I got my OSMO+ during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As an updated version of OSMO, DJI states that OSMO+ is more powerful in its imaging system, enabling you to take motion timelapse and detailed panorama up to 7x zoom. I was eager to have a go when I got it.
I. Motion Timelapse
You can frequently hear different kinds of clacking sounds in Hong Kong, such as the traffic light tick and ferry boarding alert.
Life in Hong Kong is really fast-paced and people there are always in a hurry, like walking in a giant clock.
It only takes two steps to shot a motion timelapse.
1. Fix the camera:
Mount the OSMO+ on a tripod (the expansion port is compatible with all OSMO accessories). I personally use an octopus style tripod which is easy to be fastened onto handrails or railings.
2. Set time and movement points:
Shooting time: follow the instructions in DJI GO APP.
Movement Points: it is the main difference between OSMO and OSMO + in motion timelapse. OSMO+ can automatically create phenomenal moving timelapses after you mark where the camera starts and ends, in which way I have shot the overcrowded street in Hong Kong. Whereas OSMO can only achieve the same effects with additional equipment such as the pulleys on the tripod to enable flexible movement. With OSMO+, you only have to mark the movement points in DJI GO APP and watch the camera moving automatically and shooting a complete video.
I went to Hong Kong on the Mid-Autumn Festival Day. The Symphony of Lights show was staged on both sides of the Victoria Harbour with swarms of people standing by the harbour watching the performance. The dazzling lights suddenly took the depressive look off the crowed buildings. Most viewers were tourists like me. Coming from different places, we were drawn there together by the spectacular show to spend the festival.
II. Zoom
You must be familiar with this scene if you often watch the Hong Kong gangster movies. Well, this is just a taste shot by me. The color correction makes for its cinematic effect.
Zoom in to shoot the signboards on the other side in the night.
A 7× zoom, consisting of 3.5× optical and 2× digital lossless zoom, gives OSMO+ a focal length ranging from 22mm to 77mm without sacrificing HD quality. Just press and hold the Trigger and push the Joystick up and down to zoom in and out or simply tap the Zoom Button (tap T to zoom in and W to zoom out) in the DJI GO APP on your phone. I tried several times to zoom while shooting. It takes a while before you can flexibly zoom in or out through the Joystick. Otherwise you can just tap the Zoom Button in the DJI GO APP to acquire smoother footage.
The focus will be locked automatically after you change the focal length. However, you are likely to get a blurry image due to unclear focus. In the zoomed photo below, the letter ‘SOC’ can be seen indistinctly among the buildings.
I have been happy with the zoom feature and I would recommend you to try it.
Be sure to zoom before shooting. For example, before shooting videos or photos by a ship, you can eliminate the ship body’s dominance in the image and tighten the composition by zooming in. Be noted that the zoom feature is not available for timelapse or panorama shooting.
For professional photography and videography, try not to zoom during the shooting process. OSMO+ can shoot 4k videos at 30fps, 1080p 4-fold slow motion videos and 12 megapixel photos. In this case, you can adjust the zoom through post-production with no issue.
Remember that zoom before shooting is like a “once-for-all” deal, which means that you can hardly retouch the images unless the objects are properly focused.
III. Detailed Panorama
Some people doubt whether the detailed panorama function is necessary when you can get a wider view by stepping back. Well, the following pictures will justify this function.
I can never shoot such a photo by just stepping back.
Tolerable distortion can be seen at the edge of the photo, yet it also gives an enormous impact on the image. Just click the Panorama, the gimbal will rotate automatically to shoot 9 separate photos which will be blended together into one stunning photo. Due to high light ratio, it is advisable to compensate the clarity and contrast level for the shade part lack of perceived detail in DJI GO APP. (See the retouched photo as below)
Sometimes the panorama feature can bring you unexpected results, such as a crowded street with people coming and going:
(Photo by post-production) Several people’s legs disappear! You can also try some interesting and creative composition next time. The results are not always so weird:
This is the original shot. OSMO+ performs well in night scene shooting.
Suggestions
As an updated version, OSMO+ is more powerful than OSMO. If you are looking for an ideal handheld gimbal camera, OSMO+ will not let you down, meeting your demands of professional shooting and social media sharing.
The main differences between OSMO+ and OSMO are listed as below:
Motion Timelapse: the ‘motion’ function can free you from troublesome steps to take a timelapse, just mark where you want the camera to start and end, tap ‘Start’ to create phenomenal moving timelapses without additional specialist equipment.
Zoom and Detailed Panorama: it means more flexible composition and more shooting scenes for OSMO+, giving full display to your creativity.
Longer Battery Duration: I used two batteries in a day. From 11:00am, I have been shooting all kinds of images I encountered, such as the advertising boards, street foods, beautiful girls and HK trams all the time. Till 9:00pm when I was taking a timelapse, my second battery still had over 50% power left.
Meanwhile, the newly added functions also have some bugs, such as less-than-ideal focusing and moving focus. We expect that DJI will fix these bugs in its firmware updates.
If you are struggling to choose one from the OSMO series, you can refer to our previous OSMO Mobile assessment which includes detailed comparison and suggestions on the three products.
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