Budget action cameras have been a favorite among many. They have seen a tremendous increase in sales over these past years. This is all due to how they are packaged with a plethora of different accessories, and how they're marketed towards any individual who wishes to capture life's most significant, and most remarkable moments. This begs the question, should you invest in an action camera?
You should invest in an action camera due to their sheer portability, countless accessories, continuous support/updates, high resolution, and durability. This is especially true if you're within the industry of sports, entertainment, or those for those who wouldn't mind having a dedicated camera for when life hits you with a moment you wish to behold for years to come.
The action camera market had been estimated to be a whopping USD $3.3 Billion during the midst of 2018 and has only been expected to skyrocket even further. This tells us that many ordinary people just like you and me, could have a proper use for such devices.
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The Use Cases of An Action Camera
There are many use cases for an action camera, some of which the manufacturers weren't even planning for, that have been utilized till today. This is all due to the versatility, and expansions these action cameras have. If you are within the spectrum of activities listed below, you might want to consider investing in a low-cost action camera:
- Sports
- Extreme Sports
- Social Media Influencing
- Cinematographer
- Budget Film Studio
Even unconventional usage such as utilizing it to keep track of your pets, or as a car dashcam, could make your investment of an action camera, a worthy one.
Realistically though, there is absolutely nothing limiting you when it comes to the usage of an action camera.
Who Is It Specifically Targeted To?
Big players in the industry, such as GoPro, Sony, Xiaomi, and more, have targeted their action camera product line to two specific groups, and that is the outdoor sports community as well as the entertainment industry. This is evident in the style of marketing, accessories provided, and the durability of their cameras.
For Athletes
For a few hundred bucks, or even below a hundred for an affordable action camera, you're entitled to capturing some of your sickest stunts, perfectly-choreographed tricks, and incredible feats of performances you are able to pull off after all that hard work, and upload it on wherever you deem fit! Or if you would rather keep the recordings to yourself, to playback later on in life.
Utilizing some of the original or third-party accessories created for action cameras, you can access a wide range of various mods and casings to further personalize yours and to gear up for whatever video you're trying to create! (More on accessories later on)
For Influencers/Entertainment
If you're an influencer/blogger on popular websites such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so forth, you might be able to expand your community with the help of an action camera. Being able to seamlessly share your travels, underwater adventures, and unforeseen experiences all in a high definition, in a yet compact package, is the best way to engage your audience and for you to care less about the technical aspect of filming.
Nevertheless, if you're outside this group of athletes and influencers, you shouldn't feel left out; one of the biggest market shares in the entirety of the action camera market, GoPro has seen to be targeting more individuals such as photographers, and videographers who could put to use some of the core aspects of these cameras.
Features of An Action Camera
Within the many years that the action camera business has dominated the industry, there have been many standardize features that you can be expecting, here are some of them:
Waterproof/Durable
Action cameras, as the name suggests, are often thrown around in harsh conditions, even on a low-cost action camera, waterproofing and durability features are a must, in order to record sports events and other such activities.
High Definition
In this era, where technology is improving tremendously day by day, at least 1080P 60FPS should be the standard on your action camera. After filming, the last thing you'd expect is to view it on your modern smartphone and have all the frames pixelated. Hence, manufacturers have also made it a point to further develop better technological advancements, and maybe one day 4K 120FPS will be the standard of action cameras.
Included Accessories
Even on a low-cost action camera, having included mounts, batteries, casing and cables, ensures that customers are immediately intrigued into purchasing the product. Thanks to this, larger companies are starting to offer more included accessories as a bundle when buying their action camera.
Modes
Different modes, such as time-lapse, slow-motion, and burst, can often be seen on these cameras as a method to better capture the ideal video feed! With the coming rise of new technological progression, we can only be anticipating seeing more modes introduced.
Action Camera VS Mobile Phones
Seeing as to how mobile phones have been taking over the tech industry as of late, many have invested in the latest smartphone rather than in an action camera. This is due to how mobile phones manufacturers market their cameras, as something so revolutionary, knocking out a need for a dedicated camera. Nonetheless, this misconception couldn't be more wrong, as smartphones right now can replicate modern-day cameras.
Although on the technological aspect, both action cameras and the latest smartphone have the same specs and processors, action cameras offer it in a more adaptable, robust, sturdy, compact, and mostly at an affordable entry fee. Moreover, action cams are made with sports and rough activities in mind, while smartphones are designed for a comfortable and premium user experience.
When speaking about filming stunts, sports, and outdoor activities, the most crucial factor that comes into play are the mounts. Action cameras mounts can easily be fitted onto your surfboard, skateboard, helmet, bike, car, and the list goes on & on. As a result of the form factor, smartphones are limited to the mounts they can be attached to.
Therefore, instead of investing at least a hefty USD $1,000 on the newest smartphones, its better off you walk home with a mid-range action camera that was made to give you the best possible experience when capturing extreme sports activities.
On the other hand, if you are already a proud owner of one of the modern smartphones in the market, and require an action camera for less-intense activities, you should attempt to use your smartphone instead, as a cost-saving option.
But for most of us, it's cheaper, more efficient, and more convenient that we purchase an action camera.
Should You Invest in An Action Camera?
Yes! Once again, if you're in the sports or entertainment industry, you could even make a career out of having one. But this shouldn't be holding you back; if you figure that you have a use case that could benefit from having an action camera, by all means, go full steam ahead!
If by any chance, you do decide that purchasing an action camera is the route you'll be taking, you should take into consideration the price point, features, updates, reviews, battery-life, accessories included, Wi-Fi capabilities, and so forth, to ensure you get your money worth!
The Future of Action Cameras
The future for action cameras seems to be a steady increase, from its lenses to 4k; there's no limit!
One such report stated that by 2021, it had been predicted that the Ultra HD (4k) Category of action cameras would be a $3.3 Billion. Another research has forecasted that the 2026 action camera market would be an over 10 Billion USD one.
With such a high market value, this business isn't going to be discontinued any time soon. So, if you haven't already purchased your action-camera, waiting it out might prove to be a better choice.
The future of what this industry might be producing hasn't yet been unveiled, but what we might be seeing, are more affordable prices, better 360-degree cameras, live streaming specific action cams, and a larger focus on compact-sized action cameras.
Final Words
There we have it! In under two thousand words, you've been enlightened with accurate information, statistics, analytics, and predictions regarding the subject of action cameras. Giving you reasons as to why you might want to consider investing in one. Lastly, the business of action cameras isn't stopping anytime soon; only time will tell exactly how much will soon be possible within the shell of these sophisticatedly small but beneficial devices.
