No HDR video on Air 2S

[mrinab]

So I just upgraded from the Air 2 to the Air 2s because of the camera........
To my surprise the Air 2s does not have a HDR video mode - very disappointed - just wanted to point this out for people thinking of upgrading.
I really liked the HDR video mode on the Air 2 even though it was not really adjustable - so definitely disappointed !

 

[Severian]

Yeah, no HDR. But honestly, I didn't like HDR all that much. Mostly produced less that stellar results. You can get what you want with D-Log.

 

[melmartin]

Quoting from a pro review of the 2S.
" It's quite funny but I was watching a few reviews and in most of them people said that A2S doesn't have the HDR. It's the other way around. A2S has the ability to record in 10bit Hybrid Log Gamma. Files recorded in this profile contain two separate Gammas. On for SDR and one for HDR capable devices. MA2 only has a HDR approximation. It's not a recognised HDR format but a SDR video made by combining simultaneously recorder information about 2 separate sensitivity settings. It's a clever trick and used in right circumstances it can give good results. But also it's a fully auto mode that can't really be trusted in most scenarios. Shooting in HLG profile on A2S i found that the colours are very true to reality with added bonus of wider dynamic range. I only had to correct exposure. It took me 2 minutes to do that. Air 2 HDR looks pleasing to the eye as it is very saturated. "

I think the video looks great.... altho I also have a Skydio 2 which does lovely HDR video right out of the camera. FWIW.

 

[Macinfo]

HDR is over rated... you could probably achieve more with color management in post.

 

[brett8883]

So I just upgraded from the Air 2 to the Air 2s because of the camera........
To my surprise the Air 2s does not have a HDR video mode - very disappointed - just wanted to point this out for people thinking of upgrading.
I really liked the HDR video mode on the Air 2 even though it was not really adjustable - so definitely disappointed !

The Air2s is a bit more “professional” oriented so your 10 bit D-Log and HLG modes are your HDR mode. It’s a different but more flexible implementation of HDR. D-Log if you are going to color grade/color correct in post and HLG will give you real HDR video straight from camera.

The MA2’s “HDR” video mode leveraged the quad bayer sensor to take 2 different exposures and then combined them with processing. This was easy but it means you are line skipping pixels to get to 4k rather than using the 12MP mode on quad bayer which is better.

The MA2s is a normal bayer sensor so it can’t do the double exposure thing the same way the MA2 could. However, both HLG and D-Log allow recording higher dynamic range the traditional way and can be controlled in post. That’s certainly how I’d prefer it.

I speculated that the MA2s could use the rolling shutter to do the double exposure thing as is seen on other bayer sensor cameras but that feature isn’t available as of yet. Possibly could be added with a future firmware update but absolutely no way to know it that will happen or not.

 

[Severian]

If you've never edited in HLG, you should try it. It's so much better than HDR on the MA2.

 

[Severian]

Here's an example of a clip shot in HLG from a job I did this weekend. It took very little editing to bring out the dynamic range. And, of course, YouTube's processing isn't the greatest.

 

[Squidinc]

Here's an example of a clip shot in HLG from a job I did this weekend. It took very little editing to bring out the dynamic range. And, of course, YouTube's processing isn't the greatest.

Sorry but for me, the “greens” look heavily over saturated. If that’s HLG, then I’m glad to be sticking to my HDR of my MA2.

 

[brett8883]

Sorry but for me, the “greens” look heavily over saturated. If that’s HLG, then I’m glad to be sticking to my HDR of my MA2.

It looks good to me. It’s not my video but I can see it’s spring green at sunset which looks like that. The chloroplast in the young leaves is still developing and have a brighter color. They also aren’t as thick so the yellow light from the sunset makes them kind of glow. It’s actually yellow that is saturated here.

At any rate you can make the color whatever you want.

 

[Severian]

Sorry but for me, the “greens” look heavily over saturated. If that’s HLG, then I’m glad to be sticking to my HDR of my MA2.

The HLG gives you the dynamic range. The saturation is separate. You can make the saturation anything you want in post processing. This may be a bit over saturated, but it's not too far from what it looked like just after spring rain with the setting sun brightly lighting the scene.

 

[tlswift58]

Sorry but for me, the “greens” look heavily over saturated. If that’s HLG, then I’m glad to be sticking to my HDR of my MA2.

Did you miss ALL the shadows? Think about when it was shot!

 

[tlswift58]

The HLG gives you the dynamic range. The saturation is separate. You can make the saturation anything you want in post processing. This may be a bit over saturated, but it's not too far from what it looked like just after spring rain with the setting sun brightly lighting the scene.

Squid is stuck on HDR, so you'll probably never ever change their mind. They like what they like and any improvements won't change that.

I "personally" love the dark shades of green - as I can tell it's done late in day with ALL the shadows - so green will get darker - you know like in real life.

 

[ninja_geezer]

Squid is stuck on HDR, so you'll probably never ever change their mind. They like what they like and any improvements won't change that.

I "personally" love the dark shades of green - as I can tell it's done late in day with ALL the shadows - so green will get darker - you know like in real life.

Looks great to me.at the end of the day its a personal taste.

 

[JustADude]

Looks great to me.at the end of the day its a personal taste.

I agree, and to add to that, what you view it on is going to impact the result as well. HLG uses REC.2020 and not REC.709, and most displays are not able to reproduce the entire REC.2020 gamut or match the brightness levels required to accurately display the content.

 

[EpicFlight]

Here's an example of a clip shot in HLG from a job I did this weekend. It took very little editing to bring out the dynamic range. And, of course, YouTube's processing isn't the greatest.

@Severian, how was the orbit performed? It's very smooth, and Litchi et al currently have a jerky problem with orbits due to Virtual Stick mode.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

It does look a tad on the green side but then again I have been looking at 5 feet of snow for the last 4.5 months so maybe its just snow blindness

 

[Ziggy01]

Sorry but for me, the “greens” look heavily over saturated. If that’s HLG, then I’m glad to be sticking to my HDR of my MA2.

It's not too bad.

The white balance is way off though. The poster is correct though. The HDR (and HDR generally) in the older Mavics was horrible. Looked ok on a smartphone but dreadful on a full sized monitor.

 

[Roamer105]

So I just upgraded from the Air 2 to the Air 2s because of the camera........
To my surprise the Air 2s does not have a HDR video mode - very disappointed - just wanted to point this out for people thinking of upgrading.
I really liked the HDR video mode on the Air 2 even though it was not really adjustable - so definitely disappointed !

The color mode HLG is a high dynamic range 10 bit video profile that can be easily processed into HDR10 or kept as HLG. The latter shows beautifully on an LG OLED in HLG HDR.

 

[EsaT]

Sorry but for me, the “greens” look heavily over saturated. If that’s HLG, then I’m glad to be sticking to my HDR of my MA2.

You just don't live in place with proper seasons.
Actually just opening leaves can look almost neon green in right illumination.