DJI Osmo Pocket Review

The DJI Osmo Pocket was of the most awaited cameras to be launched at the end of 2018.

What is better than putting these two words together? Osmo and Pocket, and on top of that add a mini gimbal to it.. DJI OSMO POCKET. We, at GMax Studios got our hands on it and were able to test it to its extremes.

Source: GMax Studios

It has only been few years since a traditional handheld gimbal have launched, DJI has always made a prominent presence in the market with their big gimbals such as Ronin, Ronin M and Ronin MX. But these gimbals are bulky and require assistance. It has not only been a year since DJI released it new gimbal, Ronin S in the market as a competition to Zhiyun Crane.

At the end of the year 2018, DJI outdid itself and introduced the new DJI Osmo Pocket in the market. This was something very much awaited from DJI after Osmo, Osmo Mobile and Osmo Plus.

Some Specifications:

• Weighs up to 116 grams

• 1/2.3” CMOS Sensor

• 26mm Lens

• Video: 4K, Slow Motion and Timelapse

• Photo: JPEG+RAW

We believe the Osmo Pocket is the most ideal camera anyone can have, if they like to shoot a lot of street style.

Stand Alone Mode and Phone Connector Mode

So you could only use the Pocket Osmo through two modes which are, Stand Alone mode and Phone connector mode.
In the stand alone mode you can only use the gimbal as it is and because of the new firmware update you can use this camera without a phone and adjust the settings in the Osmo itself. So that means, you can access the pro-mode through this gimbal alone which lets you adjust the white balance, shutter speed and the ISO. Not only that, but it lets you access the new picture profile DJI embedded in its new firmware update which they are calling D-C Like picture profile.

Source: GMax Studios

Whats really convenient is that DJI added the Pro-mode and focusing modes inside this gimbal, so that means the shooter doesn’t have to take the hassle of charging their phone all the time while connecting it.

The Stand alone mode also lets you adjust the focus mode from AF-C to AF-S or vice-verse.

Source: GMax Studios

Using the phone connector mode allows you to unlock a few of the features that one cannot access in the gimbal itself. Such as, you can use the joysticks to tilt up and down and pan right and left through your phone. One great feature about the phone connector mode is that DJI has included story mode in it where you can basically take the clips and videos you’ve shot and edit them in to a story.

Source: GMax Studios

Source: GMax Studios

Stabilization

The DJI Osmo Pocket has three modes when it comes to stabilization.

• FPV Mode: In this mode, the gimbal will synchronize with the movement to provide a first-person perspective experience. So depending on the movement of the shooter the gimbal will respond creating a smooth transition.

• Follow Mode: The angle between the gimbal’s orientation and shooter’s position remains constant at all times.

• Tilt Locked Mode: In this mode, the camera will not move up or down but will pan as per your hand’s movements.

Source: GMax Studios

Tracking Modes

We believe DJI went overboard with this new gimbal. They somehow squeezed in Active tracking and face tracking in this small device, which we thought was impossible until now.

• Active Tracking: You can use this mode in both stand alone and phone connector mode. In the stand alone mode, all you have to do is double tap the object or the subject you wish to track and viola it tracks until it loses the sight of it. In the phone connector mode, you can drag and draw a rectangle on the object/subject’s face.

• Face Tracking: Similar to the active tracking, you can use this mode in two ways, stand alone and phone connector mode. Face tracking only works in selfie mode/front camera mode where the camera is facing the shooter.

Source: GMax Studios

Video

When it comes to the video quality of this camera, it does exceed our expectations as per its quality as well as the colors. This camera gives the shooter the liberty to choose the file formats before recording any video. You can choose you file type to be MOV or MP4, depending on your preference.
Let us talk about frame rates, this camera can record up to 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 fps in 4K as well as in full HD.

Source: GMax Studios

We also tried to use this camera and get some cinematic slow motion footage. This camera can shoot up to 100 fps. In our opinion, the slow motion video quality does not do justice because as soon as you choose to shoot on this mode the sensor crops in by 50% making the footage look grainy and less sharp.

Photo

The photo quality of this camera is at par. In this mode, the shooter can choose to shoot in either RAW or JPEG, or even RAW+JPEG. It is also possible to change the aspect ratio in the photo mode, like, 3:4, 4:3 or 16:9.
The images below were shot in a RAW format with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Let us know what you think about them in the comments below.

Timelapse

Now let’s talk business! The timelapse mode on this camera! The DJI Osmo Pocket also shoots timelapses as well as motion lapses. The quality isn’t very remarkable but it does its job and is satisfactory. The shooter has the liberty to set the interval, duration and path of the timelapse. To use thew motion lapse in the timelapse mode you are supposed to assign the starting point and an end point to which the gimbal moves.

Source: GMax Studios

Due to its small size the battery does compliment the device as per its usage but in our case it wasn’t enough. DJI has made sure that if you wish to shoot uninterruptedly then you can plug in a charger or a power bank to the device and charge it while shooting.

If you would like to take the full advantage you must buy the accessories DJI is offering with them. Unfortunately, they do not come with the device.

Source: DJI Global

So this is what we really thought about the new DJI Osmo Pocket. Its light, portable and a powerful beast in one. If you wish to know more you can watch our video that we made a few weeks ago (before the firmware update).

Our Verdict