Hi everyone.
Today I received my Osmo Pocket. And instead of quite every reviewn on youtube (for me, GoPro is not the competitor of OP), I wanted to compare this little gadget with my iPhone XS.
And I noticed the my iPhone XS has a lot of dynamic range compare to OP. Also if it has a smaller sensor (1/2.5" vs 1/2.3")
(WB is auto)

Osmo Pocket

iPhone XS

Were your settings the same for both devices? (E.g., Shutter speed, lens speed, aperture, white balance, etc.) Even if you used the "Auto" setting on both devices, the programmed assumptions of each device is different.  Consider also, that the Xs uses two lenses and a separate scan that uses averaging of light to create the 'ideal' image.  If you have your iPhone options set to do so, you can actually see the multiple images (including the original) that were used to create the final image.  All in all, not a fair comparison.

iPhone XS don’t use both lenses for videos!!!

El Diablo Posted at 12-20 07:29
I believe you are confusing Dynamic Range with Auto Exposure. The iPhone is clearly exposing better that specific scene in Auto Mode I presume. if you wish to compare DR, you have to take their RAW files and push their Shadows in post and see what happens.

I believe you are confusing photos with videos. iPhone and OP don’t record cineDNG. If you see both pictures , the exposure is balanced to not clip the highlights. While the shadows on iPhone have details, in OP, are totally blacks!

Use same aperture / shutter speed on BOTH ! This clearly isn’t apples to apples ! If you have filmic pro, using a normal colour profile (not flat or log) use the same settings and ISO and I guarantee you the image will come out looking very similar (bar WB) but OP will have slightly less noise

El Diablo Posted at 12-20 07:46
What are you talking about? You need to take 2 RAW photos and then compare them in post. the shadows on the iPhone have no detail when you zoom-in because the ISO is probably hitting the ceiling... I am also a Photographer although I am not using a fancy avatar. Please import your shots into Lightroom and come back to comment afterwards or send us the files so we can do that ourselves.

...and share the settings of both images so we can see how balanced they are.

Your nick is perfect! Again. These are two videos! I don’t care about raws! Anyway, you could see my photos on Instagram. Before judge without knowing me

Geopixlz Posted at 12-20 07:45
Use same aperture / shutter speed on BOTH ! This clearly isn’t apples to apples ! If you have filmic pro, using a normal colour profile (not flat or log) use the same settings and ISO and I guarantee you the image will come out looking very similar (bar WB) but OP will have slightly less noise

I cannot use the same settings. Aperture value aren't the same! And they not have mechanical shutter.
If I use ISO 100 and 1/60 on both, of course, iPhone XS is brighter. I exposed to not clip the highlights
And if I use Filmic, they is no choice. iPhone XS beats OP hands down. So why but OP, if you have a better camera with the same FOV? And now SLOG2 and 140Mbs with Filmic?

El Diablo Posted at 12-20 08:20
Luca relax, no one is trying to attack you.

As a photographer, you know that video is a sequence of frames per second. In order to set your iPhone to film in Manual Mode, you either need to purchase FilmicPro or the Moment app. To avoid that, you can easily try to take 2 photos using the same settings. if you wish, leave your phone in Auto and just match the same values on the OP. Then, let's compare them. That's all.

I already have Filmic. And I cannot use the same values, as you may know, iPhone has a faster lens. The video looks moire noisy on OP. Yes, on iPhone, the textures are a little bit less detailed, but you have to zoom on it too see the real difference. Playing a video, it's different. You cannot see it. Noise and blacks shadows are the most relevant things to a usual watcher. And the thing is, if I use FilmicPro on a iPhone, why should I buy an OP? Since today, I have SLOG2 (12+ DR) and 140Mbs bitrate. So, it's better to spend less for the cheaper OM2. Thinking also the you need a smartphone to use the OP. If you want to use it professionally. Or DJI should introduce D-Log profile. Right now, OP has a poor DR.
(I won some contests in aerial photography as well, one here on DJI Forum. With a Spark. So I'm not a newbie, also if I have still a lot of things to learn. When you think you don't need to learn more, it's the time to change you passion because you don't know nothing about it)

El Diablo Posted at 12-20 08:20
Luca relax, no one is trying to attack you.

