I don’t know about you, but I see the travel videos from people’s trips quite often. They are all over online and they are mostly quite jerky in motion! That is just natural since there is not nearly enough room to put a stabilizing system onboard a smartphone. But, smartphones today can take some great video so how do you capture that video while staying smooth on your travels? The answer is a gimbal. It is a multi-axis device that stabilizes your video from your camera. They are not perfect but they do a great job of creating smoother video, even when moving fast like on a run!
Great Deal on a Smartphone Gimbal
Link: Osmo Mobile Gimbal
Today only, B&H has a sale on the very popular Osmo Mobile gimbal. This is made by DJI and very similar to their regular Osmo system but without the camera. Instead, it lets you put your smartphone on the gimbal and utilize that camera. I have used the Osmo camera before and it is a better camera but to use it to its fullest, you have to use your smartphone as well for viewing. When traveling, that can be a bit much and also a little more obvious. Using the Osmo Mobile is something like a selfie stick (I’m not a fan, just to be clear!) so you should blend in on your travels.
The sale price is $249, down from the regular $299 price. That is a nice 17% discount on this device that has not gone on sale since its release last fall. That price is only available on the black model. If you are outside of NY, you will not pay sales tax on the purchase.
I have and use the Osmo Mobile and absolutely love it. I have included a couple of simple video clips to give you an idea of what this device is capable of. I use it with my iPhone 7 Plus. Please excuse the quality of the videos as I literally just pulled them from the roll and threw them up to put here so no editing on the clips.
If you travel or really ever take videos with your smartphone, this would make a great tool to help all the people that actually watch your videos. 🙂 Given the quality of cameras onboard smartphones now also, this is a great way to add a little bit of a professional element to your travel videos.
Sample Videos
The first video is a sample from the Park Hyatt Dubai showing the DJI Osmo mobile’s performance when walking outside. The second is with the DJI Osmo Mobile in inverted mode with the iPhone 7 Plus in slow motion mode. Yes, it can be blurry a bit but that is due to the sensor on the iPhone and not a product of the DJI Osmo. Yes, you can use the DJI Osmo Mobile upside down! Finally, the last video shows the performance of the DJI Osmo Mobile when on the run. Gimbals with 3-axis stabilization is normally not the kind you will use for running since there is a little bounce. But, you can see the DJI Osmo Mobile does a really decent job with the running!
Great find Charlie! Thanks.
Question – How far can I run with this in my hand? Thinking in terms of running a 4 hour marathon with this in the hand. Thoughts?
If you are running, you will still get unstable video, just not as bad. There is an art to get smooth video with this and every other gimbal. You have to walk differently.
You are right. It helps to smooth it a bit but it cannot be running with the normal stride for sure.
Hi, Jay,
I am honestly not sure. I will be doing a long training run with it soon but will not have it on the whole time. I will likely just go for a few minutes a pop. As Felix says, it does take a different approach with it and it will affect your running stride to get it perfectly smooth.
The big brother, the DJI Oslo, has a Z/Y axis adapter you can use if you use a separate camera head. It should help with running but the whole package would cost around $1,700 – without lens!
You could try finishing faster?
JK
$249 for just the stabilizer? I’ll pass and wait for this action camera + stabilizer package, which will save me $$$. Plus, I like the form factor very much. This is still at an earlier but looks promising.
I bought their 3 Axis Camera Stabilization System couple years through their kickstarter campaign, and I love it.
http://aericam.com/