I spent one month traveling, using the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 as my main video camera and today, I’m gonna share my thoughts with you.

The Osmo Pocket 3 has been a very popular camera since it’s release - enough to make me, who usually doesn’t pay attention too much to the latest camera news, interested.

I was first introduced to the camera by a friend - he showed me the camera, what it can do, and what makes it so easy to capture video with it.

Like many, I was excited about the fact that there was actually a one inch sensor on the camera.

This gives it video quality a step above a smartphone - and I didn’t want just another phone.

10 bit 4:2:0 in D-Log M, bigger convenient screen, and the main aspect (that it’s a pocketable gimbal that makes it real convenient to record stuff), all adds to the list of positives.

But of course, no camera is perfect, and during my time with this one I did find a few weaknesses.

Let’s get started.

*For sample footage, please check out the YouTube video above.

The Big Trip to Japan

Some of you may know, but recently I spent a month exploring Japan.

This was a trip I’d been planning for a long long time, and I wanted to make sure I got the gear right.

Part of this was for photography purposes, others was more philosophical (I wanted to “get out in the world, break my routines, and live a difference experience for a little bit”).

But a lot of it was to just eat good food, drink a lot of coffee, and buy random stuff.

Responsible, I know…

And while I was there I wanted something to record me doing stuff.

Doing stuff, but not interfering too much with my trip, me enjoying the moment, or making general commutes harder than they needed to be.

That’s why although I have other cameras like the Fujifilm X-T4, they didn’t quite fit what I needed.

The video capabilities are great, but I didn’t want to whip a tripod out every time I wanted to record myself, or slow down my walking when I wanted more stable handheld shots.

The purpose of this trip was to travel - not make a cinematic masterpiece.

And photography of course, but that typically slows me down less than videography.

Therefore, I needed something small, easy to use, that I could set up in restaurants while I ate or hold by my waist while I walked.

You could still probably tell I was a tourist but I wanted to look as least touristy as possible.

You know, not slowing down traffic and getting in the way of other people just for my little shot.

So, I got the Pocket 3.

It seemed to fit the bill of what I wanted.

Let’s talk about its strengths.

Strengths

My experience using this camera has been mixed - but we’ll talk about the strengths first.

The most obvious strengths are: it’s small, light, and easy to use.

If you want to just whip the camera out and start recording while you’re on the go, that’s super simple.

It fits into most pockets, so bringing it around isn’t much of a problem (jean pockets might be a bit tough though).

As for recording, it’s just: pull out, rotate the screen, press record.

The gimbal stabilizes and you can have the setting automatically level horizons or default to the last setting.

Similarly, if you wanna record yourself eating (which is most of what I did), it’s not as obnoxious as pulling out a bigger camera or even a little tripod for your phone.

Really it’s just this little thing, which blends in with your water cup and does what it needs to do.

You might not get the most cinematic food shots but I really didn’t care about that anyways.

The camera also has a pretty good selfie mode.

Whether you’re recording yourself walking, vlogging, or you just want to take pictures of yourself in different places, I prefer this over a smartphone.

This is because the joystick makes it easy to adjust framing to get the right shot.

Plus your little hand wobbles wont change the perspective or ruin the shot - because it’s a gimbal.

With this camera I took way more selfies than I intended to.

I’m not a selfie person, but I did want some shots of myself in Japan, at least to prove my existence.

So, I did.

I took a bunch, probably because of how easy it was to take - so if you’re interested in that, that’s good news for you.

Plus, the bigger screen makes it easy to see what you’re actually shooting.

Another thing I like about this camera is the slow pan.

It’s one of the perks of having a gimbal: the stabilization allows the camera to follow you at a smoother pace, rather than jerk around as you’re moving.

You can also adjust this setting if you want it to be faster or slower.

One thing I was happily surprised about was the battery life.

I did get the creator combo which comes with extra battery grips but I only really used the small one.

The combo also comes with a mic, which I thought I’d use much more than I actually did.

I’m not much of a vlog person, as you can tell.

But the battery did last the majority of the day.

You shouldn’t have a problem unless you’re recording every single second of your trip.

And, you can always switch grips if you do run out.

My recommendation however, is to get a solid portable charger.

The Osmo Pocket 3 has a usb-c port on the back.

So save yourself some trouble - you’re traveling anyways, so you can use a portable charger for both your phone and cameras.

I picked up a 20,000 mAh one and had no issues with batteries running out.

But I’m also not glued to my phone all day, so keep that in mind I guess…

So those were the main strengths I’ve noticed in my time with the camera.

Let’s talk about the weaknesses.

Weaknesses

Although many praise this camera, no camera is perfect, and the Osmo Pocket 3 has a few weaknesses of its own.

The first I want to mention is the focus breathing.

This camera features different focus options that allow you to track subjects and stay within focus.

And for the most part, it seems to work quite well.

