DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Released – Rotatable OLED Touchscreen, 1-inch Type Sensor, 4K 120fps, 10-Bit, D-Log M, and More

Camera News

by Jakub HanOctober 25^th, 2023

The new DJI Osmo Pocket 3 features a new 9.4MP 1-inch type CMOS sensor with a 20mm equivalent f/2.0 lens on the 3-axis stabilized camera head. It can record up to 4K 120fps video, has a 10-bit D-Log M color profile, and night mode up to 30fps. Equipped with a larger 2” rotatable OLED touchscreen, the Osmo Pocket 3 is available now starting at $519. Let’s have a look!

The original DJI Osmo Pocket began its journey roughly five years ago introducing an ultra-compact gimbal-stabilized camera. Two years after that, in October 2020, the successor, DJI Pocket 2, arrived with a larger sensor, wider lens, and some other improvements. Now, after three years, DJI just announced the new generation Osmo Pocket 3 with an even larger image sensor and a handful of useful improvements.

We have a review unit of the Osmo Pocket 3 in our CineD office and are working on a first-look review which will come soon. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the features and specs of the newly announced pocket-sized gimbal camera from DJI.

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 – larger sensor, larger screen

When using the previous Pocket 2, I found operating and monitoring the image on the absolutely tiny display quite difficult. Connecting the phone to the Pocket 2 was almost essential to see what I was actually filming. That is why I am happy to see a much larger screen on the new Osmo Pocket 3. The camera now features a 2” rotatable OLED touchscreen (314×556 resolution and 700 nits brightness), making it much more usable as a standalone device.

Another great improvement is the larger image sensor. The Osmo Pocket 3 features a 1-inch type CMOS sensor. Additionally, the sensor resolution decreased from 64MP in the Pocket 2 to around 9.4MP in the new Osmo Pocket 3. This means every individual pixel is much larger, and the camera should perform much better in low-light environments. More on that later.

Aside from these two improvements, the Osmo Pocket 3, of course, still includes the essence of the Osmo Pocket series – a 3-axis gimbal-stabilized camera head.

The f/2.0 fixed aperture lens features the same FOV as the Pocket 2, with a focal length equivalent of 20mm and a minimum focusing distance of 0.2m. Because of the fixed aperture, ND filters will be essential to keep the shutter speed at (or around) 180°. The good thing is that the Pocket 3 can accept magnetic filters. DJI, as well as many third-party manufacturers, will offer sets of magnetic filters.

Video Recording up to 4K 120fps

In the normal video recording mode, the Osmo Pocket 3 offers the following recording modes:

• 4K (16:9): 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 2.7K (16:9): 2688×1512@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 1080p (16:9): 1920×1080@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 3K (1:1): 3072×3072@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 2160p (1:1): 2160×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 1080p (1:1): 1080×1080@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 3K (9:16): 1728×3072@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 2.7K (9:16): 1512×2688@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• 1080p (9:16): 1080×1920@24/25/30/48/50/60fps

As we can see, the camera offers vertical 9:16 shooting modes as well, but these are only a cropped portion of the horizontal sensor. Unlike the mini drones, the camera head cannot rotate by 90°.

In slow motion mode, the Osmo Pocket 3 can record 4K UHD at up to 120fps or FullHD at up to 240fps. There is also a low-light video mode that, according to DJI, produces cleaner footage in low light and is limited to a maximum of 30fps.

With DJI’s D-Log M flat color profile (or HLG profile), the camera can record 10-bit 4:2:0 video in H.265 compression. There are also 8-bit H.264 recording modes with standard color profiles. The maximum bitrate is 130 Mbps. The footage can be saved to MicroSD memory cards (up to 512GB are supported).

The camera can also shoot Raw and/or JPEG stills with a maximum resolution of 9.4MP. That makes the new Pocket 3 actually less capable for stills, but for me personally, the larger pixels are much better as I think most users will primarily (or solely) use the camera for video recording.

Camera body, audio, battery

The good thing is that despite the larger sensor and screen, the Osmo Pocket 3 still remains “pocketable” with 179g of weight and dimensions of 139.7 × 42.2 × 33.5mm. Another neat function is the automatic axis lock that secures the camera’s gimbal in storage position.

When it comes to audio recording, according to DJI, the camera now features three built-in microphones for better wind-noise reduction and omnidirectional stereo sound. The Pocket 3 is also compatible with the DJI Mic 2 wireless transmitter that also offers on-board 24-bit audio recording.

DJI claims that the 1300mAh internal battery of the Osmo Pocket 3 can be charged to 80% in just 16 minutes (to 100% in 32 minutes). On a full battery, the camera should be able to record up to 116 minutes of 4K 60fps footage (according to DJI’s testing).

Smart features and creative modes

Based on the autofocus capability, the camera also offers a variety of smart features such as ActiveTrack 6.0 with multiple follow modes. The Osmo Pocket 3 can now act as an HD webcam or livestream directly via the smartphone connection. It also has a built-in timecode function for easier sync in post-production.

Other creative modes include:

• SpinShot – produces 180° smooth camera movements with one hand.
• Motionlapse – captures timelapse video while moving.
• Digital Zoom – up to 4x digital zoom lets you get closer to your subject.
• Panorama – captures multiple images and stitches them together for a panorama photo.

DJI’s LightCut app can connect to the Osmo Pocket 3 and automatically edit and generate 4K video from the selected footage. It includes a variety of templates and does not even need to download the full-size files to the smartphone to edit the video.

Accessories

As usual, DJI offers a handful of accessories that further improve the versatility of the Osmo Pocket 3. These include the following products:

• Osmo Pocket 3 black mist filter – A magnetic snap-on filter that controls highlight flares and softens skin tones producing the classic “mist” look.
• Osmo Pocket 3 wide-angle lens – This magnetic adapter expands the FOV to 108°.
• Osmo mini tripod – A portable base tripod that is equipped with a 1/4″-20 screw for expansion.
• Osmo Pocket 3 battery handle – The battery handle has a built-in 950mAh battery, which can increase the operating time by approximately 62% when connected to Pocket 3.  It supports hot swapping and comes with a USB-C port that can be used to connect external audio devices. The 1/4″ thread at the bottom can connect accessories like tripods.
• DJI Mic 2 transmitter – The wireless audio TX has an operating time of six hours and comes with 8 GB of internal storage which can store up to 14 hours of 48kHz 24-bit audio without compression.
• Osmo Pocket 3 magnetic ND filters set – The set includes ND16, ND64, and ND256 magnetic filters.
• Osmo Pocket 3 expansion adapter – This adapter can expand to fit a cold shoe and an action camera port.
• Osmo Pocket 3 carrying bag – Designed specifically for the Creator Combo, the carrying bag can store the device and accessories.

Price and availability

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is available now and it comes in two different kits:

• Osmo Pocket 3 (includes the camera, a Type-C to Type-C PD cable, a protective cover, a DJI wrist strap, and a handle with 1/4″ thread) which retails for $519 (around €539 in Europe including VAT).

• Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo (includes the whole Osmo Pocket 3 kit plus the DJI Mic 2 transmitter with windscreen and clip magnet, a battery handle, a mini tripod, and a carrying bag) which retails for $669 (around €679 in Europe including VAT).

Do you use the previous Pocket 2 for your video projects? What do you think about the new DJI Osmo Pocket 3? Let us know in the comments section underneath the article.