A new camera can look great in easy light and still struggle when the sky is bright, the shadows are deep and the weather will not cooperate. Pete took the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 to a park near the river in Surrey, British Columbia, on a cloudy fall day, and shot the outing in the 10-bit D-Log M colour profile instead of the normal profile from his earlier test.
It was his first time shooting with the flatter profile on this camera. His goal was specific: see how much dynamic range he could get, and how much he could pull down bright areas such as the sky, because he finds the Pocket 3 tends to overexpose rather than underexpose.
Watch the video above for the full Surrey footage in 4K D-Log M, including the riverside shots, the shaded to bright exposure changes, the close focus examples and the built-in microphone audio recorded by the water.
Test conditions at a riverside park in Surrey
Pete shot at around 1 pm under overcast fall skies. The footage moves through overcast light, patches of sunlight, dark shade and scenes with a lot of contrast, and he points out the shots that swing from a dark, shaded area out toward the sky. Those transitions are always challenging for exposure, because a small camera has to hold detail at both ends of the scene at once.
The location adds to the test. Down by the water, the colours are typical late fall: a little green still left in the trees, most of it mixed with yellow, and plenty of trees that have already lost their leaves. It is a muted palette, a useful real world check on how D-Log M renders colour once graded.
D-Log M versus the normal colour profile
D-Log M is the flat colour profile made for grading, and this outing followed on directly from Pete’s previous Pocket 3 test, shot in the normal profile with not a cloud in the sky. Shooting flat this time was about control: whether the extra dynamic range would give him more room to pull down the whites and protect bright skies, where he notices the camera leaning toward overexposure.
His verdict on the look is clear. He is really impressed with the D-Log colour, and says he will have a tough time going back to the regular profile, even though that profile offers a superior workflow and will work well for most people. Flat footage needs grading first, and for this test he applied a bit of saturation, colour correction and stabilization. The trade off is time for flexibility.
The 1-inch sensor, depth of field and close focus
After more time with the Pocket 3, Pete keeps coming back to the depth of field from the 1-inch sensor. He is realistic about the limits: it will not match a full frame camera with a very expensive lens. What it gives you is real subject separation that smaller sensor cameras struggle to produce, even at closer distances, shown in the video with his hand held close and himself blurred behind it.
That larger sensor in a pocket sized body makes, in his words, a world of difference, and the close focus helps too. For footage where you talk to the camera while moving through a location, he says this is a camera you have to consider.
Built-in microphone audio and stabilization
All of the audio here comes from the camera itself, recorded on the onboard three microphone array, with no external microphone added. Pete recorded down by the water with a SkyTrain going overhead, and says the audio he has recorded on the Pocket 3 itself so far has been really impressive. For a vlog camera, that matters: the point of a device this small is leaving extra gear at home.
He also shares an editing note. He edits in Final Cut Pro, and voice isolation at about 50 percent really cleans the audio up, often emulating a lavalier microphone. His cautions: it can affect your equalization and introduce artifacting, so use it with restraint. On stabilization, he calls the gimbal stabilization remarkable, with the condition that you have to understand the tool to get the best results.
Frequently asked questions
Where was this DJI Pocket 3 footage shot? It was shot at a park near the river in Surrey, British Columbia, at around 1 pm on a cloudy fall day.
What colour profile was used in this video? The whole test was shot in the 10-bit D-Log M profile, the flat profile made for grading, with saturation and colour correction applied in editing.
How does the built-in microphone sound outdoors? Pete found the onboard array really impressive by the water with a SkyTrain overhead, and he uses about 50 percent voice isolation in Final Cut Pro to clean it up further.
Should you shoot in D-Log M or the normal profile? Pete prefers the D-Log M look and its control over bright areas, but the normal profile has the simpler workflow and will work well for most people.
Verdict
This Surrey outing is a useful test because the conditions are ordinary. Mixed cloud, shade and bright sky are what most creators actually shoot in, and the camera handled it well. D-Log M gave Pete the control he wanted over bright areas, the 1-inch sensor delivered unusual subject separation for the size, and the built-in microphones held up without extra gear.
If you shoot talking to camera footage and want a small camera that can grow with your grading skills, Pete’s take is that the Pocket 3 has to be on your list. Check the current price and full details for the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 on Amazon and decide whether the D-Log M workflow suits the way you shoot.