Let me be upfront: I’m not a typical motion digicam person, regardless of reviewing them for a residing. I’ve at all times been extra concerned about pictures, and common walkaround pictures at that.
I personal a DJI Osmo Action 6, and I believe it is a vastly succesful little video digicam for vlogging and sports activities seize, however the concept of utilizing it for road pictures had by no means crossed my thoughts. Action cams work finest strapped to helmets or surfboards, not clutched within the hand whereas wandering round a metropolis in the hunt for fascinating faces, scenes and light-weight. The type issue alone makes the entire expertise really feel fallacious: too small to carry comfortably; buttons that require a agency press (which might nudge the digicam simply because the shutter fires); it is a pictures expertise that feels about as intuitive as taking snapshots with a bar of cleaning soap.
The cage (which prices $59.49 / £63.90 / AU$109.90) is a surprisingly elegant piece of design for what, on paper, appears like a purely utilitarian product. The black physique with silver prime trim is unapologetically retro, and it seems pretty — the sort of factor that may draw compliments somewhat than confused glances while you’re out on the road.
More importantly, it feels nice in my hand. The contoured, rubber-coated grip positions the person’s forefinger naturally over a big orange shutter button, and the entire thing is substantial sufficient to carry with confidence with out including sufficient bulk to make it awkward. I took the setup on a protracted weekend away to East Sussex and, over a number of outings, it slipped into my jacket pocket between pictures with none fuss.
There are some good sensible particulars right here, too. A hole part contained in the grip can retailer a spare Osmo Extreme Battery Plus, boosting the Action 6’s already formidable battery life. A chilly shoe mount and two 1/4″-20 threaded holes (one up top, one on the bottom) offer plenty of expansion options too — I didn’t attach anything extra during my testing, but the tripod mount on the base in particular feels like it significantly widens what this little camera can do.
The cage also comes supplied with a sturdy shoulder strap, which is adjustable. It works perfectly well as a cross-body or shoulder carry strap, and you can also shorten it enough so that it’ll sling round your neck like a classic point-and-shoot neck strap.
Does it actually take better photos?
No — but it was never going to. The image quality is identical to shooting with the uncaged Action 6, because the sensor and lens haven’t changed. What has changed, and changed dramatically, is the shooting experience. The button travel issue that plagues hand-held action cam photography is solved here: you’re now pressing a proper shutter button with a reassuring amount of feedback, rather than jabbing at a shallow rubbery nub and hoping the camera doesn’t shift at the moment of capture. It sounds like a small thing, but it makes a huge difference.
I should be honest about one limitation: there’s no viewfinder, and for someone like me who’s always found composing shots through a screen somewhat unsatisfying, that does blunt the experience a little. The Osmo Action 6 in its cage is not going to replace a Fujifilm X100VI, a Ricoh GR IV, or a Leica M EV1 — those cameras offer a fundamentally different experience, with far more manual control and, yes, better image quality. What it does compare favorably to is shooting on a smartphone. It’s more comfortable, more tactile, and — thanks to the retro-leaning design — considerably more discreet. While I was using it on the streets, nobody gave it a second glance.
If you already own a DJI Osmo Action 6 and you’ve ever wanted to use it for something other than action footage or vlogging, SmallRig’s cage is a transformative add-on. It won’t turn your action cam into Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Leica. But it might well turn it into something you use a lot more often.
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