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Worried that all these dronecams are going to stop you using your jetpack? Say hi to Osmo.
● Maybe it’s the red tape…
Watching the legal eagles sticking their beaks into all aspects of personal and commercial drone flying, you can imagine DJI being keen to launch a camera that doesn’t need a licence. Or, more likely, it’s seen the opportunity to get its camera and stabilising gimbal tech into people’s hands for a reasonable price. Either way, the Osmo is DJI’s 4K Zenmuse X3 camera, sitting on top of a threeaxis gimbal, sitting on top of a handheld control stick. Tripod and accessory mounts, extension arms and a bike mount give you shooting options if you need your hands free. Those jetpacks don’t fly themselves.
● It’s well quality.
You can buy a naked Osmo and mount any of DJI’s cameras, but the one that comes bundled here has a 1/2.3in Sony Exmor R CMOS sensor coupled to a 20mm, f/2.8 lens with a 94° field of view. Video quality options are comprehensive: 4096x2160 4K at 24fps or 3840x2160 4K at 30fps; plus up to a slow-mo-tastic 120fps in 1080p. Stills are 12MP, and DJI points out that the gimbal stabilisation lets you take creative long-exposure shots with the camera held in your wobbly hand.
● Enjoy direct directing.
Controls on the pole let you take advantage of the motors in the gimbal. There’s an auto photo panorama mode, for example. But you can also manually control the camera – you are the drone now, after all. But if you insist: -35° to 135° tilt, 320° of pan and -50° to 90° of roll are all under your thumb. If you can do that and still shoot straight while, say, riding on the back of a dolphin, we will buy you a pint. (A safe bet for us: the Osmo isn’t waterproof.)
