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Z-Axis and Other Accessories - First Impressions
1457 6 2016-5-10
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lvl.3
Flight distance : 647034 ft
United States
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So I recieved my Osmo yeseterday. I know I said in a previous thread that I was not going to accept any further shipments from DJI, but I honestly was really looking forward to trying this tool before deciding to take a break from DJI, so I decided to keep it when it arrived and give it a try. Alright, enough of the sob story, let's get to it.

Osmo:
I am very impressed with the fit and finish of the actual Osmo in base form. If you have used any of DJI's other products that utilize the DJI GO app, setting up your Osmo will be a piece of cake. The UI is intuitive, everything works as it should and I haven't discovered any real bugs or issues. One thing I do notice is I have to double check shutter speed when I restart, as it often decides to revert back toa default setting of 120 when I am shooting 24p. Other than this, my settings appear to hold and everything works well. The Osmo's ergonomic design fits well in my hand and it is nice to work with. I do wish that DJI has reversed the shutter release and video start/stop buttons. I think most of us will use the Osmo for video, and the easier button of the two to operate is the shutter release, so I would say this was a slight oversight, but no big deal. The footage that I am getting off the card (shooting in 24p, D-Log and everything at -2) looks quite good. You could easily integrate the footage with DSLR footage on a project. Low light performance suffers, which is to be expected from such a tiny sensor, but it is not terrible. I was getting usable results up iso 800 and some shots at iso 1600 were usable after running them through the Neat Video plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro. My camera and handle certainly do not get as hot as some others have reported. That said, it is currently 60 degress here, so I may not be experiencing these issues due to a lower ambient temperature.
What I wish DJI had included: With my Inspire 1's I always recieved covers to protect the connectors for the camera. There were male and a female covers (camera side and aircraft side) that made sure sand, dirt, whatever didn't get in there and potentially harm the connectors. The Osmo, however does not come with any kind of protection for these connectors. I am going to look online for some, as I will remove the Z-Axis for travel, which has 2 connectors, plus the 2 connectors on the Osmo and camera, which makes for a total of 4 vulnerable connectors which offer plenty of opportunity for problems.

Z-Axis:
Simpy put, the Z-Axis is amazing. I shot about 20 random test segments yesterday in my studio and all of the footage is buttery smooth. I have been shooting on Movi's, Steadicams, Glidecams and Ronins for years now and I am surprised how impressed I am by such an inexpensive solution. You of course can't expect the footage to look as good as Movi carrying a Red (duh) but for lower budget productions or for passion projects, this thing is great. I can actually get it up and running in about 20 seconds, not the full minute that many people talk about.

Battery Extender Cable:
This is a must-have for anyone that has a Phantom 3, Phantom 4 or Inspire 1. I tested an Inspire battery on the Osmo for a couple of hours and it was still reading a full charge.

Internal Battery:
As expected, this is not such graet news. DJI claim an "up to 90 minute" run time on the new firmware. Being all too familiar with DJI marketing promises, I of course didn't expect 90 minutes, which is good, because they simply aren't there. I will test again today, but I don't think I even got half of those 90 minutes yesterday in testing.

Car Mount:
I haven't tried it yet due to rain, but this appears to be built very well. All-metal construction boosts confidence in the design, and a quick mount to a window would lead me to believe that the three suction cups appear to be enough to hold the mount and Osmo firmly in place.

Extension Rod:
I don't now how useful this will be. I am not a seflie-er, so I won't ever use it for this. It may come in handy in a crowd at some point, or for taking shots from a corner, or whatever, but for now, I don't see much use for it.

Tripod Legs and Osmo Base:
There is a reason I bundled these two together. These have both quickly become useful items for me. If you are using the Z-Axis, the Osmo base isn't enough to keep the Osmo upright (seriously DJI, major oversight). A quick look at the tripod base, I put one and one together, literally and now my problem is solved. I can shoot with the Z-Axis attached, and when I am done I dock the Osmo in the base attached to the tripod base and it works perfectly and is very stable. I do wish DJI would have designed the base a little differently to work with the Z-Axis, but that is what it is for now.

Bike Mount:
Due to the rain, I have not been able to test this either. It appears to be built rather well. one concern I have is what happens if I go over a bump with it. There is a spring located inside the compression tube, and if you extend the tube even slighlty (like if you were to hit a bump) the spring seems to get stuck on the lip of the innter tube and then it pops off with compression, which I believe would translate to footage. Not a big deal, but it would have been easy to design this in a way where the spring can not ever extend and casue this.

So, there are my first impressions. I will be shooting test video today and will post them within the next couple of days, work permitting.
Let me know if there is a specific test shot you would like to see and I will try to include it.

2016-5-10
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rpknowles
lvl.2
Flight distance : 736033 ft
United States
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Thanks for this review.  I'm still trying to understand how you used the tripod and base together.  Can you post a picture of that?
2016-5-10
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lvl.3
Flight distance : 647034 ft
United States
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rpknowles - The Osmo base has threads on the bottom of it that are the same size as the tripod base. I will post pics later today.
2016-5-10
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lvl.3
Flight distance : 647034 ft
United States
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[img]https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/%5BURL=http://s1098.photobucket.com/user/PIXELBUZZmedia/media/IMG_1678_zpsmz3uc6g8.jpg.html%5D[/URL][/img]
2016-5-10
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lvl.3
Flight distance : 647034 ft
United States
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[img]https://forum33.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/%5BURL=http://s1098.photobucket.com/user/PIXELBUZZmedia/media/IMG_1679_zpsvqjelofl.jpg.html%5D[/URL][/img]
2016-5-10
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info
lvl.3
Flight distance : 647034 ft
United States
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[img]https://forum11.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/%5BURL=http://s1098.photobucket.com/user/PIXELBUZZmedia/media/IMG_1680_zpsdo1lsoer.jpg.html%5D[/URL][/img]
2016-5-10
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DJI-Adela
DJI team

Hong Kong
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Hello!
We're very appreciated with your positive comments about DJI Osmo and the accessories!
I've collected some of your suggestions or feedback for our engineers' review.

Thanks for your time here.
If you any question, please let me know freely. Look forward to your further update.
2016-5-11
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