I'm pleased you're pleased. The other thing that people need to remember, that any compression artifacts that are sometimes seen, are a result of YouTube or Vimeo compression. Maybe I should post a link to a DropBox folder so people can download the original footage.
Hi Howard, nice work! You said "Manual focus set at infinity" in your reply. Is this the same technique as "Hyperfocal distance". I saw some comparisons between X3 and X5 ,which are totally wrong, since they did not focus on X5 properly.
Many thanks. Sure, if you are setting your distance at infinity on a wide angle lens and shooting aerials, you'd be hard pressed to need to change that focus for anything other than really close work. In fact you'd have to be really close to need to change the focus. The definition of hyperfocal is... the distance between a camera lens and the closest object which is in focus when the lens is focused at infinity.
Thank you for your quick replying, Howard. I did realise that editing RAW footage is probably an issue for me since I am using only one HDD raid 4 system. I do not know whether or not the higher bitrate will make the video details better. What do you think?
As I understand, the higher bitrate is only available when shooting RAW, not when shooting Mov or Mp4! Which seems odd, but that is what I have gleaned from Heliguy in the UK, two other cameramen and an admin on the DJI forum. As for the higher bitrate giving better detail, well in theory yes, but in practice this only become evident during quick moving shots. If the image is not moving then the data that needs to be transferred within the frame is minimal, however the faster that frame changes then the faster speed is needed to move the data around. I hope I've explained that well enough!
I am wary of this because some lenses can focus beyond infinity. In other words, you can manually focus it for "as far away as possible", point it at an object a mile away, and it will be out of focus.
Sure, but a lens that is calibrated properly shouldn't portray the issues you are talking about. The same with the X5, calibrate the lens and it should be OK. For this vid I was using the DJI stock lens, 15mm, or if you prefer the rebranded Panasonc/Zeiss! I also received the Olympus 12mm today, so I'm eager to try that out ASAP.
Hi Michael, sure. I bought the Inspire Pro from Heliguy and the Olympus Zuiko from DWI (Digital World International) off Ebay. Which was an amazing price £405 brand new! Although I was a little miffed as it came without a lens pouch and a lens hood!
Thanks for posting this, Howard. It makes a change seeing shots that were taken by choosing a time when light is at it's most beautiful. I loved the crane style shot close up behind the tree with the sun peaking through.
With regards to the quality, I examined some footage that was posted here a few days back that was raw and untouched straight from the X5. There are improvements in some areas, but I was still seeing mushiness issues with complex foliage. It is better than the X3, no doubt. But I'm not sure that it is £1500 better. And that's my quandary. Yes, it is a better camera and better in some areas, but I am torn as to whether that improvement is really congruent with the upgrade price. I am not sure that it is.
As one of my DP friends always says, picture quality, when all is said and done, is down to the light and the composition. If we imagine that your video was taken with an X3, but nobody knew what camera or multi-rotor was used, it would still be a very nice video!
Just an aside regarding comments of overly sharp X3 footage. Remember that the electronic detail levels on the X3 can be dialled right down to nothing. In fact I would recommend doing this because it will give the compression system a much better chance. You can add in finely controlled sharpening in post if required.
It looks like you may have used some post sharpening in this video, or put the in camera settings up a notch or two over some of the other test footage I have seen from the X5?
Hi Mark, thank you. Sure, it was never meant to be anything other than a quick test flight and gathering some material for a more detailed film in the near future. But I take on board your suggestion. Thanks.
