The DJI Pocket 2 was officially launched. It continues the compact and portable design of the previous generation. It is still the size of a lipstick and weighs only 117g. Its fully upgraded hybrid focus 2.0 technology supports 8x zoom.
Particularly eye-catching is the IMX686 sensor commonly used in flagship phones, 64 million pixels, 1/1.7 inches, and 4K/60fps video support. It also has built-in four-directional microphones, has stereo recording, supports sound field following, audio zoom, pickup direction switching, and intelligent wind noise reduction functions.
In terms of expandability, the bottom of the DJI Pocket 2 Camera is upgraded to a detachable bottom case. The product does not need to be connected to an accessory adapter like the previous generation. You only need to replace the bottom to expand more accessories.
In terms of price, DJI Pocket 2 is available in a standard version and a packaged version. The two differ only in accessories.
Design & Appearance
The standard version is priced at 2499 yuan and includes the DJI Pocket 2 body, protective case, mini-joystick, tripod adapter, hand strap, mobile phone connector (Lightning), mobile phone connector (USB-C), charging cable, etc.
The package version is priced at 3499 yuan and comes with additional accessories such as a miniature tripod, extender lens, all-round handle, wireless microphone windproof cover, wireless microphone transmitter, and dual-head charging cable.
The standard package includes a charging cable, lanyard, mini-joystick, Android USB-C connector, Apple Lightning connector, tripod adapter, and protective case.
Compared with the previous generation Osmo Pocket, the appearance of the DJI Pocket 2 is almost unchanged, and the whole body is black. It is still the same size as the original lipstick, and the weight is controlled at 117g.
The reason for achieving such a small size and weight, in addition to the optimization of the internal space stacking design of the fuselage, is also affected by the modular design. There is a slot on the fuselage below the screen, which can be connected to various accessories in the package and modularized as needed.
The protective case of Pocket 2 not only protects the main body but also includes accessories such as an extender lens and a Lightning/USB-C adapter.
User experience
The first generation Pocket left a pain point that was not resolved at the time it takes about three seconds to use the shooting function after turning on the camera, which is a bit inconvenient for users who just need to take pictures.
The DJI Pocket 2 specifically solves this pain point, and the actual test found that it can achieve instant shooting. Press and hold the power button in the off state, and it can take up to 1 second to enter the shooting state.
The DJI Pocket 2 itself is very mini. The body of 124.7×38.1x30mm is approximately the size of a lipstick. The screen that accounts for less than half of the body is naturally smaller, but it supports touch screen operation, and the system operation logic is very simple and easy to understand. Very suitable for novice shooting: slide on the shooting interface to open the pan/tilt control menu; slide down to open the setting menu; slide left to switch shooting modes; slide right to view photos or videos.
If you want to go further and get out of the small screen to limit the fine viewfinder, you can connect the plug module of the DJI Pocket 2 through the mobile phone and link the DJI Mimo APP to realize the integrated combination of the mobile phone and DJI Pocket 2. At this time, the phone and DJI Pocket 2 will become a whole, and the DJI Pocket 2 can be controlled through the large screen of the phone.
of course, such a wired connection operation method adds to the grip size, which may be inconvenient for users of some giant-screen mobile phones. Fortunately, DJI Pocket 2 supports wireless connection, but users of the standard version need to add money to purchase the all-around controller or start the all-around version package in one step to achieve mobile phone wireless remote control of the PTZ movement and shooting.
Since we have the standard version and we did not purchase the all-around controller, we don’t know the smoothness and delay of the remote control screen after the wireless connection. As far as a wired connection is concerned, the above aspects are similar to the system camera experience.
Conventional traditional photographic equipment, such as photos and videos recorded by cameras, needs to be exported and imported to the PC, and the SD card must be pulled out and inserted into the mobile phone to perform even simple post-editing processing.
With the DJI Mimo APP used with DJI Pocket 2, it can be directly output to the phone for post-editing. The APP even comes with a one-click editing function: just apply an existing template and select the material in the device, and you can see the finished product with the automatic soundtrack, color adjustment, and video length adjustment.
After the actual experience, we believe that the DJI Mimo APP has quite high reliability and usability, and is suitable for novice users who have little or no experience in video editing. Of course, if you want better editing effects and professional presentation, you still need to export to PC for processing.
It’s worth mentioning that you don’t need to read the instructions during the whole process of using DJI Pocket 2. The DJI Mimo APP comes with detailed instructional videos, which can be sold now. The video edited on the DJI Mimo APP can be directly shared in the DJI community through the APP, or saved in the phone album, and then shared on social media.
It should be noted that in order to facilitate sharing on social platforms, the resolution of the short video clip generated by the DJI Mimo APP will be compressed to SD. If you have professional presentation needs, it is recommended to export to the PC and use professional software editing. The DJI Mimo APP is geared towards satisfying the simple entertainment needs of novice users.
The first generation Pocket left a considerable pain point, that is, subject to the bottom of 1/2.3, its performance in terms of picture quality was poor.
When it comes to DJI Pocket 2, it is equipped with a 1/1.7-inch outsole CMOS. As expected, it should be a Sony IMX686. It has 64 million pixels of ultra-clear image quality, a 1/1.7″ large photosensitive element, and it can be directly 9248 x 6944 at the hardware level. Ultra-high-resolution photos and four-in-one 1.6μm large pixels improve night shooting performance, and users who often follow mobile phones will be familiar with it.
Here we also found a mobile phone that also carries the Sony IMX686 for simple comparison to see how the DJI Pocket 2’s release is different.
