Mixed Signals (DJI Omso Action 3)
This review boils down to 2 main points; Firstly, the item itself. The Osmo Action 3 has a known issue where there focus when doing closer shots (< 50cm) on some batches is not as clear as other cameras, which was fixed on later models. Taking this into account this I took the chance and bought the camera in the knowledge that, at the very least I would be able to get a replacement that should fix these issues. Apparently not, as one customer service rep has told me this is actually a "quirk" of their camera, one they don't make note of anywhere. I get it, it's an action camera, for recording action shots and large landscapes, and I would normally concede that this would not be a big problem for most people, but the set I ordered came with a selfie stick in the box, and one that is less than 50cm long when at its shortest, suggesting that it should be able to deal with these kinds of shots and actually encourages you to take them with the items included in the box. It seems odd and a bit disingenuous that the camera contains a "feature" that means details are lost when using an item that is sent out with a combo pack that they sell on their own website. Secondly, I spoke to 2 customer service people. The first on their live chat who, after jumping through some hoops agreed that my camera was indeed out of focus as I had suggested and arranged for me to send it back to them for a replacement. Once they had received it I received a phone call saying actually, there is no issue and the focus issue is actually a "quirk" of the camera. So mixed signals from the CS team and I'm not quite sure what to believe. They eventually agreed to send out a new unit but not after a conversation where they suggested either sending back the same unit I sent to them or suggesting alternative cameras from their line. It just seems as though, although there was a case number assigned to me, nobody bothered reading the notes held within or warned me of the potential issue when I first enquired. The reason I gave 2 stars is the people in CS themselves are fine and are just doing their job and they do it fairly well. It’s just a shame that the job is putting them in the line of fire due to the company’s inability to either fix a problem or inform the public of said problem and it really tainted my experience with them.