Zoom camera vs 4/3ds video crop.

[canadian drone videos]

Theoretically cropping 5.1k video 70% from a 4/3rds sensor should yield better results then 7x zoom from a 1/2 sensor. However I’ve yet to see this comparison in action. It would definitely yield much smoother results, zooming 7x from a drone that’s flying around and not just hovering and getting smooth cinematic video is pretty hard, if not impossible.

And I don’t see the point in recording in D-log only to use a free Lut to bring it back again. I have never once used D-log, not a real need for it in hobby circles with today’s camera technology.

I’ve yet to fly my M3, but owning the x5s I already know what that sensor can do. I’ve cropped x5s video that had a crisp focus before up to 70% in 4K, and I’m pretty sure it was better then what we’re going to get with a cheap 1/2 inch sensor not made for shooting anything.

 

[Saladshooter]

Theoretically cropping 5.1k video 70% from a 4/3rds sensor should yield better results then 7x zoom from a 1/2 sensor. However I’ve yet to see this comparison in action. It would definitely yield much smoother results, zooming 7x from a drone that’s flying around and not just hovering and getting smooth cinematic video is pretty hard, if not impossible.

I would have preferred that DJI left the zoom camera off.... it is mostly just a novelty in its current state. In the space that the dual camera takes up on the Mavic 3 we could have been given an even larger sensor than the 4/3. There is a distinct possibility that we could see a bigger camera on the M3 airframe in the future.

And I don’t see the point in recording in D-log only to use a free Lut to bring it back again. I have never once used D-log, not a real need for it in hobby circles with today’s camera technology.

The advantage of D-log is the increased dynamic range and the ability to work the footage to its fullest potential. LUTs are just a shortcut and really shouldn't be used in blanket fashion to color correct, especially drone footage, which often contains lots of varied lighting.

D-log is 10 bit, shooting in normal profile is 8 bit. A billion different color variations versus just 16 million for 8 bit. This can mean the difference between beautifully rendered skies and blotchy digitalized ones. When making videos for large screens there is too much visible information being thrown away.

 

[canadian drone videos]

I would have preferred that DJI left the zoom camera off.... it is mostly just a novelty in its current state. In the space that the dual camera takes up on the Mavic 3 we could have been given an even larger sensor than the 4/3. There is a distinct possibility that we could see a bigger camera on the M3 airframe in the future.


The advantage of D-log is the increased dynamic range and the ability to work the footage to its fullest potential. LUTs are just a shortcut and really shouldn't be used in blanket fashion to color correct, especially drone footage, which often contains lots of varied lighting.

D-log is 10 bit, shooting in normal profile is 8 bit. A billion different color variations versus just 16 million for 8 bit. This can mean the difference between beautifully rendered skies and blotchy digitalized ones. When making videos for large screens there is too much visible information being thrown away.

The Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HCNS), is arguably going to produce better raw colour then most of us will end up with in post. It also gives excellent dynamic range. I mean sure you can record the 10 bit D but are we fooling ourselves thinking we can do a better job then the computer when it comes to replicating the colours the sensor is actually recording? To colour grade is to alter the data that the sensor recorded, and make it look the way we think it should look. Using D-Log is like buying a Ferrari then tweaking its computer believing we can make it run even better. That’s just my opinion, give me a polarized filter a manual camera and there won’t be much need for any post production.

I’d rather have RAW video then D-Log. That’s only available in the X7 I believe. HCNS is pretty close though.

Had they given us a bigger sensor I don’t think the drone wouldn’t be $3k. You would need a 2TB SSD minimum, and a very expensive computer to edit the video. I bet most people who just bought this drone got a real shock when they tried to edit 5.1k from a 4/3rds sensor at 50 FPS. Going to need a fairly serious computer to properly edit video that big. That’s the reason I didn’t go for the Cine, can’t afford the laptop big enough to edit 422HQ from a sensor that large.

 

[Saladshooter]

The Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HCNS), is arguably going to produce better raw colour then most of us will end up with in post. It also gives excellent dynamic range. I mean sure you can record the 10 bit D but are we fooling ourselves thinking we can do a better job then the computer when it comes to replicating the colours the sensor is actually recording?

