Summary
The DJI Pocket 2 Is the best 4k video camera for vlogging, Live Streaming, Short Videos, Filmmaking & Music Videos:
The Chinese manufacturer has been maintaining the teasing for a few days on its website. The unveil is now lifted on its brand new stabilized handheld camera. She still films in 4K, but switches to HDR and is full of frankly welcome improvements.
If you are interested in the stabilized camera market, you have probably missed out on the DJI Osmo Pocket, marketed at the end of the year… 2018. A mini camera mounted on a gimbal which was already formidable in its time. Almost two years of existence, therefore: it was time to renew its product, especially since we were pining a little. We expected, for example, that the manufacturer responds to GoPro which launched its Hero 9 Black … but no! In any case, not for the moment.
We will have to wait to see Osmo Action evolve as well. However, the announcement of the DJI Pocket 2 has already made our little hearts of fans of video products shudder. You noticed, the name Osmo disappears from the reference.
DJI Pocket 2 vs Osmo Pocket | What has changed?
Let’s quickly go over the dimensions and ergonomics of the product which seems quite close to the first Osmo Pocket of the name. The weight does not change with 117 grams against 116 grams. The dimensions are 12.4 x 3.8 x 3 cm and therefore also close to those of its predecessor (12.2 x 3.7 x 2.9 cm). The autonomy is here also announced as being about 140 min, we had rather estimated it at 120 min during the test of the Osmo Pocket.
So on the side of things that change, unsurprisingly, the manufacturer promises an improvement in 4K @ 60fps video quality. The sensor changes from a 1 / 2.3 ” 12 Mpixel CMOS to a 1 / 1.7 ” 16 Mpixel CMOS sensor. This allows you to shoot in 3840 x 2160 pixels (up to 100 Mbits / s: no change), but also to take pictures in 16 or 64 Mpixels, by combining several photos.
A process now classic and managed automatically by the camera. Again, for lack of information, we put this point aside and update this article once the additional information has been obtained. For now, we can also assume that these 64 Mpixel shots will be taken in “180 ° pan” modes which combine four photos to create a 180-degree panorama,
The DJI Pocket 2 is always piloted in different modes: physically connected to an iOS or Android smartphone (via the supplied Lightning and USB Type C adapters), wirelessly via an optional module and, now, via a joystick which, if it is responsive and precise, will make the thing much more pleasant to use. This handheld camera will become truly autonomous and suddenly much more comfortable to use than a smartphone stabilizer.
Better sensitivity, four microphones, and an 8x zoom:
The 20mm lens is one of the other notable improvements since it allows you to go from a field of view of 80 degrees – which was a bit cramped on especially use – to 93 degrees: it’s a little better. A wide-angle lens whose properties are unknown will also be offered as an option. It is also important to note that the aperture of this optic (the base one, not the wide-angle) is larger too. We go from F / 2.0 for the Osmo Pocket to F / 1.8 for the Pocket 2. A combination of elements that allows us to hope for even brighter, more contrasting, more dynamic images – which no doubt justifies that DJI is now telling us about 4K HDR – and presumably sharper too.
Indeed, Pocket 2 incorporates a focusing technology called “Hybrid Autofocus 2” which would rely on phase and contrast detection to increase its responsiveness and precision. DJI also indicates that the ISO range is improved since it now extends from 100 to 6400 against 100 to 3200 on the old model. A benefit that benefits the capture of photos and videos, which does not mean that digital noise management would be perfect. It will be up to us to verify this point during the test.
The audio part would evolve considerably since DJI indicates that its new handheld camera now integrates four microphones. Thanks to DJI Matrix Stereo techno, the sound would be sharper, more detailed, voices clearer and most importantly, directional.
The DJI Mimo app is also evolving:
