Best action cameras 2019

Understanding which action camera to choose is a fairly simple task. It all depends on the personal preferences of the buyer, the budget and the purposes for which the device will be purchased. The rating of action cameras presented in this article will help to determine.

What is an action camera

These are types of devices designed for shooting in extreme conditions, placed in a waterproof, shockproof housing. They differ from ordinary photo-video devices in compactness, wide-angle lens and increased depth of field.

It is also worth noting that any action camera has a fixed focus, this improves the image quality in any shake, while a regular camera constantly needs to focus again.

An action camera in the form in which it appears to anyone who is even a little familiar with such a device

You can use them in different ways, both during extreme sports, as well as fishing, hunting, cycling or as a DVR. The best action camera allow you to capture all the necessary parts, and their universal mounts are suitable for any occasion.

Such a camera is rarely suitable for shooting home holidays and events, since its direct purpose is to shoot without a long setup.

TOP 10 action cameras

10th place - SJCAM SJ7 STAR

SJCAM SJ7 STAR has the ability to 4K shooting with 30 frames per second and copes with this very easily. It is equipped with a waterproof display that can withstand diving to a depth of 30 meters.

The battery capacity is 1000 mAh. Wi-fi support.

Options: Waterproof case, tripod adapter, many mounts and a USB cable.

SJCAM SJ7 STAR

Pros:

• Shooting videos in 4K @ 30 FPS.
• Touch, waterproof screen.
• Operating time without recharging up to 2 hours.
• Rich equipment.

Minuses:

• Lack of image stabilization when shooting in 4K.
• Distortion video.
• The maximum capacity of microSD is 64 GB.

The price of the STAR SJCAM SJ7 action camera ranges from 9,000 to 13,000 rubles.

9th place - Elephone REXSO Explorer K

Elephone REXSO Explorer K is a miniature, thin camera that supports 4K video at 30 fps with excellent image stabilization, thanks to improved chips and sensors, as well as waterproof, which complies with the standard IP68, allowing you to immerse it to a depth of 30 meters. The battery capacity is 1200 mAh.

REXSO Explorer K can be connected to the smartphone through the App Explorer K.

The price for this copy is from 8 thousand rubles.

Elephone REXSO Explorer K

Pros:

• Waterproof touch screen.
• Interaction with a smartphone over Wi-Fi.
• Memory expansion with microSD cards up to 128 GB.

Minuses:

• Video recording time in 1080p is only 70-90 minutes, with a good battery capacity.
• There are slight noises when recording sound.

8th place - Gmini Magicye HDS8000

Most likely, the most affordable camera for the average buyer, equipped with a 12 megapixel matrix, which allows you to record video in 4K and take photos with a maximum resolution of 4608x3456 pixels. The highest number of frames per second is achieved during shooting in HD (120 frames per second). There are modes of Time Lapse, Slow Motion, as well as GYRO stabilization.

Gmini MagicEye HD S8000

It is worth noting a wide shooting angle - 170 degrees.

Battery with a capacity of 1100 mAh.

Equipment:

• Aquabox;
• Cover on the screen;
• Frame;
• Mounts

Pros:

• Camera module from SONY;
• Excellent image stabilization.

Minuses:

• The battery lasts only 50 minutes of recording;
• When recording 4K video in poor lighting conditions, graininess appears;
• The camera is very hot.

Price - from 6 000 rubles.

7th place - TomTom Bandit

TomTom Bandit supports 4K @ 15fps video capture.

Equipped with a high capacity battery - 1900 mAh. It allows you to shoot video in FullHD resolution for 3 hours. The battery is removable, a microSD slot is built into it, which, when connected to a computer, allows you to simultaneously charge the battery and transfer data from the drive to the computer.

Withstands immersion to a depth of 40 meters due to moisture resistance.

Tomt bandit

Its disadvantages are that the quality of shooting could be one level higher, at such a high cost (from 17,000 rubles), GPS and other sensor information are used only for marking, there is no digital image stabilization.

6th place - SJCAM SJ8 Pro

SJ8 PRO - also supports recording 4K @ 60fps in MP4 format with H264 / H255 codecs, as well as FullHD @ 120fps. Photo resolution - 12 megapixels. The manufacturer of the sensor is SONY, the model is IMX377.

SJ8 PRO has two built-in displays:

• The main one is the touch RETINA IPS-display with a diagonal of 2.33 ";
• Front - OLED display, with a diagonal of 0.96 ”.

The 1200 mAh battery allows you to record video in 4K @ 60FPS with Wi-Fi and the screen turned off. One of the nice features of this camera is the USB Type-C cable.

Options SJCAM SJ8 Pro

The pluses include:

• 2 microphones, high-quality sound on video;
• removable battery;
• powerful processor for stable video recording.

By cons:

• Lack of moisture protection (except for a special case).

At the moment, the price of this camera is 18 000 rubles.

