Tom's Guide's Paul Antill used the Osmo Pocket 3 as his only video camera for 1 week. This is one of the best small travel cameras, but is it good enough to replace his $5000+ “pro” setup? Here’s everything he likes about this lighter pocket-sized camera and some of its biggest limitations.
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00:00I just got back from South by Southwest,
00:02where I placed this big setup with this teeny one.
00:05Let me tell you how the experience went.
00:06This is the DJI Osmo Pocket 3,
00:09with this large one-inch sensor,
00:11it's flip-out screen,
00:12and it's incredible built-in gimbal.
00:14This is the best all-in-one camera that I've used to date.
00:17And so for the past week,
00:18this was my only camera for getting highlights
00:20at the festival, exploring new spots in Austin,
00:23and even snagging interviews and product demos.
00:25So the question is, how well did it do,
00:27and do I regret leaving my usual gear behind?
00:30Now, don't get me wrong, I love my Sony a7S III,
00:32it's what we're filming this video on right now.
00:34And it, along with whatever the latest DJI Ronin gimbal is,
00:37has been part of my video kit for the past few years.
00:39And carrying a bunch of gear around like this
00:41during an event like Southwest
00:42was not something I wanted to do.
00:45And so anything that could make it a little bit easier,
00:48like the Osmo Pocket, was definitely worth considering.
00:50When it came time to pack my bag,
00:52the Pocket's compact size saved me a ton of space and weight.
00:55Unlike my usual rig, which usually has a lot of space,
00:58Unlike my usual rig, which usually tends to hog up
01:01over half of my bag, the Osmo Pocket 3,
01:03and all its accessories, that's including the DJI Mic 2,
01:07which I highly recommend pairing with this,
01:09its battery grip, a selfie stick, and tripod feet,
01:11fit nicely into just one compartment.
01:14And so anything that I can do to make traveling
01:16less of a chore gets two thumbs up from me,
01:17so this is already off to a great start.
01:20Now, there are a lot of reasons you might wanna consider
01:21the Osmo Pocket 3, but for me, the biggest reason, again,
01:25is the fact that I don't need a dedicated gimbal like this.
01:28It's built right in.
01:29Gimbals can usually be awkward to use, awkward to pack,
01:31and when you're not using it, where do you put it?
01:34And so for me, the Osmo Pocket 3 is eliminating
01:37the biggest hurdle when it comes to getting smooth footage.
01:39Because of this, I felt like I was more engaged
01:41with what was actually happening at that moment.
01:43I didn't have to do that awkward ninja walk
01:45or use two hands every time I wanted to film something
01:47and get that smooth motion.
01:49And really, it's as simple as just pointing the camera
01:50in the general direction of what you wanna film,
01:53and you're probably gonna get something good.
01:54When I went to check out ModBike's new easy sidecar e-bike,
01:57I handed it off to their founder, Dor,
01:59and he had no trouble figuring this thing out.
02:04He even ran alongside me during my test ride,
02:06and yes, if it was either of these two cameras,
02:08the results definitely would not have been that pretty.
02:10But beyond those action shots, it's also super easy
02:12to just get some really nice tilts or pans
02:15with a slight move of your wrist,
02:16and you don't really even have to think about it.
02:18But the other thing you don't have to think about
02:20is carrying a dedicated gear or camera bag for your setup.
02:23Because the idea here, just like with your phone,
02:25it's always in your pocket.
02:26You pull it out when you need to,
02:27and you just tuck it away when you're done.
02:28I felt like I could capture quick moments
02:30that I normally wouldn't bother with my other setup.
02:32Sure, I could've relied solely on using my phone,
02:34but the beauty with the Osmo Pocket 3
02:36lies in its ability to deliver high quality,
02:39smoother, and more professional-looking footage,
02:42all without having to drain my phone's battery.
02:44And for an event like South By,
02:45where I would leave my hotel early in the morning
02:47and not get back till about 7 p.m.,
02:49this really did make a huge difference.
02:51And as you've probably heard like a thousand times,
02:53the best camera is always the one on you.
