Welcome Matrice Pilots!
Join our free DJI Matrice community today!
Sign up

What to buy after 15mm, 45mm...

Joined
Jul 14, 2017
Messages
22
Reaction score
3
Age
41
I have a step up ring and all the polar pro filters, and hoping not to get crazy with balancing acts. Just want glass that works well.

I can't find much fault with the DJI 15mm. I bought the 45mm and will put it through its paces this weekend. What I do worry about is how well it will track on a close subject. It seems in the past this lens was better for stills (with the X5?), but I seem to glean with the X5S now it gets along fine for video too.

The 25mm sounds like a nice middle ground but then I see people say its got issues with softness.

I know the 12mm is well loved but I don't know that I'd want both the 12 and 15, one would have to go.

Whats everyone loving for something tighter than stock for video? I will be shooting some water sports in single operator and hoping Spotlight Pro gets me close enough.
 
I have a step up ring and all the polar pro filters, and hoping not to get crazy with balancing acts. Just want glass that works well.

I can't find much fault with the DJI 15mm. I bought the 45mm and will put it through its paces this weekend. What I do worry about is how well it will track on a close subject. It seems in the past this lens was better for stills (with the X5?), but I seem to glean with the X5S now it gets along fine for video too.

The 25mm sounds like a nice middle ground but then I see people say its got issues with softness.

I know the 12mm is well loved but I don't know that I'd want both the 12 and 15, one would have to go.

Whats everyone loving for something tighter than stock for video? I will be shooting some water sports in single operator and hoping Spotlight Pro gets me close enough.
We are real big fans of the 12mm and the 17mm. I agree having the 15mm between them is probably not necessary. The 25mm on a M4/3 sensor is definitely a good look - but you do need to be extra careful to make sure you get a good copy of this lens.
 
I guess I wouldn't mind selling the 15mm if there was a decent market for it. However a 50mm actual would be a nice focal length. Buying 3 copies of the 25mm to find a good one doesn't sound like much fun from an online vendor :-/
 
I guess I wouldn't mind selling the 15mm if there was a decent market for it. However a 50mm actual would be a nice focal length. Buying 3 copies of the 25mm to find a good one doesn't sound like much fun from an online vendor :-/
Here is the problem...there are a lot of them out there because people have been getting them included with their X5, X5R and X5S for a long time now. I'm afraid you might find the market a little soft - but all you can do is try. We have been asked before why we don't stock all the supported lenses to make it easier for people to get everything in a single purchase - and as camera people for 20+ years we know the value of a good camera store or an easy to deal with online vendor. Safest bet is to buy from one of the big ones and make sure they know your concern up front and will exchange lenses with you if you get a bad one.

We generally suggest people start with 17mm and 45mm unless they are doing real estate and things that are close up and need to be wide shots. Then the 12mm makes sense to get first. Otherwise, 17mm (34mm FF equivalent) is enough lens to feel motion much more than the "stereotypical drone shot" and the 45mm is just amazing to have that stable focal length on a copter. If you had 17mm and 45mm you would then probably pick between 12mm and 25mm based on the type of things you photograph or film.
 
Here is the problem...there are a lot of them out there because people have been getting them included with their X5, X5R and X5S for a long time now. I'm afraid you might find the market a little soft - but all you can do is try. We have been asked before why we don't stock all the supported lenses to make it easier for people to get everything in a single purchase - and as camera people for 20+ years we know the value of a good camera store or an easy to deal with online vendor. Safest bet is to buy from one of the big ones and make sure they know your concern up front and will exchange lenses with you if you get a bad one.

We generally suggest people start with 17mm and 45mm unless they are doing real estate and things that are close up and need to be wide shots. Then the 12mm makes sense to get first. Otherwise, 17mm (34mm FF equivalent) is enough lens to feel motion much more than the "stereotypical drone shot" and the 45mm is just amazing to have that stable focal length on a copter. If you had 17mm and 45mm you would then probably pick between 12mm and 25mm based on the type of things you photograph or film.

I did a quick test with the 45mm and it does look very nice...

I can buy a used 25mm for $100 off a new one, but I'm wondering if it was returned for the soft issue.

12mm (or even wider) is fun not only to "fit it in" but to be able to get closer and create more dramatic shots. So I have no doubt I'd enjoy that lens, just a hefty price to go with. That Laowa 7.5 might be even more fun, I just want to see more reviews with it first since its not officially supported. 17mm would be great but really not much difference from the 15mm. Is the 17mm a noticeably better lens than the 15mm? That would be a reason for me to sell the 15 and buy the 17 and 12mm. Having both 15 and 17 doesn't seem to make sense.
 
If you're thinking about the 12 and or 17 but don't want to keep both of those and the 15 I'd get what you're interested in and do some testing before deciding which to keep.

As for the 25mm, remember that most people using all of these lenses (apart from the DJI branded 15mm) are using them on ground-based cameras. The softness issue (usually on the left side of the frame) as far as I know only affects I2 footage, which I'm guessing comes from the forces it has to deal with in flight, so a non-I2 user selling it probably isn't selling it for that reason and I doubt it's more likely to have the issue than a new one.

However, buying used usually means no returns, so I'd talk to them first and see if you can return it if necessary.

We haven't flown out 25mm too much yet, but I just filmed a whole short with it on the ground (using the I2) and so far we don't appear to have the softness issue. Most I've heard from don't, but a significant number do.
 
If you're thinking about the 12 and or 17 but don't want to keep both of those and the 15 I'd get what you're interested in and do some testing before deciding which to keep.

As for the 25mm, remember that most people using all of these lenses (apart from the DJI branded 15mm) are using them on ground-based cameras. The softness issue (usually on the left side of the frame) as far as I know only affects I2 footage, which I'm guessing comes from the forces it has to deal with in flight, so a non-I2 user selling it probably isn't selling it for that reason and I doubt it's more likely to have the issue than a new one.

However, buying used usually means no returns, so I'd talk to them first and see if you can return it if necessary.

We haven't flown out 25mm too much yet, but I just filmed a whole short with it on the ground (using the I2) and so far we don't appear to have the softness issue. Most I've heard from don't, but a significant number do.

I bought it cause they told me I could always return if I didn't like it. We'll see if it's worth $299 used.
 
I'm shooting almost only with 25mm on I1raw and can say that it is very good lens. Once I've got a blurry left side in a few shots from a particular shooting day but I was unable to replicate the problem. And so far it didn't happened again. I've made a test on every single aperture slow focusing from close to infinity and couldn't see the blur again.
Anyway this lens is very good for shooting at low light - sunrises, blue hours and even over the night. Zoom leneses don't have that ability because they have small aperture, but in daylight a zoom lens does its job.
 
We are real big fans of the 12mm and the 17mm. I agree having the 15mm between them is probably not necessary. The 25mm on a M4/3 sensor is definitely a good look - but you do need to be extra careful to make sure you get a good copy of this lens.

It's interesting that you mention to be careful to get a good copy of this lens. So far I have received two from a reputable (think large river) online vendor both of which have what appear to be air bubbles in the glass!

I am waiting for a third one to be delivered tomorrow, (from a different vendor as the original vendor has pulled their remaining stock pending an internal investigation) hopefully I will eventually find a keeper!
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
2,727
Messages
25,387
Members
5,600
Latest member
RomanChrz