Why does Pocket3 only allows maximum 1s exposure time?

caganimo

Starlapses are the night timelapses where you see stars & milky way in the night sky slowly moving thanks to earth's rotation. I'm a travel videographer who shoots many such scenes at natural landscapes where there is minimal light pollution.

I still haven't got my Pocket 3 but but from what I can tell from reviews, it's going to be very difficult to implement with Pocket 3. Why? Because it only allows up to 1 second exposure in the manual mode.

Is there a reason why this limit is there? Previous Pockets were able to expose longer. Even with my old OsmoAction I was able to expose much longer and capture starlapses.

It is crucial to have manual exposure for starlapse shooting. You need to fine tune this time to both allow sensor to gather enough light and to prevent trails appearing behind stars. Each scenario and scene will have different requirements but I'd say at least 10-15 seconds exposure time required for type of shot.

It would be amazing if DJI released a new firmware and removed this limitation. It is such a shame because this device has amazing potential to capture suıch great starlapses thanks to movement of gimbal over time and 1 inch sensor.

DAFlys

I did a star lapse test with the pocket 3 - https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=305838

caganimo

DAFlys Posted at 5-14 00:40
I did a star lapse test with the pocket 3 - https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=305838

All I could see was a single photo. No starlapse video there.

DAFlys

caganimo Posted at 5-14 00:42
All I could see was a single photo. No starlapse video there.

Yes, 13 hour exposure IIRC.

caganimo

DAFlys Posted at 5-14 00:43
Yes, 13 hour exposure IIRC.

Please watch my YouTube video. You can see what I'm talking about:
https://youtu.be/CKMDNQP26Ok?si=f19DL4V1jOWBJxtY&t=883

JE Rome

DAFlys Posted at 5-14 00:43
Yes, 13 hour exposure IIRC.

Trying to find the referenced time lapse to have an idea of what the Pocket 3 is capable of capturing.

caganimo

JE Rome Posted at 5-14 20:01
Trying to find the referenced time lapse to have an idea of what the Pocket 3 is capable of capturing.

I think he just captured a still image with long exposure using auto mode. It's not a starlapse rather called "star trail".

Unfortunately as of now, Pocket 3's ability to capture stars is very limited due to 1s manual exposure limit. Even Pocket 2 has 8s limit so Pocket 2 is better than 3 in this regard. I think it doesn't make sense for Pocket 3 to have 1s exposure time limit.

Making it at least 15 seconds would make this camera much more appealing to timelapsers.

JE Rome

caganimo Posted at 5-15 03:12
I think he just captured a still image with long exposure using auto mote. It's not a starlapse rather called "star trail".

Unfortunately as of now, Pocket 3's ability to capture stars is very limited due to 1s manual exposure limit. Even Pocket 2 has 8s limit so Pocket 2 is better than 3 in this regard. I think it doesn't make sense for Pocket 3 to have 1s exposure time limit.

I agree.

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=300597

DJI Gamora

Hi, caganimo. Thank you for your feedback. The shutter range of Osmo Pocket 3 in photo mode is 1/8000 second to 1 second, so it cannot achieve the long exposure shooting required by the users. It is recommended that the users use a more professional camera that supports long exposure for starry sky photography.

Osmo Pocket 3 is lightweight and portable. It has a three-axis mechanically stabilized gimbal, which can record stably even when shooting on the move. The 1-inch image sensor can clearly capture light and shadow details. The 2-inch rotatable touch screen allows you to take horizontal and vertical shots in seconds by turning the screen. It supports ActiveTrack 6.0 with a more powerful algorithm and also supports multiple intelligent shooting modes such as time-lapse photography, making it a good helper for users to record daily life, travel vlog shooting, etc.

In addition, we will forward your feedback to our relevant team to continuously improve and optimize the product experience. Thank you for your understanding and support.

JE Rome

DJI Gamora Posted at 5-19 17:22
Hi, caganimo. Thank you for your feedback. The shutter range of Osmo Pocket 3 in photo mode is 1/8000 second to 1 second, so it cannot achieve the long exposure shooting required by the users. It is recommended that the users use a more professional camera that supports long exposure for starry sky photography.

Osmo Pocket 3 is lightweight and portable. It has a three-axis mechanically stabilized gimbal, which can record stably even when shooting on the move. The 1-inch image sensor can clearly capture light and shadow details. The 2-inch rotatable touch screen allows you to take horizontal and vertical shots in seconds by turning the screen. It supports ActiveTrack 6.0 with a more powerful algorithm and also supports multiple intelligent shooting modes such as time-lapse photography, making it a good helper for users to record daily life, travel vlog shooting, etc.

Thank you for confirming I can pass on the purchase of the Pocket 3.

caganimo

DJI Gamora Posted at 5-19 17:22
Hi, caganimo. Thank you for your feedback. The shutter range of Osmo Pocket 3 in photo mode is 1/8000 second to 1 second, so it cannot achieve the long exposure shooting required by the users. It is recommended that the users use a more professional camera that supports long exposure for starry sky photography.

