Resolution
Recommended: 2.7K or 4K
I’m sure you know this one: pixels count in relation to the aspect ratio. But there’s more to it in an action cam!
The way stabilization works is through software. The camera actually crops into the frame a little bit to be able to seemingly “remove” movement from the picture.
That also means the real captured resolution of the final video is usually a little lower of the actual file. That’s why 1080p will look more blurry and a minimum of 2.7K is recommended.
I use 4K all the time and don’t change it ever. If you got a 4K monitor or high-res phone screen to enjoy all those pixels, the higher resolution is even nicer to look at. It’s incredible fidelity to experience!
Framerate
Recommended: 30 fps
This is what produces the natural motion blur, similar to what you would see through your own eyes. Framerate of 24, 25, and 30 are a big part of what makes video footage cinematic. Bonus points for making you seem to ride faster, every other setting being the same.
For POV shots I believe 30 FPS works best, especially with quick direction changes like riding turns or head movement from left to right. But there’s nothing wrong with 24p or 25p. Those have a more cinema-like look to them. It’s up to you.
Often 60 FPS are used for slow-mo or fast-twitch action footage that still looks crisp. 50 or 60 FPS give your footage a sharper look without motion blur so trail features are more pronounced if that’s the look you want to achieve.
High FPS of 60 and above allow for slowing footage down for a smooth slow-motion effect. At regular watch speeds, there is no tangible difference between 60 and 480 fps. Your SD card may disagree as it fills up much quicker.
Fewer frames per second allow for natural motion blur, that not only looks very cinematic and professional but as a bonus also makes the footage look faster than with a higher framerate.
Image stabilization (Rocksteady)
Recommended: Rocksteady 3.0 (not +)
On a bike, it’s critical to use any one stabilization option, preferably the new RockSteady 3.0
Horizon leveling mimics a gimbal that’s keeping the camera level. I don’t recommend it for biking, because the FOV gets much smaller. It’s a cool effect tho, especially doing a follow-cam where the subject is in front like in the example video at the top.
Caution: Horizon Leveling crops into the frame dramatically to be able to keep the image leveled by software processing. This means the FOV is locked at “Dewarp”.
Above and beyond a stable image is the most important feature of any camera strapped to your helmet, chest or bike. I used to own the first generations of GoPros, but any mount besides the helmet mount was completely unusable because of the shaky footage.
Now chest mounts are all the rage (GoPro’s Chesty 2.0 is still my favorite tho).
White Balance
Recommended: 5500K
When left on auto, the camera will constantly color correct, while not knowing what it sees. If the screen is full of green grass, or brown dirt, it will choose a white balance that reduces green or brown from the image resulting in weird-looking color fluctuations.
This is why auto settings will always look amateurish, no matter what you do in editing.
The WB setting is one of the biggest difference makers.
This is an outdoor camera. And sunlight has a color temperature of about 5500 Kelvin. Easy as that. Set it once and never change it again. You wouldn’t want your white balance to change from clip to clip or even worse within a clip.
In addition, white balance will destroy the warm natural hue during sunsets – a period also called the golden hour. 6000K may be okay on a cloudy day to avoid a blue hue or to make a sunset pop.
Field of view (FOV)
Recommended: Wide or Ultrawide
A wider FOV can help with a couple of effects: the sense of speed and capturing reference points the viewer can identify with. Since on a bike both hands are occupied, the camera needs to be able to see a lot without moving the camera angle.
The Osmo Action 3’s 155-degree FOV is arguably the widest right now (apart from 360° cams) and creates incredibly intense footage.
Generally, a wide FOV is able to capture the ground, ahead on the trail and the bike as reference for the viewer within the same shot.
A view from on top of the helmet sometimes only has a view of the trail ahead and much of the feeling gets lost for the audience since there are no reference points. No arms, no bike frame, no handlebars.
Notice that a lot of the bike frame and even my helmet can be seen from this perspective.
Color
Recommended: D-Cinelike
Nothing is inherently wrong with the “Normal” color profile, which sports the popping colors you’d expect from an action cam. If this saturated and high-contrast style is something you like, is completely subjective. On the OA3 I’d say it looks pretty realistic too.
That being said, those saturated colors just limit the options for post-production color corrections and custom color profiles to really make the edit your own. If you like playing around creatively in an editing suite, D-Cinelike is perfect for you as it provides more freedom for creative exploration.
If editing is not in your future, leave the colors on “Normal”.
ISO
Recommended: min. 100 – max. 1600
ISO is the maximum light sensitivity of the camera, and the Osmo Action 3 lets you define a range it can work with up to a staggering 12.800! Even with a wider range over the Action 2, you don’t want to give it more than it really needs as more ISO means a more grainy image.
This is why I normally set the ISO as low as possible. But stabilization needs crisp, unblurred frames. That’s done by a fast shutter speed. When it gets below 1/120 or 1/60, the image gets blurry.
High ISO can bake the image brighter without slowing the shutter, but it produces noise (grain). So, it’s a compromise.
Luckily, since a firmware update, you can set a minimum shutter! For MTB videos 1/120 is good for helmet cam, 1/240 for chest mounts. With these limits in place, you’ll always have stabilized video and can reduce the max ISO. Win-win!
I’d personally rather have a stable, grainy video than the other way around.
Video compression
Recommended: HEVC
This is just the video codec, without any impact on the bitrate. Currently, there is no option to select a specific bitrate (maximum is 130mbit/s).
HEVC or High-Efficiency Video Codec H.265 can create smaller file sizes than the H.264 MP4 codec. So this will not actually increase the bit rate, but decrease the file size while keeping the same bit rate.
The actual bit rate depends on the resolution, frame rate and video codec. Older computers may only be able to read H.264 files.
10-Bit Colors
Recommended: On
The Action 3 finally got the functionality to record 10-bit colors with a firmware update in December 2022. It and the GoPro Hero 11 are currently the only action cams capable of this.
In some filming modes, it’s not available, like high FPS or certain recording modes. But there’s certainly a benefit to having it on the rest of the time.
