Don’t waste time with clones or GoPros, a starter should go for a Red Dragon entry level 5k camera at under $20,000
https://www.red.com/DSMC2-DRAGON-X-Camera-Kit
There’s always a camera that’s ‘better’ and a starter is always going to upgrade at some point so there’s no arguement to support telling a starter to buy the best now, as they don’t yet know what’s best for them. By the time they use those better features there will be something new, or they bought the wrong ‘best’
Best sensor, lens, battery life / changeability / charge speed, daylight performance, night performance, light to dark transition, easy access on/off button, confirmation on/off beep, ability to switch off or hide LEDs (giving you away in the dark)
Are WiFi, Bluetooth, back screen and live view of any value or just a waste of battery life out in the field?
What are the options for protective cases, mounting positions - GoPros won the market by being in the right place at the right time with a compact camera that became the go to camera in tv production - not due to ‘quality’ but by being good enough to be used where TV cameras couldn’t go
Most action camera footage goes to YouTube and is viewed on little phone screens of a few inches. Any action camera made in this century is more than adequate for that
My first ‘good’ action camera was an AEE action cam with a complete range of mounts, battery and screen for a fraction of the cost of the genuine GoPro that it had a copy of the chipset inside. I received a phone call the night before a game as Adam had picked one up in passing to check out. Then I stopped off at Maplins in the morning on the way for a camera and memory card, set it up & charged it in my hotel that night and had dark/light transition video in Drakelow tunnels on the Sunday