Ok, so full disclosure here, I got this in the Amazon Black Friday sale on December 1st, last year, (that’s 2025 if you’re here really late!). It was part of a flash sale they had on some DJI products and I bagged the DJI Osmo Action 4 for £150; an absolute bargain when you consider that on the same day, it was on sale on DJI’s own website for £289. I’m pretty chuffed with the bargain I bagged on this one. I wasn’t actually looking for anything but this was too good to miss.

But why the Osmo Action 4, it’s had two successors since its launch, haven’t I just bought something that is already out of date? For me this was about value for money and adding value to what I do. No it’s not going to produce cinema worthy movies (at least not in my hands!), but it is going to give me felixibilty and add value to what I do, particularly to my social media offering in ways that my current kit doesn’t allow me to. At least not as well or as conveniently as this does.

I already own the DJI Action 2 and I like it, but it’s a touch on the fiddly side and I wanted something that gives me a bit more (the OSMO Action 4 already trumps it on being able to shoot in D-Log, something which will be a game changer for me) and that will also give me some more flexibility if I want to talk to camera but not have to break out the DSLR to do it.

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First Impressions?

I was surprised how small the box was, but then remembered it’s only an action camera so I am not sure what I was expecting. I’ve not had a massive amount of time to play with it, but it feels good quality, the screens (front and rear) are both really clear and responsive.

One thing that was quite quickly brought to my attention when I put my SD card in is that it wasn’t fast enough. This is something I should have known/realised, but if you’re shooting memory dense 4K footage then you’re going to need a V30 memory card in the DJI Osmo Action 4 - it just means that your card will be handle the mountains of data that are being thrown at it in a way that won’t lead to constant crashes. I’ve ordered one and hopefully this will be enough. I like cards from Lexar and Sandisk. I would recommend 256gb or 512gb for this camera. (Update: It’s arrived now, I went with a Lexar 256GB. I have it formatted in the camera and it’s working a dream and at 4k 30FPS is indicating it will hold about 4 hours worth of footage, more than enough for my needs)

DJI Osmo Action 4

Buy on Amazon

I went for the ‘essential’ combo, and in that you’ll get the camera, a battery, a mounting cage and a bolt to attach it to GoPro type accessories. I’ve tried some of the generic GoPro attachments I have in the studio and they all fit fine. You also get a USB cable and some stickers. The final thing you’ll find is a lens hood which is great for attaching if you break the protective lens cover, but be aware that if you don’t have the protective cover fitted, the camera isn’t waterproof!

It’s solid feeling little unit, but I think it will need to be handled with care in order to protect the lens. It’s not too heavy and will likely spend a lot of time in a Smallrig cold shoe mount attached to the top of my camera for some BTS and timelapse work.

The unit comes supplied with a plastic protective “frame”, similar to what you would get with a go-pro, but if you’re not familiar with these, then it’s a bit like a bumper case for a mobile phone. You also get the magnetic quick release mount, which I really like. The magnets are strong and the way it attached to the bottom of the camera feels really secure. It’s the same as on on DJI action cams and it works (for me) really well. You’ll also get an Osmo locking screw, which is for attaching the camera to tripod mounts, handlebar mounts or whatever other attachment you decide you want to put it on. You name it, there’s probably an attachment for it. If you’re coming from GoPro then you’ll find that most of the stuff you already have will fit onto it quite easily without the need to buy a ton of new stuff.

I have an old GoPro Hero7 Silver, and the DJI Osmo Action 4 is slightly bigger than this, but that bigger sensor has got to go to somewhere, as well as all of the tech to support the front and rear screens. The touchscreen is bigger than on the GoPro and this is a very welcome addition. The menus are easy to navigate and the settings are where you would expect them to be. If you already own a DJI action cam or any of their gimbals then the menus are going to feel very familiar to you. They’re not quite as easy (for me at least) as the Canon menus, but then maybe I am a bit biased!

Battery Life

This is advertised as being upto 160 minutes, so well over two hours, but this is obviously going to depend on a number of variables such as the camera settings you are using.

Charging this camera isn’t the fastest, I haven’t completely emptied it yet, but even from 60%, it takes well over an hour to charge. Your experience may vary, but this is one of the drawbacks for me.

Using the OSMO Action 4

Pairing with the DJI Mimo app was a breeze, and like with other things from DJI, you can use your phone as a sort of field monitor to get things framed up well. I have always found this to be beneficial with things that have a smaller screen to work with, no matter how clear the screen is.