The M3 has a Hasselblad camera which should be recording colors accurately to begin with. If the camera is doing its job then all I have to do is set the blacks/brightness, contrast and tweak the saturation correctly to make the D-log look good. D-log is essential because even Hasselblad can't fill in colors that don't exist. Smooth gradations come from the availability of the colors that make these transitions. The 8 bit normal color can't compete with the 10 bit D-log because it literally has a billion less colors to work with.

If you are happy with the footage that the normal color profile provides then go ahead and use it..... you identified it correctly in your first post as a perfectly good solution for the hobbyist.

 

[canadian drone videos]

The M3 has a Hasselblad camera which should be recording colors accurately to begin with. If the camera is doing its job then all I have to do is set the blacks/brightness, contrast and tweak the saturation correctly to make the D-log look good. D-log is essential because even Hasselblad can't fill in colors that don't exist. Smooth gradations come from the availability of the colors that make these transitions. The 8 bit normal color can't compete with the 10 bit D-log because it literally has a billion less colors to work with.

If you are happy with the footage that the normal color profile provides then go ahead and use it..... you identified it correctly in your first post as a perfectly good solution for the hobbyist.

I mean if your bored and looking for something to do and you want to experiment and play around maybe D-Log can be fun. But based on what I’ve seen we tend to go overboard with saturation and wreck the video, or we wreck it some other way.

You could put your D-Log and regular video side by side, and if you do a good job in post I won’t notice any difference when I see it in 720p on YouTube. However, if you go overboard with your colours in D we will see the difference. It’s that old saying, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I mean we can’t even see the difference between 265 and 422HQ on YouTube know what I mean.

 

[GtoJon]

7x photo vs 5.1k crop .... definitely 7x is better. This is from the same position
Also a 4k 7x crop vs 5.1k crop video.

Cheers, Jon

 

[GadgetGuy]

7x photo vs 5.1k crop .... definitely 7x is better. This is from the same position
Also a 4k 7x crop vs 5.1k crop video.

Cheers, Jon

Indeed. There is also a major difference in perspective on the 7x telephoto lens, from the same distance, where it compresses the perspective, making the background appear closer, just it does in the blurry 7x crop from that distance with the 4/3 camera, which won't occur if you just fly the drone 7x closer and shoot the same subject, filling the frame with it, with the 4/3 sensor. The 7x offers great detail from much farther away, and compresses the perspective for a more impactful landscape image.

The tradeoff is that the 7x severely restricts the captured field of view, and suffers at night with its f/4.4 widest aperture, while the 4/3 sensor at f/2.8 captures 7x more area from the same location, allowing multiple 700% crops within the full field of view, with only a marginal difference in resolution, and a much wider dynamic range.

 

[GtoJon]

Indeed. There is also a major difference in perspective on the 7x telephoto lens, from the same distance, where it compresses the perspective, making the background appear closer, just it does in the blurry 7x crop from that distance with the 4/3 camera, which won't occur if you just fly the drone 7x closer and shoot the same subject, filling the frame with it, with the 4/3 sensor. The 7x offers great detail from much farther away, and compresses the perspevtive for a more impactful landscape image.

The tradeoff is that the 7x severely restricts the captured field of view, and suffers at night with its f/4.4 widest aperture, while the 4/3 sensor at f/2.8 captures 7x more area from the same location, allowing multiple 700% crops within the full field of view, with only a marginal difference in resolution, and a much wider dynamic range.

Yes, I love the long focal perspective especially for high res panos! Be very nice to have manual control!

Cheers, Jon

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes, I love the long focal perspective especially for high res panos! Be very nice to have manual control!

Cheers, Jon

I've been experimenting with 7x stitched panos. My first one from stills extracted from a 180° single layer 4K video pan worked out great as a proof of concept, but loses detail, as the still extracts are only 2MB each, instead of 12M from individual photos. Would be awesome, if DJI would add a high resolution automated pano, using the 7x telephoto! Maybe Litchi could do it after the SDK is released. In the meantime, we'll just shot them manually!

 

[GtoJon]

I've been experimenting with 7x stitched panos. My first one from stills extracted from a 180° single layer 4K video pan worked out great as a proof of concept, but loses detail, as the still extracts are only 2MB each, instead of 12M from individual photos. Would be awesome, if DJI would add a high resolution automated pano, using the 7x telephoto! Maybe Litchi could do it after the SDK is released. In the meantime, we'll just shot them manually!

