VIDEO. The Garmin VIRB Ultra 30 takes good video, at a quality like nearly all Action camcorders. Pictures were sharp though not as much as the better models, which means you can see much but not all details and subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations, the video was only fair: fairly dim, soft and grainy. It captures Ultra HD video at 3840x2160 at 30 frames per second (fps), progressive-scan (p). It has an above-normal frame-rate mode 1920x1440 at 80p fps. It also has a super-high frame-rate mode, 1280x960 at 300p fps.
AUDIO. It captures poor audio in mono.
PHOTO QUALITY. In Photo mode it captures at best 12-megapixel stills with good quality.
LENS. The lens has a fixed focal length; it has no zoom capability. The lens also has a very wide-angle (25mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZER. Shooting in well-lit scenes, this model did an excellent job of minimizing the effects of camcorder shake.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. It survived our repeated-drop test. It survived our water-resistance test. It has a large 1.8-inch touchscreen LCD, which has good quality that lets you compose your shots and has decent playback of video. This model is about average in size and much lighter than the average action camcorder.
