Took the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo Kit on a long trip - review 4K

back in November of last year I got the osmo pocket 3 from DJI now they didn't send it to me I'm not big enough for that I bought it from Amazon I was about to head off on an international trip for a month and I decided the pocket 3 would probably be a good thing to bring along with me I took a ton of footage while I was over in Europe I was in the UK I was in London I was in the South Coast I was up in the English Lake District up in the Northwest I took a lot of footage in different environments and different different different conditions I'll try and put as much of that as I can in this just so you can get some feeling for the video quality the ease of use also the audio quality too because that to me was one of the game changers the osmo pocket 3 is a small camera on a gimbal in a pocketable form factor it's the third generation product in this range that's why it's called pocket 3 I had a pocket 2 but I sold it as soon as the pocket 3 was announced so I can't actually do a comparison here the camera is on a gimbal a mechanical gimbal it's a 1in in sensor this sets it apart from some of the previous versions and continues the trend of larger sensors being put into some of the smaller consumer video cameras it has a rotating 2in screen that you can also set to turn on the camera and the gimbal when you flip the screen open it's quite a cool movement just to flip it open the Pocket 3 will record in 4k at any standard frame rate up to 120 frames a second so there's plenty of opportunities for slowmo as well as regular footage without losing resolution it can record in DJI log format which is called dlog HDR video as well and now with the latest firware upgrade it can do dlog and HDR in slow-mo as well as regular video footage it has very fast autofocusing with a face detect mode that will prioritize faces when it's focusing on whatever you're looking at the latest version of dji's active track is on here too it's now up to version six the tracking is good I mean if I if I move this you'll see that it's following me um this is just on standard gimbal speed let me just change hands here so the tracking is not bad at all it's it's not losing me this is way better than the pocket 2 and actually works really well which the pocket 2 didn't it can track a selectable object a person or it can just track you whenever you turn the camera around onto selfie mode now the Creator combo that I got comes with a whole bunch of stuff including an extended grip that has a tripod mount in its base an even longer extended grip that also has a battery pack in it and a tripod sock in the a small tripod that is way better than the weird thing that came with the pocket 2 a wireless mic 2 that connects directly with the pocket 3 a lanyard wideangle lens and a USBC charging cable all in a really nice handy dandy case that fits everything perfectly now other than say some ND or polarizing filters that's pretty much all you need to get going it doesn't include any ND filters even in the combo kit or the black m filter or any polarizing filters either controls on the pocket three nice and simple there is a touchscreen a record button and also a joystick uh that's also a pressable button too so the way you turn on the pocket 3 is super inuitive you just bring the camera up you flip the screen around and once the camera is held up it's already powered on all you now have to do is press record now you can set it like I have here to always be pointing forwards but you can also set it up to be in selfie mode when you first turn it on um either way you can flip it around from one to the other just by hitting that Joy pad three times and it will quickly rotate the screen is super bright it's a 700 nits apparently um I've never found it difficult to see clearly in any light even direct sunlight it's a very intuitive touchscreen with a swipe from The Edge approach that's actually very familiar to other similar products uh you swipe down for settings you swipe up for shutter and frame rate you swipe left for exposure audio and other recording settings or you swipe right for playback or you just touch the icons on the screen to access those functions too it feels very high quality the standard design and the components from DJI is really really good I've been recording with this for quite a while today so far I do have the battery G with me but I'm not using it right now actually I hope the battery holds out because I haven't got a USBC cable I'd have to buy one I've been walking around every day I've had this camera in my pocket or out and I've been recording quite a bit of footage and I haven't felt the need to attach the battery pack at all the Pocky 3 itself is just under 3 hours I think it's 166 minutes runtime if you then plug the handle in which has got a charge battery in it and the handle will immediately start charging this handle gives you something like another 2/3 of Maximum battery capacity I believe it's just over 60% so you know you're going to be well over 3 hours of Total runtime in terms of battery life it's fantastic and but more incredibly is how quickly it charges it charged from 46% back to 100% in like 15 