By the chance of advertising solicitations, I found myself closely examining the Osmo Pocket 3 at the end of 2023. I had never paid attention to other versions of this tool before. However, several reasons prompted me to take out the reading glasses and scrutinize this device's specs with attention.
The reasons:
- First and foremost, age, as mentioned in the summary. It's fantastic to have all this ground filming equipment with my beautiful BMCC6Kpro and its little sister in 4K. Sure, you come out with top-notch footage, but there are situations where this volume of equipment becomes cumbersome in every sense of the word. You need a huge case to move the gear and rig it completely. To summarize: cage, sound, cables, batteries, chargers, lights, cards, computers, screws, steadicam (balancing it is such a hassle!), lenses, and I'm forgetting some. All of this eventually hampers your creativity.
- Despite my admiration for the Inspire 2, I've always liked the Mavic 2 Pro. For its unmatched 'flyability' and the very high image quality of its small 1" sensor. Now, the Osmo 3 is equipped with a 1" sensor. I couldn't help but imagine that these Chinese geniuses would have been inspired by it and, more importantly, improved it, six years after the release of this little drone that will remain in the history of our flying devices for a long time. I watched some YouTube videos, then went for it blindly because, after all, they couldn't downgrade the lens and the technology behind it in six years.
It turned out to be a good decision. Even if you look like a fool with this double premium snickers, it proves to be formidable. And while it obviously doesn't match the quality of a conventional cinema camera, it doesn't have to be ashamed of its image output. After all, the main destinations for our work are the web, and most of our clients (unfortunately) won't notice the difference between a RED image and an Osmo image. Moreover, not everyone has a high-resolution retina display to marvel at the quality but often just a 6" screen like a phone.If the speed of deploying the device is a feat, it's also an advantage because wherever you are, you won't regret not having your (big) equipment since this one slips into your pocket and allows you to draw it in a fraction of a second to produce images to be proud of.
The options for time-lapse, slow-motion, vertical shooting, and light management are numerous. Not to mention the sound, which allows you to 'connect' two DJI Mic2 (tie microphones) and/or capture the ambiance.
Two drawbacks for now: non-existent headphone audio monitoring (or I don't have the right USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter), and no aperture control if you want to stay at 50 fps. You have to play with ND filters...
The battery life is excellent, there is a log. In short, it really holds up well. The smooth connectivity to your phone via Bluetooth through the dedicated app, allows a large screen to compensate low visibility in certain contexts.. Eternal complainers will say it's expensive, but around €700 (for the creator combo, which is the most relevant), it makes it a 'must-have'
There is a slight resemblance to the past Osmo that carried an X5 and its array of lenses. I dare not imagine the day, probably already in progress, when the Osmo 4 will be released, equipped with the lens of a Mavic 3..."
