How worthwhile is an action cam in quiet everyday life?
19.7.2025
Translation: machine translated
Action cams from GoPro, DJI and Insta 360 are ideal for extreme sports. But they also have considerable advantages for my leisure time. I grab a GoPro, go to concerts and go hiking.
I like to enjoy my days off in nature: at the lake, in the mountains and at festivals. Although I prefer to concentrate on the experience, I think a souvenir video or two would be pretty cool. I don't want to lug around a huge camera for this, nor do I want to dig out my smartphone - possibly to be distracted by messages.
That's why I grabbed an action cam as a companion and used it to slow down in the Swiss countryside after my fast-paced holiday in Iceland.
Advantages of an action cam: my test device in detail
Action cams are generally robust, waterproof and have almost bomb-proof stabilisation. All of this makes them incredibly practical for extreme sports. What I also appreciate about such a camera: I move the taking of photos and videos to an external device that doesn't take up too much space in my luggage. The advantage of the GoPro Hero 13 Black is that I can still download my recordings to my mobile via its app for further processing. Insta 360 and DJI also offer this.
What I particularly appreciated during testing was the so-called «shutter button» at the top of the housing. If I press it, the cam immediately starts recording a video with the predefined settings. If I press it again, the cam stops recording again and switches itself off. This saves me a lot of battery life and I'm still quickly ready when I want to capture something exciting.
The most important specifications of the GoPro Hero 13 Black:
- Dimensions: 7.2 × 5.1 × 3.4 cm, 159 g (with battery)
- Battery: 1900 mAh, approx. 2.5h battery life (with continuous recording)
- Displays: 2.27-inch touch (rear), 1.4-inch colour display (front)
- Resilience: Shockproof and waterproof up to 10 m
- microSD: 1 × class A2 V30 or higher
- Connection: USB-C
- Video: maximum 5.3K (16:9) 60 fps or (8:7) 30 fps
- Photos: maximum resolution of 27.13 MP (5568 x 4872 pixels)
- Lenses, digital: HyperView, SuperView, Wide, Linear, Linear + Horizon Lock/ Leveling
- Optional lenses: UltraWide, ND filter, Anamorphic, Macro lens
Action vs. everyday life: the big comparison
In order to compare my everyday life in Switzerland with other scenarios, I'll use an extreme example: a trip through Iceland that I was invited on by GoPro to familiarise myself with their products. This allows me to see how the action cam performs in the perfect scenario. YouTube downscales the resolution of the videos from 2K to 1080p, but the general advantages over other cameras and smartphones should still be clear.
Off-road trip versus hiking day
In Iceland, I filmed the landscape with the GoPro in a buggy. It doesn't get any bumpier than off-road with stones, rivers and hilly paths. Even on a normal hike, the focus is on capturing the landscape: I walk over hill and dale, past bodies of water and don't have a particularly steady hand when filming. These are the results:
The quality of the Iceland video above deteriorates quite rapidly as soon as the digital image stabiliser («HyperSmooth 6.0») is used. This is particularly noticeable during the buggy ride. Then the landscape doesn't look particularly sharp. Nevertheless, I capture the energy of the trip wonderfully. I really like the quality in quiet scenes such as the river landscapes. The fact that I'm immediately ready for a shot in unexpected scenes such as the erupting geyser is also practical with the action cam. And I don't have to worry for a second that the camera will get too much dirt, rain or a whole load of water - it holds up bravely.
Filming from the car is particularly practical when I attach a stick to the GoPro. This allows me to hold the cam a little further out of the window or film from outside the car. This doesn't work particularly well with either a regular camera or a smartphone - the best-case scenario is particularly clear here. I don't necessarily need this on a hike. On the other hand, the image quality is significantly higher when hiking in comfort. And here, too, I venture closer to the water.
I'm sometimes happier with my Pixel 8 smartphone when it comes to photos. I can see the detail better and can zoom in closer when taking photos. The quality of the results seems similar for both: the GoPro images are slightly sharper on the PC and the colours are more vibrant.
Snorkelling versus a swimming trip
The waterproof action cam is a blessing, both when snorkelling in Iceland and when swimming in Lake Zurich. I also don't need an additional housing, as I did when I was snorkelling with an Insta 360. Thanks to the quick start button, I can also take targeted shots in a wetsuit. Here are the results:
I really like the shots overall. The fact that I don't have any annoying drops on the lens when the camera pops up is handy for special effects. Of course, it was less spectacular on Lake Zurich: a bit cloudy and sandy. I imagine it to be much more attractive for beach holidays. My idea: for funny underwater videos and photos with friends, I quickly packed my action camera and then took a very special selfie. Speaking of selfies:
Selfie videos and sound at concerts
In Iceland, I always like to have the ultra-wide-angle lens attached to the action cam. On the one hand, so that I have a cool lens effect on the shots and, on the other, so that I can take a selfie with the beautiful landscape behind me. With my smartphone, I only have the selfie camera for moments like this.
I really enjoy taking selfies with the GoPro Hero 13 Black. I quickly screw on the stick and thanks to the front display I can see what I'm filming or photographing. The quality is top notch.
On the other hand, I'm often disappointed when filming concerts with my mobile: the sound cuts out and the picture doesn't stay still for a second because I'm jumping around. But I generally don't film at all. I also have a better image stabiliser with the action cam.
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound on the Actioncam: it has three built-in microphones and picks up sounds well. In the example video, I placed three different times of day next to each other. During the day, the image is well lit and sharp. As soon as dusk falls, the action cam shows its weaknesses: the image is blurred and the colours appear pale. In complete darkness, however, the images are fine.
Post-processing: filming sparingly helps!
What I find extremely annoying about videos is the post-production. So much material, so much time and energy spent on a few seconds of film. That's why I kept my clips as short as possible right from the start and filmed them very selectively. This trains my eye and gives me a feel for the moments I really want to capture.
A second point that made post-processing easier for me was that I could load the recordings directly onto my smartphone using an app or quickly open them on my PC via a cloud.
It works less well when I copy the videos via USB-C directly to my Windows computer. After 15 minutes of copying, the GoPro simply stops. So I have to load the other half of the videos in a second pass.
I edited all the videos shown here with DaVinci Resolve. There was something nice about working through my experiences again. But if you prefer to share your videos with the world as quickly as possible, I recommend the GoPro app. It can automatically cut something together from your selection of clips and add music. It's pretty quick and the results are usually good.
Conclusion: An action cam is worthwhile for an infinite number of things
For me, an action cam is definitely an added value, even in my less spectacular everyday life - at least for videos. Compared to a smartphone, the quality isn't really any better. But the camera is far more robust, more compact, has a better image stabiliser and I don't get distracted. Water shots are particularly fun with it.
When taking photos, I have a better overview of the image section with the smartphone and can zoom in closer. However, the results with the GoPro are slightly sharper and more colourful overall.
Have you always wanted to buy an action cam for your videos but were put off because you don't do any action-packed sports? That's definitely not a problem. An action cam has its name for good reasons thanks to its features, but it makes sense in many areas: for documenting your DIY projects, for cookery and baking tutorials, paddleboarding and so on. So if you prefer a small and robust alternative to a mobile phone for filming, an action cam like the GoPro Hero 13 Black is definitely an option.
Do you have an action cam yourself that you can recommend? Maybe even for everyday use? Feel free to share your experiences.
Header image: Michelle Brändle
In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.
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