I so badly wanted to give this thing a negative review
because of how much it frustrated me,
but the truth is, it got one aspect so impressively right
that I have no choice but to recommend it.
Let's get Undone.
[offbeat music]
♪ Gerald Undone ♪
♪ He's crazy ♪
What is happening, everybody? I'm Gerald Undone
and today we're taking a look at DJI's new Osmo Pocket.
Now, this is the retail version of the Osmo Pocket
that the team over at Camera Canada
was kind enough to lend me for this review.
Camera Canada is well-equipped for all your DJI needs.
So, if you're in the market for a drone,
gimbal, or whatever this crazy little thing is,
make sure you check out their links in the description below.
Now, I mentioned that this model is a retail version
because that's going to play into one of
the many annoyances I suffered with this product.
And in the spirit of building suspense,
we're going to cover all of those annoyances first
before I unveil what made me do a complete 180 with my review.
So, my first complaint is that this retail version
doesn't do everything that the early review copies did
that were being sent out to YouTubers by DJI.
I updated the firmware as soon as I got it and it's running
the latest version as of making this video,
and it still doesn't have raw capture
or the Story Mode features that I saw
in those earlier YouTube reviews.
And some of the colour profiles are missing as well,
like Log and D-Cinelike.
I personally think that this is a pretty slippery move
to generate hype for features that won't be available
in the product upon release.
It creates a sense of disappointment when you first
start using a new creative device that you paid
your hard-earned money for, and the first reaction
that you should have should be excitement, not disappointment.
Now, DJI assures that these features will come
in future updates, but I take major points off for this move.
And speaking of disappointment,
when you first just want to start using the device,
just trying to get this thing working is a big hassle.
You have to activate the device before you can use it
and doing so will require either a phone with a Lightning port
or a USB-C type connection,
or you can get this optional wireless dock.
Unfortunately, all of our regular phones and tablets
use a Micro-USB Type-B connector, so I wasn't actually
able to activate it using my regular devices.
I had to dust off the old iPhone 5S just to get the Osmo working.
And considering Samsung's market share
in the mobile device world, this seems like a strange move
to me to completely cut off that entire segment.
Anyway, so I download this annoying MIMO app,
which in all honesty actually works quite well,
even on older devices like the iPhone 5S.
But it is a little bit laggy, and the entire set-up process
was constantly bombarded by this annoying
and tedious instructional video that kept jump-scaring me
while I was trying to set up the Osmo.
-Before activation -[beep]
download DJI MIMO from the App Store.
Now, although I think the build quality is quite nice,
I do have some issues with some design choices.
For instance, on the bottom is where the USB-C port is;
this is where you would charge it or attach any
external devices like a microphone, and this seems
kind of silly to me because, when something is attached,
obviously you can no longer set it down on its base.
And also, it takes up prime real estate for what would be
the perfect location for a 1/4"-20 thread
so you could mount it on a tripod
or rig it up in some other way.
But currently, there is no way to do that
and this port could have easily been on the side.
Now, I did come up with a workaround for this
when you have it attached to the phone:
you'd attach it like this and then you would get
one of these grips for the phone
that has the 1/4"-20 thread on the bottom,
you'd grip that onto the phone
and then you could obviously attach this to a tripod,
but that's another additional expense.
And speaking of attaching it to a phone,
I do like how the adapters are designed.
I think that they fit well into the body,
they're secure and have a nice fit.
And similarly, into the phone, I think it fits well.
But I dislike how many features require
the phone in order for them to be utilized.
For example, if you want to adjust your exposure settings
or change your frame rate beyond just the 30p and 60p options,
you're going to have to use the phone, and that kind of
defeats the purpose of the device being so tiny.
And speaking of it being tiny,
I don't actually like how small it is.
I like the idea of it being pocket-sized,
and the case that it comes with is well thought-out
and it even accommodates the adapters and connections,
but I just think it might be too small for a fully-grown man.
At least for my hands, anyway.
I've got more of my hand hanging off of this thing
than I do grabbing onto it.
And in order to avoid accidentally pressing
a button or covering up the microphone,
I need to hold it in a way that doesn't feel secure,
and constantly makes me feel like I'm going to drop it.
And as much as I complemented the build quality earlier,
I don't think that it could take a six-foot drop.
And it's not really any better when the phone is attached.
I mean, yes, I can hold it with two hands now,
but I don't really like the idea of it flexing
at a tiny connection point, and I don't like having
the camera so far off axis from the monitor either.