As a photographer, you know that video is a sequence of frames per second. In order to set your iPhone to film in Manual Mode, you either need to purchase FilmicPro or the Moment app. To avoid that, you can easily try to take 2 photos using the same settings. if you wish, leave your phone in Auto and just match the same values on the OP. Then, let's compare them. That's all.

I already have Filmic. And I cannot use the same values, as you may know, iPhone has a faster lens. The video looks moire noisy on OP. Yes, on iPhone, the textures are a little bit less detailed, but you have to zoom on it too see the real difference. Playing a video, it's different. You cannot see it. Noise and blacks shadows are the most relevant things to a usual watcher. And the thing is, if I use FilmicPro on a iPhone, why should I buy an OP? Since today, I have SLOG2 (12+ DR) and 140Mbs bitrate. So, it's better to spend less for the cheaper OM2. Thinking also the you need a smartphone to use the OP. If you want to use it professionally. Or DJI should introduce D-Log profile. Right now, OP has a poor DR.
(I won some contests in aerial photography as well, one here on DJI Forum. With a Spark. So I'm not a newbie, also if I have still a lot of things to learn. When you think you don't need to learn more, it's the time to change you passion because you don't know nothing about it)

I think what most replies here are saying if you want to compare DR of the two systems, simplify to the basics: RAW stills, identical settings (or as close as possible), identical scenes, etc.

Trying to arrive at a conclusion by looking at screen shots of video clips taken at different settings and different framing of the scene is not productive.

El Diablo Posted at 12-20 23:26
I am sorry but I cannot help you, it seems that you've already made your conclusions although many people is disagreeing with you. From the screenshots you've shared it looks like both devices are in auto mode. The OP can be adjusted manually when connected to your phone in pro mode. That should give you the flexiility to at least match the exposure you're getting on your phone but with a higher resolution.

When it comes to the faster lens, I believe the differences aren't so big as the marginally smaller sensor (iPhone) is a 1/2.5" f/1.8 and the Pocket is a 1/2.3" f/2. The majority of the people cannot distinguish 4K footage between a 1/2.3" and a 1" sensor... What I've noticed when using a pro app on the iPhone is that it tends to boost the ISO quite high. So again, I will ask you to compare both devices with the same settings in order to get a valuable conclusion, unless your main target using these devices is to utilize the image out of the box...

I used them in manual mode, but with different settings as I said, because they have different Aperture value. Looking at highlights! With FilmicPro and In Pro mode.
The result, as you can see, with iPhone you have more right shadows. Maybe Noise reduction smudge a little bit the texture, but the OP footage are more noisy and you have black shadows.
I showed the videos to other people, with a blind test, and they totally agreed that iPhone footage are better.
And I repeat, YOU CANNOT USE THE SAME SETTINGS! I'm in my office, so, sorry for a not beautiful environment. And i try a place with bright highlights and dark. But I dont have it here. But I want to show you, that you cannot use the same setting.
I made one screenshot from Filmic (Normal profile) at 400 ISO and 1/60s. The same setting on OP (off course more darker) and another one at 1/40s (1/2 stop faster, to compensate the slower lens).

Iphone is a little bit blurry because is not stabilized. And pressing two mechanical buttons to make the snapshot, the result is that.

And from these screenshots you can notice, the OP has a narrow FOV. This is influent about this topic, but one detail more about this new device

El Diablo Posted at 12-20 23:51
Although these aren't high resolution, in my eyes, the OP has much better detail in the shadows and the highlights. The iPhone photo looks smudgy overall. Look at the trash can and the bubble wrap... please embed this: smartphones have the tendency to raise the ISO in order to offer a "all in focus" and balanced exposure. You said you cannot use the same settings because the aperture levels are different. Ok, MATCH the exposure in POST and then compare the 2 photos / videos, wich one has better quality?

