Published on December 10th, 2016 | by Guest

Why everyone should own an Action Camera

In case you’ve been in a cave for the past couple of years, and action camera, or sometimes referred to as a sports camera, has developed a new breed of enthusiasts, having said that it’s possible you’ve been in a cave, with your action camera. Before they were only referred to as ‘sports enthusiasts’ and although various videos are available of these enthusiasts in action, nothing is as personal as filming themselves doing what they do best. Maybe, at this point you wouldn’t label yourself as a sports enthusiast, or even adventurous, maybe you’re just a studio photographer, or an amateur filmmaker. So why should you purchase an action camera? Well, the answer is simple (but might take a bit of persuading), an action camera will MAKE you adventurous!

Remember to a time before you owned a bike, you rarely went on bike rides. It’s simple logic; unless you own something, you don’t have the freedom to use it as often as you wish to. Recently, I went travelling with a close friend that owned an awesome mirrorless camera, sure I’d used cameras before but this was a beautifully designed, easy, and fun to use mirrorless camera. Previously, I’d only ever used a DSLR camera, which is fun to use but not that fun to carry around. Anyway, my friend let me be the photographer for the holiday and gave me full control of the camera, and I had so much fun! I wanted to take pictures all the time, of everything. Unfortunately, after returning from my travels I experienced some serious withdrawal symptoms, taking pictures on my smartphone just didn’t give me that same control as the mirrorless camera did, and the images were far less superior to those I took on my friend’s camera. Besides from this, I didn’t have the same initiative to photograph things as I did when I had the mirrorless camera in my possession. So what did I do? I bought my very own camera, identical to the one my friend owns, a YI M1 Mirrorless camera, now I spend most of my free time outside snapping, and at one with nature.

YI M1 4K action camera

Now, although I’m outside taking pictures and filming, I wouldn’t say I’m very adventurous about it. I live in Shanghai, and have little free time to venture out to other parts of China, as much as I’d like to. Though, this coming February I’m planning to travel to New Zealand and Australia, what inspired me to do this? An action camera! Okay, that’s not entirely true, but the thought of travelling with an action camera has certainly made me more inclined to be adventurous. It’s made me think about what amazing footage I could get if, for example, if I went paragliding, rock climbing, or surfing. The idea of owning an action camera has made me want to try new things, it’s made me want to step out of my comfort zone and be a little bit dangerous. Let me say, this isn’t so I can rack up likes on social networks, it’s for my own personal enjoyment, and instead of just having the memories, I can also capture the moments.

I don’t yet own an action camera, because I’m still not sure which one to buy. Before I started researching I was slightly worried that an action camera (being so small) wasn’t able to capture high quality videos, however that’s not the case. The latest action cameras now offer 4K video recording, the highest quality. The most recognized action camera is the GoPro, but the latest GoPro HERO4 can only record for 65 minutes at 4K, while it’s main competitor, the YI 4K Action Camera can record at the same high quality for 120 minutes, which is a whole 55 minutes more recording time! Anyway, whatever choice of action camera is made I know it will transform my outlook on life, and I’m sure it would transform yours too. Go and have a look at what’s out there, and be free!

About the author:

George Finlayson is an educator and a writer based in Shanghai with a BA in Creative Writing. He started exploring photography 2 years ago and has been passionate about it ever since. Being a freelance writer, he is not limited to cover different fields in the world of photography and videography.