It's a pretty cool idea, but now I feel like
I'm going to drop two things instead of one.
Plus, the economical aspect of the phone.
I mean, sure, everybody probably has one,
but if you factor it in, and you probably should,
because it requires one to activate and to use
the majority of the features, it becomes a pretty expensive
proposition based on today's ridiculous phone prices.
The price of the Osmo itself, however, isn't too bad
at $350 US or $470 CAD, but after the missing features,
some strange dependencies, and some short-sighted
design choices, it was beginning to feel like a bit of a rip-off.
That is until I transferred the footage to my computer
and had a look at it. And that's when my opinions
on this little device started to change.
The image quality produced by this device
is nothing short of outstanding.
I've seen some other reviews online that compared it
to the GoPro, their point-and-shoot,
or even their phone, and they were talking about
the image quality as if it was a bit of a tough call.
It's not a close call at all.
The DJI Osmo Pocket produces the best video quality
that you can get compared to anything even close to its size.
And the video features stomp all over
the other pocket-sized competition.
You get zebras, a histogram, custom white balance,
anti-flicker support, a rule-of-thirds grid,
hell, there's $3,000 video-centric cameras
that we reviewed on this channel
that don't have all of those features.
Now, obviously the features like the histogram
and the zebras are going to require you to have
the phone connected, which again, I dislike.
I wish that the screen on the device was a little bit bigger,
and the correct aspect ratio, and thus again,
the device a little bit bigger to match.
I don't mean double its size, but just increase it 20 to 30%
in a few places, so that way it can
still retain its pocket appeal.
But a smart choice they did make regarding the pro-mode is that
the settings don't drop just because you unplugged the phone.
So, you can use the phone to dial in all the settings
that you want in Pro mode, and then when you unplug
the phone you can still use those settings on the device
without having to have the phone attached anymore.
The only issue, obviously, is that you can't change them,
because if you do change them you have to go back
to Basic mode, and then you'll have to connect
the phone again if you want to re-enable those Pro features.
But I do think it's a smart work-around.
Its low-light performance is quite strong
compared to other pocket-sized devices.
The lens here is a 26mm full-frame equivalent
with a maximum aperture of f/2.
So, that's up to a stop brighter than some of its competition.
And the focal length is nice.
It's wide, but it's not so wide
that it distorts the perspective much.
It's capable of up to 4K60 with 100Mbps bitrate,
and there is this Superfine mode that on the DJI website
claims to give you better quality
through a higher bit-stream, but my tests show
that this might just be some marketing nonsense
disguising basic output sharpening.
First of all, clips recorded at Fine and Superfine
have almost exactly the same bit-rate,
and the look of Superfine can be recreated very easily
by just applying some sharpening to the Fine recordings.
Personally, I always recommend using Fine
because I think it's better to sharpen in post
and start with a slightly softer image.
Plus, the device heats up more when using Superfine
for no apparent benefit.
Now, speaking of heating up, another feature
that this device has that again even $3,000 cameras don't
is there's no 30-minute record limit.
Now, I know that just has to do with import restrictions
based on the category of the device,
but I still think it's worth boasting about.
And when recording for long durations, battery life
isn't that much of a concern either, because the device
can actually be powered while recording over USB.
And depending on the frame rate and resolution combination
you choose it can actually charge while recording as well.
Now, at 4K 60p, the battery definitely goes down,
but it goes down very slowly compared
to when you only use battery power.
On battery power alone you'll get about 90 minutes
of recording at 4K 60p, but if you have USB power supplied,
after 41 minutes of recording I only lost 9% of the battery.
So that's going to be much longer, and this will make it
an excellent device for prolonged time lapses.
And it has a great time lapse feature, which allows you to use
the pan of the gimbal to achieve a bit of a rotating time lapse.
Again, though, there is some semi-false advertising
going on with that.
A lot of the videos and photos demonstrating the time lapse
show that the device balances on its base, when it doesn't.
And it's true, it will balance on the base,
but it doesn't take a lot to knock it over.
And if you're doing a time lapse outside,
even a gentle wind gust can knock this thing back.
And if you do plan on using a prolonged time lapse by using
the USB power, again, there's no way for it to balance
on its base then, because the cable's coming out the bottom.
And like I alluded to earlier, the case is cleverly designed
as well, so that it can accommodate all the different
adapters and you can charge it while its in the case,
you can remove the SD card, and the little Lightning
or USB-C port adapter comes out of the case too.
