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What do you think about the Osmo?

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Hello.

I am considering either the upcoming Inspire 2 & Osmo combo, or an S900 with the GH4 and a Ronin.

The latter option is several thousands more expensive. I know about the IQ difference between the X5 and the GH4, I know about the limitations of the X5 in general, but how is the handling on the Osmo? Is it as intuitive and a great tool as DJI likes to make you believe? Is it a good, valuable steady cam option for the X5?

Can it replace a Ronin equipped with a DSLR, handling wise? Does it produce smooth, predictable footage?

Thanks!
 
I think that's a hard question to answer. I came very close to buying a Ronin because a friend has one and likes it. When I saw the Osmo Pro combo I bought it immediately. For me and what I do, IT'S PERFECT. I'm not really doing commercial video, except to promote my own business. Eliminates the need for a tripod under the camera which simplifies everything, that's what I like the most.

As we all know you can spend more money and get better video, but for a lot of us the Osmo is plenty good enough.
 
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I think that's a hard question to answer. I came very close to buying a Ronin because a friend has one and likes it. When I saw the Osmo Pro combo I bought it immediately. For me and what I do, IT'S PERFECT. I'm not really doing commercial video, except to promote my own business. Eliminates the need for a tripod under the camera which simplifies everything, that's what I like the most.

As we all know you can spend more money and get better video, but for a lot of us the Osmo is plenty good enough.
Thank you for your answer.

I would be using the Osmo during one-man-missions, such as music videos, recording highlights from a conference, shooting a short commercial for the web and occasionally as a steady cam during indie-productions. I am not a part of a production studio that would use the Osmo as an A-cam.

I would get the Z-axis and the tripod+ extension rod for the Osmo. From what you're saying I think it'd work alright for me, I will either get the X5 RAW or a future X5 with higher bitrate so image quality would be OK.

Is your business related to media production or are you in a whole other field?
 
Thank you for your answer.

Is your business related to media production or are you in a whole other field?

I'm a professional photographer with an art gallery, retail stores, framing shop, gift shops, etc. Recently I shot a couple of short videos with my Inspire and a couple with Sony A7rii and they got 30-50,000 views on Facebook. I guess people like videos. Next I will shoot a commercial video for my gallery and pay to have it targeted towards my trade area. I've had really good results advertising on FB, now I want to get serious about it.

On the other hand, my friend has both a Ronin and Osmo. I think he mostly uses the Ronin for weddings. When I showed him my Osmo Pro he wasn't too impressed. Short battery life seemed to annoy him. He's a big time photographer with lots of big time equipment and keeping up with all the batteries drives him crazy.

Bob
 
I'm a professional photographer with an art gallery, retail stores, framing shop, gift shops, etc. Recently I shot a couple of short videos with my Inspire and a couple with Sony A7rii and they got 30-50,000 views on Facebook. I guess people like videos. Next I will shoot a commercial video for my gallery and pay to have it targeted towards my trade area. I've had really good results advertising on FB, now I want to get serious about it.

On the other hand, my friend has both a Ronin and Osmo. I think he mostly uses the Ronin for weddings. When I showed him my Osmo Pro he wasn't too impressed. Short battery life seemed to annoy him. He's a big time photographer with lots of big time equipment and keeping up with all the batteries drives him crazy.

Bob

You can get the Osmo battery extender and use an inspire battery with a belt clip and osmotate all day long.
 
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I'm a professional photographer with an art gallery, retail stores, framing shop, gift shops, etc. Recently I shot a couple of short videos with my Inspire and a couple with Sony A7rii and they got 30-50,000 views on Facebook. I guess people like videos. Next I will shoot a commercial video for my gallery and pay to have it targeted towards my trade area. I've had really good results advertising on FB, now I want to get serious about it.

On the other hand, my friend has both a Ronin and Osmo. I think he mostly uses the Ronin for weddings. When I showed him my Osmo Pro he wasn't too impressed. Short battery life seemed to annoy him. He's a big time photographer with lots of big time equipment and keeping up with all the batteries drives him crazy.

Bob
Thank you for your time.

More input from other readers is greatly appreciated. The question is, will the Osmo RAW plus Z-Axis be a good steady cam solution considering the amount of money paid? I would get the RAW camera anyways with the Inspire.

I've operated a genuine steady cam with Alexa and Red on several occasions (film school student) and while Im certainly not a pro I know I can't expect to be able run around like crazy with the Osmo and demand smooth footage no matter what. I know the basics of how it works.

