DJI has unveiled a successor to its awesome, tiny Osmo Pocket camera. It's called the DJI Pocket 2 and brings in some impressive recording capabilities.
The first DJI Osmo Pocket was its first stabilised camera that was small enough to fit in a pocket, launched in 2018 and offered unrivalled portability when it came to having a camera mounted to a three-axis-gimbal. Now, for 2020 the company has added a load of power and flexibility to make it even better.
The Pocket 2 features a very similar design to the Osmo Pocket and is essentially made up of a handle, the gimbal and a camera, all in one with a tiny screen on it and the ability to attach your phone and use that as a bigger monitor.
Where it improves on the first generation - apart from ditching the 'Osmo' part of its name - is in image quality. It has a larger 1/1.7-inch sensor, a 20mm equivalent camera and f/1.8 aperture. That means low light performance has improved and a wider angle lens.
It has a 64-megapixel sensor which, by default, automatically pixel-bins down to 16-megapixel, but can be used at 64MP using high-resolution mode. But really, it's the video capabilities that'll be most appealing.
Pocket 2 features 4K video recording up to 60 frames-per-second at 100Mbps, plus features HDR video mode to increase the visual impact of colours, brightness and shadows.
Using the 64-megapixel mode you can zoom up to 8x, or if you're using 1080p video or 16-megapixel stills, you get 4x lossless zoom. Making it incredibly versatile.
Audio has improved too, the new so-called DJI Matrix Stereo system uses four microphones placed around the Pocket 2 (away from anywhere your hand might grip) capture audio.
The sound recording then adjusts the direction of the sound depending on which way you're pointing the camera. There's even a wind reduction capability to stop the tearing noise you often get when wind blows across the surface of a mic.
Being DJI you do - of course - get lots of smart shooting modes. Pro mode lets you manually control ISO, shutter speed, EV, shutter speed and focus.
ActiveTrack 3.0 allows you to select your subject and the camera will then automatically keep locked on them whether you move, or your subject moves. It's a similar feature to that found in the OM 4.
There are slow-motion modes, timelapse, hyperlapse and motionlapse modes, as well as panoramas and live streaming capabilities.
DJI Pocket 2 will go on sale from the end of October 2020, and will cost £339 in the UK ($349 USD and €389 EUR). There's also a creator combo going on sale including a mini control stick, tripod mount, wide-angle lens, wireless mic do-it-all handle and micro tripod for £497 ($499/€529).