There are 2 huge problems I have with my Pocket 2:

• It loses my face
• I can't start it from the audience and have it find and track me after I walk onstage.
  
• It lacks a remote and therefore needs an app and a phone.
  

So basically the most important things I bought my Pocket 2 for don't actually work.  I've only had it for a couple of weeks, so I am open to suggestions on how to make it work better.


    What I would really like to do is set my Pocket 2 up, walk out onto the stage, hit a button on a remote and have the camera say to itself "'He is up there onstage in the area he pointed me at.  Now I can find a face in that region —that must be him— and follow it around for the next ten minutes."  Problem is, there is no bluetooth remote to signal it to start doing that.  Apps are a pain in the rear.  I don't want to use a phone.  If I walk too far, or if someone stands in front of the camera for three seconds, the Pocket 2 just gives up, bails out, and stares off into the wrong direction without finding me again.


    Until DJI makes a remote and adjusts their software here is the solution.  This is so weird it might make me even wonder why I have a Pocket 2.  Here is the option: a TELESIN Smart Following Pan-Tilt Gimbal TE-GPYT-001  But wait!  Isn't that exactly what the Pocket 2 was for?  Yeah, pretty much.  I still get the wireless mike on the Pocket 2, which is a plus.  Seems like its facial tracking is much better and it has a remote to start it and to adjust the tracking direction remotely.



    So what do you people think?  Should I just get a whole different camera?  Know anything good for stage work, open mics?  Something I can set up and will figure it out itself or that I can activate remotely from stage?  If they can design Pocket 2 to find my face and not lose it, and to work with a bluetooth remote, I wouldn't need this.  Pocket 2's tracking and gimbal sure work much better, but their facial recognition seems worse.  As it is, my Pocket 2 is not really usable.  What do you think of this as a fix?  What other products should I consider either to make the P2 work or as a complete replacement?

Oh and here is the kicker: US$41.  That's it: forty one bucks!


So it makes me wonder if I should just get a big video camera, the tracker, and a wireless mic.

I agree Pocket could follow the remote controller (Microphone).

That Telesin follow system is totally new for me. Gonna buy it and test it using my Sony camcorder.

Thanks!

Well, this distracted me for a while, checking videos etc.  It seems to work well but note that it doesn't tilt - just rotates horizontally.  Amazon reviews are kind of mixed - several mention faults, several mention jerkiness, several mention motor noise.  So - it looks like it could be a bit of a gamble.  But I'm tempted.  However, I already have the Fimi Palm 2 which is very good at tracking (though it's not so good in some other ways) so maybe I should sit firmly on my wallet.  (The Fimi is quite entertaining if you set it up in front of a TV, and it constantly tries to follow the movements of each person who appears on screen!)
[Edit - I just came across a later model which does do some tilting - it's sold as a phone holding tracker but it comes with a camera mount that can be fitted where the phone goes.  Slightly more expensive but perhaps it doesn't suffer from the reported problems of the older model??]

Aavalaakso Posted at 4-28 23:02
I agree Pocket could follow the remote controller (Microphone).

That Telesin follow system is totally new for me. Gonna buy it and test it using my Sony camcorder.

Following the mic I think would mean they have to issue new mics and have new hardware inside the Pocket 2.  If they manufacture a remote I am guessing the Pocket 2 could already receive signals as it is, so all that would need is a software update.  They could also copy some of the tracking software the Telesin has and solve the problem.


Now if it could track the mic, that would be ideal.  Just not sure how hard that would be.


Now Telesin does make remotes that work with other products!  Would be great if they make one that works with Dji Pocket 2!!! or Dji makes one themselves.



Let us know how your Telesin works.

fansfe82067d Posted at 4-29 01:56
Well, this distracted me for a while, checking videos etc.  It seems to work well but note that it doesn't tilt - just rotates horizontally.  Amazon reviews are kind of mixed - several mention faults, several mention jerkiness, several mention motor noise.  So - it looks like it could be a bit of a gamble.  But I'm tempted.  However, I already have the Fimi Palm 2 which is very good at tracking (though it's not so good in some other ways) so maybe I should sit firmly on my wallet.  (The Fimi is quite entertaining if you set it up in front of a TV, and it constantly tries to follow the movements of each person who appears on screen!)
[Edit - I just came across a later model which does do some tilting - it's sold as a phone holding tracker but it comes with a camera mount that can be fitted where the phone goes.  Slightly more expensive but perhaps it doesn't suffer from the reported problems of the older model??]