02:55Unlike my usual gear, which often left me questioning
02:57whether it was even worth the hassle
02:59of lugging it around all day,
03:01the Pocket 3 was always on me,
03:02ready to capture whatever I found interesting
03:04throughout my trip.
03:05I even spoke about it with a lot of content creators,
03:07which have similar A7S III or other Sony setups,
03:11big mirrorless DSLRs with big lenses.
03:14And you know what they all complained about?
03:15How heavy and big it was to carry around.
03:17And there were parts later on in our trip
03:19where they just decided
03:20it wasn't worth bringing the Sony with them.
03:22But on the flip side,
03:23there were times where I had wished I had my Sony with me,
03:25just because there are some limitations here.
03:29Right away, something that I don't find very convenient
03:32is its cover.
03:33You see that?
03:33It's meant to protect the gimbal on the front screen
03:35and even hold a few lens attachments.
03:37But in my opinion, this is not well-designed.
03:40First, it doesn't always snap on that quickly,
03:43especially with that joystick.
03:45But more importantly,
03:46the idea is it's supposed to keep, again,
03:48the lens protected.
03:49But you see how easy it is to just have that spin around,
03:52that can be a problem.
03:54And towards the end of my trip,
03:55I actually found myself ditching this a lot
03:57in favor of just sticking it in my pocket
03:58so I can just set it up or tear it down more quickly.
04:01That said, I was delicate with it when I put it in my pocket,
04:04but I think DJI can definitely engineer something
04:06a little bit better.
04:08Like a lot of smaller point-and-shoots and action cameras,
04:10you can quickly start a recording
04:11just by hitting the record button there.
04:15But this has no power button.
04:17To turn it on, you just flip open its screen,
04:20and in a second, it's on.
04:22The two-inch screen boots up quickly,
04:23and not only does this help with framing,
04:25but it's also great for reviewing past clips you've taken
04:27or changing your shooting modes or settings.
04:30You can film up to 4K 120 or 1080p 240 frames per second.
04:34But if you wanna include audio in those clips,
04:36you're capped to 4K 60 frames per second.
04:38But one of the coolest things about this
04:40is I can quickly click the joystick three times,
04:43and I'll switch to selfie mode.
04:45So I can get my shots, my reactions, whatever I'm seeing,
04:48and then three more times,
04:50and then back to whatever I'm looking at.
04:52And so it's been a great way to get both perspectives
04:54with just a few clicks.
04:55One of the other tricks with the Osmo Pocket 3
04:57is that you can flip the screen, hit continue,
05:00and now it's shooting in vertical mode.
05:03I'm putting vertical in quotation marks
05:05because it's not a true vertical.
05:07I mean, the sensor didn't actually rotate.
05:09It's just doing a digital crop on its sides.
05:11It's great for quick social media content,
05:13and I did a lot of it for TikTok and Instagram Reels.
05:16The thing is, though, you're not getting
05:17any additional framing at the top or bottom of your video.
05:20This is really just for convenience
05:22so you don't have to do it in the edit.
05:23But for everything else,
05:24you're pretty much better off
05:25shooting with the full sensor.
05:27That way you're just not artificially locking yourself down.
05:29And while you'd probably think of this
05:31as more of a video recording tool,
05:33it's also really great for recording audio
05:36when paired with the DJI Mic 2s.
05:38But something that's really cool is you can pair
05:40up to two of these directly to the Osmo Pocket 3
05:43via Bluetooth without the need of its transmitter.
05:46When paired and turned on,
05:47they'll automatically sync with the Osmo Pocket 3,
05:49saving you a bunch of hassle and setup.
05:51And to put this to the test,
05:52I did a few interviews,
05:53one with Modbikes and one with Marshall.
05:55I was able to quickly put a microphone on myself
05:58and one on the person I was interviewing.
05:59And with my framing and audio levels all set,
06:01I was ready to go.
06:03I was able to easily monitor my audio levels
06:04directly from the main screen on the Osmo Pocket 3
06:07and make adjustments on the fly if I needed.
06:09And the thing I also really appreciate
06:11is even just using the internal mics,
06:13no need for a lapel,
06:14it's actually really high quality.
