DJI OM 4 SE Mobile Phone Filming Gimbal Review

When I decided to do freelance work and start this blog for people who were thinking of visiting and relocating to Barbados, I knew I wanted to be able to create videos of the local areas, and share some cheats to make your visit as fun and easy as possible. I watched some videos on YouTube of other visitors, and to be honest, on most of them the video is shot with the phone in their hand as they walk, which made me feel travel sick due to the motion, and really distracted from the content. What do I do to make my videos better and smoother I thought to myself? So I did a little research, and I found out that filming gimbals are now a thing for your mobile phone, not just for professional filmmakers. Filming gimbals originated unsurprisingly in the movie industry, with big breakthroughs coming in movies like Star Wars, and innovations such as the scenes travelling behind the tricycle around the creepy hotel in "The Shining." Things have moved on since those days, when the gimbals werefull-bodyy mounted "travel" size rigs. Nowadays they are a lot smaller, fitting easily in just one hand, but they can really pack a punch for their size and cost.

After having a few outings to learn how to use it, here for you I present my honest review of the DJI OM 4 SE mobile phone gimbal.

Here are the technical bits first for those of you who want to compare or really care about these kinds of things:

Weight: 390g

Unfolded dimensions: 263×120×45 mm

Folded dimensions: 150x180x45 mm

Getting Started:

When it arrived it was in a nice compact box and well-packaged. The instructions on the lid give you a quick overview and the QR code links to the app you need to download to link your phone to the gimbal.

Once you delve deeper into the box you can see how well-packed it is. Nothing could move around in transit. You have a carry case provided, a charger cable, your warranty and a quick start guide. There is a tripod for if you want to do stationary filming and a magnetic clamp that you attach to your phone, just clip it on and go. This has a magnet that holds it to the gimbal itself and seems very secure. I have a protective case on my phone and the clip fits over this nicely. It will fit widths from approx. 65mm up to 78mm.

The first time you use it you have to pair the app to the gimbal and it gives you a tour of how to use it and away you go!

How to use it

First attach the clamp to your phone, ensuring the camera picture on the side of the clamp points to the end of the phone with the camera. Expand the arm, attach your phone and switch on the gimbal. It all sounds a bit complex, but it makes sense as you do it. You get a nice 'ping' and you can see the battery status light up. When you open the app you get a message saying it is linked and the app will open the video screen. This is when the magic happens and the gimbal swings into action, moving your phone into position like something from a science fiction movie. Very geeky and satisfying! Ensure you attach the clamp in the middle of your phone so the gimbal can keep it balanced, or you will end up with a video at a very strange angle.

You can switch between the gimbal's filming settings by sliding along the bottom of the screen in the gimbal app.

These include

• Hyperlapse

• Timelapse

• Dyna-Zoom

• Slowmotion

• Video

• Photo

• Pano

• Story

Each setting comes with a short video to explain what they are for, and how to use them, which is great for a beginner. So far I have focused on the video mode, but once we relocate I will be playing with the Story mode and some of the timelapse modes, as these look great.

The gimbal has some built-in shortcut buttons to change functions.

• If you double-press the power button you switch the orientation from portrait to landscape and back again. The Button on the back

• You can also switch between photo and video modes by pressing the M button once.

• Take a photo or start recording by pressing the record button.

The button on the back of the handle has a few of its own functions

• Press and hold to put it in lock mode (this means the movement of the handle doesn't affect the phone's movement).

• Double press to recentre the phone.

• Triple press to switch between front and rear-facing cameras.

The slider on the side is your zoom and the round large button on the handle is a joystick so you can pan and move the viewing area. It does take a little time to get used to what button to press and how your movements will affect what happens to the camera but after an hour or so I felt much more comfortable with everything. With repetitive use, it seems like it will all become second nature.

Is it all worth it?

In the limited amount of time I have had with it so far, I think it is excellent, and well worth having for the video footage I want to produce. The videos I take with the gimbal are smoother than those when I am just trying to walk like a debutant from the 1900's (for those who don't know the reference, it's walking with a pile of books balanced on your head) to get a smooth walking motion. There is still some movement when using the gimbal, but it really does smooth out the image. But don't take my word for it, you can see a comparison video below. Since I plan on having more videos on my YouTube channel exploring different places in Barbados and beyond I think it has been a good investment for me. If you only make the occasional video you might not need something like this, but since the tech in our phones is getting more and more advanced it opens doors for filmmaking, and this gimbal definitely helps them look more professional.

Here is a short video from a recent trip to the beautiful Suffolk coast, Southwold Pier. If you focus on the railing to the bottom right of the screen, I think it really shows the difference the gimbal makes.

If you want to have a look at other user reviews or buy your own you can find a link below to where I got mine.

Want to see more footage from my day out in Southwold or the videos from our Barbados scouting trip, check out my YouTube Channel.

YouTube

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