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DJI officially revealed the Osmo Pocket 4P yesterday — and the dual-lens, gimbal-stabilized vlogging camera looks formidable, thanks to its 1-inch main sensor, 3x telephoto secondary lens, 17 stops of dynamic range and 10-bit log color.
Unfortunately, it's also — for the foreseeable future — not going to be officially available in the US, thanks to DJI's ongoing FCC ban. And that's where the new Xtra Muse 2 Pro comes in.
With impeccable timing, this remarkably similar gimbal camera from US-registered brand Xtra has just had a fresh teaser reel arrive on Instagram, and the spec sheet (shared over at The New Camera) will look strangely familiar to anyone who's been following the Osmo Pocket 4P with interest.
A 1-inch CMOS sensor? Check. A second 3x telephoto lens? Check. A 10-bit X-Log 3 color profile, 17 stops of dynamic range and 103GB of built-in storage? Check, check and check.
We've seen this kind of thing before, both from Xtra Technology and SkyRover, two companies that sell products that bear remarkable similarities to DJI cameras and drones, but — unlike those actual DJI products — are freely available to buy in the USA.
As you can see from the embedded teaser above, the Xtra's Muse 2 Pro footage showcases a range of scenarios, including night and low-light performance. There's smooth gimbal movement, with clean detail and well-controlled noise.
It's a smart choice of showcase, particularly when it comes to the low-light scenes: after dark is where small sensors get exposed (so to speak), and the results look very impressive.
What else we know — and what we're waiting on
Beyond the specs from the teaser, the Muse 2 Pro is expected to feature a 3-axis mechanical gimbal, a rotatable touchscreen and ActiveTrack 7.0.
The original Xtra Muse (a dead ringer from the DJI Osmo Pocket 3) has gained Bluetooth support for DJI's Mic Mini and Mic 2 via a firmware update earlier this year — a useful sweetener for anyone already invested in DJI's microphone lineup. So we can expect similar microphone compatibility from the Muse 2 Pro.
If the Muse 2 Pro's real-world image quality can back up those spec sheet numbers, it's going to slot into a very interesting position in the US market. The Insta360 Luna Ultra has just launched there as a dual-lens rival, starting at $769.99 — and having tried it we can attest to it being a serious camera. But competition is good, and with DJI's appeal of its FCC ban still working its way through the courts, US creators are going to need options.
The Muse 2 Pro is shaping up to be a very well-timed one, and it seems likely that Xtra will be pushing for it to arrive this summer, perhaps as early as mid-July.
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