Last year we reviewed the Feiyu Pocket 2S, an actioncam with a hard-wired detachable gimbal camera head. Well, Feiyu has now upped its game with the fully wireless Pocket 3, which looks like it should make for much easier shooting on the go.
Just to recap, the Feiyu Pocket 2S – which is still available – consists of a handle (containing the LCD viewfinder screen and all the controls) and a gimbal-mounted camera module which magnetically attaches to the top of that handle. The two units are connected via a 3-ft (0.9-m)-long electrical cord.
Users can shoot with the two units stuck together, much as they would with the rival one-piece DJI Osmo Pocket camera, or they can pull the camera module off and stick it on a bike helmet, car roof, or whatever else is no more than three feet away.
Needless to say, that cord limits the possible applications of the setup, plus (as we found out for ourselves) it gets in the way, runs the risk of getting snagged on things, and never winds back up quite as neatly as it did when the camera first left the factory. That's where the Pocket 3 comes in …
When detached, its 3-axis gimbal camera module wirelessly communicates with the handle via Wi-Fi, eliminating the cord completely. And yes, the two units can still be magnetically connected and used in one piece.
The camera has a maximum video resolution of 4K/30fps and shoots 12-megapixel stills. It also sports a Sony 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, a 130-degree wide-angle lens, and the ability to shoot slow-motion footage down to 8-times at 720p. Users can additionally set it – and the gimbal – to automatically track faces, track objects (such as the user themselves) and to shoot time-lapse video.
Footage is saved on a user-supplied microSD card which goes into the camera module, meaning that any glitches appearing in the wireless transmission won't be recorded. If shooting at 1080p/30fps, a 1.5-hour charge of the handle's 750-mAh battery and the camera module's 280-mAh battery should reportedly be good for 116 minutes of runtime if the two are directly connected, or 60 minutes if they're separated and using Wi-Fi.
For more control over settings, or just for a less fiddly interface, users can also control the camera via an iOS/Android app on a Wi-Fi-linked smartphone.
The Feiyu Pocket 3 is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, where a pledge of US$199 will get you one – assuming it reaches production, that is. The planned retail price is $300.
You can see footage shot with the camera in the following video.
Source: Kickstarter
