I’m looking for a gimbal that can spin the phone around to create those “inception” shots. I realize that part of the gimbal would block a full 360 spin, or can the Osmo 3 be positioned in a way that would allow it to do a full 360 motion (and multiple continues ones for that matter)?

Any tips on other gimbals that can do these kind of shots?

Hi, we do apologize but the Osmo Mobile 3 does not support automated 360° or Inception Shots due to the limitation of both the Controllable and Mechanical Range.

DJI Tony Posted at 11-1 09:13
Hi, we do apologize but the Osmo Mobile 3 does not support automated 360° or Inception Shots due to the limitation of both the Controllable and Mechanical Range.

I understand, many thanks.

Something like this is what I’m after, but I haven’t got a clue which phone gimbals out the beside DJI that are worth getting

It doesn't even turn 360

Chris1a Posted at 11-1 09:29
I understand, many thanks.

Should you have further concerns, please let us know.

Why not just use a 360 degree camera, you can edit in post the direction you want to view.

AlanHd Posted at 11-6 14:03
Why not just use a 360 degree camera, you can edit in post the direction you want to view.

The so called inception shot isn't to do with 360 video - it's a simple camera roll so the horizon spins.  To achieve good quality 360 video is still not cheap - getting 4k effective resolution in the viewed portion of the frame requires substantially higher resolution in the original 360 degree capture.

However, personally I'd consider the inception shot to be a cliche now which I wouldn't myself consider as being something to be much worried about when choosing a gimbal.  Concentrate on the functions you'll use for 99% of the time rather than the inception shot which hopefully you'll only use 1% of the time. But of course YMMV!

I ended up buying the fairly new Zhiyun Smooth Q2 gimbal. It has a dedicated mode for the inception shot, and there’s no limit to how many rolls/spins it can do, which is great if you wanna make your audience puke I guess. Definitely a shot that should be used sparingly and where it might make sense creatively.

Used to tell my friends that DJI is the best. Bought the Osmo Mobile 3 and went for a shoot. No inception mode= Disappointment to extreme. They should add it in the update with a note about the limitations.

  From the specs which are not at all hard to find, you can see that the mechanical range doesn't go to or past 360 degrees.  So an update won't help.

  Mechanical Range
    Pan: -162.5° to 170.3°
    Roll: -85.1° to 252.2°
    Tilt: -104.5° to 235.7°