DJI X5 Lens Test Olympus 14-42mm
- Thread starter soenkebruhn
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Just an FYI, most of the filters made for our UAV'S are much lighter than standard filters of good quality. Also, most pro filters are stackable.
That said, I'm willing to bet with a CPL, UV, and a ND stacked could make the weight up, especially if you find some Tiffen filters, as they are usually heavy.
Before I bought the balance ring I experimented with filters and small lead weights. The problem is that most of the experiments were thicker, so that moved the center of gravity even farther off. So even if you could find a combination of filters that was equal to the weight of DJI's balance ring, the balance would still not be correct. Second axis balance is even harder to sort out since the gimbal is off-center. I don't think any lens that has moving parts can be perfectly balanced all of the time, but why run the risk of burning out your gimbal motors when such an inexpensive solution is available?
Personally, I think people get too excited about this lens. In theory it sounds like a great idea, but since the zoom doesn't operate smoothly, it's useless as a zoom for video. I bought it for inspection purposes, and it's good for that -- ie fly at 14mm, inspect at 42mm. But for everyone else, I think they'de be happier with a fast prime. The same is true in photography in general.
Partially agree Pixl45, however the convenience of being able to change focus lengths without having to land and change lenses is a time saver, the lens is pretty good, not terrific but I even use it on my Osmo if I have to change scenes often as I usually cannot take the time to swap lenses from take to take.
Hi all, I just wanted to add my 2 cents on the subject of this lens. From a cinematography point of view there are a few things that should seriously be considered before purchasing this zoom.
1. Having a range of f3.5-5.6 YUCK!!! This in my opinion isn't good, especially during golden hour shots and shots in low light. Also no depth of field.
2. The image seems dull compared to the others.
3. Olympus 45mm is sharp and at 1.8 is a fast lens and great for low light.
4. The 25mm and 45mm don't require balancing although a hood does tend to do a perfect job if it seems out. Both lenses are 1.8. They're also pretty cheap.
5. The 25mm and 45mm have an AWESOME DOF. Nice and creamy.
In my opinion i'd rather these two lenses for better shots than the 14-42mm. The 45mm takes amazing pictures. Also if you want to Zoom, just fly closer?? There seems to be a lot of mucking about with the zoom lens which i'd rather avoid. Every piece of footage I've seen with it just seems too "droney" (is that a word)? Hope this helps when deciding.
1. Having a range of f3.5-5.6 YUCK!!! This in my opinion isn't good, especially during golden hour shots and shots in low light. Also no depth of field.
2. The image seems dull compared to the others.
3. Olympus 45mm is sharp and at 1.8 is a fast lens and great for low light.
4. The 25mm and 45mm don't require balancing although a hood does tend to do a perfect job if it seems out. Both lenses are 1.8. They're also pretty cheap.
5. The 25mm and 45mm have an AWESOME DOF. Nice and creamy.
In my opinion i'd rather these two lenses for better shots than the 14-42mm. The 45mm takes amazing pictures. Also if you want to Zoom, just fly closer?? There seems to be a lot of mucking about with the zoom lens which i'd rather avoid. Every piece of footage I've seen with it just seems too "droney" (is that a word)? Hope this helps when deciding.
While there has been a lot written about the 14-42 mm, and lens in general, your post probably says and explains it best.
That washer on the front element will cause distortion due to refraction and you will lose 1/2 to 2/3rds of a stop.
Little late to the Inspire party but just bought a used Inspire 1 w/ X5R waiting on the 14-42mm to come in the mail. I believe that the ability to shoot both wide and tight in same flight will make up for any quality issues with this lens. The alternative of landing the aircraft for lens swap to bag a big wide and then a big zoom is a luxury I won't have in many commercial moments budgeting time shooting with normal on the ground rigs.
Lots of good chatter here. Nice to see some people making really great moving images with this lens in the same thread where others say its "unusable for video," classic.
Questions:
Anyone have a recommendation on best ND filters for this lens? Had to try a few brands of Phantom filters that were horrible before landing on good ones.
Has there be any further evidence of gimbal motor "burn out" being faster with this variable center of gravity. In other words will this lens stress my gimbal and reduce its life.
I don't think I saw it posted here but I do believe this is one of the best test videos posted RE: Inspire 1 lenses. A good side by side of prime 45mm next to zoom. Prime does look sharper, but also X5R Raw over X5 should add some pizaz.
Would love to get this discussion going again for the people who are still flying Inspire 1s!
Lots of good chatter here. Nice to see some people making really great moving images with this lens in the same thread where others say its "unusable for video," classic.
Questions:
Anyone have a recommendation on best ND filters for this lens? Had to try a few brands of Phantom filters that were horrible before landing on good ones.
Has there be any further evidence of gimbal motor "burn out" being faster with this variable center of gravity. In other words will this lens stress my gimbal and reduce its life.
I don't think I saw it posted here but I do believe this is one of the best test videos posted RE: Inspire 1 lenses. A good side by side of prime 45mm next to zoom. Prime does look sharper, but also X5R Raw over X5 should add some pizaz.
