I got the DJI Osmo
- walking (see this gimbal on/off test for how bad it looks without any electronic magic)
- from a Robinson R44 helicopter (trying to make it as smooth as from an $800 drone; it was probably a big mistake to capture 4K 30p rather than standard HD resolution at 60p or 120p (both available options))
[I’m not loving the 1/2.3″ sensor (GoPro-sized) but the stability is way better than my experiments using a gyro: suburbs; downtown Boston.]
The idea of this device is fantastic, in my opinion. Instead of trying to stabilize a monster camera, complete with heavy battery and LCD screen, just stabilize the lens and sensor. Push everything else out of the gimbal. Battery life is an issue. We consumed 50 percent of the battery capturing 22 minutes of 4K 30p footage over a 30-minute period from the helicopter. It would be great to have a cigarette lighter power option. The included 16 GB memory card is not going to last for much more than one complete battery, so I immediately purchased a SanDisk 64GB Micro SD
This is a great product for older parents. If you point the stick straight down the gimbal system figures that out and reorients the camera/image. Now you’re capturing stabilized video at toddler height without bending over or crawling. You can also point the stick forward (“flashlight mode”) and have the camera align itself. (Switching among these modes doesn’t work as well in a helicopter; the system seems to get confused and the result can be a tilted horizon or video in a vertical format (Smartphone-owner style!).)
Potentially serious weak point: The microphone doesn’t pick up a lot of sound. With everything set to automatic it is nowhere near as sensitive as the microphone on a mobile phone recording even a distant subject or the on-camera mic of a digital camera.
Nits: The phone holder is a little tight for an iPhone 6 Plus with case. Sometimes the device gets extremely confused
Project for an Aero/Astro Engineering master’s student: Mount this on the crosstube of a helicopter’s landing gear, run a wire out to it for power from the helicopter electrical system, let the videographer control the camera from inside the helicopter via WiFi (everything that can be done from the switches on the handle, including panning and tilting, can be done from a smartphone), spend the rest of your professional life trying to get the FAA to approve it… [Please email if you are interested in doing this; I will pay for the required hardware, provide a Robinson R44 and pilot for flight tests, etc.]
Over-extrapolation: At $650, this is roughly a $400,000 value, by the standards of a decade ago (see SHOTOVER, and Cineflex for traditional tech). If this is how fast electro-mechanical technology can move, should we be so terrified of global warming? Isn’t there a chance that some crazy advanced technologies will be available to save the planet cheaply in 15 or 20 years? (on the other hand, the weakest feature of the Osmo is battery life) Separately, if this is what the young minds of Shenzhen can design and build, does it make sense for our political candidates to talk about tax rates from the 1950s, spending decisions that Johnson made in the 1960s, tax cuts that Reagan pushed through in the 1980s, etc. (notice how nobody wants to recall the 1970s! It is like a bad dream for Americans, though there was an amazing amount of deregulation (legacy of Gerald Ford, primarily))? Almost any political system works a lot better if you don’t have to compete with companies like DJI.
I bought this system after your original post on the Osmo (and seems to have gotten it before you!), and love it so far. You’re right, the mic is its biggest weakness – the internal mic constantly pick up the noise of the gimbal. My solution thus far has been to carry a RØDE Stereo VideoMic Pro in my left hand, attached to the Osmo via the 3.5mm audio in. With the RØDE mic set to 20+ dB gain (to combat preamp noise) and high-pass filter (to kill the gimbal noise.
The GoPro sized sensor is not great, but it’s a lot easier to use than a Ronin-M with a Nikon D800 + lens. However, it appears that you can upgrade the camera/sensor package to a micro 3/4 based Zenmuse X5 while keeping the Osmo handle.
The FAA part might not be that difficult. See http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/FAA-camera-memo.php
How about a Ram mount attached to the ground handling ball?
Interesting, Tom. Thanks for those links. I would want a pretty solid attachment to the ball so it would probably have to be custom-designed. That isn’t some sort of standard, is it? The attachment needs to latch in, not just be accomplished with friction. And it would be nice to have a ball to shield the gimbal from wind. The DJI Inspire 1 has a maximum speed of 50 mph (22 meters per second). I don’t think that the gimbal is designed to operate in a standard 80-120 mph wind that would be generated by a Robinson R44. Finally we would want a cable from ship power out to the gimbal, which puts us back into FAA hell (I think).
“The DJI Inspire 1 has a maximum speed of 50 mph (22 meters per second). I don’t think that the gimbal is designed to operate in a standard 80-120 mph wind that would be generated by a Robinson R44.” – why don’t you buy the DJI car adapter and drive somewhere at 80 mhp to check?
Test with a car? That’s a good idea. Though remember that going the Massachusetts 65 mph speed limit in a car generates only 30% of the wind force as going 120 mph (65 squared divided by 120 squared). I guess we could lend it to a race car driver or just wait for a racing team to buy one and post an example on youtube.
“I guess we could lend it to a race car driver or just wait for a racing team to buy one and post an example on youtube.” – You guys have the NH Motor Speedway practically next door – http://www.nhms.com/ … Surely you can use one of the events there, like the ones sponsored by BMW CC USA http://www.wmc-bmwcca.org/hpd_school.html
The $400,000 gyrocams were good enough for photographing a license plate miles away. The brushless gimbals are only good enough up to normal lenses. The R44 goes a lot farther & higher than a quad copter, but Robinson will never be worth the $10 billion the average quad copter startup is.
Why not just use a bigger rechargeable battery inside the helicopter so you do not have to actually have to connect it to the aircraft and the cable could also serve as a safety tether. You can feed the cable through the vent on the door. A computer UPS would even give you something that you could use with a standard wall wart. There is plenty of capacity with the small power demand of the wall wart. Just suppress the beeping.
Wanna stabilize time-lapse videos? Microsoft Research’s “Hyperlapse Pro” is quite impressive.
You can now download free it here.
> should we be so terrified of global warming? Isn’t there a chance that some crazy advanced technologies will be available to save the planet cheaply in 15 or 20 years?
Very left-wing statistician Bjorn Lomborg came to the same conclusion in his book “The Skeptical Environmentalist”. He calculated the environmental/social/human benefits of doing anything at all about human CO2 emissions (even if you believe they have any measurable climate impact, despite the ongoing 19 year warming hiatus) are not economically justifiable in the next 100 years. Meanwhile in those 100 years we could save the lives of millions and improve the lives of billions by spending on malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, clean drinking water, vaccines, infant mortality, fertilizer, literacy, etc.
We’re loving the Osmo so far! This is maybe the 6th stabilization system we’ve tried (school steadicams, sliders, Nebula 4000, etc) and it’s the first that we’re actually willing to use because there’s no calibration and setup, etc.
It’s definitely not perfect… the software is a bit flakey. I wish it had vertical travel to smooth out my steps as I walk. But it’s the best thing available.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, much appreciated. I’ve been thinking to purchase a DJI-based system myself as well.
Hey PG – The next time you post a video with music, please credit the source of the music. The video was nice, but the music made it a treat.