Talking of the screen, it’s clear, it’s responsive and easy to use. Navigating the menus is easy and with up to 750nits of brightness, it’s going to be easy enough to see in bright sunlight.

This is a really intuitive piece of kit, and within minutes of getting the battery inside it, I was ready to go and play with it, but the weather and the darkness put paid to that for its first night.

The menus are really intuitive and easy to find your way around, there’s nothing complicated here. Everything is easy to find and is where you would expect it to be. Make sure to activate pro-mode if you’re wanting to take advantage of the d-log profile inside here.

One thing I don’t like, and its a gripe with a lot of action cameras is that it’s a pain in the you-know-what when you need to the card out of the camera - the whole cage has to come off so you can access the doors and their slots. I know this isn’t a massive issue, I really do, but I also hate the faff that comes with getting the card out of the camera!

The first use out and about was easy, just using the controls on the camera. Nothing fancy, just hand-holding and shooting. This is probably really picky, but the buttons on the camera itself are quite stiff and take a fairly firm press to activate. Again, not a huge issue and I’d be complaining if it started recording when I didn’t want it to because the buttons were pressed to easily. Just make sure you have got the shot and then leave a little pause before you press the button to stop recording so as not to introduce unwanted movement into your footage.

Who is it for?

There’s the obvious audiences for this; people who want to record FPV sports, people who want to record FPV anything, cyclists… the list goes on. But what about applications for photographers and content creators?

I bought this as I want to do some more BTS footage for my social media, as well as some small pieces to camera, and this was an ideal camera for me to do this with, and at the price point I got it at, it was a no brainer. It also has time-lapse functionality, something else which I value and it records slow mo in 1080p at 240fps. I’m not sure what my application for this will be yet, but I am sure I will come up with something in the future.

Video Quality

This is what you would expect from DJI. It’s pretty damn good. One of the major selling points for me with this camera was the ability to shoot in D-Log; I have been longing to be able to shoot and grade my own log footage for sometime, and this is going to allow me to do that.

This camera shoots in 4K upto 120 and in 1080p, you can double that to 240fps.

The stabilisation in this camera is first rate. I am not known for being the steadiest person at times and having this is great when I am hand holding, or if the camera is on a tripod being battered by the wind!

Have a look at the video below and take a look at the difference between the graded and the ungraded footage. I have done all of the grading in PremierPro, I’ve still not quite got my head round DaVinci enough to be willing to share it yet! I’ve also popped a download link to some ungraded log footage at the bottom of this page, so that you can have a play with it before you make a purchase, if that’s the kind of thing you like to do.

DLOG Footage transitions to a really basic, saturated colour grade using DJI Input LUT and some basic colour correction.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Clear, easy to navigate menus make using the camera easy.
Large f/2.8 aperture and large sensor aid low light shooting.
Dual touchscreens are really useful for vloggers.
Good video specs — 4K video up to 120 fps, 10-bit colour, and 240 fps slow-motion at 1080p make it versatile for cinematic clips, action shots, or creative video.

Cons:

Charging takes a long time.
400mm minimum focus distance makes some close up shots unachievable
Photo output is 10MP which isn’t a massive amount of resolution.
No ultra-high (e.g. 5.7K) video resolution — For creators needing very high detail or future-proof 4K oversampling/creative cropping, the 4K max could feel limiting.

Where can I buy one?

I got mine from Amazon in the Black Friday sale, so you might not get the sam great price that I did, but check them out by clicking here.

In Conclusion

I really like this piece of kit, it will give me flexibility and a wide variety of options when it comes to recording video out in the field and I need my “big camera” for the business of taking photos. I will probably stick to using something more substantial in the studio when I need video, though the D-Log makes it a very appealing option for the added colour grading flexibility.

It comes with enough accessories to get you started, but if you don’t have many attachments then I would recommend getting a few adapters and such like so that you have some of your bases covered. Oh, and don’t forget to get that V30 memory card when you order it.

The 4K is a really nice thing to have and the d-log profile gives you a ton of extra flexibility when you’re editing allowing you to make the footage look how you want it to and not how the camera things it should.

It’s lightweight enough that you’re not going to break your back carrying it around with you but you’ll want to make sure it’s well protected in your bag so that your preserve the lenses.

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Downloadable Log Footage

Click the button to start the download. This is raw, 4K, ungraded footage, straight out of camera but with the audio removed.

Click Here to Download Sample D-Log footage.

The Nerdy Techie Stuff

The spec table below should answer any questions you have about the spec of this camera.