Osmo Action 6

If you are a videographer you of course know that you can totally get away with using actioncams for BTS. Done that a lot of times for online and TV productions, and is is pretty common to do that. Not of all of us are Ridley Scott. Personally I reall like the nano for its form factor. you can mount it pretty much anywhere and is is quite unobstrusive. Which is a big plus for behind the scene footage. You have to keep in mind that the runtime of the nano owthout the vision dojc is significantly shorter and it does have to get recharged on the dock pretty much every hour or so if you dont want to risk it shutting down in wrong moment. Also it does get pretty warm over time if you set it to record in the max bitrate. Real life performances of the nano: 1.5 hours, body mounted, indoors, low light mode (blacklighted room), no problems at all 1 hour, 240fps / 1080p, body mounted outdoors, no problem In terms of quality I can only compare it to my action 5 pro, and they are both on par under all conditions. And that is still pretty much comparable with the Action 6. The 6 has of course a better performance in low light which might be a key factor in BTS applications. In conclusion the nano is fine if you use it in a way and for a purpose that it is fit for. Like POV mount, fire and forget. For point and shoot I'd opt for the Action 5/6.

Different cameras for different things. Battery life, low light, fast UI go with DJI. Overall video quality, skintones and stabilization go with GoPro.  As a pro user I choose GoPro over DJI but would recommend DJI for beginner not caring about the mentioned things. :)

DJI Definitely has overheating issues. I have used both extensively and GoPro is hands down the better option if you are going for image quality, color and superb stabilization. Remeber that gopro processes 3x more pixels in 5.3K 8:7 video vs DJI with 4K 16:9. GoPro I can match in Davinci Resolce with my FX3 but DJI is a bit harder.

Sure. Im more interested in real world use. In my experience with all brands overheating is most of the time user error and using the camera for purpose they are not intended for. I notice not a big difference in battery use between the brands. All go easily over an hour. But also I have plenty of spares and switch them out wuite often. 

Color profiles is not the same as how the camera manages color. Im talking about LOG profile grading. Thats the only thing I use on either. GoPro just excels at this. The point in GoPros stabilization is the ability to shoot completely uncropped and stabilize and crop in post with GoPro players Hypersmooth Pro (formerly Reelsteady). Rocksteady doesnt look very good especially on FPV flying. The stabilization is not very good when it has to be real time compared to one you can actually do and refine in post. I had three Osmo Actions on a TV pilot shoot. Used 25fps 2.7K and two of them overheated eventually. No airflow as a dashcam style but in winter time so way colder. No need to pretend a camera with passive cooling wouldnt overheat when abused.

Pocket 3 has the better video quality but I went with action 6 because I didn’t want to have to worry about it in the rain/water

Action 6, no question. Last year I had both the Osmo Pocket 3 and and the Action 5 and chose to bring the Action 5 with me on an epic road trip from SoCal to Yellowstone. We visited and hiked 3 National Parks on that trip, and the Action 5 was amazing. I got the Adventure combo, with the 1.5m extension rod - being able to get overhead video of some of Yellowstone's wild thermal features was amazing - it was almost like having a mini-drone in those instances. And the video quality was stunning. I've since bought the Action 6, because I needed two action cams for my business - the Action 5 is equally amazing and can be purchased for less $$.

I have both the Osmo Pocket 3 and the Action 6. I have the Action 5 as well. All 3 of them can work. I've used all 3 for vlogging outdoors. If I were you I'd get one of the Osmo Action cams because of the rain. I've found that both the A5 and A6 do a great job at this, and don't require any babying (on the contrary, they can take a beating!). The OP3 will be a constant concern for you because of the rain. And you will baby it a lot more because of it's perceived and actual fragility. My OP3 went back to DJI shortly after I got it because the screen would not go into vertical orientation - it would snap back to landscape. It was a widespread problem. Thankfully they fixed it free of charge under warranty.

I saw the action 4 clips from a YouTube travel channel (Small Brained American), it looked awesome, decided ill get the 6. Bigger number means better right??? Same issues as you, I returned mine, I said it was too grainy and they agreed it looks too grainy as-well and accepted the return. Other peoples mileage may vary.