minutes maybe should time it but I haven't done but it just felt like no time at all to actually recharge this the combination of that large sensor that one-in sensor and a mechanical gimbal make this a low light stable monster softwar driven stabilization has come a long way in recent years and he's actually getting very good but as soon as the light starts to fade you lose that ability to hold the image stable and maintain High image Quality Mechanical gimbal like the one in the Pocky 3 doesn't need that doesn't need to see anything to hold the camera stable so it can continue to stay stable even when the light is failing the audio that comes from the built-in microphones is really really good it records in Stereo from the multiple mics around the pocket 3 and you can also select a wind noise reduction too now if you want to go super compact get rid of the extended handle get rid of the tripod which actually is a very good way to hold this and don't bother with the external mic but then you got to hold it very carefully between your your fingers and your thumb to First not make sure you don't drop it that's what the land is for and secondly don't cover the microphones because nothing kills audio like your thumb over a microphone does it you just have to be careful you don't hold those mics there's a larger one on the front or the side with the screen that you'd look at very easy to put your thumb over that but the real Beauty here is the DJI wireless mic 2 that comes with the kit in this case I've put the wind filter on it this comes to the creative combo kit it connects directly to the pocket 3 there's no extra attachment needed like there was on pocket 2 and once it's connected it's fully integrated I can see the recording level graphically on the screen I can select wind reduction on and off I can internally record a 32-bit float audio track direct to memory on the mic and I can start and stop recording video on the pocket 3 just by pressing a button on the mic as well now in addition to video there are some other modes as well there is the slow motion I talked about before at 120 frames a second there is Time Lapse actually called motion laps there's spinshot and panorama photos slow motion is really good 120 frames a second in 4k that's super slow and super smooth motion lamps is also a great feature it's a shame there isn't a start timer though that would allow me to leave the pocket 3 on a balcony overnight say to record the sunrise like a GoPro but it's still very cool and very easy to use spin shots well I haven't really used that too much it actually feels a bit cheesy to me so this is the ability to rotate the image as you go how many times am I going to use that I don't know I don't think I will I'm not also intending to use the pocket 3 for photographs I usually will have another camera on me at the same time so maybe it could be used for panoramas but I don't think I'm going to be using it at all for photos so I haven't tested it I've generally been using this in standard video mode with auto exposure at 4K 24 frames a second in 16x9 aspect ratio most of the time I've used that wireless mic just because it's so easy to set up and use and the audio from it is so good you don't need to look at any screens or do anything you just turn it on it connects automatically so this is all using the uh the external mic and I'm doing nothing to the sound the low pass filter is on the Wind muff is on you can't call it a dead cat it's way too small dead mouse doesn't sound so good does it so this is probably a good test it's the cliffs Southern England January and this a bit windy so I'm using an external microphone DJI wireless mic 2 it's got the uh it's got the wind mler on so this would be a good test I wanted to do this in London the other day I couldn't do it cuz it was raining you can't use this in the rain it's a bit windy good mic test maybe so if you can hear me this is the south coast of England I know southwest coast I know this area really well most of my life from being a kid to being a parent of young children I would be here frequently I haven't been here for a few years probably 10 12 don't live in the UK anymore as if you watch other videos you'd realize came back to catch up with some people and see a few places like this not on the south coast now up in the English Lake District and this would have been a really good test normally for the wind performance of this mic but there's no wind so I guess it isn't but it was raining earlier on so we couldn't bring this out because you can't use a pocket 3 in the rain anyhow welcome to the legs I've been holding the pocket 3 using the extension handle that's the shorter one not the one with the battery in it uh and then put the tripod on the bottom too which gives me a nice long grip to be able to hold it securely arms length without really having to hold my arm elevated I do have the lanyard on it too it was extremely tricky to install but once it was on there it gives me a lot more security particularly if I'm holding it over a bridge or something like that which I was doing quite a bit of haven't generally been using the wideangle adapter it's very easy to install because it's magnetic but in my experience it's also very