Cinelike Versus D-Log M

[Fat Pappy]

My wife bought me the Mavic Air 2 several years ago and I got the 107 ticket to go with it. As a private pilot, this was not a huge time investment. Given my business commitments, I have not had much time to fly it - less than 3 hours on the airframe. Given that I recently retired, I have time to explore the drone.

The Mavic Air 2 can shoot video in normal or Cinelike color space. I am planning a couple months in the Canadian Maritimes next year, so am probably going to buy a Mini 5 if possible, or a Mini 4 if necessary as micro drone regs are far easier to comply with as a foreign pilot. Most of the new drones can shoot in D-log M. I am an avid photographer, but not really a videographer.

My questions are:
- what is the difference between Cinelike & D-log M in both final quality and ease of work flow?
- Can both color spaces be worked wi the same software or will I need different software for each - a situation that could result in thr Air 2 getting sold and replaced with an Air 3S.
- What else should I know about the differences in the 2 color spaces?

FWIW, I plan to create content for my family and friends that will ikely go on YouTube for ease of sharing. I have no desire to publish on a schedule or monetize this endeavor.

 

[akdrone]

It is a color space much like DLog M but, I think not quite as flat as DLog M. Dlog and Dlog M are logarithmic compressions of the color space. Cinelike is not a log profile but it is does some flattening of the color space so it's better than shooting normal if you have dynamic range issues. In terms of ease of workflow it would be exactly like DLog or Dlog M in that you would use an appropriate LUT. As with Dlog and Dlog M, it will allow recovery of -some- dynamic range that might be over or underexposed with a Normal profile. Dlog and Dlog M provide a 10bit file when shooting with a mavic 3 pro (and I'd assume other drones). THAT is as important as the log function because that is what allows you do to all sorts of color correction without "breaking" the image. Cinelike will allow you to get some darks and light areas recovered but it is still an 8bit image so doing a lot of further color correction can result in banding in the sky or other visual imperfections.

 

[skyline x]

Dlog and Dlog M are logarithmic compressions of the color space.

This is simply not true. D-log M is not a logarithmic gamma curve. It is rec709 with a flat color profile, like cinelike. It is essentially the 2nd generation of cinelike. If it was truly a logarithmic gamma curve, DJI would provide the math so companies like Blackmagic could create CSTs for Resolve. It also isn't standardized for every product with d-log M. For example, the osmo pocket 3 dlog m is different then the drones. A proper log gamma would be standardized. All of DJI's products with D-log use the same math.

 

[akdrone]

This is simply not true. D-log M is not a logarithmic gamma curve. It is rec709 with a flat color profile, like cinelike. It is essentially the 2nd generation of cinelike. If it was truly a logarithmic gamma curve, DJI would provide the math so companies like Blackmagic could create CSTs for Resolve. It also isn't standardized for every product with d-log M. For example, the osmo pocket 3 dlog m is different then the drones. A proper log gamma would be standardized. All of DJI's products with D-log use the same math.

I even knew that even if I couldn't have laid it out so well but somehow got lazy. Thanks for the correction.