Please compare X5R MicroSD H264 recording to X5

DrMrdalj · Jul 10, 2016

Hi to owners of X5R,

In order to solve dilemma which bothers me strongly, I kindly ask you to share here some regular compressed H264 recording from MicroSD card without inserting an SSD, preferably in Manual mode without any style (UHD/4K, aperture 5.6 or 8, ISO 100 or 200, shuter 1/50 to 1/200, Style:None).

I got very confused by Cinema5D comparison of X5R Proxy and X5 recordings, so I started another thread with similar question
Did anyone compare X5 and X5R SD card recordings
but it must be that X5R owners do not monitor X5 forum section

So please, help me undearstand could X5R be used in a same way and with the same quality as X5 for regular compressed recordings when RAW is not of importance? It would be very helpful if you could make and share just few seconds short recording of some park from microSD card without even inserting an SSD (trees, grass, some building) so we could compare X5R compressed recording to regular X5 compressed recording.

Thank you for your help and best regards.

Richard Hurst · Jul 11, 2016

Yes you can shoot regular compressed H264 footage without the SSD drive inserted.

DrMrdalj · Jul 11, 2016

Richard Hurst said:
Yes you can shoot regular compressed H264 footage without the SSD drive inserted.

Hello Richard, thank you for the reply. I know that you can shoot H264 - still I am confused how that recording will look compared to X5. My confusion comes from following YT video, as well as from X5R proxies shared by DP Philip Bloom, whare I can see that X5R proxy is superflat without any details and where I saw some significant compression artifacts, while X5 recording is somehow oversharpened. Please see the video below and please comment about your findings - is there difference between H264 recordings of X5R and X5? Thank you for your time and effort to answer.

ianwood · Jul 13, 2016

I haven't done any side by side comparisons but I have not noticed any difference between X5 and X5R proxies. Note that I've been avoiding D-LOG ever since FW 1.6 when they broke it.

2nd2non · Jul 18, 2016

ianwood said:
I haven't done any side by side comparisons but I have not noticed any difference between X5 and X5R proxies. Note that I've been avoiding D-LOG ever since FW 1.6 when they broke it.

So Ian are using D-Cinema or NONE when shooting H264; and why?

ge0se · Jul 20, 2016

I owned X5 and now I own the X5R. There aren't any differences in H264 compression on these cameras. Only changes are introduced by certain firmware upgrades where they specificslly alter the compression algorhythms once in a while. Even then these updates come out simultaneously or few days apart for both cameras and are identical when it comes to H264 compression. Currently I found that Cinelike LUT profile is by far better than anything else (though it used to be severely broken few versions back). In it's current state it does best job at preserving highlights and packing lots of detail in the shadows, no other profiles provide so much detail while also giving a natural looking starting point for grading a shot.

2nd2non · Jul 20, 2016

Perfect. This is the info I needed

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DrMrdalj · Jul 21, 2016

ge0se said:
I owned X5 and now I own the X5R. There aren't any differences in H264 compression on these cameras. Only changes are introduced by certain firmware upgrades where they specificslly alter the compression algorhythms once in a while. Even then these updates come out simultaneously or few days apart for both cameras and are identical when it comes to H264 compression. Currently I found that Cinelike LUT profile is by far better than anything else (though it used to be severely broken few versions back). In it's current state it does best job at preserving highlights and packing lots of detail in the shadows, no other profiles provide so much detail while also giving a natural looking starting point for grading a shot.

Thank you! Your info is highly appreciated.

You confirmed by your personal experience what I hoped for - that these two cameras share exactly the same strenghts and weaknesses in regard to H264, while "experts" and "testers" who have compiled mentioned "side by side comparisons" lacked suficient attention to details or they lack sufficient experience to spot different firmware levels as there are several different iterations of D-Log (one muddy and other oversharpened)...

Next to that, I thank you for confirming your experiences with Cinelike profile, which I like a lot as well.

Tomás Valenzuela · Aug 18, 2016

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to buy the X5R and had the doubt about the h.264 parameters between X5 and X5R, great to know they are the same.

Nonetheless, DJI wasn't clear about whether we can shoot ONLY H.264 on the X5R, without having RAW files generated. Nor could they confirm clearly if that H.264 files go to the micro-SD card.

Hence, would really appreciate any thoughts on whether:

1) Is it possible to record only H.264 and not RAW at the same time?
2) Is it posible to fly without the SSD card (only the micro-SD) if we're only shooting h.264?

I ask this because we have clients that won't pay for RAW, and I'm wondering if with the X5R I can provide the same H.264 as a X5, and not have the trouble of RAW workflow, when I don't need it, and have it anyway for when I do.

Many thanks
Tomas

DrMrdalj · Aug 18, 2016

Tomás Valenzuela said:
Hi everyone,

I'm planning to buy the X5R and had the doubt about the h.264 parameters between X5 and X5R, great to know they are the same.

Nonetheless, DJI wasn't clear about whether we can shoot ONLY H.264 on the X5R, without having RAW files generated. Nor could they confirm clearly if that H.264 files go to the micro-SD card.

Hence, would really appreciate any thoughts on whether:

1) Is it possible to record only H.264 and not RAW at the same time?
2) Is it posible to fly without the SSD card (only the micro-SD) if we're only shooting h.264?

I ask this because we have clients that won't pay for RAW, and I'm wondering if with the X5R I can provide the same H.264 as a X5, and not have the trouble of RAW workflow, when I don't need it, and have it anyway for when I do.

Many thanks
Tomas

As far as I have learned, and as confirmed by Richard Hurst in post #2 of this thread - it seems that you can record only H264 when you fly without SSD card. Nevertheless, I still do not use X5R so I haven't tested this myself.

Tomás Valenzuela · Aug 19, 2016

DrMrdalj said:
As far as I have learned, and as confirmed by Richard Hurst in post #2 of this thread - it seems that you can record only H264 when you fly without SSD card. Nevertheless, I still do not use X5R so I haven't tested this myself.

Thanks DrMrdalj, this is exactly what I'm trying to figure out. According to a chat with DJI, the SSD needs to be inserted, any other opinions much appreciated, Tomas

damoncooper · Aug 20, 2016

Tomás Valenzuela said:
Thanks DrMrdalj, this is exactly what I'm trying to figure out. According to a chat with DJI, the SSD needs to be inserted, any other opinions much appreciated, Tomas

I have an X5R and can confirm that without the SSD inserted you can record H264

Tomás Valenzuela · Aug 20, 2016

Hi damoncooper, many thanks, that'll do! Tomas

Brendan · Aug 21, 2016

But one trick I learnt the hard way is you can't record to the SSD without a micro SD inserted

Tomás Valenzuela · Aug 22, 2016

Good to know! Thanks!

Jwffvm · Sep 19, 2016

We too shoot without the SSD and it works fine recording to the SD card. Video is in our opinion markedly better than the video we get from the Phantom 4.