High-Quality Filmmaking on a Budget with the DJI Osmo Pocket 3

The One Production Tool That Changed My Shoots: DJI Osmo Pocket 3

John Ondo explains how the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has become the biggest production tool he’s bought and why it’s transformed his field workflow in an era of compressed budgets and schedules. With most clients expecting a half-day shoot and fast editing, he emphasizes “get in, get out” without sacrificing quality, especially for B-roll. He highlights the Pocket 3’s 4K one-inch sensor, built-in gimbal stabilization, face tracking, usable depth-of-field control, and strong performance in sunlight and low light, plus color science that matches his Sony a7 III cameras and DJI Mavic footage, with options for Rec. 709 or D-Log. He suggests it as a practical, affordable option for creators, nonprofits, churches, travel, and even client-generated footage to edit.

00:00 Biggest Production Tool
00:48 Faster Shoots New Reality
01:20 Why B Roll Takes Forever
01:56 Meet Osmo Pocket 3
02:16 Stabilization And Workflow
02:57 Color Matching And Log
03:29 Real World Test Footage
04:37 Starter Kit Creator Combo
05:52 Client Strategy And Volume
06:58 Buyers Notes And Wrap
07:14 Subscribe And Sign Off
#mediainfluencer  #columbusohio #Filmmaking #TipTuesday #Podcast #djiosmopocket3 #dslrcamera #journalism #photography 

Watch all of the video format of this podcast on my YouTube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMqz-XMZ8v2VLfSXSCrEtDmfKum5g5ZEb

Transcript

Speaker 0:33

If you're a director of photography, a content creator, maybe a one man band shooting commercials or a documentary producer, you need to hear what I'm gonna talk about in today's podcast because I'm gonna share the single biggest production tool I've purchased and it's changed the way I shoot in the field over the past year. I'm John Ondo, and this is the media Download. Thanks for watching. I've spent over 40 years in television filmmaking and media production, and over those decades I've learned something important. Small budgets don't have to look small, so I've learned some hacks and I'm gonna share'em with you in this podcast. And as always, we are a presentation of my company on media. Now let me explain the reality of the world we're living in right now. The days of spending three days to shoot a commercial are mostly gone. Most of my clients expect a half a day shooting and a day of editing. That's all their budget. So my philosophy has become very simple. Get in, get out. Nobody gets hurt. Now that does not mean low quality. Some people ha hear a half day of shooting and think, well, that's gonna look like one of those low budget cable commercials. Well, not anymore. You can absolutely create cinematic high-end network quality work in a compressed schedule, and the biggest glamor point of production, it's always the B roll making those short, sweet ten second shots, you think it would go quickly? It never does. The tripods, the sliders, the gimbals, the mounts, the resetting the shots, resetting the lighting and the hours of footage that then you have to go sort through and post and remember, time shooting equals time editing. So here's a tool that has changed. Everything for me. It's the DJI Osmo Pocket three, and no, they're not paying me. I bought this one myself. This is a game changer. Here's why. First, it's not a GoPro. It is a 4K camera with a one inch sensor. With built in gimbal, the stabilization alone replaces what would used to require a rig. I shoot my interviews still on my main DSLR cameras, which are Sony A seven threes, and then when it's time for B roll, I grab this and then I begin to walk through an office. I begin to walk through a construction site. I'm tracking someone through a garden, moving through all of these things. Smoothly and cleanly with the Osmo getting inside of a vehicle in 10 seconds. Smooth cinematic, it's done. And here's the key. Give me one beautiful ten second shot instead of three shaky, three second fixes that you gotta throw in. Warp Stabilizer and Premier, that saves money in the field. That saves time in editing and it preserves quality. Another reason I love it is the color science behind it. It matches beautifully with my Sony cameras. I already fly a DJ I Mavic drone, and I noticed years ago how well it matched with the optics from my DSLR footage. Pocket three does the same exact thing. You can shoot in good old wreck 7 0 9 straight outta the camera, or you could throw it into D log and match all your colors in post and if you're editing on a 10 80 timeline. That 4K gives you that extra room to punch in a little closer if you need to wanna see proof. Well, let's go out and shoot some stuff. So first of all, you're gonna notice that the DGI Osmos great for vloggers because it's doing face tracking. That's pretty cool. You can use an iPhone for some of this stuff, but it still doesn't have the quality and it certainly doesn't have the gimbal. Quality that you can do with this Osmo. Here I am. I'm gonna sit this right here on my barbecue and I'm gonna walk away from the shot, and you can see it's gonna keep me tracked the whole time. The color is ridiculously good. It looks great, especially in sunlight, but it does very well in low light as well. Let me just show you a little bit of how well it does with depth of field. You can see right here that's pretty decent for a little handheld camera. Again, if you're on a running gun, this will do just fine. Look how smooth this is, and because the gimbal's there, it's gonna keep from jerking the lens around too much. You see, even when I'm jerking it pretty violently here, it smooths it out, so it still looks completely acceptable. Look, I'm shooting the media download camera on my Osmo right there. It's a old Cannon C 100. Now, here's where it really gets interesting. Let's just say you're just starting out in the media world, maybe getting your own production company started. You don't need to buy a$3,000 camera body and five lenses and all the accessories. You could build an entire documentary around this camera. You could still go by your lights, buy some good microphones and some lighting. But this creator combo has a wireless mic that comes with it. Please don't clip this thing right here where it's obvious. Spend the$30 and get the lovely little L of attachment. Clip it so you can hide the lav. It works so much better. Listen, we all don't need to look like those vloggers, okay? Do we? I don't think so. Get some good lights, get some good sound, and you're in business. Then if you need to rent the DSLR rig for one or two days for your primary interviews. So if you're a church media director. Buy one. If you're a nonprofit telling stories, buy one. If you're traveling overseas like I was in Ghana a year or so ago and this is all I saw everywhere. Get one, take this instead of the Pelican case of gear. And then worst case, hand it to somebody with no training. It's basically idiot proof and they're gonna come back with usable. Great footage. That's powerful. Here's the strategic angle. If your client can't afford to send you on every event they do, have them shoot with yours or encourage them to go buy one for$700, then they can send you the footage and then you'll edit it. You still win because you get the work. And moreover, you won't have to wear out your back. They get more content and in today's world. Content volume matters. The market has changed. You're not competing with big ad agencies anymore. I'm competing, and you are competing with that kid down the street who will shoot a commercial for$200 and in some cases do a halfway decent job until he loses all your footage. So how do you survive? You work faster. You work smarter, you maintain quality, and you remove anything that slows you down. And for me it was the DJI Osmo, which I'm using a lot, almost all the time now on my shoots. On top of the DSLRs, you're gonna know that you made the right investment because the footage is gonna look amazing and at the end of the day, isn't that what gets you excited when you're in the edit suite? You can find these obviously everywhere. If you've got a Best Buy, of course you can do the same as cash, like I do a lot, uh, and I highly recommend it. And they will be coming out with an Osmo four soon. And yes, DGI, you could send me one and I'll do a review on it if you'd like. They did not do that with this one. If you like what you've just seen. I encourage you, please subscribe to the media Download. This is a weekly podcast, and check us out@onmedia.com. Your download for this week is complete.

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