06:15You can take this even further
06:17by setting it to record internally
06:19with 32-bit flow using its onboard memory.
06:22And that way, if there's any disconnects or interference,
06:25you still have that as a backup recording.
06:27Which as someone who's run into one too many issues,
06:29this is a must-have feature
06:31because it just gives you a sigh of relief
06:33knowing that you always have that backup recording.
06:36Lastly though, the one area that I found
06:38that this really stood out to me
06:39in the one week I was using it as well,
06:41its ability to not stand out.
06:44Unlike bigger and bulkier cameras,
06:45the Osmo Pocket 3 doesn't really scream,
06:47hey, look at me, I'm filming something.
06:49And sure, I did have a couple people come up to me asking,
06:52hey, is that the new Osmo Pocket 3?
06:53And they wanted to get my thoughts on it, which was fun.
06:56But for the most part, I was able to film what I needed,
06:58fly under the radar.
06:59And as someone who doesn't really like
07:00to draw a lot of attention to themselves
07:02while they're filming in public,
07:04that's something I really appreciated.
07:05Tied in with this though,
07:06this is also great for getting around restrictions
07:08on pro cameras in certain venues.
07:11And the thing is, with the Osmo Pocket 3,
07:12no one really thinks twice
07:13or really cares about you using this thing.
07:15But that also goes for taking a traditional camera
07:17in places where it just wouldn't be smart like a mosh pit.
07:21Because while I wouldn't dare take
07:23any of my other cameras there,
07:24with this, I can kind of just turn my back or hug it
07:27and I felt like it was pretty well protected.
07:32But in my time using this for a week straight
07:34without having my real camera with me,
07:36the biggest limitation I found
07:37was the lack of a real zoom range.
07:39While the Osmo Pockets 3 wide field of view
07:42was fantastic for capturing everything I saw,
07:44it had me struggling a lot
07:45when I wanted to film something
07:46that was either really far away or up close.
07:49And even though it does have
07:50a two times digital crop option,
07:53it's nowhere near as useful
07:54as having three dedicated lenses like I do on my iPhone.
07:58And so for a lot of shots,
07:59I actually preferred using my iPhone
08:00as I could quickly switch
08:01between the different focal lengths.
08:03For example, I could get a quick wide shot
08:05of the whole crowd, a medium of the full band,
08:08and then close up of the singers.
08:09But tied in with that as well,
08:11even though this sees a big upgrade
08:12with its depth of field,
08:14it has a minimum focus distance of about one foot,
08:17which I found out when combined
08:18with its really wide field of view
08:20meant I couldn't really get flattering up close shots.
08:23Again, this is really best
08:24for getting those nice landscapes
08:26or a bunch of your friends in frame at once.
08:28But when you're focusing on just one single subject,
08:30whether that's yourself or a product,
08:33it leaves a lot to be desired.
08:35So what's my takeaway?
08:36Using this as my one main camera
08:38for a week straight at Southwest,
08:40this was definitely an awesome camera to have.
08:42For capturing all my experiences
08:44and being able to take it everywhere I went,
08:45it was the perfect tool.
08:47In the future, I can see myself using this
08:49as my main travel video camera,
08:51though I probably won't be leaving my a7S III
08:54and at least some kind of zoom lens behind
08:56because I know there's a good chance
08:57that I'm gonna wanna have that extra range.
08:59Either I wanna get closer to my subject
09:01or I guess something that's a little bit more
09:02flattering up close.
09:04And so if DJI ever manages to fit a zoom lens on that,
09:07that alone is gonna be worth an upgrade.
09:10So let me know what you think about the Osmo Pocket 3.
09:11Are you using one of these?
09:12Are you considering it?
09:14Does this have everything you need
09:15to make it your one main camera setup?
09:18Let me know in the comments down below.
09:19As always, you can see the latest tech
09:21that we're testing and reviewing
09:22everywhere on socials, at Tom's Guide.
09:24You can also follow me for a more behind the scenes look
09:26into the next videos that I'm working on.
09:28Until the next one, I'll catch you later.