DJI Osmo Handheld 4K Camera and 3-Axis Gimbal

fastfinger said:
Question: I know initially you need a phone but after it's setup can you record without sinking up to a phone? Will it remember previous settings?
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The biggest problem is that you just won't have much of an idea what you are shooting since there isn't a monitor on the osmo.
 
puredrifting said:
Pretty damned boring clip of me walking through my kitchen but it was the first thing I had time to shoot. I also notice in this clip that the minimum focus distance isn't that great, you can see where stuff gets bkurry as I move closer than about 18" as I move the camera close to the appliances on the counter and the oil bottles on the shelf. This was shot 1080 24p ISO 800 1/50th shutter
https://vimeo.com/biglittlefilms/review/145316383/922d6c5a2d
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I see what your talking about. To me it seems that there is a rate of movement that it does that at. Not when your fast or very slow, inbetween.
 
Drifting, the video of your kitchen looks fine. Especially on the iPhone 6+ and retina MacBook. What really do you expect from a $650 camera AND gimbal with a small sensor on top of that? You gonna do that move into your kitchen sink with a ronin and red weapon? Gonna get that with a steadicam and Alexa?

I think ink one needs to realize and understand what and how the Osmo with the X3 can be useful for. Even the X5. It's a simple way to add a dynamic tracking shot to a project, and on the fly of cuff so to speak. Always at the ready for additional ideas to give the project so glam. And if you own the inspire, it works seamlessly to get that shot in the air and with basically zero hassle. Keeping in perspective of what you have at your disposal and its ease of use, it's another tool. It's also another stepping stone for future devices that don't break the bank to add onto the tool shed.

I think ink once people put that into perspective, there should be very little to complain about. Think about it, a 4K camera on a dedicated gimbal that you view through a smartphone. What would that have set you back 5 years ago?
 
cpreston said:
The biggest problem is that you just won't have much of an idea what you are shooting since there isn't a monitor on the osmo.
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When using it like a Gopro or most POV cams with a wide lens. Flashlight mode should be pretty easy to aim, or not?
 
dustylense said:
Drifting, the video of your kitchen looks fine. Especially on the iPhone 6+ and retina MacBook. What really do you expect from a $650 camera AND gimbal with a small sensor on top of that? You gonna do that move into your kitchen sink with a ronin and red weapon? Gonna get that with a steadicam and Alexa?

I think ink one needs to realize and understand what and how the Osmo with the X3 can be useful for. Even the X5. It's a simple way to add a dynamic tracking shot to a project, and on the fly of cuff so to speak. Always at the ready for additional ideas to give the project so glam. And if you own the inspire, it works seamlessly to get that shot in the air and with basically zero hassle. Keeping in perspective of what you have at your disposal and its ease of use, it's another tool. It's also another stepping stone for future devices that don't break the bank to add onto the tool shed.

I think ink once people put that into perspective, there should be very little to complain about. Think about it, a 4K camera on a dedicated gimbal that you view through a smartphone. What would that have set you back 5 years ago?
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Hi Dusty:

Oh, I definitely take it into perspective. If DJI would just address a few small issues, I would give it 5 out of 5 stars. I will be using it exactly how you mention it, not as a main camera, more as a "seasoning" on multi-camera shoots probably. It will be good for travel. I love that I can control the direction of the camera with my phone, that is brilliant for some applications.

1. The fan - I know they could figure out a way to make it with a heat sink instead. The little fan runs all of the time and is loud, especially for interiors. It's one thing if the audio sucks, so does Go Pro audio, but it's another thing if it makes so much fan noise that it doesn't even allow for clean second system recording.
2. The compression - Based upon what I am seeing, the 4k just looks pretty bad, 60 Mbps is not very good for an image that huge. The 1080 looks usable for a lot of things, especially for web video.
3. The phone bracket - with just a bit more effort and or planning, they could have made it more usable for those with thicker phones. If I am going to shoot a decent amount of footage in a day with Osmo, there is no way my iPhone is going to last more than 45 minutes, displaying full screen/full motion video the whole time. This means I need the battery case. Problem is, with the battery case, the bracket barely holds the phone and it falls out, ot has fallen out twice on me so far. So I may end up with a cracked screen, if I use the battery case with Osmo, but I need the battery case to make the phone run long enough for a decent shooting session, etc. So the problem with the bracket ends up eating it's own tail.

