Putting the Handheld 4K DJI Osmo to the Test...on Trampolines
When the DJI Osmo came out a little over a month ago, it appeared to be a great option for action cam users wanting to capture high quality, stable images with its 4K camera and integrated 3-axis gimbal system.
But as we all know, there are lots of other action cameras out there, as well as little handheld gimbals on which to mount them, namely the GoPro, that are not only cheaper, but have also been vetted by scores of customers. So, to put it to the test, the team over at Lixi Studios took an Osmo to a trampoline park to see how it performed in severely unsteady situations. They follow that up with a short review of its performance in terms of image quality, setup time, and stabilization.
As far as action cameras and documentary filmmaking go, the Osmo is a worthy contender in terms of image quality, but if you're looking at the Osmo through the lens of narrative filmmaking, it's really not meant to be anyone's A-camera. As stated in the video, the X3 model is great on its own if you want to keep a great camera/gimbal combo with you at all times, but the X5 model will incorporate DJI's Zenmuse X5 Micro 4/3 camera, which might put it closer to the image quality of the GH4. This means you could potentially use this version of the Osmo as a B-camera.
Another caveat mentioned in the video was the Osmo's noisy fan, which means any audio picked up from its onboard mic will be polluted and probably won't be usable. As the video below from DroneTech demonstrates, the onboard mic is definitely not ideal, especially when your subject is standing any distance away from the camera. However, considering the fact that you probably shouldn't be recording audio from its onboard mic anyway, this is a small setback, since the Osmo has a 3.5mm port for recording audio with an external mic.
The Osmo is available now for $650.
Source: Lixi Studios