easy to lose track of and significantly asks all the admin you have to do to use it when you turn the pocket 3 off it detects the fact that there is a wideangle adapter on the lens and it will then rotate the gimbal to keep the lens out of the safe space it would normally hide in because it wouldn't fit with the adapter on it so pretty clever but it means that the lens is not protected and the wideangle adapter has a risk of falling off in my pocket or my bag so really I have to remove it and store it and then reinstall it when I power the pocket 3 back on again or without dropping the lens losing it or getting fingerprints all over it no thanks I think I'll just hold it a bit further away from me and use that to get the shot that I want now I have been keeping the pocket 3 either loose in my zipped jacket pocket or in the Creator combo zip case that that came with and then in my Peak design sling I learned something else about the pocket 3 today I shot but will not use a video where I said you don't need the hard case the gimbal locks put it in your pocket when you're not using it and providing you're not doing rough and tumble stuff you know it's just in the pocket of your jacket then it's going to be perfectly safe because the gimbal is pretty strong it does close up and there's some magnets that kind of hold it in place I shouldn't be a setad of breath guess I'm talking as well but I've noticed that a couple of times I've pulled this out of my pocket and the screen is still in the closed position I thought it was off but it says something like gimbal protection enabled which means the gimbals move too much and somehow with the power on and that's caused it to go into gimbal protection mode which because I haven't read the instructions on that piece means I've just had to basically turn it off and turn on a couple of times and reset the gimbal but that tells me it's probably not a good idea to put it loose in a pocket I'm not talking about Jeans denim pocket here I'm talking about the pocket of a jacket where I didn't feel like it was under any pressure didn't really feel like isn't this beautiful didn't really feel like it was going to cause a problem but okay in the last week or so I've realized even even though I've got the creative combo with the beautiful I can't believe I'm saying that but that beautiful little zipped case that just seems to fit everything perfectly just like the mini3 pro and all the other drones G DJI do these days man those guys know how to design a case anyhow you need the hard slip case as well I haven't really used a hard slip case that came with it I find that the case grips the screen just a little too much for my liking now there are some theories out there that this can and has damaged the screens of some of the early pocket 3s I don't see that much force being applied but as you pull a pocket 3 out of that slpc case it does look like there's a little bit of pressure being put on the screen so I haven't had a problem with it but that's enough for me to decide I'm not going to be using that hard case on a regular basis so do I like it yeah absolutely love it um here's here's what I like about it it is so well built so well designed and so easy to use is difficult not to like the key features of it this is now a third generation product and it really shows that DJI have not just warmed up the previous model and stuck a new label on it they've really gone all out and designed a fantastic product it is larger than the pocket 2 it's got the same basic form factor but the total design of it the way it handles the way it performs is a total step change from the pocket to the video and audio from this exceed anything I would be demanding of it in the uses I would put it to which is basically walking vlogging and filming the scenes around me if I had to list the highlights they would probably include build quality ease of use video performance in normal enow light the 120 Fram a second 4K slow-mo mode and the audio capabilities with the wireless mic too but really I like pretty much everything about pocket 3 there's only really two things I don't like about it one I don't like his lack of weatherproofing so every time it rained on this trip I had to put it away or leave it at the hotel and instead reach for the GoPro which does limit when when and where I can use it pocket 3 is not rain proof snow proof probably not sweat proof it's not drop proof and not something I'll go rock climbing snowboarding or diving with DJI have made zero attempts to make this weatherproof in any way even the micro SD card slot is completely open to the elements the second issue I have is I do a lot of walking and talking Vlogs now this does a good job of stabilizing the footage but a GoPro does a better job just because it's using software to smooth out that footage it's not limited to the three axes of a mechanical gimbal so this is this is Regions Park so this is fairly Central in London I came into Baker Street Tube Station heading now to Region's Park Tube Station that's the subway the underground but you can see I'm bobbing up and down here as I walk now if I was doing this with my GoPro that Bobble that up and down movement which a mechanical three-way gimbal or free AIS gimbal