I'm wondering if I'm the only one seeing this.  I bought the Osmo Pocket 1 right away and was blown away by how detailed the image was.  I didn't even know what color grading was at the time so I used most of the default settings and video came out incredible.  When the Osmo Pocket 2 came out, I then bought it right away as well.  Specifically, because my biggest gripe with the 1 was the FOV.  The wider FOV on the Pocket 2 was a huge improvement in my mind and I wouldn't even mind if the Pocket 3 (if it ever shows up) had an ever wider FOV, but that's just me.  

Anyway, what I was disappointed with the Pocket 2 right away was how poor the picture quality looked using the default settings.  Black level was washed out and the overall image appeared soft to me.  I learned to color grade and use LOG, but even then I never felt the image was good as the Pocket 1.  It wasn't until I started looking at old footage and comparing it to some of my recent footage that I really became disappointed.  All the Pocket 1 footage using straight default settings just looks better.  The detail that exists with the Pocket 1 just seems lost in Pocket 2.  

Has anyone else seen or felt this way?  For now, I'm probably going to go back to using my Pocket 1, even though I hate the FOV.  I'll just have to use the wide angle lens more.  If the Pocket 3 ever does come out, I really hope they address all these issues and DJI gives us video camera to "rule them all."  As with digital cameras, a bigger sensor doesn't always mean a better image quality.  The quality of the sensor certainly matters as well and it feels like the Pocket 2 suffers from this to me (lower quality albeit bigger sensor).  

I recall others here mentioning that in some respects they preferred the image quality of the Pocket 1.  I suspect there's a lot of factors involved.  But bear in mind that a wider field of view means that there's more detail for the sensor to resolve and that's likely to lead to some apparent softness.

I never owned the P1, but it makes me curious. Can you share some comparisons?
I do agree the P2 is not delivering the best footage, but that was not my main concern when I got it. But now I'm curious about the differences.

fansfe82067d Posted at 1-6 07:11
I recall others here mentioning that in some respects they preferred the image quality of the Pocket 1.  I suspect there's a lot of factors involved.  But bear in mind that a wider field of view means that there's more detail for the sensor to resolve and that's likely to lead to some apparent softness.

Thanks for this.  It helps me believe I'm not going completely insane.   I know many people love the Pocket 2, but I was disappointed from the beginning for the reasons I mentioned and I'm happy to hear that at least others have seen something similar.  

Also, I did think about the greater FOV on the Pocket 2, but to be honest, that isn't really what I'm seeing.  The detail seems to be there for the most part, but it is almost like there is this slight haze over the image at times.  If you gave the Pocket 1 decent light the image seemed to pop right off the screen.  It was so good there was depth to the image, almost 3-dimensional at times.  By comparison the Pocket 2 feels flat to me in most cases.      

Montfrooij Posted at 1-6 07:18
I never owned the P1, but it makes me curious. Can you share some comparisons?
I do agree the P2 is not delivering the best footage, but that was not my main concern when I got it. But now I'm curious about the differences.

Yea, I can see where some actual footage might help.  I have some other work I need to finish first, but once I'm done with that I'll try to put something together and pass it on.

JPW1 Posted at 1-6 07:37
Yea, I can see where some actual footage might help.  I have some other work I need to finish first, but once I'm done with that I'll try to put something together and pass it on.

That would be nice. Let me know when you posted it

Montfrooij Posted at 1-6 07:38
That would be nice. Let me know when you posted it

Well, I started trying to put some footage together and it quickly dawned on me why I ended up hating the Osmo Pocket 1 so much.  The autofocus was just awful.  I lost plenty of shots where the autofocus didn't work right and they weren't difficult shots for it to figure out.  So, this, coupled with its poor FOV have me going back to the Pocket 2.  That didn't take long.   

So, all this is sort of a moot point now.  I was thinking I might just go back to the Pocket 1, but I had forgotten about the autofocus.  

I know I might be in the minority here, but I really really wish DJI provided an option for infinity focus on the Osmo Pocket like every GoPro and other action cam has.  I'm not sure that they even could with how their lens operates.  I know that some people want that cinematic shot where their subject stays in focus and everything else is blurred out, but I don't.  The more information that I can have in focus on the screen, the better, for me.  And it would mean less work for the camera and saved resources.  I would switch to a GoPro if it weren't for the poor stabilization in low light.  I feel the Pocket has it right with the gimbal.

I know everyone has their own wish list for what the Pocket 3 might have, that is, if it exists, but I'll just dream for a moment and provide my own wishes.  And yes, I know this will never happen.

