Stuff UK – September 2019

104

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Joint

resolution

As with smartphone

screens and TVs,

resolution is about to

the number of pixels

displayed during

playback, so aim

high and the images

you record will be

increasingly detailed.

Standard HD is 720p,

Full HD 1080p and

4K 2160p. Beware

of cameras falsely

claiming to be true

4K by matching their

resolution with a low

frame rate or cheating

with interpolation.

O Get this:

GoPro Hero7 Black

£349 / gopro.com

Strong

and stable

If you’re on the move,

so is your cam – often

violently – so image

stabilisation keeps

things solid to tame

the blur. An additional

gimbal might give

a steadying effect,

but it’s not always

practical, plus the

latest models are

good at battling

shake, rattle and roll.

Fancy names for this

tech include GoPro’s

HyperSmooth, DJI’s

RockSteady and

Sony’s SteadyShot.

O Get this:

DJI Osmo Action

£329 / dji.com

Tough

on grime

Action cameras

designed at the

school of hard

knocks are built

to withstand dodgy

weather and rough

treatment, but not

all are created equal.

Identify your likely

pursuits and check

the specs to see

if a cam is suited

to it: whether it’s

shockproof, can

withstand extreme

temperatures, how

long it can stay in

water and so on.

O Get this: Yi 4K+

£289 /

yitechnology.com

For the

many

Most action cams

have a mounting

system allowing

them to be attached

to almost anything

• inanimate objects,
  moving vehicles or
  fluffy animals. Check
  what comes in the
  box and what can
  be added before you
  take the plunge with
  a particular brand.
  A good cam will have
  a universal mounting
  system that extends
  beyond its own official
  accessories to fit
  third-party offerings.
  O Get this: Sony RX0
  £580 / sony.co.uk

Taking back

control

Post-production can

perfect your videos

and some cameras

come with free

editing software.

Also weigh up a cam’s

storage capacity and

wireless capability

for transferring files.

O Get this:

TomTom Bandit

£170 / tomtom.com

GARMIN VIRB XE

£350 / garmin.com

Designed for extreme

environments, the Virb XE

can dive to 50m without a

case and includes Garmin’s

G-Metrix GPS system.

OLYMPUS TG TRACKER

£219 / olympus.co.uk

In case you were in any doubt,

Olympus slaps ‘tough’ on its

action cams. This 4K device

has an ultra-wide FoV and

flip-out display.

HOW TO BUY

AN ACTION

CAMERA

Because there’s no point

doing anything remotely

life-threatening if you can’t

film the whole thing and

post it on YouTube

CAM AS YOU ARE CAM A LITTLE CLOSER

OR TRY

ONE OF

THESE...

1 2 3 4 5

TOP TENS HOW TO BUY

JARGON

BUSTER

FOV

A wide field of

view allows for more

action in the frame.

It’s measured

in degrees.

FPS

How many frames a

camera can capture

per second. Higher

FPS rates mean

smoother video.

INTERPOLATION

Like upscaling on

a TV, algorithms use

guesswork to digitally

create extra pixels

in images.