Closing, do you intend to edit your videos in post, yes or no? From my understanding as a pro photographer in +20 years, real DR levels will show when pushing the shadows in post.

Read #16 for the first part of you reply

El Diablo Posted at 12-20 23:51
Although these aren't high resolution, in my eyes, the OP has much better detail in the shadows and the highlights. The iPhone photo looks smudgy overall. Look at the trash can and the bubble wrap... please embed this: smartphones have the tendency to raise the ISO in order to offer an "all in focus" and balanced exposure. You said you cannot use the same settings because the aperture levels are different. Ok, MATCH the exposure in POST and then compare the 2 photos / videos, wich one has better quality?

Closing, do you intend to edit your videos in post, yes or no? From my understanding as a pro photographer in +20 years, real DR levels will show when pushing the shadows in post.

I want to edit! Why I paid to have LOG in filmicPRO and I use D-log on my Mavic 2? This is why I want the maximum DR I can get.

To me, the second OP photo looks better. It has more detail and yes, although the shadows are a little dark you can adjust that to taste. The iPhone looks to have overexposed the image. The Fragile tape looks washed out to me, looks much better in the OP.

Saying that I have no doubt that a modern iPhone (X onwards) will probably do a better job most of the time to the OP - out of the box. It has way more processing power and AI/ML driven post processing so will always look better out of the box than the OP. The OP however, can stabilise better in low light and more challenging conditions, so at those times and shooting RAW/LOG (which is coming apparently), I'd imagine the OP would be capable of beating the iPhone.

I'm not convinced I've seen anything here to show the OP has poor DR. To prove this I think you'd have to do some studio shots in RAW and analyse them.

Cameleon Posted at 12-21 00:39
To me, the second OP photo looks better. It has more detail and yes, although the shadows are a little dark you can adjust that to taste. The iPhone looks to have overexposed the image. The Fragile tape looks washed out to me, looks much better in the OP.

Saying that I have no doubt that a modern iPhone (X onwards) will probably do a better job most of the time to the OP - out of the box. It has way more processing power and AI/ML driven post processing so will always look better out of the box than the OP. The OP however, can stabilise better in low light and more challenging conditions, so at those times and shooting RAW/LOG (which is coming apparently), I'd imagine the OP would be capable of beating the iPhone.

As I said. To take a screenshot on an iPhone XS, you must press 2 (two) mechanical buttons. One is placed at 1cm from the sensor. And this sensor in not stabilized. It's blurred (you can see everything is blurred) because I move the iPhone.
While doing the same thing with the Osmo, the sensor is far from the button, and on a gimbal to reduce the movement to press the buttons.
And the title of the topic was about DR, not sharpening.

El Diablo Posted at 12-21 01:35
Luca, you're using Manual mode on the iPhone and you are not realizing that at 1/60sec the iphone cannot produce a sharp image. Meaning, on the iPhone you'll have to use a faster shutter speed to obtain the same result as on the OP or raise the ISO. i would like to see the same photos taken to match their exposure (not absolute values but the way they look).

Also I increased the britghness on the OP by 40% (in Microsoft Paint!!! as I am writting this on a borrowed laptop) and I zoomed-in to check the sharpness, noise and DR as discussed. Unless you are totally biased, you will clearly see that there's no comparison. iPhone on the left, OP on the right.

Wait. 1/60s is the same 1/60s n the OP. And a tripod (or mounted on a OM2 as I mention in prior) you can produce the same not blurred image.
In that screenshots, as I told you, was handheld and is was in the same time I was pressing 2 mechanical buttons, very close to the sensor.
The lastest images, were to let you see, that you cannot use the same settings. There isn't so much contrast in the scene. Make the same thing with the first two images. Where the is a lot of contrast.

