🦑 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Review – Compact Beast, Reef‑Tested by Me

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is what happens when a brand takes everything people love about action cameras—then supercharges it for divers, vloggers and underwater maniacs.

This isn’t your average weekend-warrior GoPro clone—it’s a full-on dive companion with a 1/1.3” sensor, 4K-Video Shooting, 40MP Photo Snapping, internal storage, a back and a front display (awesome for selfies!) and more stabilization than a gimbal on Red Bull.

It is waterproof to 20 m without a case—and down to 60 m with the housing. It’s compact, tough, and ready to go straight into the ocean!

Mounting is seamless thanks to the magnetic quick‑release system. The dual OLED touchscreens are bright and responsive and the 47 GB internal storage? Lifesaver if you forget to put an SD card in!

I knew the specs were stacked—but specs don’t mean squat until they hit saltwater. So over April 2025, I took the Dji Osmo Action 5 Camera on my most recent scuba diving trip to the mystical island of Siquijor in the Philippines.

For a week, I drifted over breathtakingly beautiful coral gardens, immersed myself in vast balls of Jacks and tailed sea turtles like they owed me money. Here’s how the DJI Osmo Action 5 Camera held up—and why it’s now my favourite underwater action camera of all time!

🎥 Video Performance – 4K Slaps, D‑Log Wins

Underwater footage from this thing is ridiculously good. I ran most of my footage in 4K at 120 fps, giving me silky slow‑mo reef shots and buttery smooth movement. You can even crank it to 240 fps at 1080 p for super slo‑mo.

The real magic? D‑Log M. This flat color profile gives you pro‑level dynamic range and tons of flexibility in post. After grading my dives in DaVinci Resolve, the results were rich, natural, and straight‑up cinematic.

Even at dusk or in deep shadowy crevices, it held detail and colour way better than I expected. DJI says it gets 13.5 stops of dynamic range—and underwater, you can tell.

Also, RockSteady 2.0 and HorizonSteady kept my shots butter‑smooth even while I was kicking through current or spinning with surge. It’s action‑cam stabilization turned up to 11.

📸 Photo Performance – 40 MP Powerhouse

Photos on this thing don’t feel like an afterthought. The 40 megapixel sensor delivers sharp, vibrant stills that punch way above the camera’s size. I nailed wide reef shots, close‑ups of anemones, and even some macro‑ish nudibranch pics that blew me away.

RAW capture gives you control in editing, and burst mode means you don’t miss that one perfect frame when a turtle swims by and side‑eyes you.

🎨 Underwater Color Correction – No More Blue Mush

The Action 5 Pro gives you two solid ways to tackle that classic “why is everything green‑blue?” problem:

1. D‑Log M: Your best friend for serious post‑editing. It’s flat, neutral, and holds all the detail you’ll need to recover natural color and contrast later. I used it for everything and graded it in DaVinci Resolve—total game changer.

2. Color Recovery Mode: For plug‑and‑play color fixes, DJI’s mode auto‑corrects for underwater color loss. It’s a little saturated for my taste, but for quick edits or non‑techy users, it works surprisingly well.

🔴 Hot Tip: Below 10 m, a red filter still helps preserve skin tones and coral warmth with less work in post.

🤳 Front Display – Selfie & Vlogging Gold

Let’s talk about something often overlooked: the front‑facing screen.

It’s not just a gimmick—it’s a game changer. Whether you’re doing freediving selfies, lining up mask‑mount vlog intros, or just want to frame a perfect shot while holding the camera out in front of you, this thing makes it stupid easy.

The front OLED is bright, responsive, and super helpful for checking framing without guessing. I used it constantly between dives for quick check‑ins and topside updates—and got way more usable clips because of it.

🔋 Battery & Storage – Built for Multiple Dives

DJI absolutely nailed the rechargeable battery. I was getting 3.5–4 hours of runtime at 4K60. That’s multiple dives in a day without needing to swap or recharge. Game changer.

Plus you get a whopping 3 batteries meaning you could go for a whole weekend of diving and never need to recharge any of them!

When I forgot my SD card (twice), that 47 GB of internal storage came to the rescue. Add in Wi‑Fi 6 transfer speeds, and offloading footage is painless.

🎙 Audio & Smart Tech – Topside Sound, Dive Data Too

Above water, the DJI Mic 2 integration gives you clean, sharp audio—even in windy conditions. Perfect for vlog‑style intros or voiceovers straight from the boat deck.

Also super slick: the Action 5 Pro logs dive data like depth, time, and temperature, baked directly into your footage metadata. That’s killer for syncing clips to dive logs or adding stats to your edits.

✅ Pros & Cons

👍 Pros

Beautiful 4K120 video + slo‑mo and pro‑grade D‑Log M

Super sharp 40 MP photos with RAW and burst

Front‑facing OLED screen – great for selfies and vlogging

Color correction options – D‑Log + Color Recovery Mode

Amazing stabilization – RockSteady + HorizonSteady

47 GB internal storage – saves your butt when you forget an SD card

Long battery life – 3.5–4 hours even in 4K

Dive metadata logging – depth, temperature, duration

Magnetic quick‑mount system – fast and secure

Waterproof to 20 m (no case) or 60 m (with housing)

Wi‑Fi 6 file transfer – blazing fast

👎 Cons

2‑second delay switching modes – can cost you a quick shot

Touchscreen can’t be used underwater in housing – no mid‑dive setting changes

No tripod thread – must use adapters

Default color profile is too saturated – stick with D‑Log for pro results

No 5.3 K option – not a deal‑breaker, but worth noting

🧪 Post‑Processing Tips – Where D‑Log Comes to Life

If you’re gonna shoot in D‑Log (and you should), you’ll want to do it justice in post. Here’s my basic workflow:

• 1) Edit in DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere Pro

• 2) Apply a color‑correction LUT (or build your own)

• 3) Boost contrast and red tones to counter underwater fade

• 4) Add slight sharpening + noise reduction for deeper footage

• 5) Use dive metadata to overlay stats or sync with logs

• 6) Export in high bitrate and resolution—don’t trash your hard‑earned footage with low‑quality renders

🏁 Final Verdict – Small Body, Big Game Energy

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is built for divers who actually dive. It’s compact, intuitive, stupid tough, and packed with features that genuinely improve your underwater shooting.

After hammering it in Siquijor’s reefs and caves, it’s earned a permanent spot in my gear bag.
Highly recommend.