Even if I don’t use the tracking features and just leave it to auto, it’ll focus on everything.

Which is great, that’s what I wanted: point, shoot, and not worrying about it much.

But as I reviewed some of the footage, I realized where this camera falls short.

The Osmo Pocket 3 has a decent amount of focus breathing - especially if you get too close.

It’s most noticeable when I tried to record myself eating. (sample footage in the YouTube video above)

I’d set up the shot, enjoy my meal, look at the footage later and realize all the bouncing in between.

And the focus breathing is much more apparent on a computer than reviewing it in camera.

It sucks because, often times you won’t have the proper room or setup to get that kind of space for a “better shot”.

Especially in Japan, if you’ve ever been, things are much more compact.

Now, there are some workarounds.

You can try to space things out a bit more, move further from the camera, etc.

But each of these tactics only help so much and you’re not always thinking about it.

Now an aspect that also plays a key role in this is the focal length.

I believe the Osmo Pocket 3 has a 20mm eq focal length, which is decent.

Whether it’s good or bad depends on your use case scenario but for recording most stuff out there, it should be fine.

When recording yourself however, I found it to be a little too tight for my preferences.

DJI does provide a little 0.75 filter to help account for this.

And it did make things easier when recording myself out and about or just eating.

The issue was: it doesn’t hang on well.

It’s one of those magnetic filters that clips onto the front of the lens and doesn’t tuck in when the camera turns off.

I lost mine - that’s why I can’t show you any examples.

The cover that comes with the Osmo Pocket 3 is supposed to have a slot for the filter where you’d attach it before you put the Pocket in.

Problem is, in real life practical use, I’d forget I even had the filter on, turn the camera off, and it wouldn’t tuck in.

Many times as well I wouldn’t even use the case unless I was storing the Pocket 3 in my backpack because it’s too bulky, not pocketable, and I still needed to record stuff.

So sadly, I ended up losing my 0.75 filter.

It was a day we spent exploring Amanohashidate, a place in northern Kyoto.

I had put the Pocket 3 into my pocket with the 0.75 filter on.

And when I pulled the camera out, the filter must’ve clipped my pocket and probably went flying somewhere.

This is something I actually expected to happen.

Many times before I’d forget the filter was on, and I’d find it loose - either in my pocket or on the Pocket 3.

And I was like, “Dude I can’t remember to take this off every single time. I’m on the move, I need to take pictures, so whatever.”

So I figured it was just a matter of time before I lost it.

At least I didn’t buy any mist filters because I’m pretty sure I’d lose those too.

The point is: the focal length can be too tight at times.

The 0.75 filter helps with that, but the magnet isn’t that strong and you can easily forget about it when you’re on the move.

Which means you can lose filters easily.

So I now just use my Pocket without one…

Another thing I’ve noticed about the camera is that if you’re not careful you’ll still get bumps while you’re walking.

Now I understand, this is a gimbal - it’s not meant to be perfectly stable footage and I don’t expect it to be.

But more than I expected, I’d have up and down bounces within my footage from just my normal walking.

And unless I try to hold the camera level, they stay present.

I guess this makes sense because when you’re walking you are bouncing up and down.

I just personally can’t prioritize filming with the Pocket because I’m actually often taking pictures at the same time…

So just something to keep in mind if you’re trying to get flat stable footage - it still requires effort.

The final weakness or area this camera could be improved is the startup time.

If you’ve just turned the camera off and turn it back on again, start up time is faster.

But if this is the first time you’ve turned it on in say an hour or two, it can take a few seconds to get loaded.

And even when the camera is on, the SD card still needs to initialize.

This has led me to missing some shots when I was on the trains or such.

Not a massive big deal, just something to keep in mind as you’re using this camera.

Let’s finish this up.

Would I Recommend It?

Taking into consideration my use case scenario, my experiences, and the strengths and weaknesses of this camera, would I recommend it?

If your use case scenario matches mine, (aka you just need something to point, shoot, and record), then yes, the Pocket 3 is pretty worth it.

Especially for travel.

If you’re planning to use it for more cinematography and might need varying focal lengths or a quicker way to frame shots, it might be a good B cam.

But taking into consideration what it does, what it’s meant for, and how it’s performed, I can understand the hype.

I remember looking at the first Osmo Pocket many years ago when it first came out, and it’s crazy to see how far things have come.

Recording things in this type of portability, with this kind of quality, and this kind of ease is really cool.

Did I mention it has a one inch sensor?

Anyways, I like the camera.

I’ll update you guys in the future as I use it more.

I hope you found this helpful.

If you want to help support my future trips, you can do so in the donation box on the home page.

Or you can support me by checking out my latest photography zine “The Sinking Sun”.

If you don’t care but do want to learn more about photography, go to “Photography Essentials” - it’s free.

Thanks for reading, have a great day.