Is there actually an answer to the camera settings question?

[rmb]

I am pretty convinced not.

I have done countless tests and invested 100 hours in youtube videos and reading blogs and opinion pieces and heres what I have learned for sure

Its definitely -2-1-1. No no it’s -1-2-2. Dude you can’t go -1 on sharpness it will trigger the Mavics internal noise reduction and get grainy. Actually youtubers, even a 0 on sharpness can trigger the Mavics noise reduction. Now, there’s the new guy and his newly recruited sharpness disciples saying the only solution is +1 sharpens and then blur it back out in resolve. Dlog is the only way to go, Dlog used to be good, Art is the answer. Wait, Dlog is great again. And lets not forget about D-Cinelike, but that also needs to be at a -1 sharpness or is that +1?

Look I know that different shooting conditions require different techniques, and there will never be 1 size fits all, but Specs like native ISOs and what settings actually do trigger DJI noise reduction have got to be absolutes that someone must know so that we all can at least start build our solutions from there?

Oh, and PS, now if you have just upgraded the firmware on your Phantom 4 pro, DJI has now locked the ISO for both D-Cinelike and Dlog at 500 claiming that that is the cameras native resolution and that that is the only way to standardize on DLog settings and LUTS. Jesus H. I hope you don’t want to shoot Dlog on a sunny day. There’s not enough ND on the globe to get your shutter speed down to a 50th if your ISO is 500. And by the way even if there was, 500 is noisy

And since there are actually scientists, researchers and inventors that work at DJI, where the Heck is there valuable input

Ok that’s my rant. Go ahead let me have it.

rb

 

[sonof40]

Thanks for summing that up for the rest of us.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

The answer is........ 42
What was the question?

 

[Gary cato]

wow does the Mavic have a camera mmmmm learn something new every day

 

[ecoleman]

I know how you feel. There are lots of self professed experts on YouTube.
I've finally settled on D-cinelike, +1,0,0 at 2k 30fps.

+1 at 4k is just to crunchy and 0 introduces the water colour effect whereas +1 at 2k looks natural.

I guess it's just a case of testing thing and figuring out what suits your personal taste.

 

[rmb]

Thanks ecoleman. That might be a combo that I haven't tried? What I think I will do if we continue to get thoughtful answers and opinions will be to take the top 10 and then do an actual controlled test at different lights.

 

[Kilrah]

There would be no settings if everybody wanted / liked the same thing. Different people will have different taste and priorities, and will "recommend" that.

Looking at what people do is only giving some data points, but at the end of the day none of them is any more "correct" than another, it's subjective so YOU must test things and figure out what YOU like.

 

[rmb]

There would be no settings if everybody wanted / liked the same thing. Different people will have different taste and priorities, and will "recommend" that.

Looking at what people do is only giving some data points, but at the end of the day none of them is any more "correct" than another, it's subjective so YOU must test things and figure out what YOU like.

Your point is not lost on me. And thank you. But please understand I am not talking about style or personal taste. I am talking about the difference between using the camera to get the best possible image to use and or change as you like. The setting discrepancies here are the difference between a very usable image and in some cases unusable.

 

[Bintryin]

+1-1 0

 

[Lt Shanks]

Thanks ecoleman. That might be a combo that I haven't tried? What I think I will do if we continue to get thoughtful answers and opinions will be to take the top 10 and then do an actual controlled test at different lights.

Hello mb I would give ecolemen`s suggestion a try. These settings 2.7K 24fps +1 -2 -2 d-Cinelike 100iso 1/50ss has worked for me after testing several profiles. I color grade and saturate in post so I try to leave as much adjustment/headroom as possible. Here is a test example at these settings using an ND8/Polarizer filter. This was shot on a pretty grey glum day. Higher the viewing resolution the better 1440p on YouTube is ideal. I hope this helps...