5th place - Xiaomi YI 4K + Action Camera

YI 4K + can be safely called the “GoPro killer”, in terms of the quality of shooting it easily bypasses GoPro Hero 3.

Equipped with a 2.2 ”inch touch screen, with a resolution of 640x360. Matrix - SONY IMX377, viewing angle - 155⁰ and aperture F2.8. Allows you to record 4K video with a frame rate of 60, 50, 48, 30 and 24 frames per second.

The processor is Ambarella H2, the amount of RAM is 2GB. The battery - 1100 or 1400 mAh, with one big “but” - should be very lucky, since the battery capacity is not indicated and it cannot be selected.

Price: from 17,000 rubles.

Xiaomi YI 4K +

Pros:

• Excellent video quality;
• Ability to record in slow-motion and time-laps;
• Removable battery;
• Good price.

Minuses:

• Lack of kit for such a high cost.

Features of this model:

• For shooting videos in 4K @ 60FPS, a microSD card of class UHS3 and higher is required.

4th place - Xiaomi MiJia 4K Action Camera

MiJia 4K is the best offer in terms of price-quality ratio. Camera control is done using the touch screen.

The 8 megapixel Sony Exmor IMX317 sensor in conjunction with the Ambarella A12 processor is responsible for shooting, they provide 4K @ 30fps video shooting and RAW photography.

One battery charge of 1450 mAh is enough for 2 hours of continuous operation.

Xiaomi MiJia 4K

Unfortunately, the delivery package is very poor - only a camera and a USB cable.

The cost is 7,000 rubles.

3rd place - Olympus TG-Tracker

The camera has impressive features:

• Moisture protection;
• Protection against mechanical damage;
• Wide viewing angle - 204 degrees;
• Flashlight;
• Color flip display;
• GPS
• Accelerometer, thermometer, manometer;
• 1350 mAh battery.

Olympus TG-Tracker

The matrix of the camera - 8 megapixels, provides good quality shooting 4K @ 30fps, and microphones located on both sides of the camera minimize the noise of the headwind.

Accessories:

• two removable lenses for conventional and underwater shooting;
• collapsible handle, with the ability to mount it to a tripod;
• strap;
• USB cable
• AC adapter

To control the camera from your smartphone, just download the “Olympus Image Share” application.

Pluses have already been named, but the minus can be considered only that wide shots are often distorted.

The cost of such an apparatus is from 17,000 rubles.

2nd place - GoPro HERO 6

GoPro HERO 6 is in all respects better than its predecessors:

• Updated voice control;
• 3-axis Digital Video Stabilization has appeared;
• The camera received an updated processor of its own design - GP1;
• Image enlargement using a sensor (Digital Zoom);
• HDR photo.

Supports shooting video in 4K @ 60fps, as well as FullHD at 120fps.

HERO 6 is sufficiently protected from moisture, but in the kit there is nothing but a frame. The protective case needs to be bought separately.

GoPro HERO 6

Pros:

• Screen with the ability to view photos and videos;
• High-quality picture;
• Improved in comparison with previous models of the GoPro series, features.

Minuses:

• High cost with poor equipment.

The price of the camera is from 30,000 rubles.

1st place - Sony FDR-X3000

The rightful first place in the top of the best, to date, action cameras is taken by the camera from SONY, although they released it in 2016.

It has a fairly compact size. It shoots 4K video with a bitrate of 100 mb / s thanks to the BIONZ X image processing processor. It is equipped with a system that stabilizes the image (Balanced Optical SteadyShot (B.O.SS)).

The ZEISS® Tessar lens delivers large-scale landscapes without distortion.

The aquabox that comes with the camera provides dust and moisture resistance. Thanks to him, SONY can withstand diving to a depth of 60 meters. It is also equipped with a remote control.

The battery capacity is enough to record video in FullHD resolution for 135 minutes, and in 4K resolution - for 60 minutes.

Sony FDR-X3000

Most likely, this device has no drawbacks, although some may complain about the lack of a touch, multimedia display.

We can safely say that the best action camera in terms of the totality of characteristics in 2018 is the SONY FDR-X3000.
Its cost is 30,000-35,000 rubles.

How to choose the right action camera

As you can understand from this article, all the best action cameras from this TOP-10 have the following characteristics:

1. The ability to record video in 4K resolution;
2. Moisture resistant, and some dustproof.

First of all, if the buyer is not limited in terms of finances, you should choose cameras from well-known manufacturers (GoPro, Sony, Olympus, as well as Garmin, which was not included in the top), with various protective components that simplify the handling of the camera (full set).

If the means are limited, you should pay attention to cameras from Xiaomi, SJCAM, some camera models from these manufacturers have decent functionality for a small cost.

It is worth noting that each camera presented in this top 10 deserves attention, there are no frank outsiders here. Also, it is worth paying attention not only to the characteristics, but also to real videos and photos taken with the copy you like, the best camera is the one that shoots well. But in this matter, subjective assessment is important.