Hello everybody,
Im very interested in the Osmo and really want to buy one to make a video of my upcoming holiday to bali.
It seems like the perfect product to make beautyfull stabilized videos.

At first i was looking at the osmo mobile for my iphone 7 but after a lot of review videos  and forum posts i am afraid that the stabilization of my iphone will never work perfect with the mobile. And i don't believe apple will allow turing off the optical stabilization completely any time soon if ever...

So i started looking at the more expensive osmo and osmo+.
The video quality seems very nice and maybe even a little better than my iphone 7 especialy in terms of depth. The stabilization looks really good but of course thats what its all about.
The audio is not useable with the internal mic but thats no dealbreaker for me altough i dont get why its not atleast as good as any mobile phone nowadays.
I dont mind using an external mic but i wonder if the one that comes with the osmo is any better than the internal one. Alot of people use the rode video mic which seems like a good mic however i see a lot of problems with the audio not being in sync.

I also see a lot of problems with the focus for the osmo+  and im wondering if it would be better to buy the original osmo because it has no focus issues but i really like the motion timelapse feature on the osmo+ and i think i will be using that a lot, and focus control and zoom are nice features to have as well.

Then i see a lot of general problems with people getting buggy or doa products or dying after a couple of days/weeks.

I really want one because i just love the stabilized videos i see on youtube and woud love to make those shots myself. my iphone 7 won't look that good in terms of smoothness and i also don't want to use my dslr with a huge and way more expensive stabilizer.

I guess my qestions are:

1- How big is the chance of buying a not properly functioning product.
2- Does every osmo have problems with the audio being out of sync.
3- Does every osmo+ have problems with the focus ( i mean the focus on infinity lock being just out of focus and auto focus not working properly)

I really don't want to spend €800 and then find out that i cant record audio or get an in focus video.
Especially  with the horrible return policy i read about in all the posts here.. it seems you can only return it if its not activated whitch means that you cant even test it to see if everything works as promised.

I hope someone from dji can awnser my questions.. because right now i am afraid that buying an osmo is a bit of a risk.

And if there are any happy osmo users that have none of the mentioned problems i would also love to hear about your experience!

Sorry if my english is not perfect.. i'm dutch so its not my native language ;D

Tom

I'm very happy with my Osmo+. I haven't had any of the problems that you listed.
Just remember, the majority of people visiting forums will be those with problems and seeking advice.
I think you will find that this is the case with most high tech products.

Your English is very good, bye the way.

Cheers

Dave

I love my osmo+.

Just like lensmandave said, it takes some experimenting to get the quality of video you are probably looking for and some post production. If you are good with tech, then go for it.

You are right about the mobile osmo. There are too many negative comments about that product for me to feel comfortable buying one myself, much less recommending it to someone.

Good tips for camera setup

This channel has other great videos as well.

I wouldn't. We just bout ours and its been showing a gray screen on the iphone and it wont record. We've tried everything. Thinking of getting rid of it. Don't waste your money.

Let´s be Frank: Osmo is a toy. A nice toy. A toy for techies who want to preview in latest technology and play along with it. That´s ok.
But Osmo is not a tool. Even though the overall architecture is pretty good (not perfect), there are all these bugs, cracks, left out features and inconviniences...
Unfortunatly the Osmo is not the main product for DJI to survive, so they don´t really care about fixing those issues but rather keep putting new models on the market.

I can't fathom the comments of the previous reply.
The Osmo is an amazing tool. For it's size and price, the quality of images and features are staggering and can't be matched by any other camera currently. It is not a gopro that you just push the record button and get distorted shaky images. It takes a bit of learning to use the features, but can easily be run in auto mode.
I have put my Osmo through really tough tests and have been blown away with how it's performed. And never had a fault or bug. I use a stock standard Android phone and a slightly beefed up PC to edit. I view on UHD screens.
I have done tests with the supplied small external mic and a rode shotgun, both give good acceptable clean sound. Like most who use the camera for more than a holiday video, I would have liked less compression in the picture and more dynamic range - but realistically the technology to have that is only just coming on stream, albeit at a higher price.
As a potential holiday videographer you probably need to ask yourself whether you want a device of its size and visibility versus a small compact digital camera.





Look up the following post to see what it'll do -
Osmo on my MTB video. Hold On tight.

My Osmo has worked fine, that said I only use the iphone as a screen and havent explored using the iphone in any other way.

