Best settings for video - 30fps and 4K?

[BenF04]

Hi All,
What settings are you using for video? I have had a search around this and other forums and the general consensus of opinion seems to be stay at 30fps but that 4k is ok apart from the large file size it creates? Is there any real benefit in shooting in 4K if I don't have a 4K TV?

Any advice / direction greatly appreciated as I am off to South Africa in a couple of weeks and will be taking the Mavic with me.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[deltalimatango]

Hi All,
What settings are you using for video? I have had a search around this and other forums and the general consensus of opinion seems to be stay at 30fps but that 4k is ok apart from the large file size it creates? Is there any real benefit in shooting in 4K if I don't have a 4K TV?

Any advice / direction greatly appreciated as I am off to South Africa in a couple of weeks and will be taking the Mavic with me.

Cheers,
Ben

Good question. I have several friends who produce videos for a living. They all say that 4K is great if you need it but on a drone, not so much unless you are producing and making money from drone videos. They say, keep to 1080P and save on the post processing and file sizes, but they also said to do whatever makes me happy so I offer the same advice.

 

[Wacker2611]

I find shooting in 2.7k 30fps gives the best results, and is a good compromise between iq and file size. It also downsamples very nicely to 1080p for YouTube etc.


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[daithi23]

Hi All,
What settings are you using for video? I have had a search around this and other forums and the general consensus of opinion seems to be stay at 30fps but that 4k is ok apart from the large file size it creates? Is there any real benefit in shooting in 4K if I don't have a 4K TV?

Any advice / direction greatly appreciated as I am off to South Africa in a couple of weeks and will be taking the Mavic with me.

Cheers,
Ben

I just got back from Indonesia where I mostly shot in 2.7K and already I'm wishing I had shot in 4K just to future-proof. In a couple of years I may want to make a 4K demo reel and I got some nice shots that I will probably never get again (unless I go back to Indo, not likely). That said, I haven't had a chance to compare the 2.7K to 4K, I still can't check my footage on the crappy laptop I have, gotta wait to get my desktop in a couple of days...

 

[DirkJT]

I hope this is considered on topic.
I absolutely LOVE this drone, fantastic!
I am having however experiencing some problems with video Exposure. I seem to get over exposed in the centre and underexposed on the sides, like a type of vignette. Please look at the Adobe Lumetri Scope Graph. Any help please, any suggestions on of what the settings should change to correct this?

 

[mboesch]

I find shooting in 2.7k 30fps gives the best results, and is a good compromise between iq and file size. It also downsamples very nicely to 1080p for YouTube etc.


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

What do you think of 1080p with 60 fps - since camera is moving, I though more fps would improve video watching experience further.
Resp. anyone a suggestion in which situations to choose which mode?

 

[Wacker2611]

What do you think of 1080p with 60 fps - since camera is moving, I though more fps would improve video watching experience further.
Resp. anyone a suggestion in which situations to choose which mode?

I'm afraid 1080p 60fps is unusable on the Mavic. It's only meant for goggles and has horrid artefacts. 1080p 30fps is ok, but in my opinion you may as well use 2.7k as it is a huge increase in iq, even when downsampled.


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[DodgeP]

This thing sucks at anything other than 2.7k or 4K 24p or 30p - I'm pretty disappointed.

 

[camilleface]

Dumb question, bit how do you change the 4k, 2.7k, 30 fps, etc., on the mavic? Am I just not seeing it?

 

[flyNfrank]

This thing sucks at anything other than 2.7k or 4K 24p or 30p - I'm pretty disappointed.

Find yourself a drone that is comparable to the Mavic Pro that also has better optics, and share the details with us.

Btw, I only record in 1080p @ 30fps and use PolarPro vivid polarized filters. Not sure why, but I have been saving 95% of my flight videos.

 

[Vadar007]

I ran through some tests trying to determine best setting for video recording. Results can be found here:

Jitter when yawing

Short answer was 30FPS, 2K or 4k, NTSC based on my results.

