The DJI OSMO is essentially a selfie stick with a built in camera.
The camera is DJI’s Zenmuse X3 camera.
It has a 6.17 mm x 4.55 mm with a crop factor of 5.5.
It shoots 4k and 2.7k video at 30 and 24 frames per second.
1080p video at 120, 60, 48, 30 and 24 frames per second.
720p video at 60, 48, 30 and 24 frames per second.
And it shoots 12MP still images.
The camera captures in RAW or JPEG, has full manual control, as well as Shutter Priority mode and auto mode, with exposure compensation.
It can shoot bursts of up to 7 photos, can take timelapse video, has a built in intervalometer, and can shoot 180 degree and 360 degree panoramas, as well as HDR photos.
The camera is attached to a 3 axis gimbal, and the when attached to the handle it all weighs just under a pound.
On the handle is the power switch, a video record button, a shutter button, a joystick for moving the camera, a standard tripod mount, a microphone jack, and a trigger.
The OSMO retails for 650 dollars, and it comes with a carrying case, a 950 milliamp battery, a 16GB micro sd card, and a smartphone holder that screws into the tripod mount.
You get the smartphone holder because in order to see what your OSMO sees, or to access the camera’s advanced controls, you need to use the DJI Go mobile app.
You can use the OSMO without the app. You won’t have access to the all the camera’s function, but you can record video and take photos without the app.
With the camera on, you can use the joystick on the back to move the camera around.
This is really nice, but it’s not very precise.
In addition to the joystick you have the trigger on the front which allows you to do three things.
When you tap the trigger twice, regardless of where the camera is pointing, it points the camera forward.
If you tap it three times, it flips the camera into selfie mode, and if you hold the trigger, it locks the focus.
The stabilization is the standout feature of the OSMO, especially for the price, and the OSMO’s stabilization is fantastic.
The video and image quality is damn good.
It is not the best in the world, but it’s damn good.
The OSMO has an on board microphone, but because of the fan, the audio is useless.
The only way to get good audio with the OSMO is to use an external microphone.
The OSMO comes with this 950 milliamp battery, which is supposed to give you one hour of recording time, but in my experience it’s been closer to 50 minutes.
Even if I was getting a full hour, an hour is pretty terrible, and if you plan to use the OSMO for any projects that require you to shoot for more than an hour, you’re going to need to buy more batteries.
Bottom line, I think the OSMO is great, and I don’t regret buying it for a second.
The stabilization is fantastic, the image and video quality is great, the audio quality with an external mic is really good, the time-lapse and other advanced shooting features are really nice, and for $650 this thing is an absolute steal.
The OSMO certainly isn’t perfect.
The battery life is terrible, the low light performance while decent isn’t amazing, it starts up slow, it’s not weather sealed, the camera drifts, the audio doesn’t sync, and the app has is hit or miss for people.
But despite all of that, I think the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.