- bigger and *high quality* sensor
- Infinity Focus
- would like to see FOV just a bit more, maybe 100 degrees from 93
- move the USB port, you can't have it on a tripod and charge at the same time
- one-touch record, let me press one button and have it start up super fast and start recording automatically, seconds matter when you don't want to lose the shot

Just my two cents and probably worth less.
      

JPW1 Posted at 1-6 13:09
Well, I started trying to put some footage together and it quickly dawned on me why I ended up hating the Osmo Pocket 1 so much.  The autofocus was just awful.  I lost plenty of shots where the autofocus didn't work right and they weren't difficult shots for it to figure out.  So, this, coupled with its poor FOV have me going back to the Pocket 2.  That didn't take long.   

So, all this is sort of a moot point now.  I was thinking I might just go back to the Pocket 1, but I had forgotten about the autofocus.  

Oh yes, I totally agree!
In fact, I'm making a 'long term review' of the Pocket 2.
I have been using it for almost 2 years now and it has a couple of things that I would love to see improved.
- Bigger sensor with less noisy output, better low light performance and higher dynamic range.
- A hardware knob to control the main camera settings (exposure, white balance, ISO), the knobs are there already, they just have to add this in FW that we can use them to change these parameters.
- Fixed focus (infinity) for sure.
- Use a powerbank while using the P2 (mainly for long motion timelapses)

If they would add this while maintaining its small (maybe a tad bigger, but not much) size, I would jump on the P3 in no time.

Still I feel P2 is a great small gimbal camera that is ready when you are and I enjoy using it more than I anticipated before buying.

I've been mostly happy with my Pocket 2's image quality, but on the other hand, I don't have that much experience on the original Osmo Pocket. Would be interesting to see a comparison video.

Montfrooij Posted at 1-6 14:11
Oh yes, I totally agree!
In fact, I'm making a 'long term review' of the Pocket 2.
I have been using it for almost 2 years now and it has a couple of things that I would love to see improved.

Here here!   I'm glad I'm not the only one that wants a fixed focus / infinity.  

It's crazy because I watch videos I made 8 years ago on a $100 SJCAM Action Camera with a motorized gimbal and the quality is awfully good for 1080p.  Everything is just razor sharp all the time and it is thanks to that fixed focus.  I would love to have it on the Osmo Pocket.

HGDC84 Posted at 1-6 17:24
I've been mostly happy with my Pocket 2's image quality, but on the other hand, I don't have that much experience on the original Osmo Pocket. Would be interesting to see a comparison video.

Yea, I started looking through my own footage and I may have been a little too quick to completely put down the Pocket 2 vs. the Pocket 1 in regards to image quality.  What I've started to see is that it really has to do with the environment.  Basically, the Pocket 1 looks better to me in certain environments especially when there is a great deal of light.  The Pocket 2 definitely wins out in low light and it should given the bigger sensor.  BUT all that said, it is disappointing to me that the Pocket 1 wins out at all.  I feel like the Pocket 2 with the bigger sensor should win out across the board and I would say it doesn't.  

A really good comparison can be found here:    He touches on how he prefers the Pocket 1 with certain shots vs. the Pocket 2, but overall he prefers the Pocket 2.  I think I'm in the same camp.   

JPW1 Posted at 1-6 18:14
Here here!   I'm glad I'm not the only one that wants a fixed focus / infinity.  

It's crazy because I watch videos I made 8 years ago on a $100 SJCAM Action Camera with a motorized gimbal and the quality is awfully good for 1080p.  Everything is just razor sharp all the time and it is thanks to that fixed focus.  I would love to have it on the Osmo Pocket.

I just have to make sure I set it to focus once and then tap the area I want it to focus on. That helps.

JPW1 Posted at 1-6 18:19
Yea, I started looking through my own footage and I may have been a little too quick to completely put down the Pocket 2 vs. the Pocket 1 in regards to image quality.  What I've started to see is that it really has to do with the environment.  Basically, the Pocket 1 looks better to me in certain environments especially when there is a great deal of light.  The Pocket 2 definitely wins out in low light and it should given the bigger sensor.  BUT all that said, it is disappointing to me that the Pocket 1 wins out at all.  I feel like the Pocket 2 with the bigger sensor should win out across the board and I would say it doesn't.  

A really good comparison can be found here:  https://youtu.be/qquJhguudkY  He touches on how he prefers the Pocket 1 with certain shots vs. the Pocket 2, but overall he prefers the Pocket 2.  I think I'm in the same camp.

After seeing that video, I'll have to agree on the Osmo Pocket 1 footage looking better on the sunset scene than Pocket 2, but otherwise I mostly prefer the Pocket 2's footage. Not to say that the Osmo Pocket's footage is bad ether. The tracking sure looks to work better on the original. But on the other hand, the Pocket 2 is a clear winner on audio side of things, for example.