Years ago, when I travelled for vacations, I would carry a bulky DSLR and a few lenses. Gradually, I relied on my smartphone to journalise the travelogue. Today, I feel that a pocket gimbal camera like the Osmo Pocket 3 is an ideal still and video camera to document life. During my vacation, I saw a healthy number of tourists using a pocket gimbal camera system to record events. It actually appears less intrusive because the system is slim and less conspicuous compared to holding a smartphone. Furthermore, mounting a smartphone on a separate gimbal makes the entire thing even more obvious. With the smartphone becoming more important to our lives, it might be wise to use less of the smartphone to conserve the battery and storage by using a dedicated camera system.
For my review, I received the Creator Combo, which includes these standard kit items: a Type-C to Type-C PD Cable, a Osmo Pocket 3 protective Cover, a DJI Wrist Strap, a Osmo Pocket 3 Handle With 1/4″ thread. It also comes with these additional items: a DJI Mic 2 Transmitter, a DJI Mic 2 Windscreen, a DJI Mic 2 Clip Magnet, a Osmo Pocket 3 Wide-Angle Lens, a Osmo Pocket 3 Battery Handle, a Osmo Mini Tripod, and Osmo Pocket 3 Carrying Bag.
Weighing 179 grams, it now captures with 1-inch CMOS image sensor, full-pixel PDAF, records up to 4K 120fps, capable of D-Log M and 10-bit HLG video recording. It has fixed 20mm FOV, f/2.0 aperture.
It can be a hassle to store the Osmo Pocket 3 in the carrying bag as it takes too long to remove and use it. With the protective cover, I can throw the camera in my bag yet it keeps the gimbal protected. There are also magnetic attachments in the protective cover to store the wide-angle lens.
There is only one physical button and a 5-way jog dial, and took me less than 5 minutes to get the hang of the camera. Turning it on requires just a flip of the touchscreen to landscape mode and it’s ready to shoot within a second. Or, press-hold the record button to turn it on in portrait mode. Use the jog dial to move the gimbal, double-click to re-center the gimbal, triple-click to swivel the camera to selfie quickly. Press-hold the jog dial to lock the gimbal so it will stabilise at the locked position. Swipe from right to access shoot settings, from bottom to access aspect ratio, resolution or frame rate adjustments, from left to access gallery, and from top for other camera settings like brightness, orientation. Tap the bottom left icon to switch among the shoot modes: photo, video, panorama, low-light video, time lapse, slow motion.
The microSD card slot is exposed without a cover, but it allows quick access of the card, which can work in your favour if you are a heavy shooter. The camera is able to charge fully in just 32 minutes, or 80% in just 16 minutes (using 65W PD charger). The built-in battery offers up to 166 minutes of operating time, while an additional battery handle extends usage by 90 minutes.
The DJI Mic 2 is also quite an advanced accessory. Besides the ability to connect wirelessly to the Osmo Pocket 3 to capture audio clearly, it has a built-in memory of 8GB that captures 24-bit 48kHz audio, so you can use it to record sound bites even without the camera. The Osmo Pocket 3 supports up to two microphones and can display the battery and storage life from the menu, as well as the recording peak level.
Bringing the Osmo Pocket 3 gives me more reasons to shoot in video because of the amazing image stability and the compact form factor. The swivel touchscreen also improves usability by displaying the actual aspect ratio. Changing into various shooting modes require just tapping the icon on the bottom left, and upon selection, it will return to the shooting preview screen in one second without requiring to confirm selection.
The Osmo Pocket 3 might be an overkill if you use it to shoot mainly still photos, but it is great for shooting panoramic because the gimbal will move and shoot the various angles and stitch into the perfect image while you hold the camera steady. It supports up to 2x digital zoom for stills, or 4x digital zoom for video.
It is also a great camera to keep the subject always in frame, thanks to active tracking feature. In addition, the DJI Mic 2 clipped onto you will also ensure your video captures only your voice when you are doing a selfie video from a distance. The Creator Combo comes with a compact tripod which is really handy. Screw it onto the battery handle and the Osmo Pocket 3 is almost at eye level when you put the camera on the table. It is also thoughtful to have DJI design a carrying bag to store all the accessories that comes with the Creator Combo.
I did not get to try the Mimo smartphone app because it is not compatible with Google Pixel phones, but the app will allow you to remotely control the Osmo Pocket 3 and do video editing.
Verdict
The Osmo Pocket 3 is a great camera that motivates me – or any owner – to create more video content, because it is so easy to get it right. Powering up is fast, it is comfortable to hold it to do recording, it looks less conspicuous, you can bring it into any tourist attraction where selfie sticks or tripods are prohibited. It has a healthy battery life, recharges rather fast and you can also extend its recording time with battery add-on. The camera can get hot when used continuously. I would say this is the best tool for video log (vlog) creators.
The Osmo Pocket 3 is available to order from store.dji.com and authorized retail partners in the following configurations:
- The Osmo Pocket 3 retails for S$729 and includes the Osmo Pocket 3, a Type-C to Type-C PD Cable, a Osmo Pocket 3 Protective Cover, a DJI Wrist Strap, and a Osmo Pocket 3 Handle With 1/4″ Thread.
- The Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo retails for S$929, and includes these additional items: a DJI Mic 2 Transmitter (Shadow Black), a DJI Mic 2 Windscreen, a DJI Mic 2 Clip Magnet, a Osmo Pocket 3 Wide-Angle lens, a Osmo Pocket 3 Battery Handle, a Osmo Mini Tripod, and Osmo Pocket 3 Carrying Bag.
1 comment
I ordered the Pocket 3 Creator Combo last month from DJI directly because I wanted to have it in time for my Taiwan trip and they delivered early. I also got a 512GB hi-speed mSD card which allows 11hours of footage at 4K30 HDR10+. That’s the maximum supported capacity. Any larger and switching on the device will take too long. Yes, the file system slows down as you have hundreds of files and the mSD starts filling up.
I end up using 6+hours of the card with HEVC encoding. The AVC encoding would have been too inefficient for long hours of footage. I also took about 100 photos/panoramas.
I’m a happy owner of the Pocket 2 but recording at 4K30 (AVC) takes up too much space on the 256GB and battery drains too fast. Shooting in low-light is impossible.
Fortunately, the Pocket 3 came with a much more capable SoC and 1″ sensor with F2.0 lens. Coupled with some computation IQ processing, the pictures and vids in light-low are quite pleasant! I still find the menus a tad slower than I would have liked but perhaps that’s for the best so I can consider my shoots rather than how I just mount the Pocket 2 on my bag strap and walked around.
After 17 days of shooting, I’m even happier with the Pocket 3. With the extended battery, I never ran out of battery on any day. Contrast this to my Pocket 2 where I sometime have to tetter to a power bank. Many of the computation photography from modern phones are also present in the Pocket 3 so the experience is quite seamless for people who are used to using the Pro modes on the phone. The Pro mode in the Pocket 3 is adequate for day to day shooting including shooting the night sky.
The gimbal & 1″ sensor is really the whole point of the Pocket 3. Compared to phone shooting, it’s way better and more consistent. If you have the Pocket 2, Pocket 3 is definitely worth the upgrade price.