If I could kill two birds with one stone, since the Osmo is basically a free accessory if you're gonna purchase the Inspire X5 anyway, that would be great. I cannot afford both an Inspire X5 and a Ronin-M and something like a GH4 however and I would really benefit from a good ground camera solution...

Hope it's possible to understand this mess of information.
 
I'm strictly an amateur hobbyist but I I bought the osmo to complement my I1 Pro, instead of the z axis I use a Segway Ninebot, it works great for me.
 
Steadycams and osmos on z axis are not in the same league to be sure but the stability obtained with the osmo is astounding. Depending on the job at hand, an osmo could do it very well however it is not a jack of all trade.
 
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Steadycams and osmos on z axis are not in the same league to be sure but the stability obtained with the osmo is astounding. Depending on the job at hand, an osmo could do it very well however it is not a jack of all trade.
I understand they're not in the same league and I have a few examples in mind where the Osmo may not perform so well, but since I have never been able to try it myself it would really help with some examples of such situations.

What I can imagine myself are situations where you have to move very fast, especially backwards (with a steady cam you can run forward but have camera turned backwards, not possible with Osmo.. unless you hold the grip in the opposite direction but then you cant see the display.

Moving up or down a stair, fast.

In general I would say fast movements overall, and the cause is the same thing that makes the Osmo great. It's just to light to handle smoothly during forceful motion.

Does this sum it up pretty good or is there something else I haven't thought of?
 
The osmo is not an action cam. Especially with the z axis gizmo. It will considerably dampens going up or down stairs while walking, but it will be harder to control while running.
 
with a steady cam you can run forward but have camera turned backwards, not possible with Osmo.. unless you hold the grip in the opposite direction but then you cant see the display.
Uh, why not? :confused:
I must have done it wrong on my shoot 2 weeks ago then.

YDXJ0028.png
 
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I think it's the garbage in, garbage out theory. It's the person behind the equipment that really makes the difference.

I know equipment matters (I have the Inspire, 2 OSMOs, X5R, Olympus 45mm f1.8 & 12mm f2.0) so I'm not completely ignorant about superior stuff.

I'm also a musician.

My band had the opportunity to work with a grammy-winning producer in a recording studio school about 10 years for a single... a single we had already recorded in my studio. This guy was there on a favor for someone else- he was just interested in teaching the class. While we had access (and used) to millions in microphones and studio-tuned rooms and equipment, the final mix absolutely was one of the worst ever. The producer simply didn't care about us or the song. (and he was a complete jerk, but I digress)

We re-recorded it and remixed it in my studio weeks later and put it on our next album.

When we had that album mastered (meaning: made radio-ready), the guy who did it is a huge behind-the-scenes guy, working with everyone in the music industry.

I've worked with tons of famous people - very used to it - but I literally stuttered speaking to him, I so revered him.

When I spoke to him about paying our bill, he instead started asking me what I recorded our sessions on, and my equipment.

I was really embarrassed because I while I had better equipment than most project studios, I certainly didn't have access to the millions of stuff, like in that other studio.

He stated that our album was one of the cleanest and most pro-sounding recordings he had heard that year.

I cannot express to you what a high that statement was to me. Nor can I downplay the lesson learned.

It taught me that your drive to create something awesome for YOU is what will set you apart from your competitors.

Yes, investigate your equipment options (I know that is what this thread is about), but use your passion to find your limits.
 
Thank you for your answer.

I would be using the Osmo during one-man-missions, such as music videos, recording highlights from a conference, shooting a short commercial for the web and occasionally as a steady cam during indie-productions. I am not a part of a production studio that would use the Osmo as an A-cam.

I would get the Z-axis and the tripod+ extension rod for the Osmo. From what you're saying I think it'd work alright for me, I will either get the X5 RAW or a future X5 with higher bitrate so image quality would be OK.

Is your business related to media production or are you in a whole other field?

From what I've heard the mic is garbage so you want to add a shotgun to the rig for anything you want audio, I would probably add mini-light panel for lowlight situations you will find yourself in because the osmo stumbles there, also you won't have continuos autofocus so you'll either need to limit your shots to mostly single subject or be able to keep a relative distance from your subjects the whole time or buy the focus wheel (with extended cable), and you'll want to throw the base handle so you can set it down ......
so ya, even for a B cam you are going to have a lot of **** hanging off to get the Osmo to perform professionally.
 

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