From an engineering standpoint, it's brilliantly done. From an operational standpoint, it is lacking some basic items that are important, audio, better codec/data rate (as an option at least!) and a better engineered phone bracket.
 
fastfinger said:
When using it like a Gopro or most POV cams with a wide lens. Flashlight mode should be pretty easy to aim, or not?
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Sure, if you don't care about your framing. It works for action cameras because they're designed for fast action where no one is going to be paying attention to the framing anyway, since they're usually paying attention to much more important things like where they're going and where their paddle is going. For film though, any serious cinematographer + director will want precise framing, so the flashlight mode is not a viable option.
 
fastfinger said:
When using it like a Gopro or most POV cams with a wide lens. Flashlight mode should be pretty easy to aim, or not?
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Go Pros have a much wider FOV. The FOV on the Osmo is only 94 degrees. It's wide(ish) but nothing like the Go Pros. Would be much harder to shoot blind.
 
Tamerlin said:
Sure, if you don't care about your framing. It works for action cameras because they're designed for fast action where no one is going to be paying attention to the framing anyway, since they're usually paying attention to much more important things like where they're going and where their paddle is going. For film though, any serious cinematographer + director will want precise framing, so the flashlight mode is not a viable option.
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I shoot outdoors mostly. You can't really see a phone well in bright light anyway. Would rather watch where I'm walking. Also what is the delay when sinking up to a phone?

Thanks for your help
 
Regarding the cradle, since I don't use a case I find the cradle to be a decent solution to quickly mounting a phone. Even with a standard case, I think it would work fine. I wish it used something other than a rosette for angle, but I guess they thought people would be using the mount as a secondary handle.
 
fastfinger said:
I shoot outdoors mostly. You can't really see a phone well in bright light anyway. Would rather watch where I'm walking. Also what is the delay when sinking up to a phone?

Thanks for your help
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Syncing to an iphone basically just requires opening the app and hitting the screen once if you already have the wifi set-up. You certainly don't have to use the screen, you could just set it auto and hit record and it will probably give you a perfectly decent wide walking shot with the horizon in the center of the frame.
 
cpreston said:
Syncing to an iphone basically just requires opening the app and hitting the screen once if you already have the wifi set-up. You certainly don't have to use the screen, you could just set it auto and hit record and it will probably give you a perfectly decent wide walking shot with the horizon in the center of the frame.
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Perfect, just want it for cut in stuff. I have to shoot blind often with an ac90 and get good results.
 
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DJI just added color profiles to the OSMO through an update to the DJI GO app. They definitely feel more like color profiles versus the desired ability to actually have control over sharpening and contrast. D-Log reduces saturation quite a bit, but not in a way helps to protect highlights.
 
Anyone have anything good they have shot with their Osmo yet? Mines been sitting in the cabinet in my office, I have been buried with writing assignments, no shoot booked until December 10th.
 
I shot a bunch of car lot stuff with it, some footage inside a gym. looks great! I don't have time to post it today, but I can upload some of it tomorrow
 
A very interesting device! Here's a bit of testing. Low light is not good but I can see all kinds of applications for it. Too bad you can't lock the focus even with a smaller sensor...

 
Tested mine skiing this weekend. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. I would like to use it as a follow cam on a downhill skier, but I was worried about how much wind speed it could handle.
I went as fast as I could on our smal local hill and the Osmo never stopped working or were thrown off axis by the wind. Impressed.
The image is ok.
Will yse it at higher speeds tomorrow on a proper job.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about wind overloading the motors on the X3... it's the same basic camera/gimbal that's used on the Inspire and I've had my Inspire flying at a pretty good clip with no ill effects on the camera.
 
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