DJI Quietly Slipped a Variable Aperture Into The New Osmo Action 6 Action Cam

DJI has announced the Osmo Action 6, and while it looks a lot like the previous generation at first glance, this one’s carrying a surprisingly long list of changes once you take a closer look. The headline feature is a new 1/1.1″ square CMOS sensor, which is larger than what DJI used before, with the goal of pulling in more detail and dynamic range, especially in low light. The camera records up to 4K120, shoots 38MP stills, and finally offers a native 4:3 capture area without sacrificing pixels.

If you’re familiar with the Action line, much of the design language stays the same, including front and rear OLED touchscreens, support for vertical shooting, and DJI’s usual array of stabilisation modes. But the Action 6 adds quite a few things that feel like quality-of-life upgrades rather than spec-sheet padding.

A New Sensor With a Wider Dynamic Range

The 1/1.1″ sensor is the big update. DJI says you’ll get about 13.5 stops of dynamic range when shooting in 10-bit D-Log M, which isn’t something we normally expect from an action cam. The square sensor also plays nicely with custom aspect ratios and wide FOV shots with up to 155° if you enable the full width.

Low-light performance is another area DJI is pushing. There’s now a dedicated SuperNight mode for video (up to 4K60), which pairs the larger sensor with new noise-reduction processing. Stills also get a bump to 38MP, with enough resolution to crop.

A Variable Aperture on an Action Camera

Now to that variable aperture, because this is unusual on an action cam. The Osmo Action 6 uses a variable aperture (f/2 to f/4). Most action cameras stick to fixed apertures because they’re simpler and the lenses are tiny, but DJI is giving users some control here. The aperture can be automatic or manual, and it theoretically means better low-light performance at f/2 and more balanced highlights in bright scenes at f/4.

Paired with DJI’s optional macro lens, the camera can also get proper close-ups with shallow depth of field, again, not something you see often in this category. OK, it seems like a small aperture range, but hey, it’s at least something!

Night Shooting Gets Two New Niche Modes

The camera has two new modes aimed squarely at night and long-exposure shooters. Now it’s maybe not something everyone will use, but they are nice options if you like nighttime city shooting or light-heavy street scenes.

• Starburst Mode turns point-light sources into stylised starbursts without needing external filters.
• SuperNight Mode handles the heavy lifting in darker environments, using the new sensor and updated NR algorithm.

Dual OLED Screens, Now Brighter and Fully Touch-Capable

The screens have become a little bit more user-friendly. The rear is a 2.5″ OLED at 800 nits, and the front 1.46″ display now supports touch controls fully, so no more spinning the camera around to change settings when you’re filming yourself. The UI auto-rotates when you flip from horizontal to vertical, and the screens will still respond to wet hands.

Stabilisation: Horizon Lock, Horizon Balancing, and RockSteady

The stabilisation options remain familiar but are updated:

• 360° HorizonSteady: fully locks the horizon at up to 2.7K60, even if you spin the camera completely.
• HorizonBalancing: handles ±45° tilt while shooting in 4K60.
• RockSteady 3.0: general shake-reduction up to 4K120.

Slow Motion, Pre-Recording, and More Utility Features

The Action 6 pushes slow-motion to extremes: 1080p240 plus frame interpolation gets you up to 32× slow-mo output. Whether you’ll use that often is another question, but it’s there, and kind of cool! More practical tools include:

• Pre-recording, which caches footage before you hit the button.
• Highlight tagging for quickly flagging important moments during long shoots.
• Live Photos, which lets you turn 3-second clips into animated stills.

Storage, Transfer Speeds, and Mounting

A notable but easy-to-miss update is the 50GB of internal storage. It’s not a replacement for microSD (it still supports up to 1TB cards), but it’s a useful emergency buffer, so the camera isn’t dead when you forget the card.

Transfers get faster too: Wi-Fi 6 and USB 3.1 allow up to 80 MB/s wireless speeds when paired with a compatible device. Mounting remains magnetic but uses a reinforced dual-direction quick-release. The protective frame also makes it easy to shoot native vertical video without rotating in post.

Audio: Three Mics and Direct Wireless Mic Support

DJI seems to be pushing audio more seriously this generation. You get:

• Three built-in stereo mics
• The OsmoAudio ecosystem with direct connection to two wireless mic transmitters, no receiver needed
• Optional USB-C–to–3.5mm adapter support for other mics
• 32-bit float recording for more headroom
• A “mic backup” mode that keeps ambient sound from the onboard mics

Battery Life, Charging, and Cold Resistance

The new 1950mAh Battery Plus is rated for up to four hours of continuous recording under ideal conditions. It also charges to:

• 80% in 22 minutes
• 100% in 52 minutes

DJI claims reliable performance down to –4°F, which will be particularly beneficial for winter sports enthusiasts.

Underwater Features and a Built-in Pressure Gauge

The bare camera body is waterproof to 65.6 feet (20 m), and DJI now includes a water pressure gauge that shows depth and can automatically start/stop recording as you enter or exit the water (without the waterproof housing). With the optional case, you can go to 197 feet (60 m).

Subject Tracking and Timecode

Two features aimed at more deliberate shooters:

• Subject Tracking: The camera can detect and keep subjects centred, even in vertical orientation.
• Timecode Sync: Useful for multi-camera shoots and action sports rigs with multiple angles.

Live Streaming and the Mimo App

The Osmo Action 6 supports Wi-Fi live streaming in a variety of resolutions and can stream via your phone’s hotspot. The Mimo app offers wireless monitoring, settings control, and editing templates, including sports dashboards, underwater colour profiles, and DJI’s auto-edit features.

Should you Upgrade?

The Osmo Action 6 isn’t a dramatic redesign, but it’s packed with incremental improvements: a bigger sensor, variable aperture, brighter screens, more internal storage, more battery life, and some niche creative modes. DJI also seems to be leaning harder into professional workflows this time with the timecode, subject tracking, and direct wireless mic support. These features are unusually production-friendly for an action camera.

If you’re coming from the previous model, the jump will depend on how much you care about low-light performance and dynamic range. But overall, this is a fairly substantial update for a camera that looks almost identical from the outside.

Price and Availability

The Osmo Action 6 is available to preorder now. The standard combo pack is $379.00, while the Adventure combo pack costs $479.00.

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