DJI Osmo Pocket 4P: the “Pro” camera that wants to conquer cinema

Just over a month after launching the Osmo Pocket 4, DJI chose the Cannes Film Festival to preview its professional counterpart, the Osmo Pocket 4P. The choice of Cannes was deliberate, as DJI's ambition is to court the filmmaking world in its broader sense. The Pocket 4P inherits the compact form factor, stabilization system, and smart tracking abilities of the base model, but has two lenses, a wide angle and a zoom, and 17 stops of dynamic range. That figure places the camera in a very good spot for its size and price class and it's usually associated with large-format cinema cameras like the ARRI 35. DJI itself made no effort to downplay the comparison during the Cannes preview. Apart from the obvious documentary and indie film applications, a camera this small, this stable, and this capable could also fit into spaces a conventional production would never consider. In other words, DJI seems to think of the Pocket 4P as a Pro creator camera, as well as a capable B-camera that colorists can actually match to primary footage, rather than a compromised workaround demanding extra labor in post. 

The broader idea DJI is pushing centers on the relationship between technology and creative freedom. The goal, the company says, is for filmmakers to think as little as possible about the tool itself, allowing storytelling to take precedence over technical details.

What has been shown at Cannes, including edited D-Log2 test footage, suggests the company's ambitions for the product are not just hype. The full picture will only be clear after the camera is launched. During the glitzy preview at Cannes DJI did not share any date yet, nor did it make any mention of a price. Given DJI's track record, though, we expect the Osmo Pocket 4P to be priced at a very competitive level.