoption During our interview Atomos’ Jeromy Young mentioned the recently announced support of ProResRAW in Avid Media Composer. In addition to the native support of ProResRAW in Final Cut Pro X, Media Composer’s support of the format adds one more widely adopted NLE, which has a particularly dedicated community of supporters in the film and broadcast communities. This adoption of the format might help ProResRAW make inroads into said communities in the near future. Surprisingly after our interview was done Adobe also announced support for ProResRAW in Premiere Pro CC. With Premiere’s very large user base this is a big step for the format and in turn for Atomos, being the principal hardware manufacturer for products supporting it. It also takes ProResRAW one step ahead of Blackmagic RAW, which is only supported via plugin in Premiere Pro CC and Avid Media composer. There is no timeline on when ProResRAW support will be implemented into Premiere Pro CC yet. 3000 nits on the Shogun 7 via firmware update In another surprising update Atomos announced that their Shogun 7 recorder was to receive an update increasing its brightness from 1500 to an incredible 3000 nits. Now this increase in brightness is not supposed to make the Shogun 7 a daylight viewable monitor, but it is meant to better represent the whole dynamic range of the sensor being monitored – meaning if your sensor has a dynamic range of 15 stops, with the updated Shogun 7 your monitor will be able to more closely match that dynamic range on screen. How can brightness be increased via software update? Well apparently Atomos shipped the Shogun 7 with zone-dimmable backlight LEDs already built in. However the software side wasn’t quite ready, so these LEDs were locked to 1500 nits across all zones. Just to recap the problem here: LCD screen produce colored pixels. These pixels then have to be lit to actually be bright enough to be seen on screen. In the past these backlights ran in strips around the edges of the LCD screen, thus causing the problem that blacks were actually never really black on LCDs because they were always lit by the illuminating strips. OLEDs solved these problems by the technological brute force approach of every pixel having its own little backlight – the downside being increased cost and a lower life expectancy for the displays. Zone-dimmable LCDs are something of an in-between solution: these are traditional LCDs, but the backlights are arranged in zones, which means they can be dimmed individually and thus produce much greater dynamic range. The obvious problem is this: to decide which LED-zones have to be dimmed, the image has to be analysed in real time, and then the array of LED backlights has to be coordinated. This is the step that took a little longer for Atomos to implement, but now that it’s done the Shogun 7 can unlock its full brightness potential of up to 3000 nits per backlight zone. Again: this is meant for HDR monitoring only, not for daylight viewability. The Shogun 7 firmware update for this feature will be available to download soon. Multicam switching on Shogun 7 and Sumo Jeromy Young also gave some insight into the status of multicam switching on the Sumo line and the Shogun 7. Apologising to the users who might have thought that the Shogun 7 was to ship with this feature on board he conceded that the development process was far more difficult than expected. That said Atomos seems to be making some progress here, since the Sumo line will receive the software update enabling said feature end of the month with the Shogun 7 following in October. While Atomos might not have announced any new products, it is nice to see them work so hard on consolidating the software side of things and doing the hard work of building partnerships with companies spreading ProResRAW to more environments. We will keep you posted of course, once any new developments arise. What do you think about Atomos updates? Do you own a Shogun 7 and a camera that will allow you to take advantage of the 3000 nits brightness update? Let us know in the comments!