Small issues
I have found playback from the card only good for the 1st few recorded clips, then stutters for the others (anyone know why this is)
The audio is rubbish, but was improved no end by adding external mic handle etc.
Battery life is poor so you either need to be near a mains socket for continuous cycle charging, or have a very big bag of batteries.

Other than that - Im happy.

LensmanDave Posted at 2017-1-15 14:48
I'm very happy with my Osmo+. I haven't had any of the problems that you listed.
Just remember, the majority of people visiting forums will be those with problems and seeking advice.
I think you will find that this is the case with most high tech products.

Thanks Dave!

Good to hear that u haven't had any issues
And u are absolutely right about the majority of people on the forums looking for advice on problems.. it is indeed the same for most review websites and product forums.

Its a shame that there are not many good in depth video reviews from people that are happy with their osmo..
I'm still looking at videos shot with the osmo on YouTube and most of them look awesome.. manny of them are travel compilations (exactly the type of video i would like to make) ..unfortunately these youtubers rarely also do a review.

   

Justinv Posted at 2017-1-15 16:51
I love my osmo+.

Just like lensmandave said, it takes some experimenting to get the quality of video you are probably looking for and some post production. If you are good with tech, then go for it.

Thanks Justin,

Because of my job as audiovisual engineer i know my way around most tech pretty well so no problems there..
Also i've been a hobby / semi pro photographer for about 8 years and love to take the time to capture the perfect image and don't mind figuring out how the camera works best.

Alcedo Atthis Posted at 2017-1-15 21:38
Let´s be Frank: Osmo is a toy. A nice toy. A toy for techies who want to preview in latest technology and play along with it. That´s ok.
But Osmo is not a tool. Even though the overall architecture is pretty good (not perfect), there are all these bugs, cracks, left out features and inconviniences...
Unfortunatly the Osmo is not the main product for DJI to survive, so they don´t really care about fixing those issues but rather keep putting new models on the market.

I agree that the osmo is not an professional camera that's why it costs a lot less... however if u use it correctly u can get some professional looking shots that easily can be used in combination with footage from a more pro camera..  

I don't mind having a little less dynamic range, "phone like" audio quality and not the best low light performance.
The audio will be mixed with some music anyway.. its just for some short moments in a video when u want to hear a little bit of whats going on in the video. (shot of a waterfall or a child laughing for example)

All i want is that when i buy one the audio is in sync and the video is in focus.. if not it would be unusable.

Oglo Posted at 2017-1-15 22:09
I can't fathom the comments of the previous reply.
The Osmo is an amazing tool. For it's size and price, the quality of images and features are staggering and can't be matched by any other camera currently. It is not a gopro that you just push the record button and get distorted shaky images. It takes a bit of learning to use the features, but can easily be run in auto mode.
I have put my Osmo through really tough tests and have been blown away with how it's performed. And never had a fault or bug. I use a stock standard Android phone and a slightly beefed up PC to edit. I view on UHD screens.

Thanks for the reply!

Your video looks amazing.. especially if it was just a test for the gymbal!

Good to hear that u also haven't had any problems, and also that the stock external mic is acceptable.
And i agree with u on it being very good for the size and price range. I know it's not a RED camera and i wont expect it to be even close
But from what I've seen its pretty good in 4K.

As for it being to big to carry or slow to set up for a holiday videographer.. I'm already taking my dslr and some lenses in a backpack so i don't mind carrying the osmo as well.
I wont just be using it as a holiday camera, i would use it to make videos of my family and friends and probably shoot some cool stuff at work as well. ( i work as an audiovisual/lighting engineer at events and conferences)  

Oglo Posted at 2017-1-15 22:09
I can't fathom the comments of the previous reply.
The Osmo is an amazing tool. For it's size and price, the quality of images and features are staggering and can't be matched by any other camera currently. It is not a gopro that you just push the record button and get distorted shaky images. It takes a bit of learning to use the features, but can easily be run in auto mode.
I have put my Osmo through really tough tests and have been blown away with how it's performed. And never had a fault or bug. I use a stock standard Android phone and a slightly beefed up PC to edit. I view on UHD screens.

when u say ur using an android phone, that implies that u have the osmo mobile, right? well if u have the osmo mobile what do u mean by u use the external mic that came with it? the mobile has no external mic.

