Days after announcing the Osmo+, DJI has unveiled the Osmo Mobile, which is another handheld stabilizer that replaces the built-in camera with the user's smartphone, technically making it a very sophisticated selfie stick.
DJI, largely known as a manufacturer of drones that can be used for purposes such as aerial photography, has also dabbled in handheld camera stabilizers. The Osmo+ was the latest addition to the company's offerings in the product line, with the handheld stabilizer featuring an integrated Zenmuse X3 camera capable of up to 7x digital zoom.
The Osmo Mobile, on the other hand, substitutes the integrated camera with the user's smartphone. The company might have thought that perhaps users would like to combine the 4K cameras they already own — the ones inside their smartphones — with the stabilizing technology in DJI's gimbals.
So, instead of the ball-shaped camera of the Osmo+, the Osmo Mobile has a clamp that will hold the smartphone in place. The Osmo Mobile will then pair up with the smartphone through Bluetooth while holding it in its grip.
The Osmo Mobile's bracket will support smartphones with widths between 2.31 inches and 3.34 inches, which includes the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 6s Plus. Once the device is locked in, the gimbal will provide the same stabilization that can be seen in other Osmo stabilizers and DJI's drones. The stabilization will be provided by the three-axis system which is able to detect movement and can keep the smartphone steady at all times.
The handle of the Osmo Mobile will grant users controls such as shooting, flipping between the front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera and changing modes. The gimbal can also be set with four different orientations, namely Standard, Flashlight, Portrait and Underslung.
Users will have to lean heavily on DJI's Go app to be able to capture content using Osmo Mobile, which will come with capabilities such as taking time lapse and long-exposure footage. There is also the feature that will allow users to draw a square around the subject, which the camera will then automatically track.
One missing feature, however, is the microphone input found in other Osmo gimbals. The 3.5 mm jack in the other handheld stabilizers by DJI also function as microphones, but for Osmo Mobile, audio recording will be done by the user's smartphone.
Interested customers will now be able to purchase the Osmo Mobile through DJI's online store. The price tag of the handheld stabilizer is $299, compared with the $649 price tag of the Osmo+.