A few days after the announcement of the Apple Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR, Blackmagic announced the new Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR. This new Teranex Mini monitoring solution is compatible with the Apple Pro Display XDR and can transform any monitor into an accurate professional reference monitor. Let’s take a closer look. Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR Features The Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR is a little additional box that is used for 8K DisplayPort monitoring. It features several professional tools such as dual on-screen scope overlays, HDR compatibility, the possibility to display 33 points 3D LUTs and monitor calibration tools. The dual on-screen scopes can be switched between WFM, Vectorscope, RGB and YUV Parade, and Histogram. But, the Apple Pro Display XDR is only 6K, right? Yes, if you don’t have an 8K display, you can still use the Teranex Mini SDI to HDMI 8K HDR, though. There is a built-in scaler that will ensure the video input standard is scaled to the native resolution of the connected DisplayPort monitor. The front panel is quite cool looking. It includes a USB port on the left to connect a calibration probe of your choice. At the moment, it supports the SpectraCal C6, X-Rite i1 Display Pro and the Klein K10-A probes. This is useful to precisely calibrate the monitor you are working on, without having to play with CalMan or other third-party software. In the middle, there are six buttons to quickly control the Teranex Mini and navigate within the menus with the clickable wheel on the right. Those physical controls are an excellent addition if you have quick adjustments to make and don’t want to launch the included utility software (Mac and Windows compatible). Finally, there is a color screen that displays the input video, the video settings, and an audiometer. The rear of the Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR features Quad Link 12G-SDI input. They are compatible with HD, Ultra HD and 8K signals. You can even loop out the input signal. Once your signal is in, there are 2 DisplayPort connectors – a full-size and a USB-C style DisplayPort – for connection to your monitor. There is an Ethernet port to control the unit. Plus, if you need a stereo out, there are two RCA connectors. HDR Workflow and Formats As its name suggests, the Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR has everything you need for the latest HDR workflows. If your DisplayPort monitor is HDR compatible, it will allow for HDR SDI monitoring. Many HDR standards are supported, including ST2108-1, ST2084, and ST425 standards. Of course, if you are not working with HDR colorspaces, it supports Rec.2020 and Rec.709 colorspaces, as well as 100% of the DCI-P3 format. In terms of formats, the Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR supports every HD, Ultra HD and 8K standards. In 720p resolution, you get support for 50p, 59.94p up to 60p. For 1080i formats, you get 50i, 59.94i up to 60i. For 1080p, 1080PsF, 2160p, 2K and 4K DCI film formats you get support from 23.98 to 60 fps. Finally, for 8K formats, you get support from 23.98 up to 59.94p. Pricing and Availability The Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR will be available in October this year. It will retail for $1,295. Another Teranex non-HDR version will also be available for the same price. What do you think of this new Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR? Do you consider buying it next to an Apple Pro Display XDR? Let us know in the comments!

Apple has just announced the new Mac Pro, and we can officially say that it is the most powerful Mac ever made. This machine is a workhorse, especially for filmmakers. The Mac Pro is made to eat 8K files for breakfast, with configurations going up to 28 cores, 1.5TB of RAM across 12 DIMM slots, and eight PCI Express slots. Let’s take a closer look at the computer every content creator was waiting for. A Beautiful Beast The wait is finally over! During WWDC 2019, Apple revealed the 2019 Mac Pro, five years after the introduction of the “trash can” Mac Pro. Without any doubts, the previous Mac Pro is one of the most hated computers of all time. The only “Pro” thing in it was its name, and according to the design of this new Mac Pro, it looks like Apple admitted their past mistakes. They needed to make something modular again, like the previous Mac Pro 5.1. Good job Apple on this one, you nailed it. The interior of this new Mac Pro is a “back to the classics” design, with stages that say a lot about its modularity and flexibility. Mac Pro Specifications The case of this new Mac Pro is made of aluminum that lifts off for 360-degree access to the entire system. Inside this 18kg monster, you will find a single processor. You will have the choice between 8 to 28-core Intel Xeon processors with 300 watts of power. In terms of memory, there are 12 DIMM slots, that can take up to an astonishing 1.5TB of RAM (12 x 128Gb). Note that it requires a 24-core or 28-core processor to go that high. And