Is the DJI OM5 a BAD Gimbal_ _ OM5 vs OM4 Review

Now you're going to enjoy some tasty footage while I enjoy my coffee. Now you may be wondering why this massive montage? Well, every shot you've seen so far has been recorded with the help of the DJI OM5 and in today's video I will show you whether it's good or bad and how it compares to its predecessor the OM4. What up guys welcome back to another My name is Episode and today we take a thorough look at DJI's Osmo Mobile 5, short OM5. Its predecessor the OM4 did wear the crown as the best smartphone gimbal on the market for the longest time and today we will answer the question whether the OM5 actually can take over the reign. First of all I want to make one thing abundantly clear. In my opinion the OM5 so far is the most misunderstood gimbal DJI or anybody else has ever released. Some of you already reached out to me regarding the huge amount of negative reviews on online shops like Amazon and I don't want to sugarcoat anything especially since DJI supplied me with this OM5 unit. Before I address most of the concern I heard so far I'm going to show you what comes in the box with the OM5 and before I get a bunch of questions again in the comments the lens I used in the beginning was the anamorphic lens from Sandmarc paired with their hybrid filters and with that in mind I will link all the accessories and gear I used in today's video in the description below. Inside the box of the OM5 we are once again greeted by a bunch of paperwork at first and right underneath it you can find the OM5. This one here is the sunset white edition and I'm not gonna lie at a first glance this looks like something that would normally live inside your bedside drawer but I digress. So on a more serious note the new folding mechanism makes the OM5 even more compact than the OM4 was previously. There were also some small design changes for example now we can find the power button on the side right next to the zoom. The joystick became more tactile compared to the OM4 and now has more resistance when using it. To safely unfold the OM5 make sure to unlock the pan axis first and then you can unfold the gimbal. To fold the OM5 back up make sure that this pin is aligned with the hole in the front and then you can lock the pan axis up again. Underneath the OM5 in the box you can find the tripod leg which like on all previous Osmo Mobile smartphone gimbals just screws onto the bottom. Next up we have the magnetic smartphone clamp then we have a soft travel pouch to store the OM5 and all its accessories in it. A USB charging cable a wrist strap and last but not least a riser for the magnetic clamp if you have a thin smartphone. The selfie stick part of the OM5 or so-called extension rod can be extended by 21.5 centimeters. It also gives you the option to tilt the pan axis by 90 degrees which gives you totally different shooting options. Another thing worth mentioning is that DJI made some subtle changes to the magnetic clamp. On the left we have the clamp from the OM4 and on the right the one from the OM5. They changed the angle and the size of the clamp itself so it has a more secure grip. Especially people who like to use phone cases will appreciate this. I also should point out that I appreciate that thanks to the redesign of the OM5 we are now able to mount four counterweights instead of previously three on the OM4. This enables us to carry heavier setups and due to the reduced size of the motor you even can attach bigger filters like this one here from Moment which have 67 millimeters. This comes in very handy especially in combination with phones like the iPhone 13 Pro and cinematic mode. Now let's talk ergonomics because in my opinion this is where most of the people misunderstood how to use the OM5 properly and don't get me wrong I was one of you at first. If you come from any other smartphone or previous Osmo Mobile gimbal you are used to holding a gimbal like this but the OM5 is not meant to be held like this. You need to make use of the tilt mechanism on the pan axis in order to fully leverage its potential. First of all holding a gimbal like this not only tires out your arms over time but adds instability which is fed directly into your footage. Holding it like this adds more stability because you're able to hold the gimbal closer to your body but at the same time it gives you the ability to execute your movement more precisely. However this also brings us to one of the main concerns regarding the OM5. It has a lower range of possible movement compared to the OM4. Unfortunately there's nothing to argue about this fact. Now here's my take on this. Sure the OM5 has some elements that clearly go into the direction of a lifestyle product. For example you have the selfie light, the color, its size and the obvious fact that it strongly focuses on vloggers which don't need a huge range of motion to begin with. But I think the OM5 is still a valuable asset for people who want to create unique content. The only simple difference between the OM4 and the OM5 is that you have to move yourself physically instead of just reframing your shot which by the way yields better results anyway. On top of that it even gets better if you regularly make good use of the selfie stick within the OM5. If you're