How to snap pictures while recording?

[scro]

On the Galaxy S7 and S10 the camera will only output raw files in certain modes (eg pro mode on the S10). When capturing full res stills during recording of video the output is exclusively JPG. As @GadgetGuy implies, it is quite likely the buffer size/write speed for storing the data is a bottleneck. A single full frame 12mp DNG is very approximately equivalent to 2.5sec of 8k60fps of video from my phone.

However, going back to the original post... The mini2 can't record stills in any way while simultaneously recording video. The nearest approximation to this is to take a frame grab out of the video afterwards. On the other hand a mobile phone from 5 years ago can record full frame stills (albeit in jpg format only) whilst simultaneously recording video.

As to why the mini2 can't do this, we can only speculate and guess. Maybe its hardware isn't capable of processing/saving data fast enough, or maybe it is but DJI simply decided not to include this as a feature. There are many things people think the drone "should" be able to do but it doesn't and even more speculation as to why.

 

[RC_Adik]

I guess we're forgetting all the things the Mini 2 has to process that a phone does not. Like control by RC, stabilization, transmitting the video back to the phone etc......

 

[scro]

I guess we're forgetting all the things the Mini 2 has to process that a phone does not. Like control by RC, stabilization, transmitting the video back to the phone etc......

In much the same way that "we" are forgetting all the things a phone is processing that the mini 2 does not, such as driving a UHD screen and feeding that with a UHD resolution live feed, maintain multiple background processes, maintain more than 1 data transmission radio, monitoring multiple hardware inputs such as touch screen/hardware buttons, recording stereo audio and performing electronic image stabilisation.

 

[RC_Adik]

Oh come on. All that while your flying your drone in Airplane mode. You WIN!

 

[scro]

The discussion was about whether drones (and as a comparison, phones) could capture full resolution stills whilst capturing video.

My phone was doing all the things listed in post #43 whilst capturing 8k video and simultaneously taking a full resolution still. I wasn't using it to fly a drone at the time and I'm not sure where that idea came from.

 

[Me262]

You've hit the nail on the head! The larger file size of DNG precludes the simultaneous stiil and video shooting on DJI drones, as it likely does on your phone. Let me know if you find out otherwise, ie., can you do both video and stills while shooting RAW on your phone?

I would've been very happy if I could at least capture JPG pictures on the DJI drone while recording simultaneously. Yet, DJI doesn't even offer that option...

 

[GadgetGuy]

I would've been very happy if I could at least capture JPG pictures on the DJI drone while recording simultaneously. Yet, DJI doesn't even offer that option...

It is unrealistic to expect a sub 250g drone and camera selling for $399 to do everything your $1,000 phone can do. Can your phone fly 5 miles away to take a 12MP DNG photo, or remotely shoot a 4K video at that distance? The Mini 2 can! Use the right tool for the job.

 

[Pol]

SDK and D-cinelike would be much better.

 

[Ron Caballero CAP]

They do! There are 15 to 120 pictures taken per second, depending upon your selected video frame rate! Use any one you like!

I have been extracting photos from videos on my film and DSLR cameras for many years. No camera is equipped to do both at the same time. It is easier now with digital, howver the individual photos contained in a video clip will not be as detailed as individual photos. If you want the best possible photos from video clips, choose the highest resolution video and a slow image rate.

 

[Agrarman]

Doing a manual frame grab is a hassle, as it requires some efforts afterwards. Not to mention that all the exif data will be missing. I would already be happy if I could shoot a frame grab photo with proper metadata while recording video.

 

[eakf]

Got my first DJI drone (mini 2) for x-mas. It's missing some useful features that my (way-cheaper) Holy Stone HS-510 Drone had - including taking jpeg stills while shooting video and waypoints. So I know that it should be possible. I don't care about the crap quality of jpeg, I want the functionality so I don't have to go extract a frame in post. They're used as reference photos and it's much easier to just take a snap while shooting. Does anyone know if the litchi app handles this? I hear it's coming for the Mini 2 any day,

 

[Artemis]

Unrelated but I thought it was cool you can minimize the Dji app on iPhone and take photos and video of the drone in action, that’s how I filmed my night flight the other night

 

[Meta4]

Got my first DJI drone (mini 2) for x-mas. It's missing some useful features that my (way-cheaper) Holy Stone HS-510 Drone had - including taking jpeg stills while shooting video and waypoints. So I know that it should be possible. I don't care about the crap quality of jpeg, I want the functionality so I don't have to go extract a frame in post. They're used as reference photos and it's much easier to just take a snap while shooting. Does anyone know if the litchi app handles this? I hear it's coming for the Mini 2 any day,

Even expensive cameras cannot take stills while shooting video.
It's a limitation of the camera, so using Litchi won't make any difference.
Your cheap drone just gave you a frame from the video.

 

[spudster]

Many cameras can snap photos while recording video. The Sony DSC-RX100M4 is one such camera and it isn't even high end. Help Guide | Capturing still images while recording movies (Dual Rec)

 

[Meta4]

Many cameras can snap photos while recording video.

OK .. very few cameras can snap photos while recording video.
It's not something that has been possible until recently.

 

[retiredNH]

OK .. very few cameras can snap photos while recording video.
It's not something that has been possible until recently.

Again not true. My Canon dSLR and mirrorless do so. They stop recording video for a moment while you take the still picture.

However, the DJI controller doesn't have the extra buttons that my cameras do, so not sure how it could be done in practice. It could get complicated fast. Doesn't seem to be a high demand feature either, since most folks will just so as others have suggested, stop video for a few seconds In a finished video, clips shouldn't be that long anyway, so a good video editor (the person, not the device or software) would probably not splice.

 

[RogerDH]

DJI does not make their own camera systems. Like other drone and action camera manufacturers, they get them from Ambarella. That means the Mini and Mini 2 cameras cannot do anything that the system-on-a-chip (SoC) doesn't support, even if you hacked the onboard firmware. The SoCs they use on the Minis do have features that DJI does not use, such as electronic image stabilization and the ability to capture JPEG frame grabs while shooting video (which some action cameras using the same chip do provide), and it uses some features such as built-in optical flow for holding position which action cameras do not. But these systems cannot capture raw photos while shooting videos, so the Mini will never be able to do that unless DJI upgrades the SoCs.

 

[retiredNH]

DJI does not make their own camera systems. Like other drone and action camera manufacturers, they get them from Ambarella. That means the Mini and Mini 2 cameras cannot do anything that the system-on-a-chip (SoC) doesn't support, even if you hacked the onboard firmware. The SoCs they use on the Minis do have features that DJI does not use, such as electronic image stabilization and the ability to capture JPEG frame grabs while shooting video (which some action cameras using the same chip do provide), and it uses some features such as built-in optical flow for holding position which action cameras do not. But these systems cannot capture raw photos while shooting videos, so the Mini will never be able to do that unless DJI upgrades the SoCs.

Interesting. Where did you find this information?

 

[RogerDH]

Interesting. Where did you find this information?

There have been Mini tear-downs that identified the Ambarella SoCs, and the specs and features for those are on Ambarella's site. (Sorry I don't remember the model numbers; I dug into all that last year to see if there was any difference between the Mini and the Mini 2. The SoC features appeared to be identical, btw, but I assume that the model that they use on the Mini 2 did something about the heat problem when shooting 4K.) I haven't looked lately, but at one time there was a list on Wikipedia of drones and action cameras that used the same SoC.

 

[spudster]

OK .. very few cameras can snap photos while recording video.
It's not something that has been possible until recently.

The ability to do this old technology. What this shows it a software function and not a hardware limitation - Android users can snap photos while recording video again