the real beauty of this Mac Pro is the 8 PCIe expansion slots. There are: Three full-length PCI Express Gen 3 slots. One x16 slot and two x8 slots, with 75W auxiliary power available. One half-length x4 PCI Express Gen 3 slot with Apple I/O card installed. This Apple, I/O card, incorporates two USB 3 ports and two Thunderbolt 3 ports, plus a 3.5mm jack output. Two MPX Modules or up to four PCI Express card slots. But what is an MPX Module? It is a PCI Express graphics card with additional PCIe lanes to integrate Thunderbolt. It can draw up to 500 watts, and deliver a tremendous amount of graphics power. It means that in the four PCI Express slots, you can put a “traditional” AMD Radeon Pro 580X graphics card (or a Vega 64 if you want). Or, you can go full power – and total budget – and use the MPX Module to put the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo module. This monster consist of two Vega II GPUs, each with 64 compute units and 4096 stream processors, 64GB of HBM2 memory (32GB per GPU), driving four Thunderbolt 3 ports and one HDMI 2.0 port. It support for up to eight 4K displays, or four Pro Display XDRs. If it’s not enough computing power for you, there is an expansion card called Afterburner that accelerates ProRes and ProRes RAW codecs in Final Cut Pro X and supported third-party apps. It reminds me of the RED Rocket, and the idea is to take the load of the CPU/GPU so you can allocate more computing power to other tasks. To me, on the base model, storage is a little bit short with only one 256Gb SSD module. In total, you can put two SSD module in the Mac Pro, with speeds up to 2.6GB/s sequential read and 2.7GB/s sequential write performance. Anyway, the open architecture makes it an easy upgrade later down the road. For peace of mind, your data are encrypted by the Apple T2 Security Chip. In terms of input/output, there are the two USB 3 ports and two Thunderbolt 3 ports plus the 3.5mm jack output at the back of the computer. Also, you will find two 10Gb Ethernet ports at the bottom of the machine. On top of the case, there are two Thunderbolt 3 ports. Finally, to power everything, you need a robust power supply, and Apple got your back with a 1400W power supply. Apple Pro Display XDR It’s been a long time since we have seen an Apple display. The last one was the 27-inch Thunderbolt Display released in 2011 and discontinued in 2016. This new Apple Pro Display XDR is a 32-inch LCD panel with an astonishing 6016 x 3384 Retina 6K resolution. It features Pro in its name, so it must be for professionals, right? The least we can say is that the list of features does not disappoint. DCI-P3 color space starts to become the “new standard” for color gamuts, and the new Pro Display XDR can reproduce a P3 wide color gamut and true 10-bit color (not 8+2). Also, Apple claims that this new display features “the industry’s best polarizer technology, delivering a superwide, color-accurate, off-axis viewing angle.” Finally, Apple wants you to use this display on set and in the studio, so this is a matte display, and they used “an innovative new matte option called nano-texture (…) for low reflectivity and less glare.” If you don’t need the nano-texture glass, a standard version is also available. Indeed, the Pro Display XDR wants to jump and compete in the HDR world thanks to its direct backlighting system. It means 576 LEDs produce a claimed 1000 nits brightness. The contrast ratio is 1,000,000:1, for rich deep blacks and fine details in the highlights, plus everything in between. Every display is factory calibrated. According to Apple, each LED of the screen is “individually calibrated and has its light profile stored.” Various reference modes are available such as HDR, HD, SD video and digital cinema so you can quickly change between modes and the Pro Display XDR will adjust its color space, white point, gamma, and brightness. Finally, True Tone is available, but it is a professionally calibrated monitor, so I don’t see any real use of it. Also, Apple worked on the edges of the display, and the borders of the Pro Display XDR are only 9mm wide, which is far thinner and pleasing than the bold iMac borders. On the back of the monitor, there is one Thunderbolt 3 ports and three USB-C ports. Don’t expect to receive a stand when you buy the Pro Display XDR; it comes naked with just the power cord. To enjoy your display on a table or your film cart, you’ll have the choice to buy either the VESA mount adapter for $199, or the incredible Pro Stand – there is Pro in its name, don’t forget it -for $999. Pricing and Availability The Mac Pro starts at $5999 with an 8-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon W processor, 32Gb of RAM, 256Gb of SSD, and an AMD Radeon Pro 580X. The Pro Display XDR with standard glass is $4999, and the nano-texture glass version is $5999. Keep in mind that Pro Stand and VESA Mount Adapter are sold separately. The Mac Pro and the Pro Display XDR will be available this fall. What do you think of the new Mac Pro? Do you consider buying it with the Pro Display XDR? Let us know in the comments!