Would love to get this discussion going again for the people who are still flying Inspire 1s!
Unfortunately I can't afford the X5R yet, almost had one on eBay but fell short, so I'm still on the X5 however I do have the pancake lens and I agree with you. Yes you can't zoom smoothy with it but that is secondary to having the option to shoot adjust focus length and shoot again while you are at the place with the light you want, going back to land and change lenses will undoubtedly make you loose the moment, one that can only be captured once. That alone is worth a few bits of resolution. I'm still learning video, been a still photographer for a while now but I do love to capture an image that breathes and has a life beyond an instant. I think you'll enjoy the lens. I don't know about the "burn out" but I do believe that the balancing ring is not enough to truly balance the lens and I really haven't given the time to try and balance it perfectly. I'ts very difficult as after a firmware update the lens now behaves at it should and shrinks into it's pancake when the bird is turned off so the lens is not in it's ready position to try and balance it. I don't know how wise it would be to remove it while hot, then turn the bird off and re install it so it's extended for balancing, but hot swapping has been ok when using the 8mm passive lenses so it might be okay. If there is any gimbal burn it is probably due to not being able to get exact balance.
Mixchief is correct, and it's true, it's decent, and useful.. sometimes you need multiple focal lengths without craft recovery. I've used my 14-42 on my X5r extensively on Osmo RAW as well as LB2+A3 system, and the motors are fine.. I wasn't always balanced perfect as I was changing filters and did not use balance rings, and of course the lens changes length to zoom as you know.
It is too bad it does not zoom smoothly.
I did notice significant image quality improvement when I used my Olympus Zuiko 12mm after using the 14-42 but I still have my X5R and will use it for handheld work on boat and also my Flightcam/Floatcam rigs, but I've moved on up to Inspire 2 and X5S. I also have GH5. When using these other cameras I prefer to use the Olympus primes ... the quality is much better - it is more apparent, I think .. the way the light handling and subtle ways details are sharper and better color. But I keep my 14-42 as it is actually a really good way to shoot the in between areas .. like halfway zoomed in, it seems best. So it is a good complement to having the Zuiko 12mm, 17mm, 45mm. I may or may not get the 25mm.
It is too bad it does not zoom smoothly.
I did notice significant image quality improvement when I used my Olympus Zuiko 12mm after using the 14-42 but I still have my X5R and will use it for handheld work on boat and also my Flightcam/Floatcam rigs, but I've moved on up to Inspire 2 and X5S. I also have GH5. When using these other cameras I prefer to use the Olympus primes ... the quality is much better - it is more apparent, I think .. the way the light handling and subtle ways details are sharper and better color. But I keep my 14-42 as it is actually a really good way to shoot the in between areas .. like halfway zoomed in, it seems best. So it is a good complement to having the Zuiko 12mm, 17mm, 45mm. I may or may not get the 25mm.
Have you used the zoom on the osmo? On mine it works smoothly and is very useful, it’s weird, same camera same lens, different platform, huge difference.
Yes I have .. .I even tried it with the Focus Handwheel, but it still had that jerky/lumpy motion (and went out of focus). Interesting you got yours to work smoothly. Maybe some setting in the App that is unbeknownst to us mortals?
Would be really cool to be able to set up synchronized in/out points for zoom/focus.
Would be really cool to be able to set up synchronized in/out points for zoom/focus.
I wouldn't say I "got " it to work, it just did, I do it with the app, and well yes it might not be super precise, as the touch screen control is a bit erratic at times but I was able to get some very smooth shots. I say "was" because I haven't used Osmo in a while.
I always zoom with the trigger/thumbknob control ... next time I'll try it with the app slider.to see if that is different. I haven't been using mine lately either. Most use I got out of it was mounting the thing on a small jib on my Cineslider for some pretty cool dynamic shots of ice ... but winter failed to show this year ...
funny, I used the handle controls sparingly, for some reason I preferred to make all the camera moves myself except maybe for tilt, I didn't even know you could trigger/knob the zoom LOL now I gotta try it
Are you saying you notice better image quality with the 14-42 when its at the mid zoom ranges than when its at its extremes?
I also found that the zoom works smoothly on my osmo X5...really disappointing that it zooms smooth on the osmo and not the inspire but still a useful lens on the bird.
It's not scientific, but "I think so" .... I used it today, after using the 17mm Zuiko, and I wanted a littel tighter fov, so with the 14-42 at around 22-30mm I see the image quality from one clip to the other, and it's not a lot different. It was not also using it for anything but trying to capture fish swimming in water after the sun was shaded ... very subjective. LAter I used it to do some descending tilt up pullback shots (which I botched) and I would have liked them had I flown and tilted better .. I had no problems with the image quality. I think my main way of looking at is is that the primes have a little bit better clarity, less distortion (I think) and most notably the flares and light rolloff seems more "magical". Don't ever tell anyone I am technical ... ; )
