Understanding Action Camera Specs: Field of View and Lens Quality

Most action cams have a fixed fisheye or ultra-wide lens. This lets you capture lots of context – imagine skiing downhill: a wide lens shows not just the trail ahead but your arms, the sky, and the peripheral scenery, really putting the viewer “in your shoes.” A 150–170° diagonal FOV is common for the widest setting, which corresponds to roughly a ~14-16mm focal length in full-frame camera terms (very wide). 

For example, the DJI Osmo Action 4’s lens is about 155° FOV (focal length ~12mm), and GoPro’s default “Wide” is around 122° horizontal (~16mm). Some cameras or mods push even wider: GoPro’s optional Max Lens mod can reach ~177° for an almost 180° view (at lower resolution).

The trade-off of such wide views is distortion. Fisheye lenses bend straight lines (especially at the frame edges) into curves. You might notice the horizon or buildings bowing in GoPro footage – that’s the price of covering a huge angle. Also, because the view is so wide, subjects appear smaller unless they are very close to the camera (wide FOV “pushes things away”). One effect of a wide FOV is a lower apparent pixel density on distant subjects – you cover a big area with a limited pixel count, so you can’t resolve tiny details far away. 

In other words, a wide shot might not show the small text on a sign that a narrow shot could, since the wide image has “more scene per pixel.” Think of it like spreading butter on a large slice of bread – the butter (pixels) is thinner on any given spot.

Not all lenses are created equal. High-quality action cam lenses use multiple glass elements to reduce aberrations and keep the image sharp from center to edge. Cheaper lenses might be softer (blurry) on the edges or prone to lens flare and color fringing in bright light. The FOV spec doesn’t tell you about sharpness, but reviews often point out if a camera’s lens is especially clear or if it has issues. Distortion can be addressed: many cameras offer a “Linear” mode or distortion correction which crops the image a bit to give a rectilinear (straight-line) look. 

For instance, GoPro’s Linear mode (or HorizonLeveling mode) will remove the fisheye warping by using only the center portion of the lens’s view and applying software correction. The result is a narrower FOV (usually around 90–100°) with straight lines. It’s great for when you want a more normal-looking footage (like vlogging, or aerial shots with a horizon). The downside is you lose some of the wide coverage and a few pixels around the edges due to the crop.

Modern cams also sometimes advertise “SuperView” or “HyperView”, which actually use the full tall sensor and dynamically stretch it to an even wider aspect. This yields an extremely wide POV (with intentional distortion) for maximum immersion – great for first-person action but definitely with a fisheye look. Use those for special situations when you want that “GoPro look” of exaggerated perspective.

Interestingly, wide lenses can affect exposure too. A wide fisheye typically has a smaller effective aperture diameter than a longer focal length lens of the same f-stop, meaning slightly less light might hit the sensor. Also, as one guide notes, “wide-angle lenses are great for action... but in low-light, a wider FOV can result in lower overall brightness”. 

This is because the wide lens might be spreading light over a larger sensor area or simply because the scene includes more dark sky or unlit periphery. In practice, if you’re shooting in dim conditions, sometimes using a narrower FOV mode can brighten the image (the camera might digitally zoom to use more of the center of the sensor which could be better exposed). However, the effect is minor compared to sensor size or aperture.

A typical action cam lens might be advertised as “170° super wide-angle.” This likely has noticeable barrel distortion (fisheye effect) at the edges. High-end cams allow flexibility: GoPros and DJIs let you choose wide, linear, or even narrow FOV settings. 

For example, the GoPro Hero11 can shoot in Wide (about 122° horiz.), Linear (about 90° horiz., distortion-corrected), or the new HyperView (super stretched wide using the 8:7 sensor). Also, higher-end lenses tend to be sharper. The GoPro Hero10/11’s lens and the DJI Action’s lens are quite crisp for their class, whereas a no-name $50 cam often has edge blurring.

Practice: Check out our action camera index page and try and find two models with complete opposite FOV angle and see how their specs match.