El Diablo Posted at 12-21 01:35
Luca, you're using Manual mode on the iPhone and you are not realizing that at 1/60sec the iphone cannot produce a sharp image. Meaning, on the iPhone you'll have to use a faster shutter speed to obtain the same result as on the OP or raise the ISO. i would like to see the same photos taken to match their exposure (not absolute values but the way they look).

Also I increased the britghness on the OP by 40% (in Microsoft Paint!!! as I am writting this on a borrowed laptop) and I zoomed-in to check the sharpness, noise and DR as discussed. Unless you are totally biased, you will clearly see that there's no comparison. iPhone on the left, OP on the right.

And you HAVE to consider, that on the iPhone, with filmicPro, you could use LOG profile!!!
You have to consider this too!
This is an option you have, and why you don't consider this?
It's like to compare a Fiat 500 vs a Ferrari La Ferrari, and wait.. don't push La Ferrari over 130kmph, because the 500 cannot reach that speed.
iPhone with FilmicPro can produce better DR (the original topic was about DR, not color, not sharpness, not audio, not stabilization) right now, maybe in the future DJI improve this (I hope).

El Diablo Posted at 12-21 00:02
So GO AHEAD AND DO IT, then come back and post your conclusions please. Have fun.

Soon I will do same example with the iPhone XS (normal e logv2 profile), Osmo Pocket and Mavic 2 Pro (normale e D-Log). But with a blind test. I need time. Now I don't have it

El Diablo Posted at 12-21 00:01
From your screenshots it seems that way although in paper they both have a 28mm in 35mm terms equivalent camera (the iPhone XS also has a 52mm telephoto).

Why would this be such an important factor? Just step back 1/2 a meter and you're set...

Because if you Vlogging, maybe you prefer a wider lens. Or personal taste. Personally I prefer the narrow FOV, so I prefer the OP. And sometime you cannot step back 1/2 meter (or step forward). Also, you may know as photographer, perspective changes if you move.
The tele lens on the iPhone is ridiculous. It's a tiny sensor. There is a lot of noise.
And you are wrong. iPhone XS is a 26mm. iPhone X is 28mm.
I'm not saying that is it a Pro o Cons. Why you attack everything I say?

I really appreciate the debates between the both experts with total respects. Thank you, I learned many from this thread.

PiteousPlayer Posted at 12-21 02:23
I really appreciate the debates between the both experts with total respects. Thank you, I learned many from this thread.

You're welcome. Forums need to this

El Diablo Posted at 12-21 02:33
Why do you think I am attacking you? We are discussing camera gear from my understanding... of course I can stop writting to you if you prefer, no problem.

I'm not saying we can't talk. This is a place to talk.
But I said the thing about FOV just an extra info about the OP. It feels like to you criticized about it too.
Forgive me if it not. English in not my native language, and maybe not yours too, I don't know, and sometime this could create some misunderstandings

To bring this back to the DR discussion then, does the -0.3/-1 on the images of the OP suggest negative exposure compensation? So you are telling it to under expose? I haven't looked too much into detail as to what all the icons mean but that's what it suggests to me. Given the histogram looks like it has not clipped any shaddows (left hand side) or highlights, I think its only fair that the EV compensation is adjusted to try and fill the histogram (old adage of shooting to the right) a bit more. Of course this depends how much you want to compare the AUTO function of each device vs what it can actually capture by using each to the most of their ability.

Cameleon Posted at 12-21 02:52
To bring this back to the DR discussion then, does the -0.3/-1 on the images of the OP suggest negative exposure compensation? So you are telling it to under expose? I haven't looked too much into detail as to what all the icons mean but that's what it suggests to me. Given the histogram looks like it has not clipped any shaddows (left hand side) or highlights, I think its only fair that the EV compensation is adjusted to try and fill the histogram (old adage of shooting to the right) a bit more. Of course this depends how much you want to compare the AUTO function of each device vs what it can actually capture by using each to the most of their ability.

