You probably don’t need an action camera, unless you’re in one of these situations

I see countless people posting on Reddit, "should I get an action camera or a GoPro for X situation.” Some of those people are asking about using action cameras in situations where they are filming for hours and hours on end… which probably isn’t the right situation for an action camera.

I’ve been filming skiing and kitesurfing on GoPros for 10 years now, and as a result of all of my mistakes, I’ve learned when you should use an action camera.

The biggest piece of advice I have is that most of your camera needs are likely served by the phone in your pocket. Camera phones today are such high quality, that I would always start filming and photographing using the phone in my pocket. If you start to come across any of the situations below, then maybe it’s time to add an action camera to the camera bag.

They are high quality because of the volume they sell and the R&D resources that companies like Apple or Samsung can put against making great phones vs. companies like GoPro. The camera phone makers put out over 200m units a year vs. GoPros 3m, so it’s never really going to be close.

Getting wet

The number one situation where you should use a GoPro is when you’re getting in the water or going under the water. Sure, phones are getting more and more water-resistant, but I still wouldn’t put my iPhone in salt water, or go diving with it.

If you’re going to be going deep under the water, then almost every major action camera manufacturer makes a reasonably priced “dive enclosure”. These provide an additional layer of waterproof protection on top of an already waterproof camera.

My very first YouTube video was about the process of building a floating tripod for a GoPro out of PVC and pipe insulator.

Getting rough

The next situation for an action camera is when you’re doing some sort of high-impact activity. That could be mountain biking, skiing, parkour, etc. These are situations where you’re most likely not comfortable using your camera phone. Impact, sand, dust, rain—these are all times I’d rather risk an action cam than my phone.

One big benefit of an action camera here is that many of them offer replacement lenses, so if you drop your camera on concrete and scratch it, you can continue to use the camera after replacing the lens.

The other big benefit is the mount ecosystem. There is an incredibly diverse ecosystem of action camera mounts for every physical activity on the planet.

Getting wide

The next situation where action cameras excel is getting really wide-angle shots. When moving fast or doing something extreme, the widest angle possible show more of the screen and feels more immersive.

The wide-angle lens on the iPhone shoots around 120°, while the GoPro is closer to 150° with the regular lens or 177° with the max lens mod wide lens.

These wide-angle lenses are also particularly effective at getting handheld shots of yourself. With 156° or more FOV, you can fit quite a bit of yourself in the frame when taking a selfie shot.

360 action cameras take this a step further by getting an even wider FOV and letting you use a selfie stick that then gets erased from the image. 360 camera are so good at this view that it can almost look like someone else is filming you, which is a great option for solo filmmakers.

Getting stable

This next situation is an extension of the previous two, but action cameras tend to be excellent at filming very shaky and unstable moments. The iPhone has pretty good stabilization, but it’s still most effective when shooting hand held standing still.

If you’re going to be riding a jet ski, filming on a boat flying through pounding chop, or skiing moguls… the footage will be tough to watch or unusable without great stabilization.

In some situations like filming with an action camera in your lines while kitesurfing, you’ll also want full horizon lock so that your footage comes out right side up.

Getting small

Action cameras are great for getting into places that a typical camera or camera phone can’t get into. Because there are so many small action cameras likes the GoPro Mini 11, the Insta360 go 3s, and now the new Insta360 Ultra, the options are limitless.

Combine this with all the different mount options, and you’ve got flexibility you could never achieve with a DSLR or an iPhone camera.

I’ve use GoPros to get really nice wide-angle shots in the car, and I was able to put the camera up in the corner where only a small camera would fit.

The other type of shots where having a small camera matters is lifestyle blogging and FPV drones. Wearing a small camera on your hat or chest that doesn’t stand out helps you get more natural shots. And for FPV drones, you obviously want the lightest and highest quality camera you can find.

Getting the long shot

Finally, action cameras are great for long shots like time lapses. You often don’t want to be without your phone for that long, and on your phone there may be interruptions like calls and texts coming on.

Action cameras are great for putting on an external battery and leaving in place for long time lapses. GoPros have a reputation for overheating if you leave it recording video in the highest settings for long periods of time, but time lapses work great since it’s stitching together still photos and not as taxing on the processor.

Traditional or 360

So now let's talk regular action cameras vs. 360 cameras. The shots you need to get will always dictate the camera that you should use. I think most people will be better served by the functionality and higher resolution of traditional action cameras first. A regular action camera like a GoPro hero is just easier for people to figure out how to use, since they work just like most cell phone cameras.

360 cameras require more knowledge to figure out when and how to use them. If used incorrectly, they’ll be lower resolution images since they’re taking a similar camera sensor and using them across a full 360 degrees.

If you’re doing an activity that can only really be captured at all by a 360 camera, then in this situation you might jump straight to a 360 camera.

Does brand matter?

I think they are all pretty good at this point.

I try to only speak from first-hand experience, and I’ve only really extensively used GoPro action cameras.I still primarily use GoPro because I’m happy with the images and functionality I get. I’ve never had one overheat, I love the extra wide-angle lens options, and I’ve always liked the colors I get.

I like insta360 accessories and was super jealous of their object tracking functionality in their 360 editing software. They seem to be innovating at a faster rate than GoPro, so I’m excited to see what comes from their new Ultra camera.

I’ve had the DJI Mavic , the Air, and the Air 2s drones, and they’ve all been rock solid. The image quality has only improved over time, so I think it's safe to say that this technology is translating well to their action cameras.

Summary

So there you have, those are the clear cases where I think you should be using an action camera instead of a camera phone. For most shooting, I still recommend a phone as the default because the quality and feature set is just so good.

Let me know if you come across other situations i missed where action cameras really are the best choice.