 

[ryo]

Since i've got the mavic (like 2 months now), i shot many short videos that i always transferred from the bird to my local hard drive. Always 4k. Few days ago i was out of hd space on my macbook and the culprit was the 80G space i use with all these videos......so that might end being a problem: 4k videos are huge. While all looks very nice i think that maybe 80% of my videos could be shot in 2k or even less and just some really special footage shot in 4k.

 

[Drope]

there is a difference between 24 and 30 fps. If you can be really slow and steady, go with 24. it has a certain subtle look that reminds some of film. use of neutral density filters is important cause you need too keep the shutter at like 50. that said, i switch between 24 and 30 as needed for the target shutter speed/speed of drone considerations. since storage is cheap i always can downsample in editing software. at 4k you have more options to crop in post...

 

[SeaComms]

How come I don't have a 30fps option in 2.7k? I only have 24 or 25fps. Is that because I am set for PAL? Haven't tried changing to NSTC to see if it makes a difference yet.

At 4k I only have 24fps, no other options.

 

[balshawr]

How come I don't have a 30fps option in 2.7k? I only have 24 or 25fps. Is that because I am set for PAL? Haven't tried changing to NSTC to see if it makes a difference yet.

At 4k I only have 24fps, no other options.

You have to select 3840x2160 to see the 30fps (this is still 4k)

Here is a summary of the video settings:
C4K: 4096×2160 24p
4K: 3840×2160 24/25/30p
2.7K: 2720x1530 24/25/30p
FHD: 1920×1080 24/25/30/48/50/60/96p
HD: 1280×720 24/25/30/48/50/60/120p

Happy flying!

 

[TroutboyNZ]

There really is no point filming in 4k UNLESS you want to make life hard and slow! The only other benefit is cropping in, film at 2.7k and 30fps as a happy medium. Always in NTSC regardless of country to grab the extra framerates.

I really don't understand why people film in 4K and upload to youtube.... pointless as youtube chops the hell out of the quality anyway and hardly anyone can play 4k without some serious computing power! Output in 1080 if you want to make life easier.

Check out my Youtube channel for some 2.7k conformed to 1080, it's a sweetspot for sure.

 

[SeaComms]

Nope! I don't get 30fps on either of the 4k options or the 2.7k option!

I was recording in 4k now have switched to 2.7k 25fps as I don't have the 30fps option and I output at 1080p for YouTube uploads.

I think it must be a PAL/NSTC thing.

 

[TroutboyNZ]

You need to switch to NTSC to get the increased fps option, Pal is only 25fps.

 

[mravicprilot]

This thing sucks at anything other than 2.7k or 4K 24p or 30p - I'm pretty disappointed.

there's no other foldable compact drone that packs a punch like the mavic, if you're going for the camera , I suggest you get an inspire 2 with zenmuse x5s, then you will be complaining about "I'm disappointed that the inspire can't be fold, huge and heavy double battery and for the same amount of flight time."

dji won't make a versatile drone that is cheap, it's a company not a charity, they have to think about profits, for now there's no such thing as compact and powerful.

sorry for my bad English.

 

[DodgeP]

there's no other foldable compact drone that packs a punch like the mavic, if you're going for the camera , I suggest you get an inspire 2 with zenmuse x5s, then you will be complaining about "I'm disappointed that the inspire can't be fold, huge and heavy double battery and for the same amount of flight time."

dji won't make a versatile drone that is cheap, it's a company not a charity, they have to think about profits, for now there's no such thing as compact and powerful.

sorry for my bad English.

I actually have an Inspire as well as Solo. I have never once complained that my Inspire doesn't fold - the same way that I'm not complaining that the Mavic doesn't have a non-obstructed camera. So just in case you misunderstood me, I was complaining that the Mavic has video settings that are useless, unless you're into crappy video. My Sony mirrorless can shoot 4k, 2k, and Full HD video at the same settings as some it's bigger DSLR camera competitors so let's keep it real.