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# A gimbal in my pocket
- URL: https://onemanandhisblog.com/2018/12/a-gimbal-in-my-pocket/
- Published: 2018-12-19T18:27:04.000Z
- Updated: 2019-01-07T14:59:11.000Z
- Description: The DJI Osmo Pocket is a neat little gimbal-mounted camera that (literally) fits in your pocket.
- Author: Adam Tinworth
- Tags: online video, social video, video camera, Video, gimbals

Well, isn't this a lovely little thing? And potentially handy for video journalism, too:

A pocket-sized three axis gimbal that shoots 4k video? Tempting. Very temping. 

Oh, OK, I succumbed:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/d8/36d823b7-59a1-4c8b-91bd-a54c64552596/content/images/2018/12/IMG_1326.jpg)

It's quite hard to articulate how tiny this thing is. It is quite genuinely pocket-sized — I was looking for it earlier, having forgotten it was in… my pocket — yet surprisingly powerful. This might give you an idea of its scale:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/d8/36d823b7-59a1-4c8b-91bd-a54c64552596/content/images/2018/12/fullsizeoutput_47b62.jpeg)

This is a 4k camera and a gimbal in less than the size of the Flip cameras I was using a decade ago. That's astonishing progress in video tech.

And the footage I've shot with it so far — mainly of my daughters — has been pretty impressive. That said, it handles quite oddly, and really wants to be attached to a phone for the best results. I don't have quite the immediate enthusiasm I thought I would have for it. I'll give it a more serious test over the holidays, and post the results here when I'm done. 

## Gimbals for the people

This really is a golden age for handheld stabilization, isn't it? The [GoPro Hero Black 7](https://shop.gopro.com/EMEA/cameras/hero7-black/CHDHX-701-master.html?ref=onemanandhisblog.com) came out a few months ago, with some pretty impressive in-camera stabilization at work with its [Hypersmooth feature](https://gopro.com/help/articles/block/what-is-hypersmooth?ref=onemanandhisblog.com). That's computational stabilization rather than optical, but it still works really well:

*(Apologies for the unbearable levels of cute in the video)*

The Osmo Pocket has a more natural lens length, though, so you avoid the "fish eye" effect that's so common to GoPro footage, which has me wondering if it's just a more versatile tool. Sure, I'm not going swimming with it like I do with the GoPro, but out of those situations? 

I actually began to wonder if I should have held on and not bought the GoPro when I did. Just look at the relative sizes:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/d8/36d823b7-59a1-4c8b-91bd-a54c64552596/content/images/2018/12/fullsizeoutput_47b72.jpeg)

However, that thought quickly evaporated at the weekend. We went to visit the extended family, took a bevy of cousins to a Christmas trail at [Sayers Croft](http://www.sayers-croft.org.uk/?ref=onemanandhisblog.com), and it was absolutely *throwing it down*. The GoPro is waterproof. The Osmo Pocket is not. Without the GoPro I might not have got any footage at all that day.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/d8/36d823b7-59a1-4c8b-91bd-a54c64552596/content/images/2018/12/GPTempDownload.jpg)

So, there's probably room for both in my video armory. if I can get used to the Osmo Pocket's quirks. 

I am beginning to develop a bit of a gimbal problem, though… 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/d8/36d823b7-59a1-4c8b-91bd-a54c64552596/content/images/2018/12/fullsizeoutput_47b6e.jpeg)

Still, it's work, isn't it? 

---

- Buy the [DJI Osmo Pocket](https://amzn.to/2UXbK8g?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)
- Buy the [GoPro Hero Black 7](https://amzn.to/2S9VVJB?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)