If your use purpose is strictly as a dashcam I’m sure there will be more affordable options and it won’t need to be an action camera. If you want an action camera because you want to film yourself and create content whilst also doubling up as a potential dash cam, then yeah, DJI action 4/5/6. I’ve just bought the 6

If you have the 5 pro, probably not worth upgrading, if you don’t and want to buy one, it’s worth the extra. The square sensor and battery life are big plusses for me

GoPro is really good for accessories historically but that's kind of fallen off. Now DJI I find has the best accessories availability. Insta360 Is my overall favorite brand. There 360 cameras are really cool. My primary use case has been the GO 3S Which is their smallest camera because I have been using them to attach them to animals and that's been really cool. But it also means I've got quite a bit of experience dealing with the videos and the output even I'm not the one wearing the camera. Their system is definitely the best overall for just ease of dealing with it. If you don't need anything super high-end that camera is also just fantastic as kind of a attach it and forget it situation like if you're on vacation walking around and you never know what you might want to record. Kind of like meta glasses it's really good for a camera that you just forget you're wearing which is a huge reason I think that's probably the best camera for most people. There is an old saying that the best camera is the one that you have on you, that's kind of why it's so good because you're more likely to actually bring it and use it for small things. I know you're asking about cameras but for example I also have the Rode wireless micro microphones which is the same concept. If it's small and stays out of your way you're more likely to use it. When it comes to small cameras insta360 is absolutely dominant no one has anything even equivalent DJI has the best system if you're wanting to do slowmo because it can do 4K120. DJI is also more rugged in their design. Their action 6 camera is what I would recommend if you're doing diving or any sort of really intense sport where it's going to get banged around a lot. If you're just a generic tourist walking around, especially if you ever want to attach a camera to your cat or dog insta is the way to go. Also the way to go if you're ever thinking about how you wish you had your camera already set up at a moment but didn't for some reason like it's too bulky or the battery life, or it just wouldn't have been easy to mount. That's where it really excels. The GO 3S has a ton of accessories for mounting it on weird locations. RC cars, walls, pet toys, etc.

It's pretty bad in my experience but YMMV. If it's from Amazon though you can return it after you've opened it. In fact I returned the two separate models that I purchased from Amazon without a problem after I had used them. Personally if I were you I would play it safe and return it and get a DJI Action 6. It does 8K30, 4K120, and 1080p240 So pretty much any type of recording method that you're likely going to want to use It can do it without a problem. Also since you said your wanting it for water activities the DJI has much better water resistance. GoPro is only water resistant to 10M or 60M with the case but the DJI Action 6 is water resistant to 20M without a case and 60M with its case. That extra 10M is a pretty huge deal if you're not making sure you're always using the case with it at all times.

Depends on your application but the closest direct comparison to the typical GoPro Hero 13 Black is the DJI Action 6. Those two are direct competitors to each other with the DJI being significantly better

No settings relevant. Overheated while off sitting outside and would not function once it was turned on. The DJI and Insta360 cameras sitting next to it worked fine. Tests were on 2 separate Hero13 Black models. Would also overheat when filming at 5.3K60 and 4K60 in more mild weather while the other cameras from DJI and insta360 had no such problems. Models Tested: Insta360: Ace Pro 2, Go Ultra, Go 3S, X5 Note: Ace Pro 2 was tested at both 8K30 and 4K60 DJI: Action 6, Action 5, Nano, Mobile 8, Pocket 3 GoPro: Hero 13 Black, Hero 13 UW, Hero 12 Black All GoPro models had overheating issues, none of the others had overheating issues when tested in the same environment for the same equivalent camera. So for example we would test multiple action cameras side by side but the 360 cameras from insta360 was not tested at the exact same time as the others. One such example is we will mount multiple cameras on a board on the top of a UTV while driving so they are all side by side and can be compared directly in the closest to a perfectly identical environment. With the Cancun trip we simply brought a bunch of different cameras and then alternated betweens which ones we use except the GoPro ones kept overheating including just by sitting on a lounge chair next to us. My husband is utterly obsessed with having the absolute best of everything which is why we own so many different models because he likes to do the testing himself as a hobby. It is also relevant for him from a professional setting when it comes to investments because he prefers hands-on research.