Its a great product when it is working I have had problems connecting to the wifi on my phone (Note 3) DJI Repaired it and returned it but it came back in worse shape. the sound problems can be cured by buying a rode microphone.

fanscb79d5b1 Posted at 2017-1-16 02:41
when u say ur using an android phone, that implies that u have the osmo mobile, right? well if u have the osmo mobile what do u mean by u use the external mic that came with it? the mobile has no external mic.

i get what ur saying now...ur using and android for the monitor.

It may not be a professional camera but it's certainly used by professionals.  Here's a link to a CBC web page.  The video on that page is shot with an osmo.  The operator, Pat regularly uses an Osmo to produce videos for the CBC Prince Edward Island's  Facebook page.  He just plugs a hand mic into the Osmo for audio and has never had any issues with it.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pr ... -rink-ban-1.3930221

The Osmo+ works well. But there are some nits. The interface with the phone can be persnickety. Having both the Mavic and the Osmo+ I have to force close the DJI Go4 app in order to use the Osmo. It often doesn't wake up properly from sleep mode. The connection with the phone gets lost every now and then (I really wish they made a hardwire connection with the phone like the Mavic RC). The Osmo+ lacks many of the cool software features present on the osmo mobile, such as active tracking. The internal mic is awful. Definitely requires an ext. mic.  But the quality of the video is outstanding. The gimbal works very well. So, minor irritations aside, it performs its job well.

I use the ever living crap out of my osmo+ for daily vlogging... So here are my experiences after a couple hundred hours of record time.

1. Use an external mic.

2. Audio on videos will be corrupted about 1 in 50 times you record. You wont know when this happens until later when you try to view the files on the card. Surprise.

3. Entire video file will be corrupted about 1 in 80 times you record. You wont know when this happens until later when you try to view the files on the card. Surprise.

4. Expect about 30 seconds from the time you turn the device on until you are ready to shoot. (camera takes time to find level horizon, phone takes time to connect to wifi, etc)

5. Use dedicated phone in airplane mode with only wifi turned on with only the osmo's wifi network known to the device for the best results.

6. Set the osmo to use a 5 ghz wifi to avoid audio interference.

7. The device will refuse to focus on anything randomly, maybe about 1 in 75 times you turn it on. It's hard to tell when this happens because the video shown on the mobile device is not high enough quality to know if your focus is actually locked where you want it or even if autofocus is working. Wish we had focus peaking on all these devices.

8. The stands and accessories can be kind of absurd. For example the base you can stand the osmo in is great unless you want to use the external mic (required) with a decent size phone -- then it just falls over. Not well thought out.

summary -- there are some serious flaws here -- but they seem to happen rarely enough that I havnt yet set it on fire and continue to do my daily work with it.

fans7e18cf68 Posted at 2017-1-16 12:04
I use the ever living crap out of my osmo+ for daily vlogging... So here are my experiences after a couple hundred hours of record time.

1. Use an external mic.

I tried to edit my op to add the following but this is the most retarded forum system I've ever seen so I'll try it again as a reply.

4a. There is a 1 to 2 second delay sometimes between when you press record and when it actually starts recording.

fans7e18cf68 Posted at 2017-1-16 12:04
I use the ever living crap out of my osmo+ for daily vlogging... So here are my experiences after a couple hundred hours of record time.

1. Use an external mic.

9. The audio will be out of sync about 1 out of 80 records. There's no way to know this is happening until you view the video later. Surprise.

10. If you record long enough that it needs to split the video file and start a new one there will be about 1 second of missing video. You will not know this has happened until you video the files later. (keep your recordings under the file size limit).

fans7e18cf68 Posted at 2017-1-16 12:04
I use the ever living crap out of my osmo+ for daily vlogging... So here are my experiences after a couple hundred hours of record time.

1. Use an external mic.

Hey,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post!

That does sound like a lot of problems indeed..  nice to know that u still like using it in spite of all the bugs.
So it seems that in your case its best to shoot a lot and if its really important shoot it twice or more to make sure you at least have one good file?

I will never record more than 5 min at a time so the file size limit is no problem.

Good to hear that u don't have any permanent focus issues.

Did u never try to return it because of the problems? apparently there are people here that have none of the problems u have..   

I will be selling my DJI OSMO very soon. DJI Online Sales Customer Service won't even asnwer emails. I am soo disgusted. Started Paypal