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- DJI Osmo Action 5 Vs 6 for photos - August 10, 2026
- Canada - August 6, 2026
I had no plans to buy a DJI Osmo Action 6 but as I mentioned in my Canada ride report I misplaced my Osmo Action 5 in route to Vancouver and that being once in a lifetime ride I decided to buy a new cam then I recovered my Action 5 later.
I’ve put my DJI Osmo Action 6 on eBay and will go back to using the Action 5 and this is a brief post about things I discovered relating to photo mode in the Action 6.
So what didn’t I like about the 6?
Well it has a new square shape sensor which I thought would be fine for when on a bike however you cannot take photos in square 1:1 format. The photo settings are either 4:3 or 16:9. So all photos are taken by cropping the sensor and not using it’s full resolution.
The Action 6 has 38MP square sensor which equals 6164 X 6164 pixels. Cropped to 4:3 it becomes 28.5MP and 6164 X 4623. However the photos from the Action 6 are 7168 X 5376. Some sort of upscaling is being applied (which is unwelcome by me).
The Action 5 has a 40MP 4:3 sensor which equals 7304 X 5476 pixels. The photos from the Action 5 are 7296 X 5472.
Is the Action 6 (or either cam) taking frame grabs from video? I don’t know but the quality is far better than any frame grabs I have seen from recent model GoPro’s so I am going to give DJI the benefit of the doubt.
The next thing is while the Action 6 says it has a variable aperture lens of between f2.0 and f4.0 every photo is taken at f2.8 same as the Action 5. The variable aperture, like the 1:1 full sensor imaging both only function in video mode and the cam has been dumbed down in it’s photo mode.
Those two things were enough for me to decide I would sell the 6 and go back to the 5 but there is one other small item I dislike about the 6 which is the sound to indicate it has taken photos cannot be heard when riding. I think this is due to the speaker being relocated rather than a reduction in the volume and while it is not essential I have enjoyed being able to hear the 5 indicate it has taken the photos while with the 6 I was pressing the shutter a few times on some occasions never sure if it had taken the photos.
As far as image quality goes they are fairly similar. Neither are regular camera quality but both reliably capture stabilized images while dealing with helmet shake and motorcycle movement and road glare and direct sun. Both are pretty good devices. If considering one then the 5 is currently great value.
Timely for me … I am thinking of moving from Go Pros and have been looking at DJi Osmos … you know much more than I about this sort of think …Action 5 seems like the go.
Hi Richard,
The photos from the five as you have seen posted previously are pretty good. And it’s easy to use, in it’s photo mode when you press the shutter it turns on takes a few photos then beeps to tell you photos done and goes back to standby. I added a stick on shutter button from AliExpress which makes pressing the shutter much easier with gloves and find the DJI helmet clamp fits my Nolan well.
It’s quite unusual to buy an action camera to only take photos with it. I’d have to say you would be in the minority using it like this. Interesting stats about it in camera mode though. I’ve never used mine in camera mode.
Yes I’m clearly in a minority taking onboard photos but it’s been my hobby while on tour now for about 20 years.
Initially with compact cameras with zero success, then I had a few action cams and did not much better. My best photos (that captured a moment or feeling while riding) have come from a couple of obscure ‘lens only’ cameras and occasionally from 360 cameras.
The Osmo 5 is the 5th action cam I’ve owned. It produces photos with an acceptable image quality but their POV composition is boring and the 155 degree lens flattens landscapes. It’s images are neither as immersive as images from my Ricoh Theta or framed as good as images from my old Casio FR. But it is consistent.
As for video, well I know after spending over a decade solely shooting video it’s not a format that works for me to record my travels.
And that’s what my blog is for. If I wanted to entertain people then sure I’d start a YouTube channel and make videos, but I’m really quite happy doing my own thing here 🙂