Choose a camera that fits your needs

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On paper, a new piece of camera gear can be very tempting. Tech gets better, numbers go up, and whatever we already own starts to feel obsolete. But is the newest and greatest what we need to make what we want?

Ever since the Sony ZV1ii I bought off eBay failed on me a few weeks ago, I've been searching for a small video camera to pair with my full-frame setup. When you're filming yourself, a second camera can make a big difference (different angle, timelapse...).

One that keeps coming up, one that almost every influencer out there seems to own and love, is the DJI Pocket. I actually bought the very first iteration of that line (it was called the DJI Osmo back then) many years ago. It was a cool idea, but it came with serious downsides that are still present today.

I was hoping the Pocket 4, which was announced yesterday, would fix some of the issues that kept me from going back to that series of cameras. But it was not meant to be, the main flaws that make it a no-go for me are still there: no swappable battery, no weather sealing, too fragile.

I know I’d wreck that camera within weeks. There’s no way that gimbal survives a few outings with me. If the rain or the cold doesn’t kill it first, of course. And in the very unlikely case it survives being tossed around in the car and into random bags, the occasional drop, and the frequent bad weather, the battery will eventually degrade to the point of making the camera unusable.

On paper, it's nearly everything I want and need. Great image quality, ease of use, features that would actually make my life easier in the field. But paper and reality are not the same thing, a distinction we must be aware of before falling for the latest and flashiest piece of gear.

So the search continues. A Sony ZV1iii with 10-bit and S-Cinetone to match my full-frame camera would be ideal, but in the meanwhile, the ZV1ii and the Canon V1 are the strongest candidates.

Neither can match the Pocket's stabilization, and both are bigger and heavier. But I don’t have to hold my breath when I toss them in a bag, or throw them around in the car. Swappable batteries mean they'll still be usable many years from now.

Spec sheets are useful, to a point. Bigger numbers don’t mean anything if the piece of equipment doesn’t fit your workflow. The best camera is the one you will actually bring, use, and abuse without losing sleep over it. Choose wisely.