Please head to our full DJI Osmo Action hands-on review by clicking here. Today, DJI has announced the Osmo Action – their first acion camera and a direct competitor to the current “King of action cams”, the GoPro HERO7. What are the differences between these two cameras? Which one is better? You will find the answers in our comparison video and the following article. First of all, if you want to know more details and specs of the DJI Osmo Action, check our hands-on review of this camera. Last year when the GoPro HERO7 was announced, we tested the camera and its very capable HyperSmooth stabilization – more on that in our hands-on review of the HERO7. Now, which camera is better? DJI Osmo Action Versus GoPro HERO7 Our action cam specialist Gunther Machu took both the Osmo Action and the GoPro HERO7 for a spin on his mountain bike. He filmed a couple of side-by-side comparison videos as well, when he mounted both cameras on top of each other on his chest mount. You can see these comparison shots in the video above. DJI Osmo Action Versus GoPro HERO7 – 240fps 1080p modes Comparison. When we compare the stabilization of both cameras, the new Osmo Action’s RockSteady even outperformed the very good HyperSmooth of the HERO7. It is hard to believe, but the Osmo Action really does have better stabilization, which is visible in the side-by-side POV shot from the mountain bike. For this shot, the cameras were both set to manual exposure – GoPro at -0.5 and Osmo Action at -0.7. When it comes to angle of view, GoPro has a slightly wider lens, which fits the image more than the Osmo Action. When we then turn on the de-warp feature of the Osmo Action, the angle of view becomes even narrower. DJI Osmo Action Versus GoPro HERO7 – 240fps 1080p modes Comparison. When comparing the slow motion capability, both cams top out at 240fps in 1080p. As you can see from the footage, GoPro produces more pleasing images whereas Osmo Action’s image is over-sharpened with a bit more noise, especially in the shadows. All slow motion shots in Gunther’s test were shot in 240fps on both, the Osmo Action and HERO7. Color was set to D-Cinelike on Osmo and Protune Flat on GoPro. Generally speaking, the image from GoPro is slightly more pleasing. This is partly thanks to a higher maximum bitrate. GoPro’s HERO7 tops out at 75Mbps in H.265 whereas the Osmo tops out at 100Mbps, but only in H.264. DJI Osmo Action has a slightly larger battery than GoPro. Very important information and perhaps one of the best advantages that the Osmo Action has over the GoPro HERO7 is battery life. Osmo’s battery is only slightly larger (80mAh more), but the camera does a better job at power management and offers a significantly longer battery life. DJI Osmo Action Back Display is significantly larger than GoPro’s. When comparing the displays of both action cams, the Osmo Action has a larger 16:9 back screen, as opposed to the 4:3 of the GoPro. It also features a full-color front screen, which is great for vlogging or in general, when filming action scenes with a selfie stick, for instance. Last but not least, it is much easier to change the front glass element with the Osmo Action than it is with the GoPro HERO7. The Osmo features a simple thread to screw the filters on and off whereas GoPro’s system can be very hard to detach or attach, at times. Conclusion DJI did a really good job with their first action camera and they even offer it for a lower price than the HERO7. The GoPro HERO7 still remains the king of action cameras when it comes to image quality, but the new Osmo Action introduced very interesting features, including the HDR mode, de-warp feature, and the full-color front display. It even beats the GoPro when it comes to stabilization, which is very impressive. Which camera is better depends on what you are looking for. For image quality, the GoPro is better, for other features I would prefer DJI’s Osmo Action. If DJI polishes the image a bit with a future firmware update, it might actually become the overall winner. What do you think of our comparison? Which action camera left a better impression? Are you considering switching from GoPro to DJI? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