In auto mode, there is no discussion. iPhone XS works so much better than OP.
And OP without an iPhone (or an Android smartphone) works only in auto mode.
Yes, you could attach an iPhone to have PRO mode... but... If I have to use my iPhone... why not use just my iPhone if it works sometime better than OP? Maybe buy a cheaper Osmo Mobile 2 is a good option.
And as I heard in many reviews, the OP is ready in 5 seconds, yes... it's ready. But in auto mode. Without taking  your smartphone from your pants, unlock it, attach it, and launch the app, navigate to choice M mode and set the better values. So also AUTO mode is important in these portable devices.
You must considering, if you want to use manual settings on an iPhone, you should consider to buy FilmicPro. And FilmicPro brings many other features, like Flat and Log profile, and 140Mbs bitrate.
So If I start to use FilmicPro and log profile, there is not battle (DR).
OP brings other great features. I'm not saying it waste of money. I'm not returning back mine. I want to be clear.
In scene with a lot of light contrast, iPhone works better. Apple itself acclaims that on the iPhone XS, video @30fps are recorded with a wider DR. And I saw that it's true.
I'm telling that in the first scene, shadows are very dark. If I try to recover them, the footage will be very noisy. Whilst iPhone footage is very good SOOC. Also if maybe a little less sharp. But this is another discussion.

OK so I now see the argument, in auto then yes the iPhone will be way better generally. I don't think its really a DR issue here, it getting the right exposure.

WIth your original images from the video's which was more like real life, the OP or the iPhone? To me they both have pros and cons, and I can't make my mind up which I prefer, but as always with these things, we really should go for the one that is the most realistic. I think I am drawn to the darker OP render as it looks more cinematic, but if you tell me that the iPhone is the brightness of the actual scene, then the OP has clearly underexposed the scene. Without a histogram, I can't tell if the OP has clipped the highlights and shadows, or clipped the shaddows to keep highlights in check etc.

Cameleon Posted at 12-21 05:04
OK so I now see the argument, in auto then yes the iPhone will be way better generally. I don't think its really a DR issue here, it getting the right exposure.

WIth your original images from the video's which was more like real life, the OP or the iPhone? To me they both have pros and cons, and I can't make my mind up which I prefer, but as always with these things, we really should go for the one that is the most realistic. I think I am drawn to the darker OP render as it looks more cinematic, but if you tell me that the iPhone is the brightness of the actual scene, then the OP has clearly underexposed the scene. Without a histogram, I can't tell if the OP has clipped the highlights and shadows, or clipped the shaddows to keep highlights in check etc.

In contrast (DR) the iPhone was close to my eyes. I did other tests, and always iPhone was always close to reality. I see so much contrast in OP images (always shadows are dark).
While highlights are always ok.
About color... OP is colder and iPhone warmer, comparing what I saw. Both aren't correct. In another test, both were correct. But always, iPhone images are really close to what I was seeing, talking about contrast, highlights and shadows.
The OP is sharper. As you said, both have pro and cons. I don't know if it depends that the iPhone is handheld or not. I will try on a tripod. Gimbal here give a boost on OP.
So in scenes with few contrast, when you don't need a extended DR, of course, OP is the winner.
In this period I'm not at home, but when I come back, I wanna compare Osmo Pocket, iPhone XS, Mavic 2 Pro and a Sony Alpha 7 series. Make a blind test, and let you decide.

El Diablo Posted at 12-21 04:45
Actually ypu can connect your phone, set the Pro parameters and then disconect your phone and the Osmo will keep them. Of course you will not be able to change things as it will ask you to revert to Auto again. Hope to see a fw update that will aloow the pocket to be set to Pro mode independently.

Yes.. You cannot change anything. So if you must change the shutter speed to not clip the highlights, you always need to connect your smartphone.
We need ND filters!
Or DJI updates its firmware.