The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 is an affordable, compact gimbal camera with enhanced Active Track 7.0, 240 FPS slow motion, 2x lossless zoom, and improved battery life, making it ideal for solo content creators seeking cinematic footage on a budget. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
I’ve been testing the new DJI Osmo Pocket 4 for a few days now courtesy of DJI South Africa, and the most obvious question when talking about this camera is - who is it for?
It’s certainly not for anyone who owns the Pocket 3, as even though there are some big improvements over the previous model, it doesn’t quite warrant the upgrade.
For anyone else looking to get into content creation, who wants to create cinematic, smooth footage on a budget - this is a great camera with a touchscreen display and buttons to help you get the shots you want.
While this is a ‘budget’ camera (compared to most SLRs, it definitely is), its starting price of R12,799 for the standard combo and the more expensive but value-driven creator combo for R16,499 is definitely a big outlay if you’ve never used this type of camera before.
So what is special about the Pocket 4? It’s a tiny, handheld gimbal camera that can easily fit into your pocket. Just be sure to put the gimbal protector on whenever you store it, as the gimbal is fragile.
The gimbal (weighted camera to counter any shake introduced by footage not using a tripod) allows you to shoot mechanically stabilised footage, which beats digital stabilisation 100% of the time. While digital stabilisation has its merits, it can never compete on the same level as a camera using a gimbal.
There’s also been some considerable improvements made to the active tracking feature compared to the Pocket 4. With Active Track 7.0, this camera can now follow you wherever you go in the camera, even if you turn your face (which is the main tracking point) away from view or step out of shot temporarily, as it will pick you up as soon as you re-enter the frame.
This is an invaluable feature for solo creators who want to move a little bit around their surroundings or environment.
When it comes to filming as you walk, as this will probably be the majority of the time with this camera, there’s nothing that compares to the Pocket 4 in this price range or physical size (Pocket 3 excluded).
There’s also improved slow-motion shooting, with users now able to film in 240 Frames Per Second (FPS) in slow motion, which is double the FPS of the Pocket 3. That means any kind of fast movement will look twice as good in slow motion with this little powerhouse.
There’s also a 2x lossless zoom, which is easily activated with the new instant zoom button on the camera. This is next to another new customisable button just below the display screen. It means there are two new physical buttons on the camera, which just makes it even easier to use.
The Pocket 4 also features much improved battery performance, allowing around 240 minutes of recording time and fast charging to 80% in 15 to 20 minutes.
With the Pocket 4 you also get a new magnetic fill light which will help illuminate your face really well in low lit environments.
If you have other DJI products, like I do, it also works extremely well with other devices in the ecosystem. The first accessory, if you don’t pay extra for the creator combo, is a DJI mic. I have the DJI mic mini and it pairs extremely easily with the Pocket 4 and there was no delay in setup at all when connecting the two devices.
While I also have a DJI Osmo Nano action camera and the DJI Neo 2 drone, it’s unlikely you would combine these three cameras. However, if you’re into video editing, splicing together smooth drone footage, POV action-style footage, and the more cinematic shots, you will get plenty of options from the Pocket 4.
Navigating the user interface is also really easy if you already own another DJI camera, otherwise it will take a bit of time to get used to the touchscreen menu system.
Ultimately, the Pocket 4 is an incredible product for anyone interested in filmmaking, content creation, or if you want to capture moments on your next family holiday that will look like they were shot by a professional cameraman.