(Please watch to our DJI Osmo Action Versus GoPro HERO7 video by clicking here.) DJI has just announced the Osmo Action, their first action camera and a direct competitor to the GoPro HERO7. It brings some innovative and unique features, like RockSteady stabilization, HDR, De-Warp, and dual full-color screens. Let’s take a close look at the Osmo Action in this hands-on review! DJI is currently one of the most innovative camera gear companies in the market. They have been dominating the drone market in the last few years and are also very successful with their line of gimbal stabilized cameras, called Osmo. Many filmmakers have been waiting for this and today is the day – DJI announces the Osmo Action – their first action camera and a direct competitor to the current king of action cams, the GoPro HERO7. If you are interested in a side-by-side comparison to the GoPro HERO7, we are publishing a separate article with a video on this exact topic very soon. In this article, I will focus on all the specs and features of the Osmo Action by itself. DJI Osmo Action – How Good is it? First of all, the DJI Osmo Action has dual full-color screens – one large touchscreen at the back and one smaller front screen right next to the lens. This is the first action cam that actually lets you see yourself when you turn the camera around. This is perfect for vloggers or action sports enthusiasts, who point this back at themselves while doing some crazy stunts. The front screen is square and you can select if the image should fill the screen – of course by cutting of the sides – or if it should show a 16:9 version of the video, with black bars on top and at the bottom. DJI Osmo Action has full-color front screen Another innovative feature is the HDR mode. When switching it on, the camera gives you considerably more details in the shadows and especially highlights. This is a great feature to have in an action cam, because very often, you will deal with bright sunlight and harsh shadows within the same shot, or quickly changing circumstances. The colors in HDR mode are nice and vivid, and you can really see a lot of details that are not visible in standard mode, even if you use the “flatter” Cinelike-D mode. Big downside with HDR mode, however, is that the image stabilization does not work in this mode at all. This makes it less suitable for point-of-view action scenes, as the image will be quite shaky. To make matters worse, the rolling shutter distortion is considerably worse in HDR mode, compared to normal filming mode. DJI Osmo Action has a small tally light on top. Talking about image stabilization, that’s the third huge innovation of the Osmo Action. DJI calls its image stabilizer “RockSteady”, and the name really does the technology justice. When you switch RockSteady on, the need for a gimbal literally disappears. It’s clear that DJI is leveraging their experience from drones and gimbals in this technology, and they do it very well. You can take a look at our side-by-side comparison video of the Osmo Action and the GoPro HERO7 to see how the stabilisation technologies compare. I can already tell you that GoPro’s Hypersmooth is very good, but RockSteady is better. DJI’s stabilization comes at the expense of some wide angle, and you can clearly see the difference in field-of-view once you switch RockSteady on. Having a less wide image has its down- and upsides, but with action cams you usually want a wider image to get close to the action. The image distortion can be repaired with the in-camera de-warp function. Because of the wide-angle lens, action cameras suffer from massive image distortion. It is the typical fish-eye look, which can be corrected in post-production. To tackle the distortion automatically, the DJI Osmo Action has a so-called De-Warp feature built in. That’s very convenient and it saves the time of doing image correction in post-production. The de-warp effect can be combined with the RockSteady stabilizer, which is nice, but it again crops the image slightly. DJI Osmo Action – Image Quality Image quality in general is very decent and appealing, and the Osmo Action supports a range of resolutions and frame rates. It can shoot at up to 4K 60p, 2.7K resolution for up to 60p, and up to 240 frames per second slow motion in 1080p. However, because the video bitrate never goes higher than 100Mbps in H.264 codec, you can see considerable artifacts – especially in the super slow motion modes. DJI Osmo Action tops at 60fps in 4K. In general, despite the available D-Cinelike mode of the Osmo Action, the image looks a bit over-sharpened in high contrast situations. The over-sharpening also amplifies noise in the shadows, in some situations. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to decrease the sharpening in the Osmo Action. In fact, there are no additional image control features apart from changing from a contrasty, colorful “Standard” to a flatter, less saturated D-Cinelike picture profile. You can, however, change the shutter and ISO and set those manually. DJI Osmo Action tops at 240fps at 1080p. I hope that DJI will give us controls over these settings – like in the Osmo Pocket or their Mavic drones – via a firmware update soon. It’s really needed and I think there is room for optimization with the overall image, especially the sharpness settings. The Osmo Action can connect to a smartphone via wi-fi. In the DJI Mimo app, which was updated to support the Osmo Action in addition to the Osmo Pocket, you get a nice preview screen of the camera. There are, however, no additional camera settings that you can’t already access via the camera itself – except for a Denoise option. The DJI Mimo app gives a live preview image. DJi Osmo Action – Build Quality As for the build quality, the DJI Osmo Action lets little to be desired. It has almost the same size as the GoPro, and the design overall is quite similar. It feels very rugged and is shockproof, dustproof and waterproof down to 11 meters depth. What’s also great, is that it shares the same accessory ecosystem with GoPro. So, if you were to upgrade from a GoPro, you are able to use the same mounts. I would have preferred to see a default 1/4″ tripod thread to be freed from custom accessories, though. The glass element in front of the lens can be unscrewed and replaced with a custom filter of choice. DJI will offer ND filters (ND4, ND8, ND16, and ND32 density) as well as orange seawater and purple freshwater filters to use with the Osmo Action. Unfortunately these filters were not yet available for our review, so we could not test them in the field. DJI Osmo Action front glass element can be easily unscrewed. Apart from the square-shaped front color screen, there is also a quite large 2.25″ touchscreen at the back of the camera. It uses the whole width of the body because it’s 16:9 (different from the GoPro screen which is 4:3). The touchscreen interface works quite well, although not every function can be found easily at first try. Good news is that the Osmo Action uses a custom battery with 1300 mAh, and in our test, the battery lived up to the manufacturer’s claims. We were able to get almost 90 minutes of battery life out of one fully charged battery (when shooting 4K/25p or 30p with RockSteady stabilization enabled). However, if you use higher frame rates in 4K, expect battery life to be reduced. DJI Osmo Action – Key Specs Sensor: 1/2.3″ CMOS, 12Mpx Lens: FOV 145° f/2.8 ISO range: 100-3200 Maximum photo size: 4000×3000 (12Mpx) Resolution and frame rates in standard mode: 4K (16:9): 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, 24fps; 4K (4:3): 30, 25, 24fps; 2.7K (4:3): 30, 25, 24fps; 2.7K (16:9): 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, 24fps; 1080P: 240, 200, 120, 100, 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, 24fps; 720P: 240, 200fps Resolution and frame rates in HDR mode: 4K, 30, 25, 24fps; 2.7K: 30, 25, 24fps; 1080P: 30, 25, 24fps Codec and Maximum bitrate: 100Mbps at H.264 (with MOV or MP4) Supported SD cards: microSD up to 256GB Battery: LiPo 1300mAh Dimensions: 65 x 42 x 35 mm Weight: 134g Front screen: 1.4″, 300ppi, 750cd/m² Back screen: 2.25″, 325ppi, 750cd/m² Conclusion All in all, DJI truly impressed us with the Osmo Action, which is their first attempt at an action camera – an area where GoPro, despite all its problems in recent years, is still the market leader. For the first time, with the DJI Osmo Action, I have a feeling that GoPro is getting a contender that can truly be problematic for their core business. The Osmo Action is not perfect, and despite the fact that I still prefer the image from a GoPro, there are a series of mighty impressive innovations in the Osmo Action that could convince a lot of existing GoPro users to upgrade to the new DJI camera, rather than another GoPro. If DJI manages to optimize image processing, GoPro will