How To Use Dji Osmo Mobile 2

DJI gained worldwide recognition for producing some of the best consumer drones on the market, but their option to diversify and manufacture camera accessories has also been massively successful. The DJI Osmo Mobile, though expensive, was an first-class first attempt at producing a smartphone gimbal.

The DJI Osmo Mobile ii is the Osmo Mobile'south successor, and information technology appears DJI take fabricated some big moves to position themselves as the market place leader in handheld gimbals. The Osmo Mobile two supposedly delivers better stabilization than its predecessor—while costing less than half every bit much at launch.

As a fan of previous DJI gimbals, it should go without saying I was massively excited for the Osmo Mobile two. At the same time, I was skeptical about whether or not DJI could deliver on their promises.

Could DJI actually produce the ultimate smartphone gimbal while pricing information technology as a budget gimbal? Or did they have to cutting some corners to appeal to the more than price sensitive consumer? Let's discover out.

What The Osmo Mobile 2 Does

Before we dive into the review, let me clear up what exactly a gimbal like the Osmo Mobile 2 is for.

A gimbal stabilizer is essentially a device that drastically reduces unwanted photographic camera milk shake.

Fifty-fifty though high end smartphones like the iPhone Ten feature advanced optical paradigm stabilization (OIS), the fact is camera milk shake will ever noticeable when filming things while moving, or when the photographic camera is mounted on a moving object.

3-centrality gimbals like the Osmo Mobile ii use three brushless motors to control three pivots. These pivots move to annul the changes in orientation of the camera. The resulting video footage is much smoother than any gimbal-less setup.

Commencement Impressions

Out of the box, the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 looked very familiar. It looks near identical to its predecessor while being slightly lighter and more than meaty. That's apparently a plus, fifty-fifty though the original Osmo Mobile 2 was compact enough to begin with.

Unlike many other gimbals that include a bunch of accessories like frame housing, wrist straps and tripods, the Osmo Mobile 2 has a much more minimalist package. Inside the included carry case you'll but find the gimbal itself and a micro USB charging cablevision.

Build Quality

Near smartphone gimbals are made from plastic, and the Osmo Mobile 2 is no exception. Still, according to DJI, the Osmo Mobile 2 is made from loftier-strength nylon that is supposedly both lighter and stronger than its predecessor's plastic.

The Osmo Mobile 2 felt good in my hands. Despite still being plastic, it felt better congenital than cheaper gimbals like the Hohem iSteady Mobile. Of class, only time will tell if that is actually the case.

Like its predecessor, the ergonomics of the Osmo Mobile 2'southward handgrip is very proficient. It doesn't feature a rubberized grip or experience quite equally comfortable to utilize every bit the fancy GoPro Karma, but it'southward definitely i of the better grips around.

Equally with almost every smartphone gimbal, the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 is not waterproof so information technology shouldn't be taken exterior on rainy days or used to pic water sports.

Compatibility and Setup

The DJI Osmo Mobile 2 features a spring loaded clench that makes mounting your smartphone a breeze. I establish it vastly superior to the spiral mechanisms found in many other gimbals. This is an peculiarly welcome feature for a smartphone gimbal, because you'll constantly exist taking your mounting and unmounting your phone.

I personally tried the gimbal with my old Samsung S7 Edge, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 10. I didn't have whatever issues putting them on, but the iPhone 7 Plus in its TPU case was a flake of a clasp.

According to DJI, the Osmo Mobile 2 is uniform with all iPhone models, including the new iPhone XS and XR and XS Max. Supporting a maximum payload of 240g, the Osmo Mobile two volition likewise exist compatible with the vast majority of Androids.

Your telephone tin can exist mounted in either horizontally (landscape) or vertically (portrait). The latter is evidently geared towards those users wanting to share stories on Instagram Stories or the like.

Unfortunately, switching between horizontal and vertical orientations requires y'all to physically take off your phone, flip the clamp and put information technology dorsum on. Some smartphone gimbals allow you to switch orientation at the press of a push or flick of the wrist – the Osmo Mobile ii doesn't.

Regarding compatibility with accessories, the industry standard quarter-inch screw thread needle at the base of the gimbal makes it easy to mount to tripods and the like.

Controlling The DJI Osmo Mobile ii

Whereas some gimbals make you experience like you lot're piloting a drone, mayhap ironically, DJI's gimbal control scheme is very uncomplicated and straightforward.

The power button is not but used for turning the device on and off, borer it iii time volition reset the gimbal to its default orientation.

There is a dedicated record button which means you don't accept to bear on your telephone's screen to commencement capturing.

The joystick in the heart is used to control the gimbal's pan and tilt. This is a fancy way of saying pointing the photographic camera left, right, up and down.

The range of move is very good, but not the best. The Osmo Mobile ii has roughly a 340-degree range of motion in the pan and tilt axes and can roll 45-degree to either side. This is much improve than a lot of gimbals which tin can merely pan 180 degrees, simply some of the newer gimbals are capable repeatedly panning 360 degrees.