 

[rmb]

Hello mb I would give ecolemen`s suggestion a try. These settings 2.7K 24fps +1 -2 -2 d-Cinelike 100iso 1/50ss has worked for me after testing several profiles. I color grade and saturate in post so I try to leave as much adjustment/headroom as possible. Here is a test example at these settings using an ND8/Polarizer filter. This was shot on a pretty grey glum day. Higher the viewing resolution the better 1440p on YouTube is ideal. I hope this helps...

Thanks man. Nice stuff. I found your opening shot to be on the "mavic" scale of 1 - 10 a solid 12! Some of the downward stuff I saw a lot of that telltale smudginess associated with the millions of lines of detail in leafless trees. Basically in these cases I think we are simply asking too much of the camera that including the gimbal, is the size of a golfball. My favorite setting to date is D-Cinelike with either a 0 -2 -1 or for busier stuff like the branches a +1 -2-1. Here is an example of something I did at that setting.

 

[Lt Shanks]

Thanks man. Nice stuff. I found your opening shot to be on the "mavic" scale of 1 - 10 a solid 12! Some of the downward stuff I saw a lot of that telltale smudginess associated with the millions of lines of detail in leafless trees. Basically in these cases I think we are simply asking too much of the camera that including the gimbal, is the size of a golfball. My favorite setting to date is D-Cinelike with either a 0 -2 -1 or for busier stuff like the branches a +1 -2-1. Here is an example of something I did at that setting.

Hey thanks mb and I have to agree coming into the drone realm from a photography background that the Mavic camera is capable of great stuff for it`s size and performance. A 12 though well you made my day thx. I really likes your forest stroll nice job man. My focus needs a little work and as this is my first drone some practice is certainly in order. I have less than 5 hours of flight time under my belt so compared to some on this forum I am very optimistic of the my Mavic`s future. Please let me know what you discover as I feel I can trust your opinion in the this little world of +/- ...

 

[Ziggy01]

I know how you feel. There are lots of self professed experts on YouTube.
I've finally settled on D-cinelike, +1,0,0 at 2k 30fps.

+1 at 4k is just to crunchy and 0 introduces the water colour effect whereas +1 at 2k looks natural.

I guess it's just a case of testing thing and figuring out what suits your personal taste.

Works for me (25fps)

 

[SeanOzz]

I am pretty convinced not.

I have done countless tests and invested 100 hours in youtube videos and reading blogs and opinion pieces and heres what I have learned for sure

Its definitely -2-1-1. No no it’s -1-2-2. Dude you can’t go -1 on sharpness it will trigger the Mavics internal noise reduction and get grainy. Actually youtubers, even a 0 on sharpness can trigger the Mavics noise reduction. Now, there’s the new guy and his newly recruited sharpness disciples saying the only solution is +1 sharpens and then blur it back out in resolve. Dlog is the only way to go, Dlog used to be good, Art is the answer. Wait, Dlog is great again. And lets not forget about D-Cinelike, but that also needs to be at a -1 sharpness or is that +1?

Look I know that different shooting conditions require different techniques, and there will never be 1 size fits all, but Specs like native ISOs and what settings actually do trigger DJI noise reduction have got to be absolutes that someone must know so that we all can at least start build our solutions from there?

Oh, and PS, now if you have just upgraded the firmware on your Phantom 4 pro, DJI has now locked the ISO for both D-Cinelike and Dlog at 500 claiming that that is the cameras native resolution and that that is the only way to standardize on DLog settings and LUTS. Jesus H. I hope you don’t want to shoot Dlog on a sunny day. There’s not enough ND on the globe to get your shutter speed down to a 50th if your ISO is 500. And by the way even if there was, 500 is noisy

And since there are actually scientists, researchers and inventors that work at DJI, where the Heck is there valuable input

Ok that’s my rant. Go ahead let me have it.

rb

I might be able to help a little.

I've dabbled in -1 and +1 for sharpness myself as well as zero and +2 and even -2

In the end it comes down to personal preference. That and what are you trying to achieve?