cannot compensate for the electronic stabilization of something like a GoPro can so for this sort of thing I'm actually better off I think using a GoPro and if I want to be really cheeky about it I can still use this microphone I can still use a DJI wireless mic 2 that came with the osmo PO 3 combo because I can use the 32-bit float internal recording on it so I can still use that as a microphone with my GoPro sync the sound up which also means my sound is consistent regardless which camera I use which sounds like an nor microphone now I can make the footage more stable with a so-called ninja walk Google it that's fine for creating a scene shot but not when you're walking and talking I probably trip up if I tried it and any thoughts about being discreet in public while talking into a camera and doing doing a ninja walk at the same time yeah no in return for the ease of use the wonderful video and audio quality and just about everything else I love about this I can live without those two shortcomings they're not really issues they're just a result of the design direction that DJ I've taken with this camera this is a unique design there really is nothing out there like this if this is a camera with an electronic stabilized camera instead of a gimbal I think I'd still be singing as Praises but then that would be the action for I guess wouldn't it it's a YouTuber's dream product you could potentially just get this creative combo kit at a light and be in business very very quickly and it all packs up so nicely in this bag I do have a thing about cases and bags and DJI do a really good job of this no one else really makes anything comparable in this market DJI do have though a competitive Advantage a lot of the tech in this pocket 3 has been ported from their drone product lines the mavic's and the minis the gimbal technology the software the sensors the lenses it's not exactly the same but there's enough similar DNA to make it clear that they're doing a really good job leveraging the Technologies they have across different product lines if you want to record video and you want the best combination of small size lightweight great stabilization low light video Performance Audio performance super fast battery charging uh back up with a great name this has really got to be on your list it's in a class of its own there's no other consumer camera that offers this sort of package at this price point compared to the osmo pocket 3 now there are two versions of the pocket 3 the cameras are the same but there's two packages the pocket 3 retails here in the US for $669 for the creative combo kit or 519 for the pocket 3 basic camera package both of those are currently backordered by about two weeks at Amazon Adorama and other major retailers that's been the case pretty much since the pocket 3 was launched the Creator combo kit in my opinion is hands down the best value for what you get yet which is very typical actually of the marketing approach that DJI usually takes with their creator combo kits or their fly moreall combo kits with their drones they clearly price them so it's very easy to see the value of the combo kit and likely therefore that you upsell and you get the combo kit instead of the basic camera in this case the uplift that's that's more expensive to you or me from the basic camera to the Creator combo kit is about 150 bucks us for which you get the extension handle the battery grip the tripod the soft case the wireless mic 2 if you can afford it and you see this as your main video vlogging kit then definitely look at the creative combo if budget is tight you can buy the basic one and then buy the wireless mic to at a later date it retails for $99 on its own but then you don't get all the other bits as well including the case and the battery I'm very glad I bought this I'm very glad I took the pocket 3 with me on my recent trip I used it on that trip more than I expected to it became a constant companion I like to travel light when I'm a tourist although if you travel with me you probably would laugh at that my camera bag is a peak design six L sling which is a small bag that is discret doesn't take a lot of space and doesn't allow me to carry too much stuff either which keeps the weight down on this trip that meant I could carry my Sony a7c camera with a lens on it a Spare lens spare battery for it and also the entire pocket 3 Creator combo kit and with that Crea a combo kit I'm also good for multiple scenarios while out and about now her running cycling hiking in the rain or something similar then I use the GoPro Hero 12 instead because that's better suited for those situations or maybe the go3 my name is Julian if I can run with it bike with it hike with it film with it or occasionally swim with it I'll put videos about it here on YouTube if that's something that's of interest to you please do consider subscribing to the channel if you like this video please do give it a like as well that helps the channel immensely thank you so much for watching I look forward to seeing you again very very soon

Channel: Julian C

Views: 43,089

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Id: GoXJulGzuWA

Length: 20min 55sec (1255 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 03 2024