Is my mavic bad? blurry video

[iajetpilot]

Hi all,

I'm new to all this and could use some help. I am testing My new Mavic Pro and just shot a quick video outside. It is pretty cold out, I think about 28 F and kind of windy (13kt). Could you guys take a look at this short clip I uploaded to dropbox and tell me why you think the left and right side looks like it has blurry patches? Is it focus, the cold, or some other problem I shot at 4K/30fps with a 16ND filter on and a shutter speed of 1/80 I think.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26110014/Test video Mavic.mp4

I really appreciate the help.

Larry

 

[Top Hat]

I am watching it right now on my 4K TV/PC monitor and not seeing anything unusual.

 

[iajetpilot]

Weird, on my Late 2014 5K 27 Inch Imac with 3.5Ghz i5, AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2048 MB, 24 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 on both sides of the video the trees look very patchy and blurry. Could it be my Imac isn't powerful enough to view/edit 4K video? I would be surprised if that were true. I have a more powerful windows machine and will try it on there right now.

 

[CC Rider]

Video looked fine to me, too, tack sharp and well in focus. Your iMac should definitely be capable of handling 4K video, I would think. Did you film your footage in .MOV (for Macs) or .MP4 (for Windows) format? Try out your Windows computer since you have it and check out your results. That may quickly explain things to you.

 

[iajetpilot]

I'm starting to think maybe I'm being very critical and what I'm actually seeing is just all the trees branches with no leaves and various brown/tan patches of dirt and scrub in the back round. I'm going to take it out to some better scenery tomorrow to test. I did a test with the stock sd card to see if maybe I had a bad SD card. I can't really see any difference on my windows machine but I have only tried a .mov file on it.

 

[CC Rider]

I'm starting to think maybe I'm being very critical and what I'm actually seeing is just all the trees branches with no leaves and various brown/tan patches of dirt and scrub in the back round. I'm going to take it out to some better scenery tomorrow to test. I did a test with the stock sd card to see if maybe I had a bad SD card. I can't really see any difference on my windows machine but I have only tried a .mov file on it.

You are probably right on target. Human nature to be hyper critical about a $1,000 flying camera you just invested in!

I'm sure your Mav is just fine. Like you say, take it up and give it another try. As far as sd cards go, you'll need a bigger one than what comes with the Mavic, so considering investing in a fast, up-to -date sd card rated for 4K, HD recording. Samsung makes good ones, one that even specifically mentions using it in drones. That's the one I got, a 64GB card (the max the Mavic supposedly accepts). Fast transfer rates and worth the investment in my book.

Have fun learning and discovering. Safe flying and great filming and photo taking.

 

[iajetpilot]

Thanks, I'm taking the drone with me to the las vegas area this weekend on a work trip. I'm hoping to get up to either Mt. Charleston or the Red Rock area, or both. I was using a 64GB samsung sd card for the first video but I'm not sure how old it is.....Its very hard to read whats printed on it. I have a very fast card on the way from amazon..
Lexar Professional 1000x microSDXC 64GB UHS-II/U3 (Up to 150MB/s Read)
. Hopefully that will work.

 

[CC Rider]

Thanks, I'm taking the drone with me to the las vegas area this weekend on a work trip. I'm hoping to get up to either Mt. Charleston or the Red Rock area, or both. I was using a 64GB samsung sd card for the first video but I'm not sure how old it is.....Its very hard to read whats printed on it. I have a very fast card on the way from amazon..
Lexar Professional 1000x microSDXC 64GB UHS-II/U3 (Up to 150MB/s Read)
. Hopefully that will work.

Perfect. That's an even better sd card to use, with an exceptionally higher transfer rate than the Samsung ones.

Please tell Las Vegas I said "hi" for me and tell it I'll be back up one day before too long to leave some more of my money up there again!

You ought to have some excellent subjects to shoot once you're there, and a 64GB card allows for LOTS of storage. If you can, consider posting some of what you capture in the Forum's Photo & Video section. Always glad to see another pilot's images, the territory they are flying in, their subjects of choice, as well as their techniques and flying approaches. It's one of the ways I learn and grow.

Take care of yourself, safe traveling and flying, and enjoy yourself in the skies around Vegas!

 

[iajetpilot]

I may have discovered the actual problem. I had the style settings at -2,-2,-1 or something close to that. I turned them all up to zero and did another test flight. The video looked much better right out of the drone. I think the lower sharpness and contrast may have made the trees etc too muddy/blurry looking for me. Thanks for all the help! lots to learn.

 

[CC Rider]

I may have discovered the actual problem. I had the style settings at -2,-2,-1 or something close to that. I turned them all up to zero and did another test flight. The video looked much better right out of the drone. I think the lower sharpness and contrast may have made the trees etc too muddy/blurry looking for me. Thanks for all the help! lots to learn.

Proper camera settings are crucial to getting the best results, and you have a good deal of them to go through in properly setting up your Mavic Pro.

If you haven't done so already, search YouTube for the Mavic's optimal video/camera settings, watch the vids, and know them well BEFORE you go to Vegas. White balance, manual exposure, ISO settings and their importance for capturing top-notch images are quickly explained via these videos made specific to the Mavic, and you will learn a lot in just one watching, although I'd recommend repeated viewings of the videos you come across, which will be numerous. Keep your eyes out for Captain Drone's videos and those by Drone Valley, two of my favorites.

Make notes about what you see and learn and absorb as much as you can. It will give you a huge payoff in the end.