familiar with my OM4 review where I showed you numerous creative shooting modes for smartphones you know that I used the selfie stick mounted on the bottom of the OM4. This way I was able to get super close shots through ground while creating suspense and at the same time tracking the subject in front of me. This now is all built into the OM5 and you don't need any additional accessories anymore. You actually seen me already use the extension rod in the beginning of the video where I was filming right above the water next to the boat. And by the way thanks to the selfie stick you can vlog in a more natural stance and even go as far as using it as a jib to go from over your subject all the way down to its feet while still having the controls of the gimbal right at your fingertips. Another small issue that undoubtedly is present are the micro jitters if you're using the OM5 in combination with the iPhone 13 Pro or the 12 Pro. I don't have anything official from DJI about this but I suspect this phenomenon occurs with every iPhone that has MagSafe. For some reason these jitters don't occur if you're rocking an iPhone 11 Pro which did not have MagSafe yet. I also have the impression that with the latest firmware updates DJI improved on this issue somehow and the few jitters that are left can be compensated for with two things. In general I always run a calibration every single time after I put my phone back onto the gimbal and if I still for whatever reason have some jitters or shake left in my footage I just apply some additional stabilization in post and I'm good. To prove to you that this really isn't that big of a deal I have a side-by-side comparison of an iPhone 12 Pro mounted onto an OM5 against an iPhone 11 Pro mounted onto an OM4. The footage you see here has not been edited in any kind of way there is no post stabilization whatsoever and you can see that there is literally no difference between the iPhone 12 Pro mounted on the OM5 between the iPhone 11 Pro mounted on the OM4. So I did some ninja walking for this footage but still the footage looks good there is pretty much no jitter at all visible. Feature-wise the OM5 is quite similar to the OM4 but there have been some significant improvements. Just within seconds you can create time lapses with waypoints that deliver mind-blowing results and of course like every good camera app you can also create hyperlapses but I would highly recommend you to go for the time lapses since they can be recorded in 4k whilst the hyperlapse is only recorded in full HD. I also need to point out that in terms of spin shot or vertigo mode or however you want to call it this is the best spinning shot I've seen on a smartphone gimbal so far. It is super stable compared to any other smartphone gimbal I used in the past. DJI also increased significantly the responsiveness of the OM5 and its movement speed. This by far is one of the most noticeable differences between the OM4 and the OM5. Also new is the fact that the moment you engage in selfie mode and the face is detected it will automatically track you. Here you also can see ActiveTrack 4.0 in action and how fast the actual gimbal movement can be and if ActiveTrack 4.0 ever loses you once it reacquires you it will automatically re-engage in tracking you. However the overall speed improvement compared to the OM4 is a significant bump in performance. Another new feature that is only available on the OM5 are the shot guides. Shot guides either can be accessed by tapping the symbol in the top left corner or you wait till the app automatically recommends it to you depending on the scene you're filming. Shot guides are meant to help you identify good looking shooting opportunities. Essentially it's a library filled with all kinds of sample situations that you could encounter on a daily basis. Once you select one of the desired scenes it will guide you through the process how to acquire this kind of shot. It even goes so far that it switches automatically to a different kind of lens or tells you to flip your phone upside down. Once the MIMO app thinks you have acquired enough footage it will automatically tell you to stop the recording and it'll show you how your recording looks compared to the sample footage. Depending on what you want to achieve some creativity may be required. If you recorded enough footage the MIMO app will automatically create a shot reel for you but I leave it up to you what you think how useful these kind of reels could be in the real life. Let me know in the comments below. So what is there overall to say about the DJI OM5? Sure it's a perfect but I highly appreciate the improvements it brings to the table. The increased speed and extension rod are definitely a game changer and new features like shot guides will help unexperienced users to ease their way into content creation. Pair all this with a phone like the iPhone 13 Pro and you have a fully fledged video rig at your disposal. Now the biggest question is what do you think about DJI's newest product? Will you upgrade from the OM4 or even the Osmo Mobile 3? Or are you going to sit this one out? Let me know in the comments below and if you liked today's episode don't forget to like, share, subscribe. Thank you for watching and I see you on the flip side.