I had to look up when I last wrote anything seriously about 360° video / still shooting. Yep, it is more than 3 years ago, and really, not a lot has happened in that market place since.
I say that with a bit of a caveat, as I understand Insta has been a little active, but they, for reasons only known to them, refuse point blank to deal with me. So I have no idea what they are / have been doing.
We have been promised a new GoPro MAX for some time now, but at this stage, I can’t even verify when that may be as GoPro has shuttered its PR in Australia moving it all in-house in the United States of Americaland.
That leads me to the brand spanking new DJI OSMO 360 which landed on my desk this morning, and here, I will give you my first impressions as I have a Cunning Plan in order to put this beast fully through its paces.
With the original GoPro MAX, I was lucky enough to be able to use Broome in the NW of Western Australia as a testing ground, specifically ECO Beach Resort (if you have never been to Broome, you have no idea what you are missing).
This time, I have the great opportunity to take a week off in the middle of the Indian Ocean on Cocos Island, which going by the photos I have seen, is your very best tropical paradise.
White sandy beaches, swaying palm trees, coral reefs, snorkelling, fishing and all that sort of stuff.
Packaging
Its not often we talk about packaging when doing reviews, but I have to say since I started reviewing DJI kit back in 2017 I think it was, the company appears to spend a great deal of time in thinking about that very thing. From the materials through to the actual way things are packaged in the outer box, many companies could learn from DJI.
If anyone has had to grapple with GoPro packaging especially, you’ll know what I mean.
In a single box are two inner boxes, one with the OSMO 360 proper and in the other, the accessories bundled with the camera. Even convenient grip tabs are added to these boxes to make removal from the outer easier.
Accessories
I received the “Adventure Combo Kit” which as extras had a three battery charging case complete with, yes, three batteries. Additionally was a double sided rubber lens cover that slips over the top of the camera proper and a padded carry case with a USB-C cable and a magnetic adaptor mount included.
Finally there was a 1.2 metre collapsible selfie stick, and as added extras, I also got a 2.5 metre carbon fibre selfie stick and a “3rd person” helmet mount.
The OSMO 360
The OSMO 360 itself is about the size of a pack of cards, and if you put it and the original GoPro MAX side by side, the DJI unit is taller and narrower, but unlike the GoPro, doesn’t have the familiar “twin fingers” mounting setup.
Instead, out of the box is a standard tripod thread with a magnetic grip point each side where the supplied adaptor takes hold. It’s strong too, and although there are two locking pins to hold it in place, even when these are disengaged, those magnets hold on for dear life.
A smart move is to also include a threaded mounting hole in the underside of the magnetic mount.
One thing I am especially grateful for, and something that GoPro should take a note of, is that to slide open either covering door for the battery / SD card holder or the USB port doesn’t mean you’ll probably break all of your nails. A single smooth latch moves sideways and down and the door falls easily open.
Closing either door is equally as painless.
By the way, the OSMO 360 comes with a stunning 128GB of internal storage of which 105GB is usable, almost negating the need for an SD card, and DJI claim up to 100 minutes of battery life even at 8K/30fps which is remarkable.
This WILL be tested I assure you!
On that note, the obvious question is whether the OSMO 360 is waterproof.
It carries an IP68 rating, allowing it to be submerged in water up to 10 meters deep without additional housing making it suitable for activities like swimming, snorkelling, and so on..
DJI though, does advise against using the Osmo 360 for extended underwater shooting or in environments with high water impact pressure, such as diving or whitewater rafting. Not because of leakage though but due to potential stitching issues that can arise from water distortion around the dual lenses.
And from experience, it will be wise to wash any salt water off with fresh after use, and double check all the doors to make sure no sand or grit etc has been trapped inside. I know from sad experience with a Sony unit that the tiniest amount can cause disaster.
I would ALWAYS recommend, despite any rating from the manufacturer whether it be DJI, GoPro, Sony or Insta, that using a proper underwater housing made for the camera in question is a serious insurance policy and worth the cost.
Turning It On
When you first fire up the OSMO 360, as is customary with most – if not all – DJI products, you are prompted to register it using an on-screen QR code. If you don’t you get 5 chances before being locked out. The theory, according DJI is the on-screen message is to prevent the camera being registered by someone else.
I can live with that.
And herein lies a perennial problem I have often found with DJI product. Registration involves usually at least two things; a) downloading the DJI MIMO app to your smartphone and then registering followed by b) updating the firmware.
More often than not, the actual registration process and / or the firmware download can take up to an hour such is the busy-ness of the DJI servers. In fact you will possibly get a message saying you cannot connect due to this and to try again later.
As much as I like DJI products, and that its after sales service is second to none, this is one area I wish they would fix.
Conclusion
Now that I am ready to rock and roll with the DJI OSMO 360, I am packing it up ready for the 4 hour Virgin flight to Cocos Island and will report back within a day or so.
If it stacks up to the published specs -and I have no reason to doubt that based on previous DJI gear – then any forthcoming GoPro product has a LOT to catch up to. As for existing Insta comparable kit, sorry, cannot comment. If you are listening Insta, gimme a shout yeah?
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