It's a really well-designed case, it's compact--
-[knocking] -It's pretty protective.
I think the case is a big pro.
And speaking of that memory card, it's microSD
up to a maximum of 256 GB, either FAT32 or exFAT,
but unfortunately, even when you're on exFAT,
it still breaks up the files into 4 GB chunks.
Come on. It's 2018 already,
can we stop breaking up the files please? It's annoying.
Now, when you're doing extended recordings
it does get quite warm.
Not enough to burn you, but I would say after about an hour
of recording it does start to border on uncomfortable.
I didn't test it long enough to see if it would fail
from overheating, but their website says
that there's an operating time of 140 minutes,
so that should give you a reasonable amount of time
to get whatever recording done that you need.
It also has a prerendered 1080p slow motion mode
and two photo modes.
The first one, just a basic photo mode,
which is fine, but I mean,
nothing really to write home about,
but I don't think that's the main feature of this device.
And then the other photo mode is a panorama mode,
which is kind of cool.
It utilizes the gimbal to assemble an ultra-wide photo.
Now, when it comes to that gimbal, I have mixed feelings.
It's great that it exists, and it performs quite well,
with a lot of options to customize its movement,
there's intuitive controls: double-tap to recenter it,
triple-tap to have it turn around and face you.
And it's quite responsive.
But, and this is a huge but, the device is too small
and light for this gimbal to produce that steady of results.
It's so light that even the minor tremors of your hand
will seem like giant earthquakes that the gimbal has to combat.
In order for shots to be truly steady the device
has to be heavy enough to give your muscles
something to respond to and tighten up.
It's very hard to do that with this device.
So, the shots are reasonably steady,
but not as steady as you would expect from the word "gimbal".
[slightly tinny] The audio was improved on the most recent
firmware update and it's not too bad considering that it's just
a tiny pinhole on a micro device.
It faces the same direction as the screen,
so it's definitely intended for self-filming and vlogging.
But again, it's easy to cover up or make noise
into it because there's not really any other place
to put my fingers while trying to hold it securely.
[normal audio] Now, one of the ways that it produces a sharper
image over, say, something like a GoPro is that it actually
focuses, rather than having everything in focus
with a softer, diffracted image. And after the latest
firmware update, the autofocus is pretty good.
Every once in a while it jumps to some random target,
but it mostly does what you want it to,
and it's really good with faces.
It has an easy-to-use tracking system that involves
just drawing a box, and when it's tracking a face
it can actually track the face out of the frame,
which is a pretty cool feature.
The depth of field it produces is usually quite pleasing,
and the in-focus elements are very sharp.
So that's pretty much all the points I wanted to hit on.
And it's been a weird experience for me.
Personally, I don't really like using the device.
I don't enjoy holding it, and it's too light
to be truly gimbal-stable.
I don't like attaching a phone, and I don't like
that I can't use my phone of choice
because of the adapters provided.
I don't like the reliance on accessories,
and I hate the activation process.
Stop doing that, DJI and other companies.
It's dumb and everybody hates it.
I don't like the position of the bottom port,
or the rigging options, and I don't like the sneaky
marketing nonsense like Fine versus Superfine,
or getting YouTubers to promote features that don't exist yet.
If this device was just all of those things
but then produced an image identical to a GoPro or a phone,
I wouldn't be anywhere near recommending it.
Because at least the GoPro can take a beating.
But it doesn't produce that.
Instead, it produces the best image quality
I've ever seen on a device this size,
rivalling cameras that cost multiples of its price.
And it has the entire array of video features
to go along with it: histograms, zebras, custom white-balance,
4K60, USB power supply, and no record limits.
Basically, it's a tiny video camera
that records video better and with more supporting features
than anything else in its size or price range.
And isn't that what's most important?
How well it does its main job?
So, despite everything I dislike about using it,
when it comes to a video camera that fits in your pocket,
there's nothing else I'd rather use.
And that's my question for you guys:
What's most important to you when it comes to a device?
Is it more important that you enjoy using it?
Or is the end result what matters most?
Let me know in the comments below.
But that's going to be it for me.
I hope you found this video helpful
or at least entertaining, and if you did,
make sure you leave it the old thumbs up
and consider subscribing if you haven't already.
But if you did not find this video helpful or entertaining
feel free to hit the dislike button twice.
Alright... I'm done.