Many did not wait to use stabilized gimbals to improve the quality of their videos. YouTubers, bloggers, influencers, vloggers already use this type of accessory to provide their films with a professional look. With its new OM5, DJI is now aimed at all videographers, amateurs or experienced, who, dissatisfied with the quality of the (often shaky) images from their smartphone want to play with the big boys. And maybe, also, go further …
Magnetic claws as a support
DJI, the Chinese manufacturer of recreational drones, once again shines its spotlight on the quality of our videos. Launched at 159 euros, the OM5 smartphone gimbal that we were able to test just after its announcement on September 8 offers the possibility of taking care of the rendering of its shots. Any mobile terminal is simply grafted onto it thanks to a magnetic claw which will instantly form a body with a support at the end of the gondola. No risk of the smartphone coming off, the support is really perfect. And it is reassuring in use.
Note that DJI offers a second brand, it optional (49 euros) which has LED lighting. Recharging in USB-C, it allows you to dose on three levels a welcome light to film yourself during the realization of a vlog.
From the first tests, it is above all the excellence of the stabilization (on 3 axes) of the images offered that constitutes the strength of the OM5. Goodbye wrist tremors and other jerks, the images produced by the motorized gimbal are perfectly fluid, even in difficult shooting conditions, such as when filming sports or moving children.
Simple and resistant
Operating with the DJI Mimo application, a new version of which has just been launched, the OM5 is then almost self-explanatory as to its use. The few buttons on the handle of the device speak for themselves. There is an on / off button, a key zoom front / rear, one joystick to orient the shot from bottom to top and from left to right, a button to change the lens and switch to mode selfie (photo and video), a locking trigger and, of course, a shutter button. A few minutes of learning allow you to tame them.
And novelty: the nacelle can now be deployed like a pole selfie and thus move away from its subject (for selfies) or get closer (for shots with the rear lenses of your smartphone). The whole exudes resistance. Even deployed, the pole asserts a solidity that it seems very difficult to undermine.
Tutorials to guide the user
We must especially focus on the possibilities offered by the DJI Mimo application. And learn. To do this, many video tutorials within the application itself allow you to explore the possibilities of the OM5. We advise you to test the different functions one by one, after viewing each tutorial, rather than setting off on your own to discover the possibilities of the gondola, which are very numerous.
These include the triggering of a shot by gesture that launches a 3-second self-timer, TimeLaps, SlowMotion or Hyperlaps modes to create slow motion or time-lapse, but also very appropriate Story modes to share lives on social networks. exhilarating who are ours.
From stories metamorphosed
For this function, DJI uses a concept also encountered at GoPro for its action cameras. The idea is to offer video molds that you just have to slip into. These kinds of layers invite the user to rotate the mini-sequences in a pre-established order (usually less than 3 seconds), which will then be automatically assembled and matched with transition effects, music, etc. to form a thematic mini-clip.
Urban life, 80s, Sports, Party, Jazz… 20 types of stories are thus proposed. It is undoubtedly the killer function of the OM5, as its use is simple and the results obtained quite breathtaking.
Film like Hitchcock
More anecdotal, because it is difficult to apply to each shoot, the Dynamic Zoom which allows, for its part, to create zooms in or out on a static subject, as in the films of Alfred Hitchcock. What some call “the Vertigo effect”, named after one of the most famous films of the master of suspense. The OM5 is not left out in the photo and the gimbal can be used for its perfectly framed selfies of course, but also for vast panoramas or, more fun, an assembly of three selfies forming a single photo.
Encourage vocations
Travel, sport, but also vlogs, beauty, food… The field of action of OM5 seems as vast as our centers of interest and desires to share videos.
Beyond that, the creative possibilities of OM5 are numerous and need to be explored one by one to better appropriate them. But at 159 euros, this discreet accessory (367 g) and autonomy of about 6 hours is an excellent investment to explore new territories in video and, perhaps, reveal vocations.