have a very serious contender with the Osmo Action. Price and Availability As with other DJI products, the Osmo Action is available right now at the moment of its announcement. Links to our partner shops can be found below the article. By buying via our links you support cinema5D in creating reviews like this one. The MSRP for the Osmo Action is US$349 (€379 including VAT in Europe). If you are considering getting the Osmo Action, you might take a look at DJI’s Trade up program. It can get you a discount on new DJI gear when trading-in your old equipment. You can check more details here. Last but not least, DJI Care Refresh is now available for Osmo Action. For a certain additional fee it offers comprehensive coverage as well as up to two replacement units within one year. More information about this program can be found here. Music Courtesy of MusicVine.com Get 25% off your next music license with code C5D25 (valid for one use per customer). What do you think about DJI Osmo Action. Get it give a fight to GoPro HERO7? Let us know in the comment section below

Ahead of NAB 2019, Atomos announced the Atomos Shogun 7 which we reported about here. This workhorse can record in ProRes RAW up to 5.7K resolution, it features live switching capabilities, and the 1500 nits HDR display can show you up to 15+ stops of dynamic range. We had the chance to talk with Atomos’ CEO Jeromy Young about their new flagship recorder and the main differences with the Atomos Inferno. Atomos Shogun 7 Tech Specs and Features The Atomos Shogun 7 is one of the most powerful external recorders in the market. Here are some of the highlights: Accepts RAW signals and records it to ProRes RAW, ProRes, CinemaDNG and Avid DNxHD. Recording up to 5.7K at 30fps, 4K at 120fps and 2K at 240fps. Color sampling in 10-bit 4:2:2 available in ProRes and DNxHD up to DCI 4K at 60fpd and 2K at 240fps. Four 6G/3G-SDI or dual 12G-SDI inputs, two 4K-SDI 12G or HD-SDI 3G/6G outputs. One HDMI 2.0 input, and one HDMI 2.0 output with HDMI-SDI cross-conversion. Optional audio breakout cable available for XLR audio input, with phantom power. Also, there is a 3.5mm mini-jack output. It is powered via Sony L-series batteries. Two slots support hot swapping for continuous power. Record to 2.5″ SSD/HDD media. This can be approved SATA SSD drives, using the included Master Caddy II, or AtomX SSDmini drives. Four ARRI anti-rotation mounting points on the top and bottom for secure mounting. If you are producing HDR content, the Shogun 7 claims to display 15+ stops of dynamic range. Also, the Shogun 7 has a new 7″ 1920×1280 display over the Shogun Inferno, with a Direct LED 360 zone backlight. The monitor should be viewable in daylight with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, a 1500 nits brightness, and 10-bit processing (8+2 FRC). Also, the Atomos Shogun 7 is now capable of multi-camera recordings, like the Convergent Design Apollo, with quad-ISO camera recording. You can record up to four 1080/60p inputs separately, as well as the master program output too. You can use the touch screen to switch between the different cameras and select the input, which is recorded as marked cut points in XML metadata. There is a Genlock input/output so it can integrate perfectly into any configuration. Finally, the Atomos Shogun 7 runs on the latest AtomOS 10, which is currently present on the Ninja V. But, how does the Atomos Shogun 7 compare to the Shogun Inferno? Atomos Shogun 7 vs. Shogun Inferno The Shogun Inferno, which has been their flagship recorder until the Shogun 7 announcement, was already capable of recording in many of the same formats as the Shogun 7, however they enhanced the display technology to offer these (claimed) 15 stops of dynamic range. Jeromy Young explains in detail how it works in the video you can see above. There are separate LED areas behind the display that can be made brighter – not on a pixel level though, but in larger areas. Other than that, the Shogun 7 features the new AtomOS interface that the Shogun Inferno doesn’t have, and the live-switching capabilities which are also new. The Atomos Shogun 7 will be available in June, you can already pre-order it, using the links below. What do you think of the Shogun 7? Do you already own a Shogun Inferno and consider upgrading to the Shogun 7? Let us know in the comments down below!