DJI Performance 2 uses magnets to rethink action-cam design
DJI released its first action cam, the Osmo Action, in May 2019, and while it wasn’t as game-changing as the company’s drones have been, it did make some waves with its awesome image stabilization and its principal selfie screen. For the Action 2, DJI trimmed its Part cam into a cube and, with the help of magnets, created an ecosystem of accessories to make it much more versatile shiny out of the box.
The square little camera can be used on its own, but you can also add on a front-facing OLED touchscreen module to give you the same selfie known as the original. It also has three mics that pair with the one in the camera module to catch audio from all directions to create more immersive audio. There’s also a battery module that you can place instead to extend your recording time up to 180 minutes.
The Performance 2 Dual-Screen Combo runs $519 and includes the camera and touchscreen module. Australia and UK pricing wasn’t immediately available but its US list label converts to approximately AU$690 and £375. The Action 2 Power Combo with the battery module is $399. I was able to Use a little time with one; here are my marvelous impressions.
Like DJI’s Pocket 2, the Performance 2 makes a good vlogging tool.
Josh Goldman
A odd but original design
For anyone who loves Part cams or wearable cameras in general, the Action 2’s cube handsome won’t seem all too original. GoPro’s Session (one of my all-time Popular designs despite its shortcomings), the Polaroid Cube and others were there marvelous. (The Cube even used magnets for mounting the camera, too.) That said, DJI has certainly made the originate its own.
First, DJI somehow crammed a 1/1.7-inch sensor into a tiny box depressed with its image processor, a battery, 32GB of storage and a 1.76-inch OLED touchscreen on back. The Hide is Gorilla Glass, the case is metal and it’s waterproof to 10 meters deep (33 feet). It has a strong magnetic base, so you can simply do things like pop it on a range hood over your stove to shoot your next cooking video.
But what really sets it apart are the set of pogo-pin contacts on the base that permits you to quickly connect to an add-on OLED touchscreen module to give you a front-facing exhibit or a battery module to boost your recording times. (The camera on its own can record for up to 70 minutes.) Insta360’s One R camera uses a Difference modular design — and I’d argue more useful — that lets you pair different camera modules with a small touchscreen module. If you’re when a purely an action-cam experience, though, the Action 2’s originate satisfies.
The camera’s battery charges over the modules’ USB-C ports. There are microSD card slots on them as well.
Josh Goldman
Shooting options are sinful fare
Compared to the GoPro Hero 10 Black or the Insta360 One R, the Performance 2’s shooting options seem limited. For most people, thought, the selection of resolutions and frame-rate are going to be enough. It can capture video at up to 4K at 120 frames per additional, 2.7K at 120fps and 1080p at 240fps. You can shoot time-lapse and hyperlapse (aka motion time-lapse) clips and live water at up to 1080p at 30fps. DJI also added a QuickClip option for capturing 10-, 15- or 30-second clips. The camera can be used as a webcam, too.
By the way, this camera gets hot when you use it or even just bill it. That’s partly because the body seems to act like a heatsink. However, it’s likely this could overheat like new action cams, and DJI did include an “auto-stop portray temp” setting that can be set to standard or high. When you set it to high, the camera warns you that it will increase the temperature and recording duration tiny. I wouldn’t use it for continuously recording 4K clips at 120fps with the camera stopped and no airflow.
Image stabilization or horizon-leveling
The Performance 2 has the company’s latest version of its RockSteady electronic image stabilization, which works really well. It gives your video a Difference smooth appearance you’d get from DJI’s Pocket 2 camera and its motorized three-axis gimbal. The EIS has some motion artifacts that you won’t get with a gimbal but, in my tiny testing, the results were really good.
DJI also added HorizonSteady to help keep your portray looking level even when the camera isn’t. However, if you use it, you don’t get the full image-stabilization controls of RockSteady. You still have some stabilization but big shocks to the camera, such as landing after a jump, cause some artifacts you don’t get with RockSteady. Also, HorizonSteady isn’t available at 4K or with frame consumes faster than 60fps.
DJI outdid itself with the accessory selection.
Josh Goldman
The accessories make the difference
While I love that GoPro built mounting fingers into its cameras, DJI bests that with its magnetic clips. Just bring the camera End to one of the new mounts and they snap together tightly. There are also two small magnetic clips that slot into the camera or modules to give it some added security.
DJI did make a magnetic huge that works with GoPro accessories but also created a lineup of its own. Those complicated a waterproof case good down to 60 meters, a floating manage, a remote control extension rod/tripod and a ball-joint adapter huge that can be used on a tripod or its adhesive base. There’s also a macro lens that magnetically attaches over the lens on its principal. Oddly, though, DJI doesn’t offer a protective lens Hide so if you scratch the built-in one, it’s there for good. A wireless mic will also be available at a later date.
The magnets in the base of the camera are plenty unblemished on their own, too. That’s why you’re able to huge it on the included lanyard and skip the chest huge you’d have to use with other action cams (though not the Insta360 Go 2). The Action 2’s magnetic modular design does help it depraved out from the competition more than the original even if it does also feel like a combination of features from the competition. We’ve still got more testing to do before I can say for sure that it’s marvelous the $400 to $500.