Lot more detail if you shoot the jpgs manually

Cheers, Jon

 

[GadgetGuy]

Lot more detail if you shoot the jpgs manually

Cheers, Jon

Kind of windy today, but going to try anyway (20mph with 40mph gusts at ground level!)!

 

[GtoJon]

Kind of windy today, but going to try anyway (20mph with 40mph gusts at ground level!)!

That much wind would not be good, even with the 4/3 sensor

Cheers, Jon

 

[GadgetGuy]

That much wind would not be good, even with the 4/3 sensor

Cheers, Jon

It will truly be a test of the stability of the M3!

 

[GadgetGuy]

That much wind would not be good, even with the 4/3 sensor

Cheers, Jon

Actually worked out great! The M3 was quite stable in the wind, and the shutter speed of the 7x stills was fast enough to overcome any movement, The manually stitched 360° pano doesn't require that the drone be in exactly the same spot for all shots throughout, as the landscape subjects are very far away, such that any parallax issues or distortion issues are not noticeable. Besides, the yaw is around the center of the drone in the automated pano, and not the nodal point of the lens, and those turn out just fine, too!

 

[GtoJon]

Actually worked out great! The M3 was quite stable in the wind, and the shutter speed of the 7x stills was fast enough to overcome any movement, The manually stitched 360° pano doesn't require that the drone be in exactly the same spot for all shots throughout, as the landscape subjects are very far away, such that any parallax issues or distortion issues are not noticeable. Besides, the yaw is around the center of the drone in the automated pano, and not the nodal point of the lens, and those turn out just fine, too!

Not true, unless you show a sample
Eagles, Swans & Geese :

Cheers, Jon

 

[GadgetGuy]

Not true, unless you show a sample
Eagles, Swans & Geese :

Cheers, Jon

Well, I was impressed by my results, which was all I was after!
Nice use of the 7x on the eagles!
Setting focus manually at 28x and then zooming back out to 7x gives the best results.
With the eagles behind the branches, it is hard to get autofocus to work well on them, as it keeps hunting back and forth, or settles on the closer branches.

 

[GtoJon]

Well, I was impressed by my results, which was all I was after!
Nice use of the 7x on the eagles!
Setting focus manually at 28x and then zooming back out to 7x gives the best results.
With the eagles behind the branches, it is hard to get autofocus to work well on them, as it keeps hunting back and forth, or settles on the closer branches.

There is a lot of depth of field there. Where is your results? Going back out in about 30-45 minutes & do it again, with the sun at my back 2f & no wind
Here is the 9 minute long version:

Cheers, Jon

 

[canadian drone videos]

7x photo vs 5.1k crop .... definitely 7x is better. This is from the same position
Also a 4k 7x crop vs 5.1k crop video.

Cheers, Jon

Both are pretty bad.

 

[Bussty]

7x photo vs 5.1k crop .... definitely 7x is better. This is from the same position
Also a 4k 7x crop vs 5.1k crop video.

Cheers, Jon

Can we talk about this some more? Your 7x photo vs Main Camera shot. Have you not just proved that if you take a grid of images with the 7x that matched the view of a single main camera frame you would absolutely produce a stitched image of way higher resolution than what the main camera could do? Have you tried this? If so would love to see a comparison so single frame from main camera vs grid stitch of 7x camera to match?

This is my last point to prove and if I can I will buy the M3 over the Autel Lite+ as if that tele can be stitched to provide a higher resolution image from say effectively 1x down to 2 or 3 x then wow! As a stills photographer that offers huge potential.

Hopefully you are keen to try and show the result?? Many thanks in advance

 

[GtoJon]

Dumbed down Kuula stitch ... 75 Images &342mp image. With practice it get's better

Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter Minnesota - 02/13/2022....

Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter Minnesota - 02/13/2022. Mavic 3 7x Zoom panorama reduced to 38%

kuula.co

100% Crop ....

Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter Minnesota - 02/13/2022....

Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter Minnesota - 02/13/2022. Mavic 3 7x Zoom panorama 100% crop ... approx 30 images stitched.

kuula.co

Cheers, Jon