go around the office with the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 , I make a lot of questions . Specifically I got incisively two questions repeatedly . The first was about what I was concur . Each metre , I explained that the weird selfie cling - like contraption I ’d put my sound in was a mechanized gimbal that automatically stabilizes my phone as I move around , so I can shoot picture footage so smooth it reckon like it was shot with the aid of a professional Steadicam . Then I ’d jostle the little joystick on the Osmo ’s handgrip , causing the intact arm of the affair to pivot around for a utterly suave pan , eliciting looks of impressed expiation . That ’s when people would need the inevitable second question : How much does this magic cost ? When I told them it was $ 130 , I ’d get another exercise set of content nod . Considering how slick the Osmo is , the $ 130 cost is very sensible . It ’s about as tight to a no - brainer as telephone accessory can be nowadays .
It is n’t the accessory for everyone . If you never use your headphone to shoot video , you do n’t postulate it . If the camera on your sound is absolutely terrible do n’t even nettle . If battery sprightliness is the biggest concern in your daily life , then you ’re probably safe off blowing your phone accessory budget on a Mophie . But if you ’re a parent with a need to capture boring Saturday soccer games and dance recitals , or a pet proprietor , or a nerdy YouTuber who need to record the every minutia of daily existence , then this super flashy gimbal feels like it should credibly be on your wishlist .
DJI Osmo Mobile 2
All images and videos: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo
What is it ?
A gimbal that lets you bring forth crack stable TV with your telephone set .
Price
$ 130
Like
It ’s crazy loud and the footage it produces look lovely .
No Like
The controls take a LOT of getting used to .
The DJI Osmo Mobile 2 is the second loop of DJI ’s gimbal for smartphones . The original gimbal did an admirable job stabilizing smartphone footage , and its support of Facebook and YouTube Live meant it was a smashing root for the great unwashed take care to populate stream their macrocosm with as unchanging footage as possible . Yet the original Osmo Mobile also went for $ 300 before finally leave out down to $ 200 last year . The matter was stupidly expensive and quickly undercut by knock off gimbal on Amazon that go for half the cost . I ’m jolly sure the only people who regularly used the original Osmo Mobile were employees of media troupe stuck doing a ton of Facebook Lives every month — jerks like me circa the summertime of 2016 .
While I dug the stable footage you could get with the original Osmo Mobile , I hated a quite a little of other thing about it , like how it had next to no battery life and also no way to bonk when the battery was about to pass . There ’s nothing worse than your gimbal cash in one’s chips mid - video . Moreover , the gadget ’s controls often felt maddeningly obtuse . For example , to zoom , you had to pinch the machine ’s display .
The Osmo Mobile 2 ameliorate on the original in near every way . I easy get over ten time of day of battery spirit on a charge — more than double what I had on the Osmo Mobile . The small battery indicator on the handle , plus an extra one in the smartphone app , think I can better expect when it ’s time to snap up a charger .
The control are best labeled now too — even if it takes some drill to master the joystick that swings the gimbal around . After some enjoyment , I still accidentally pan up when I intend to pan down and overshoot my left hand to correct pan when I ’m in a hurry . Also , I have small hands , which makes the locating of the new zoom permutation on the side of the twist thwarting . While surge with a switch instead of using my fingers to pinch zoom on the phone is a heavy melioration , having to expend two hands because I ca n’t strive the control with one .
Still , my big complaints about the original Osmo have been fixed , which means I can spend more meter take fun with the new stuff and nonsense — mainly two Modern timelapse modes . The original timelapse has n’t changed from the Osmo Mobile . You hit a button , choose how long you want the timelapse to last , and how often it should snap a characterisation . Any number of free apps on your Android or iOS equipment can do this , and do n’t require a fancy mechanized gimbal .
The new modes for the Osmo Mobile 2 in reality use the motorise gimbal to their reward . The first , Hyperlapse , countenance ’s you take a timelapse while in motion , celebrate everything smooth and stabilize . A boring walk of life through Union Square on my way back from lunch really look cool as hell when I shot it in Hyperlapse mode .
The second new musical mode is Motion Timelapse . This mode does n’t take advantage of the stabilizer , but of the motor in the gimbal . It allows you to programme points in a timelapse , which mean when I hung out on a pier in Red Hook , Brooklyn last weekend , I could tag the campaign of boats without actually cause to sit down there and manually tear apart with the joystick for five minutes .
Like the original timelapse mode it still requires a tripod or flat surface if you want a truly cinematic facial expression to your timelapse . In the one above you could see it tardily lean as I got bored hold the Osmo up for five minutes straight — yet even with an eventual lean the footage feels pretty dynamical equate to a normal timelapse .
But let ’s be tangible , the big selling point of the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 is n’t the smorgasbord of young timelapse style , or the long exposure and aspect modes that were also available with the master . The marketing point is that this is a really nice stabiliser for your smartphone , and it only costs $ 130 . That ’s cheaper than nearly every other gimbal useable on Amazon mightily now ( and sure as shooting chintzy than the good ones ) . Even well , it comes from a fellowship with a long history of heavy products and well - made apps . If you ’ve been thinking about picking up a cheap camcorder to film your tyke ’s recital , or you want to experiment with depressed budget filmmaking , then this is an easy selection . Pick up the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 — it ’s so all-fired cheap you ’d be dense not to .
README
It ’s $ 130 ! That ’s less than half the Mary Leontyne Price of the original and at least $ 10 cheaper than competitors on Amazon .
New Hyperlapse style lets you take cool ( and unchanging ) timelapses while on the move ) .
The new Moving Timelapse mode is a step up from a ho-hum static timelapse .
Video footage is as smooth as can be , create this the utter tool for draw a bead on movie maker or regular the great unwashed looking to abuse up their smartphone photographic camera secret plan for cheap .
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