Do you want the best footage right out of the camera with contrast and saturation already good to go? Or do you wanna tone it down and have something to mess around with in post production?

On our phones, laptops and even the average desktop -1 isn't going to show any internal triggered noise worth worrying g about until you go tv size or bigger (words right from the guy who posted the video who's got everyone and their mom now on the +1 kick).

For me, I'm not a big fan of +1. I hate how everything starts to look at that or higher on my phone, laptop and desktop. Which is why I drop it myself to a tad softer look at -1.

Here's where I really break away from the pack.
I don't use dlog or d-cinelike either. (For shame on me!) I prefer true color (as long as I've also bumped my contrast to +1 and my saturation to +2.

For me that gives me a look that 90% of the time I can use happily right out of the camera.

Now on the other hand... if I do feel like doing a bunch after the fact I typically film in Art.

This video shows all of what I just mentioned side by side by side compared to Everything.

And... in the description I took the time to put time links to each and every comparison and filter.

Might be a helpful tool to look over.
I filmed it in sports mode as an afterthought on a last battery the other day so hope you don't get motion sickness.

 

[rmb]

Dude. Thank you! It's a little late for me tonight, but trust that I will review this tomorrow with all vigor. And to everyone so far that has participated in this, I think we are are really, finally getting people that see the issue and are not only striving for excellence, but truly sharing without ego. I hope this goes on for days. And, I WILL do a comparison as promised will the top common suggestions for the group's observations and feedback.
i'll check in tomorrow after reviewing your footage SeanOzz.

 

[SeanOzz]

Dude. Thank you! It's a little late for me tonight, but trust that I will review this tomorrow with all vigor. And to everyone so far that has participated in this, I think we are are really, finally getting people that see the issue and are not only striving for excellence, but truly sharing without ego. I hope this goes on for days. And, I WILL do a comparison as promised will the top common suggestions for the group's observations and feedback.
i'll check in tomorrow after reviewing your footage SeanOzz.

No worries. I'm working on two other comparison videos also after the weekend.
I'll be sure to share.


I personally think people forget over 50% of the people watching each other's videos do it from a phone and a tiny screen now a days and if something over sharpened it can make the whole screen just appear a mess.

 

[Ziggy01]

No worries. I'm working on two other comparison videos also after the weekend.
I'll be sure to share.


I personally think people forget over 50% of the people watching each other's videos do it from a phone and a tiny screen now a days and if something over sharpened it can make the whole screen just appear a mess.

That's an assumption and a half.

I'm viewing on a Sony Trimaster EL and pulling back the sharpness. OTOH nothing will bring back detail from the mush created by a -1 setting. The Mavic NR is simply appalling.

 

[SeanOzz]

That's an assumption and a half.

I'm viewing on a Sony Trimaster EL and pulling back the sharpness. OTOH nothing will bring back detail from the mush created by a -1 setting. The Mavic NR is simply appalling.

Uh YouTube analytics across the Board shows it higher than 50% lately. No assuming. That would make an *** out of you and me.

 

[ecoleman]

What people need to realise is that the Mavic has a tiny camera with a tiny sensor and whilst it may be marketed as a 4k camera, it doesn't mean it's a good 4k camera.

The Mavic has some serious limitation at 4k, one being the sensor size and the other being the bit rate and thus compression. Think 40mp smartphone camera vs 20mp full frame DSLR. The DSLR is always going to win.

It took me a while to stop shooting at 4k because I had a 4k camera so I wanted 4k footage, but once I did, everything just looked better, and honestly you really need to sit within a foot of a 55" TV to tell the difference.

Much of the watercolour effect that people see is a) caused by negative sharpening but also by the severe compression applied to the 4k file.

So, if you haven't already, drop down to 2k, give the sensor some breathing space and you should see a marked improvement in the quality of your footage. Sharpness, contrast and saturation are really going to be down to personal taste and your editing technique.

 

[Ziggy01]

Totally agree.