Hi Guys

I am in the market for a DJI OSMO. I have a GoPro Hero 4 Black edition which I have put up for sale to buy the OSMO.

I had a quick read on the forums - am I making a mistake making this switch over?

I'm reading of some serious widespread issues on the forum with Audio sync, quality issues, and gimbal roll (tilt?) issues specifically. Also on YouTube I am seeing a lot of dead devices, or devices that go crazy when turned on, flapping all over the place.

It's a bit hard to distinguish which issues are affecting everyone and which issues are affecting only some OSMO owners, and if it's just that a lot of the people experiencing the issues happen to be posting the issues online..

I'm really stuck as to what to do becuase I had my heart set on an OSMO - it seemed perfect for my usage! But now these isseus are scaring me away.

Look forward to owning an OSMO one day soon.

Many thanks.

I had the same thought but I didn't go through the Forum until after I'd bought it!

I haven't used mine in anger yet but I have done a lot of practice "playing" and I have yet to experience any of the problems I've read about - maybe I'm lucky, maybe I will see them, who knows?

First of all it depends what you plan to use it for - a lot of stuff that GO-PROs are use for, like action cam stuff, often don't need stabilising - the wide angle, close to the action , cinema verite "wobbles" tend to work well.

From what I can determine, there are a few issues and bugs but a lot of the time I read about problems that are really born of using a camera beyond what it's meant for - mounting it on a tripod and wanting it to keep perfectly still - why buy or use a stabilised camera for that?  Just use a regular camera on a tripod for a still/static shot!  

Audio - I bought it knowing full well that the audio isn't great but it's no worse than the go pro and again - for real production work - I have a master recorder and simply post sync everything so - poor quality (or reference only as I think of it) audio isn't an issue.

So my summarised thinking is that pro video cameras (I've used hundreds of them) come in all shapes and prices and by pro standards, the Osmo is not expensive, I've used multi thousand dollar/pound cameras and haven't found one yet that doesn't have limitations of one kind or another.

So should you buy?  If it's going to be your only camera - absolutely not, you'll be asking too much of it and will be disappointed with the results.  If you're using it as a second camera to use for certain effects to fill in and make up for what 'camera A'  can't do - then go for it.

It's good, it's clever it's even fun to use but it's not ideal for every situation if you plan to use it to enhance video work with an extra dimension then it's ideal.

That's not to say that it doesn't have a few issues - it's new of course it does but DJI seem to be working through that and I suspect Osmo 2 will be even better! If you're happy with your go pro, why change now?  If you want to augment what and how you shoot - then go for it just don't expect too much, use it within it's limitations and it's amazing, try to exceed those and you'll be a sad little camper!

So far - notwithstanding the issues  - slow wifi connection, picture lags behind, conventional camera moves (where you don't want it to compensate) are hard to learn but not impossible, battery life is a major downer but plan round it. - I'm really happy with it (so far)  

Just my newbie view!

Thanks Davidaw! That's really helpful advice. I hear you about not using it as your only camera, but I am not doing professional work, just for fun, and I am not using the GoPro to it's full capabilities (I hardly do underwater work etc.).

What prompted me to look at the OSMO was when I looked into gimbals for my GoPro. That already told me I want to use the GoPro for something that it's not focused on (it;s aimed towards action cam footage). I needed to spend another $400 or so for a handheld gimbal which isn't as great stabilisation-wise as the DJI OSMO from what I have read, and also none of the gopro gimbals have space to mount your iPhone for live-view like the OSMO offers.. Also I really like the interface of DJI GO.

So figured I would put my GoPro up for sale and look into OSMO's. Then I came across the forum. However your words are slightly more comforting to hear.

I can only hope they are actively prioritising the bug fixes, because it really seems like an awesome device otherwise. It would just be great if when a widespread issue is brought up, if we could get proper acknowledgement/investigation/confirmation/feedback from DJI and not simply told "you're holding it wrong" or "send it in for repairs".

Where I live (South Africa), I am not in a major market of DJI so I guess this is also worrying for me investing so much in a product without solid backup support and local presence of the manufacturer.

Looking forward to hearing everyone else's advise

Thanks

ari_za Posted at 2016-3-11 12:55
Thanks Davidaw! That's really helpful advice. I hear you about not using it as your only camera, but ...

I bought the dji Osmo, Ronin-m gimbals and so far they worked as they should, i'm constantly reading everyones complaint on forums trying to avoid what they did, i live in argentina so i got no support from dji here, i'm worried all the time about my gear getting broke for no reason, but for now they both worked well, Dji Osmo has the same image sensor as the last Gopro so nearly the same image quality.

I bought the osmo when it first came out and although I do like it, I don't love it. If I had to do it all over again I would have just bought a handheld gimble for my iPhone 6s plus. The picture quality on the iPhone is a little better in my opinion.

I would have to agree, it seemed like a great purchase in the beginning, but with some of the issues it has, I'm wondering if I should sell it before it looses its value completely. I'm dealing with slight drift, and the audio doesn't sync at times.

I have personally been looking into the Osmo or GoPro with a gimbal, because i plan on going to Thailand in Nov 2017 (Long way off i know, but i like to get time with a new camera before hand), but I'm thinking in my case it's going be best to hang on in the hope to see a Osmo 2 that comes with better camera and audio and i really hope some type of waterproofing of the camera.

Have read too much about bad audio with the Osmo, whats really put me off getting one right now, but because of what i'll be doing in Thailand like trekking and going do rivers and so on, the gimbal side of it along with 4k really makes me want it also.

C.Birch Posted at 2016-3-12 16:05
I have personally been looking into the Osmo or GoPro with a gimbal, because i plan on going to Thai ...

2017?
I think DJI will release an  OSMO 2 this year.

YDG Posted at 2016-3-13 10:11
2017?
I think DJI will release an  OSMO 2 this year.

Well i went ahead and ordered one because i come across a good deal that was kinda to good to pass on. £434 for a new Osmo along with a 2nd battery also, normal cost in UK is £525 and other batteries are around £25-30 so it's over £100 off the cost.

I have been looking also.  I will wait until a better camera in on the OSMO.  Maybe DJI will put the new camera/lens from the P4 on the OSMO.  That would make great sense.  Would also be nice if they would create an upgrade path for existing owners to get new camera/lens.

Yeah if the Osmo 2, gets the P4 camera, it would be nice if they just sold the camera to swap out if you wanted. Well I'm looking forward to trying mine out when it comes anyway to get use to using one, then if the Osmo 2 is a big set up from the first i'll upgrade

I just purchased an Osmo and will be receiving it this week. I was a little hesitant at first because of some of the issues people have been reporting but the latest firmware update appears to fix many of the issues. I'm not using this as my only camera but is going to be an addition to my arsenal so its another aspect I'll have. I'm not professional by no means but just an average joe who likes to shoot video of my family/kids and our trips. I'll play with the Osmo and see what it provides me and I like it so much, maybe I'll get the Osmo 2 once its released but until then......just gonna have fun with what I have.

Nice one reggie. Thanks to everyone's advice I ended up buying an OSMO and the day I bought it a new firmware was released! Great stuff! Only tested it once so far but it's really awesome and can't wait to test it more on holiday

Only issue I've noticed so far is the recorded audio clicking at times with the flexi mic? I'm still experimenting though

ari_za Posted at 2016-3-21 09:10
Only issue I've noticed so far is the recorded audio clicking at times with the flexi mic? I'm still ...

I'm debating on the fleximic or the Rode Videomicro....so you can still hear the fan/gimbal with the fleximic?