It can be seen that the picture sharpness of daytime photos is quite high, and compared to the equivalent focal length of the main camera of the mobile phone, which is generally 27mm, the DJI Pocket 2 default 20mm equivalent focal length is more suitable for shooting grand scenery. It can guarantee the imaging quality Larger angle of field of view.
Compared with a mobile phone that also uses a 6400w pixel sensor, the picture quality of the DJI Pocket 2 is very close. It’s just that it’s different from the mobile phone’s tendency to be pleasing to the eye in terms of color. The default straight out of the picture is lower in saturation and darker in brightness than smartphones. The purpose is to leave enough space for the user.
At night, the advantages of the DJI Pocket 2’s built-in three-axis gimbal are brought into play. Also in the case of straight out by default, it can use a longer exposure time to brighten, and it is difficult to see obvious noise after zooming in. It just lacks the night scene mode algorithm like that of mobile phones, so the suppression of highlights will be slightly inferior.
The focus system of the first generation works is not perfect. For this reason, DJI Pocket 2 adopts a phase focus + contrast focus dual focus system. The actual measurement of this generation shows that the focus speed is fast and accurate. Compared with the previous generation works, it can basically be achieved. “Where to fight”.
During the recording process, double-click the target object to be tracked to trigger the auto-follow focus function. Pocket 2 can shake with the movement of the tracked object, and the sound field will move accordingly. The direction of the sound will be where the pan/tilt is pointing.
The controllable rotation range of DJI Pocket 2 is specifically: pan -230° to +70°, pitch -100° to +50°, roll ±45°; the structure rotation range is: pan -250° to +90°, pitch -180° to +70°, roll ±90°.
At the same time, we also noticed that if the tracked object goes beyond the above range and then returns to the screen range, the system cannot automatically lock the target again; when the tracked object is too close to the lens, the tracking response speed will be slightly slower some.
The built-in three-axis gimbal is the difference between the DJI Pocket 2 and the conventional sports camera. Next, we will compare the video effect of a handheld mobile phone (with EIS electronic anti-shake), and we can see that the picture stability of the DJI Pocket 2 is comparable to that of the mobile phone. EIS electronic anti-shake has a big difference, the greater the vibration amplitude during use, the more obvious.
DJI Pocket 2 has added a zoom function. Since there is only one camera, the zoom mentioned here is also a digital zoom. It supports up to 4x zoom in 1080P video mode and up to 2x zoom in 4K mode. If you want to use the zoom function, it is recommended to install a mini joystick accessory.
It can be seen that the zoom process responds quickly and the transition is silky. Even at 4x zoom, it still maintains a fairly high picture sharpness and clarity, which is not possible with mainstream smartphones.
It is worth mentioning that DJI Pocket 2 also provides panoramic photos, slow motion, time-lapse photography, and other gameplay methods. The following is a short video that we used DJI Pocket 2 to shoot and one-click editing to generate. You can experience the effects of some gameplays.
Read Also: DJI Pocket 2 First Impression: Portable, Versatile and Incredible Features
Verdict
After many days of experience, in my opinion, the most distinctive feature of DJI Pocket 2 is “simple”. First of all, it has a small to extreme shape, the size of lipstick can be easily put into a jeans pocket or a girl’s bag. Both the standard version and the “Big Satisfaction” version are equipped with a protective case that is not only protective, it can help store modular components and avoid the worry of dropping small objects. As for the weight, the DJI Pocket 2 is only 117g, which is far lighter than a mobile phone.
Many of the three-axis stabilizer gimbals on the market are also quite clumsy. Even DJI’s own stabilizers are much larger than the DJI Pocket 2. Therefore, the portable attractiveness brought by the highly intensive body shape of the DJI Pocket 2 is evident.
The body is not big, so the touch screen of the DJI Pocket 2 is still very small. There is no problem with the simple operation of camera/video/etc. switching, but it is really inconvenient to make further fine adjustments. Fortunately, DJI Pocket 2 can take advantage of modularity. Connect the mobile phone to the corresponding connector to call up the DJI Mimo APP. Then the large screen of the mobile phone will be contributed to DJI Pocket 2 as a monitor.
DJI Pocket 2 is a modular gimbal camera, so in addition to the main body, it also provides a variety of accessories to deal with different user environments. It has a slot on the body and the bottom to connect various accessories, such as mini pan Rods, all-purpose handles, tripods, wireless microphones, amplifiers, ND filters, etc., leave enough space for professional image and video production. One person is a shooting team.
The most impressive thing is that the picture quality of DJI Pocket 2 is no longer “tickling”. The addition of a 64-megapixel 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor has improved the picture quality and the upper limit of resolution. 4K/60fps video and HDR video, 93 °FOV, 20mm all-powerful focal length, and F1.8 aperture lens have laid a strong hardware foundation for this machine.
The real shots are also satisfactory, especially when there is no extra space to design the optical zoom, the digital zoom solution presented based on the super-large pixel CMOS provides a smooth and clear experience and imaging.
The DJI Pocket 2’s smart tracking experience and accuracy are quite good, but when the subject leaves the shooting range of the lens and then returns to the shooting range, you need to reselect the tracking subject to continue smart tracking. I hope that subsequent optimization can be made.
In general, DJI Pocket 2 is a video and video device that can break the circle, with concise and easy-to-understand tutorials, high portability, comprehensive functions, and low enough barriers (especially the existence of one-click editing functions). No-professional users can also follow the “dumb” operation and shoot wonderful videos suitable for sharing. Significantly upgraded camera sensors and rich accessories expansion can also provide players in the industry with enough reliable professional tools.