Other than that, the left side of the handgrip has a zoom slider. This allows you lot to adjust the digital zoom while recording video. Equally with almost gimbals that offer a physical push button to command digital zoom, information technology's non perfect. In other words, as you zoom in it'll be a little choppy and not perfectly smooth.

Gimbal Modes

The Osmo Mobile 2 features two shooting modes which y'all can easily switch between:

Follow Mode: In this mode, the Osmo Mobile 2 volition follow the user'southward movements while eliminating camera shake. Therefore when you pan left or right or tilt up or down, the gimbal volition follow your movements, albeit smoothing out those movements for buttery smooth footage.

Free Style (a.thousand.a. All Lock): In this mode, the Osmo Mobile 2 volition lock the pan, tilt and whorl centrality. In layman's terms, the gimbal will effort and go on the cameras orientation the same, and stay focused on the aforementioned object. As an example, you lot'll want to be in this mode when you lot're filming at a gig, or when y'all want to use your telephone as a dashcam.

With only two gimbal modes, DJI accept kept things simple. It is fine for about cases, but some users might be disappointed by the lack of a pan-follow way.

Stabilization Functioning

Stabilization performance is really where the DJI Osmo Mobile ii shines, especially for its toll. Videos are fifty-fifty more stable than its expensive predecessor, and suffer from very few micro-vibrations.

A common complaint of sure motorized gimbals is that their brushless DC motors are too noisy and audible in recordings footage. The DJI Osmo Mobile ii's motors are practically silent and I couldn't selection upwards any trace of their sound over the ambient sounds in my recordings.

The Osmo Mobile two's motors are as well fast, significant they can keep up with even the fastest changes of management. Sometimes y'all want the follow speed to be slower, and the smartphone companion app allows y'all to manually adapt the follow speeds.

DJI Go App

Quite bluntly, most of the iOS/Android apps that gimbal manufacturers create for their gimbals are rubbish. Even though they add some functionality, I ever find myself using the stock camera apps to record.

Still, the DJI Go companion app is an exception. With a big company like DJI behind it, it feels more polished and very user friendly.

Of grade this is the app yous'll use to calibrate the gimbal, configure settings so along. However, using the DJI Go app will unlock some sectional capture modes that are actually worth using.

Firstly, the app lets yous record fourth dimension-lapse and hyperlapse video. Nearly of you will probably be familiar with time-lapses, but some of you might not be familiar with hyperlapses. In photography, a hyperlapse is essentially a motion time-lapse where the camera also moves. DJI'south Go app lets you lot take hyperlapses by prompting you to select the start and stop position of the camera and the duration of the shot.

Perhaps the apps greatest feature, and feature that makes y'all actually desire to tape video using information technology, is 'ActiveTrack'.

ActiveTrack lets yous draw a box around an object and the gimbal will follow that objects movements by means of AI. A usage instance would be if y'all're a vlogger wandering around your room and want the camera to follow your movements.

For static photography, the app has the following 3 photo modes:

Photo Timer
Panorama shots
Long exposure shots

The resulting quality of your photo will vary depending on your smartphone, but y'all can adjust things like the white balance through the app.

Finally, I should probably mention the livestream feature within the app. I don't personally livestream, just if y'all want to easily livestream to Facebook alive or YouTube, this app has yous covered.

Battery Life

The Osmo Mobile 2's 2600mAh battery is built into the handgrip. Unlike the original Osmo Mobile 2, it'due south non removable. Using non-removable batteries seems to be becoming a trend since the release of the popular GoPro Karma gimbal stabilizer.

The bombardment life of the Osmo Mobile 2 is absolutely fantastic. I'k typically used to using batteries that last 2-half-dozen hours on a single charge. The Osmo Mobile 2 tin can keep going for up to 15 hours on a single charge. That's three times longer than the original Osmo Mobile.

A full charge will take approximately 3 hours. If you're always in a situation where you need to accuse your phone, USB port on the back of the handgrip will allow you the Osmo Mobile 2 to office as a powerbank.

Conclusion

DJI take outdone themselves with the Osmo Mobile 2. They kept the Osmo Mobile's winning formula, threw in some tweaks and significantly reduced the price. I would recommend this gimbal to about any videographer. Those who want a gimbal to aid them in doing fancy videography techniques, withal, might find it a piffling bones.

Pros

Fantastic stabilization performance for the toll
Motors are very tranquillity, almost silent
Leap loaded clamp takes the hassle out of mounting your telephone
Excellent battery life
Decent smartphone app

Cons

Flipping between portrait and landscape mode is fiddly
Limited shooting modes

Rating 4.v/v

The DJI Osmo Mobile 2 is currently what I consider to be the best gimbal for iPhone.

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I'k a photographer and the main editor of Capture Guide. Later on spending several years in parts of Southward America with my trusty one-time Nikon D7100, I'm now back domicile patiently waiting for borders to re-open up.