skivvie
Member
After doing a couple of shoots this week with my S800 and Z15 setup for solo operation... here's a couple of things I noticed that I think either should be added or fixed:
1: Pan stop
The end of a pan seems to have a jarring stop, even with a good bit of expo on my rudder stick. Do I just need to add more expo/be better on the stick or is anyone else experiencing the same? Would be nice if the pan was eased in to the stopping point.. maybe a "gain" setting for this. I see the complexities of doing this... just a thought. There is already some compensation happening on the Z15 pan while yawing the S800... I just can't figure out if it's too much or not enough.
2: Tilt Control
For single person operation, we need the option for the tilt control to be a direct correlation instead of velocity. By this I mean if my slider is all the way down, the tilt should be all the way down. Slider up, tilt all the way up instead of the slider position corresponding to tilt velocity. I operated my AV130 with the WKM like this and it is exceedingly easier to control than having to recenter the slider when you want to stop the tilt while also maneuvering the heli. This would mean you'd need limits to the tilt as there are in the standard WKM gimbal control. Basically, it needs a mode to operate exactly like the WKM gimbal control does so that you can set tilt speed and limits and control position directly in correlation to Tx knob/slider position.
3: Start up calibration
I had multiple instances where the roll was off of horizontal after boot up. I never did figure out if this was because of the S800 not being on perfectly level ground or not since I was shooting in rocky sloped terrain. Can someone explain exactly how the Z15 gets it's roll level calibration? Does it get it from the WKM position or what? If I power up with the S800 on a slope, does the Z15 horizon match that angle? (I don't have it with me or I'd test this). If so I'll just place a bubble level on the plates and be done with it.
4: Roll Drift
Sidney already mentioned this is being fixed, but I too noticed after big yaws the roll went off level.
5: Video Rec start/stop
REALLY need this. The StratoSnapper I had on my other heli did this perfectly with the NEX5n. I could use one 2-pos Tx switch as a camera mode toggle to change my shutter trigger switch between video/stills and either start/stop recording or snap a picture depending on the position of the mode switch. Instead of dealing with huge clips upon import, I'd be able to start and stop a shot when I wanted to between repositioning the heli and this was a HUGE help in editing and ingesting footage. So... it's definitely possible with the NEX5n and from what I understand would only require some IR codes in the firmware for the IMU correct? The Stratosnapper software is available for download if the DJI engineers can't figure this out themselves... PLEASE add this ASAP.
All together, I was VERY impressed. This thing is incredible. No post needed other than quick grading. This alone justifies the cost to me in time saved rendering and stabilizing. Not so much as a jitter on the roll or any axis for that matter that I didn't want to be there. The 16mm pancake is a soft POS but I'll work around it until another lens is supported. I will be making this a 2 man rig this week, and hopefully make it easy to switch back and forth as needed.
Here is a couple of minutes of the B-roll from the shoot... Please don't share this URL as it's still in post. =]
(Also posted at RCG... hate having to do that.)
1: Pan stop
The end of a pan seems to have a jarring stop, even with a good bit of expo on my rudder stick. Do I just need to add more expo/be better on the stick or is anyone else experiencing the same? Would be nice if the pan was eased in to the stopping point.. maybe a "gain" setting for this. I see the complexities of doing this... just a thought. There is already some compensation happening on the Z15 pan while yawing the S800... I just can't figure out if it's too much or not enough.
2: Tilt Control
For single person operation, we need the option for the tilt control to be a direct correlation instead of velocity. By this I mean if my slider is all the way down, the tilt should be all the way down. Slider up, tilt all the way up instead of the slider position corresponding to tilt velocity. I operated my AV130 with the WKM like this and it is exceedingly easier to control than having to recenter the slider when you want to stop the tilt while also maneuvering the heli. This would mean you'd need limits to the tilt as there are in the standard WKM gimbal control. Basically, it needs a mode to operate exactly like the WKM gimbal control does so that you can set tilt speed and limits and control position directly in correlation to Tx knob/slider position.
3: Start up calibration
I had multiple instances where the roll was off of horizontal after boot up. I never did figure out if this was because of the S800 not being on perfectly level ground or not since I was shooting in rocky sloped terrain. Can someone explain exactly how the Z15 gets it's roll level calibration? Does it get it from the WKM position or what? If I power up with the S800 on a slope, does the Z15 horizon match that angle? (I don't have it with me or I'd test this). If so I'll just place a bubble level on the plates and be done with it.
4: Roll Drift
Sidney already mentioned this is being fixed, but I too noticed after big yaws the roll went off level.
5: Video Rec start/stop
REALLY need this. The StratoSnapper I had on my other heli did this perfectly with the NEX5n. I could use one 2-pos Tx switch as a camera mode toggle to change my shutter trigger switch between video/stills and either start/stop recording or snap a picture depending on the position of the mode switch. Instead of dealing with huge clips upon import, I'd be able to start and stop a shot when I wanted to between repositioning the heli and this was a HUGE help in editing and ingesting footage. So... it's definitely possible with the NEX5n and from what I understand would only require some IR codes in the firmware for the IMU correct? The Stratosnapper software is available for download if the DJI engineers can't figure this out themselves... PLEASE add this ASAP.
All together, I was VERY impressed. This thing is incredible. No post needed other than quick grading. This alone justifies the cost to me in time saved rendering and stabilizing. Not so much as a jitter on the roll or any axis for that matter that I didn't want to be there. The 16mm pancake is a soft POS but I'll work around it until another lens is supported. I will be making this a 2 man rig this week, and hopefully make it easy to switch back and forth as needed.
Here is a couple of minutes of the B-roll from the shoot... Please don't share this URL as it's still in post. =]
(Also posted at RCG... hate having to do that.)
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