Osmo Pocket 3 is lightweight and portable. It has a three-axis mechanically stabilized gimbal, which can record stably even when shooting on the move. The 1-inch image sensor can clearly capture light and shadow details. The 2-inch rotatable touch screen allows you to take horizontal and vertical shots in seconds by turning the screen. It supports ActiveTrack 6.0 with a more powerful algorithm and also supports multiple intelligent shooting modes such as time-lapse photography, making it a good helper for users to record daily life, travel vlog shooting, etc.

I'm already using a Sony a7 IV full frame SLR camera and f1.4 aperture lens for night photography. But I was hoping to replace it with Pocket 3, even though it would produce less effective results. Because my full frame camera and lens are heavy.

There is basically no reason to limit to exposure to 1 second when your previous product offered 8 seconds. This limitation is arbitrary and ridiculous. Even my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone can expose for 30 seconds. It has a dedicated mode called "nightography" for enhanced starry night timelapses. And that phone has smaller sensor than Pocket 3.

Please don't produce excuses and improve the product, it will give you more sales and customer satisfaction. More satisfaction means more recommendation and even even more sales.

DJI Gamora

JE Rome Posted at 5-19 22:08
Thank you for confirming I can pass on the purchase of the Pocket 3.

You're most welcome, JE Rome. Have a nice day!

DJI Gamora

caganimo Posted at 5-19 22:46
I'm already using a Sony a7 IV full frame SLR camera and f1.4 aperture lens for night photography. But I was hoping to replace it with Pocket 3, even though it would produce less effective results. Because my full frame camera and lens are heavy.

There is basically no reason to limit to exposure to 1 second when your previous product offered 8 seconds. This limitation is arbitrary and ridiculous. Even my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone can expose for 30 seconds. It has a dedicated mode called "nightography" for enhanced starry night timelapses. And that phone has smaller sensor than Pocket 3.

We'd like you to know that we appreciate your valuable suggestions. We will forward your concern to our related department. Thank you for your continued support.

federnet

DJI Gamora Posted at 5-19 17:22
Hi, caganimo. Thank you for your feedback. The shutter range of Osmo Pocket 3 in photo mode is 1/8000 second to 1 second, so it cannot achieve the long exposure shooting required by the users. It is recommended that the users use a more professional camera that supports long exposure for starry sky photography.

Osmo Pocket 3 is lightweight and portable. It has a three-axis mechanically stabilized gimbal, which can record stably even when shooting on the move. The 1-inch image sensor can clearly capture light and shadow details. The 2-inch rotatable touch screen allows you to take horizontal and vertical shots in seconds by turning the screen. It supports ActiveTrack 6.0 with a more powerful algorithm and also supports multiple intelligent shooting modes such as time-lapse photography, making it a good helper for users to record daily life, travel vlog shooting, etc.

Your competitors, like GoPro, even though it has inferrior sensor, allows to catch starlapses and nigh photos.
OP3 with it's much better sensor should produce much better results...

DJI Gamora

federnet Posted at 5-20 21:41
Your competitors, like GoPro, even though it has inferrior sensor, allows to catch starlapses and nigh photos.
OP3 with it's much better sensor should produce much better results...

Hi, federnet. Good day and thank you for giving out these information. I will forward these information to the designated DJI department for attention. All significant suggestions will be implemented after the evaluation of ouor relevant team. For the latest DJI Osmo Pocket 3 updates please stay tuned to our DJI official website at ( www.dji.com ). Thank you.

DJI-ytao

Hi due to sensor limitation.
Pocket3 does not provide shutter longer than 1 seconds. (just as most flagship smart phones )

we tried however It is not a firmware thing...

caganimo

DJI-ytao Posted at 5-23 05:52
Hi due to sensor limitation.
Pocket3 does not provide shutter longer than 1 seconds. (just as most flagship smart phones )

I work in tech industry and all flagship smartphones I tested have more than 1 second exposure time. Just go to manual mode in the camera app and increase it. My Samsung S23 Ultra can do it up to 30 seconds. I tested so many cameras with different sensor sizes, none of them limited me this much in terms of expsure time.

Another thing, people actually reported they can get longer than 1 second exposure with Pocket 3 in auto mode. All they have to do is reducing ISO, so the camera compensates by increasing shutter time. In the end the image still looks dark due to reduced ISO, so this is not a solution. But it proves that your answer is not true, Pocket 3 actually can expose longer than 1 second.

JE Rome

caganimo Posted at 5-28 09:20
I work in tech industry and all flagship smartphones I tested have more than 1 second exposure time. Just go to manual mode in the camera app and increase it. My Samsung S23 Ultra can do it up to 30 seconds. I tested so many cameras with different sensor sizes, none of them limited me this much in terms of expsure time.

Another thing, people actually reported they can get longer than 1 second exposure with Pocket 3 in auto mode. All they have to do is reducing ISO, so the camera compensates by increasing shutter time. In the end the image still looks dark due to reduced ISO, so this is not a solution. But it proves that your answer is not true, Pocket 3 actually can expose longer than 1 second.

Even smartphone cameras that have a one-inch sensor allow for shutter speeds greater than 1 second; so I'm not sure what qualifies to DJI as "most flagship smart phones".

I am optimistic that DJI-ytao's "we tried" statement is that DJI wasn't satisfied with the quality of photos past the 1 second exposure time rather than they couldn't be bothered to add it.