Distracted me, too.  I was up for hours last night.

Jerkiness is a minus, but it is better than something that doesn't track me at all.  If Fimi tracking each person that appears on TV indicates that it could work well for someone doing an open mic on the stage.  Would it work for instance, if I pointed it at the MC, joined her onstage, shook her hand, then grabbed the mic and wandered around?  Pocket 2 can't do that.  It can't find me when I am up there.  Seems like the Pocket 2 can only get set to one face, it can't figure anything out.


Oh, the later model of the Telesin is called a Little Demon or Little Monster.  The Original is Smart Tracking Pan Tilt.  Limitation on the the Little Demon that the remote does not allow you to pan the camera.  It is looking like the remote only is to pair to your camera to take a pic or to start or stop recording!!  All I have to do is get on stage and have the thing realize I'm the important part.  With the Original, I can point it and the remote tells it "Start tracking on the thing in the center (me) now."  

Demon's tilt is not controlled by the tracking, I think.  You just push it, so that is little different than tilting a tripod.  So it only tracks horizontally; is that what you saw?


I am hoping this will be tracking me onstage and not the guy who stands up to go to the bathroom in the audience.  Since the audience isn't lit, I'm guessing the Telesin will treat that like an object instead of a person.

Open Mike Posted at 4-29 05:12
Following the mic I think would mean they have to issue new mics and have new hardware inside the Pocket 2.  If they manufacture a remote I am guessing the Pocket 2 could already receive signals as it is, so all that would need is a software update.  They could also copy some of the tracking software the Telesin has and solve the problem.

They wont update Pocket 2 but I'm talking about upcoming Pocket 3.

Aavalaakso Posted at 4-29 09:03
They wont update Pocket 2 but I'm talking about upcoming Pocket 3.

So how long before we see a Pocket 3?  Do you think either a mic tracker or better tracking with it self selecting the person will be a part of it?  It seems to be like they could choose to ignore that part of the market that wants it to point and go and that wants to use it onstage.  On the other hand, anyone who is not doing video that can just be reshot when the Pocket 2 goofs and loses a face would benefit.  That ends up being a big part of the market.

It's a little hard to think of buying the next version just two weeks after I bought the first one.  Would be nice if they showed its strengths and limitations before you buy.  As for the Pocket 2, I might not have bought it if I knew it needed a cell phone to work optimally.  In researching other cameras I see many people posting videos stressing that what they want most is a camera that does not need an app to run.  That is a really big deal to so many people.  In this video, the camera expert goes on and on about camera after camera about how "I hate anything that uses cell-phone apps."  That's a good point.


If Dji can come out with something that they can advertise doesn't need an app, that you just set down and press a button, that could take over the whole market.  Do you agree?  Or am I just thinking everyone wants what I want.  At any rate, losing a face after 3 seconds is bad, but not being able to pick up the face after it loses it makes this unusable for a lot of potential customers.

Well... I think your requirement, though perfectly valid, is a bit unusual.  When the Pocket 2 was released, there was a fair bit of comment that its tracking wasn't as good as on the Pocket 1.  But there were many other improvements and new features.  Now the tracking issue isn't much mentioned.  

The whole tracking thing is kind of complicated.  The Palm 2 will track any face that passes - it shows no 'loyalty' nor specific face recognition.  That's fine when there's only one face to be seen during the clip but it can end up pointing in completely the wrong direction if the tracked person leaves the scene.  The DJI devices are more loyal to a single face, but when it can no longer see that face, tracking can stop - it won't select anyone else.  At the end of the day, there's no substitute for a human cameraperson!

fansfe82067d Posted at 4-29 14:20
Well... I think your requirement, though perfectly valid, is a bit unusual.  When the Pocket 2 was released, there was a fair bit of comment that its tracking wasn't as good as on the Pocket 1.  But there were many other improvements and new features.  Now the tracking issue isn't much mentioned.  

The whole tracking thing is kind of complicated.  The Palm 2 will track any face that passes - it shows no 'loyalty' nor specific face recognition.  That's fine when there's only one face to be seen during the clip but it can end up pointing in completely the wrong direction if the tracked person leaves the scene.  The DJI devices are more loyal to a single face, but when it can no longer see that face, tracking can stop - it won't select anyone else.  At the end of the day, there's no substitute for a human cameraperson!

Yeah, but kind of weird that a $500 gimbal tracking cam can't do the job it was designed for, and a $41 kitchen timer/hockey puck can do all of the tracking cam's job and far more.