DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Review: Best Vlogging Package?

Well, folks, this is the review that almost never was. DJI reached out and asked, “Can you review the DJI Osmo Pocket 3?” I almost said no, but boy, am I glad that I said yes. Why? Let’s find out.

You may be wondering, “Why didn’t I want to review this?” It’s not really a device that we’ve used in the past. This is the third version; I never had a 2, I never had a 1. But when I saw the email and started to see the specs—the 1-inch sensor—I was really intrigued. In such a small package, how good can that 1-inch sensor be?

READ: DJI OSMO POCKET 3: REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR VIDEOS AND STORYTELLING

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Review

We have the Osmo Action; we’ve had several Osmo Actions, we’ve had a lot of GoPros, and I don’t always like the format of these cameras because, well, they’re just action cameras, right? And you don’t always do action stuff. Sometimes you want to film yourself, sometimes you want to film and have little intricate details taken videos of, and this is something that we do on a regular basis in the office when we record videos.

So I said yes, and like I said in the intro, I’m really glad that we did review the DJI Osmo Pocket 3. The dynamic range, the focus, this thing is so fast at focusing on different objects, even in full auto mode. We were able to do things that I didn’t think were possible in auto mode.

The white balance—usually when you put it in auto, it’s just completely all over the place. This has auto-white balance. Sometimes we have all different sorts of lights in here, and it was able to get good skin color, which is a big deal, quite frankly, for any portable camera.

As far as image quality, this doesn’t look oversharpened. I have an issue with some of these cameras that just oversharpen the image; it just doesn’t look natural. Your face doesn’t look natural; you can see stuff on your skin that doesn’t really exist. This is just spot-on when it comes to image reproduction, and it looks just like it should in real life.

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is Easy to Use

Also, the cool thing is, you can see the screen right here. As I turn it on, the camera turns on. It’s already on—there you go. You can see right away what it looks like. And if you want to switch it into selfie mode, there it is. Now I can go into selfie mode and start recording right away.

And you notice on the screen it actually says that it’s tracking my face automatically. It’s tracking my face, even if I start to turn the camera towards you guys. You can see it right here; it’s actually tracking my face the entire time as I’m rotating, and it’s doing a really good job at it.

So you don’t have to worry about always being exactly in the right position. If you move it up, it’s going to follow; if you move it down, it’s also going to follow. This is just one of the really cool features that’s available in here.

“Let’s make you run upstairs again. You going to try and catch me up the stairs?” “Yeah, of course.” “All right, here we go.” All right, so it lost you there, which I figured. Good News, Don; you don’t have to go any further ’cause it lost you. “Wait, nope, it’s got you again.” “Yeah, I’m just kidding; it really doesn’t. I just wanted to see him walk up these stairs.” Yep, gotcha. It doesn’t have him; it still doesn’t have him; it never did. There you are up there. No, it stopped on like the first level.

And, of course, the beauty of it, too is you can go right here, and you can flip the screen in this direction. And now it starts to record in vertical format. Now, because I’m recording right now, it’s stuck in that horizontal format, but it would do it automatically.

There’s a tiny little button right here in the back, the 5D button, where you can move the camera up, down, left, or right in order to compose your image. Very easy access.

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Accessories

And of course, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 comes with a ton of accessories as well. You have this extended battery right here available. You have an extended little handle right here where you can put the tripod and then directly plug it into the camera. It clips in, and it’s ready to go.

The nice thing here is we’ve got it on a tripod, and we’re doing the auto-tracking shot, so we’re hands-free. We can just continue walking, let it do its thing. Like, I feel like if Bruce Wayne’s parents had this when he was growing up, things might have turned out differently. Game changer, right?

And of course, as far as accessories, it comes with this little thing right here, which is going to be a solid container for the camera in itself. And at the bottom of it, there’s a little wide angle, which is interesting because it doesn’t make it that much wider, just a tiny little bit, so you can get a little bit more into the image. And it’s all magnetized, so you don’t have to really worry about screwing things in here or screwing things up, quite frankly, when you’re recording.

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Wide-Angle

If you have an iPhone, and if you’ve put it into the 0.5x, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is really close, a little bit less wide than that. But it also maintains the straight lines in the back; there’s not a whole lot of distortion going on when you’re moving and using this camera. So, if you have a pretty short arm, that is going to be perfect; it’s going to help you keep your face right in there as you do your vlog.

This thing comes with a full bag. Now, the bag needs to be about a quarter-inch bigger just so you can fit all of it in here without having to struggle too much with the zipper. But all in all, I used it this weekend, carried it around quite a bit, and it’s very handy, and it all fits in here.

DJI Mic 2 comes with Creator Content Package

The last very cool accessory in here is this microphone, which comes with the Creator content package, and it’s going to link directly to your camera. So you will be able to turn this on. If the camera is turned on, it’s going to link directly and start recording the footage.

Now, as far as the settings, you might be wondering what we have available in here, and there’s a variety of different things. It’s always when you turn it on, it’s going to have that face auto-detect, which is well, easy to click on, and then get that footage started.

You can also do the dynamic framing, which is where you’ll be able to push the button and then click on the subject that you want to select on the image, and then it’s going to stay focused on that. So maybe it’s not a face, but maybe you’re trying to follow an object or somebody from a distance, or whatever it is, you can do it from here.

And then, lastly, we have the spin shot, which allows you to perform an automated rotation of the camera on the DJI Osmo Pocket 3. But these are the three features available on the left side. From here, in the bottom right corner, you have the ability to switch between the camera being straightforward or going back into the selfie mode, which brings us straight into the shot. Of course, here I’m cut off, so I’m going to use my 5D button to bring it back right here.

Then, on the bottom left, we have the ability to record different types of footage. We have the photo mode, obviously, as well as video. You have panorama, and the ability to do low-light videos, which is actually quite amazing. The ability to capture light like no other camera we’ve seen before, quite frankly, in terms of the treatment of the image.

Slow-Motion 4K at 120fps

Additionally, we can do slow motion. You can record in 4K at 120 frames per second, or in 1080p at 200 frames per second. We can also do time-lapse or motion-lapse, where the camera is able to move as it tracks an object.

What you find is that this camera is actually extremely stable. We’re going to do a wind test—super scientific, very scientific—holding the pocket outside of the window and going fast. Basically, no wind today as I’m filming the American flag that’s flapping in the wind.

All in all, this thing, I think, is pretty powerful. I’m sure glad that we did the review. From the image quality—the first time we plugged it into the computer, everybody was like, “Whoa, look at the quality of the footage here.” The microphone right here, I think, is also a great addition. This little thing right here is an extra battery, and just the portability of it, in general, I think, is the way to go.

Especially, let me know in the comments if the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is something that you’re interested in, maybe a new device that you haven’t thought about, that you might be adding into your toolbox.

And that’s it. I’ll see you in the next video.