The smartphone camera didn’t just push aside the point-and-shoot – it made the camcorder seem like a product of the past too. But while the resurgence in retro tech seems to have revived both the point-and-shoot and the camcorder, the video camera that’s exploding in popularity right now doesn’t look like a camcorder at all: The DJI Osmo Pocket 3.
Amazon US currently lists the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo as the number one best seller in the camcorder category. But “camcorder” isn’t the first word that comes to my mind when I think of the Osmo Pocket 3. I would describe it as a “vlogging camera” before I called it a “camcorder,” although both terms are technically correct.
The Pocket 3 doesn’t look like a camcorder because of its unique form factor. DJI’s Osmo Pocket series is really a miniature camera built into a gimbal. That unusual form factor gives the camera a strange look, but it’s also behind the camera’s popularity.
The DJI Osmo Pocket series originally debuted in 2018. The camera, at the time, felt like an experiment as DJI turned its drone cameras and gimbals into a form factor meant to be used with two feet placed firmly on the ground. While launching a camera with such an unusual format was a risk, it appears to have paid off. Besides being Amazon’s number one selling camcorder right now, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has surged in popularity among YouTubers and vloggers. Even the older, more affordable DJI Pocket 2 is currently among Amazon’s top ten camcorders.
The Osmo Pocket series’ unusual form factor, however, addressed a key issue for casual video shooters: shaky video. With both a gimbal and a camera in one, there’s no need for a tripod, and there’s also no need for the complex process of actually balancing a gimbal with a separate camera mounted.
When I think of a camcorder, I think of the home videos of my 90s childhood taken by my parents, not expert videomakers. The DJI Osmo Pocket series works to bring that same accessibility to the modern camera. Shots from the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 are far steadier than any handheld smartphone video, but done in a way that doesn’t have a giant learning curve.
The other feature that the Osmo Pocket 3 in particular brings is a larger one-inch sensor, a bump up from the predecessor’s size and also a significant boost over many smartphone cameras. The rotating touchscreen display also helps those who have only exclusively shot videos on smartphones learn the dedicated camera quickly.
Vlogging cameras are a relatively new subcategory of cameras that has evolved rapidly over the last few years. Video cameras no longer look like the classic camcorder format (although they can, as evidenced by the best camcorders) – they look like the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, the unusual vertical Canon PowerShot V10, or the Sony ZV-1 II. But that new form factor is okay because consumer-grade video cameras are evolving into more compact devices that are easier to use.
The DJI Osmo Pocket 3’s unusual form factor stands out from the cameras that put video features of compact cameras and mirrorless cameras. But, it’s a move that – if the Amazon sales rankings are any indication – is paying off in big ways.
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Don't buy the Pocket 3 without reading the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 review first for an in-depth take on the popular camera, or take a look at the best vlogging cameras to see if the Pocket 3 makes the list.
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