Show what you filmed - Post Your Video Here
- Thread starter Droider
- Start date
Chadfish
Member
Man Tron, You like to flip at low altitudes! I still have yet to brave a flip, though I did just install a DJI Naza to replace my old Quadrino Zoom. The weather hasn't been good enough to go properly test it out. This is the first time I've had a stable or "attitude" mode. For the last year I've been flying totally manually, which is good for improving your skills. Now I'm glad to have a stable mode for shooting scenes in tighter spaces. Here's a little test i did around my house. I'm flying this XP2 from XPro Heli: http://www.xproheli.com#oid=5_1
Last edited by a moderator:
MombasaFlash
Heli's & Tele's bloke
Found a nice new playground for the first test footage with an S800/WKM/Z15 rig. This sequence is a mixture of two early morning shoots around lake Elmenteita in the Rift Valley of Kenya.
Absolute balance is critical with this Zenmuse camera mount. A few shots in this sequence display an unpleasant jitter in the tilt axis. Those that do not were after a re-balance of the gimbal and subsequently display none of that nasty stuff.
The S800 was not at all happy with the altitude initially (circa 6500ft/2000m) and the heat was a cause for concern. Whatever it was at the root of the problem there were some hairy flying moments as it went ape**** every now and then. But it was a case of making do with some physical mods and dabbling with the gains because I took no spares at all or alternative props etc.
The footage is a mixture of 1080i50 and 720p50 footage using both a standard and a Sanity5 hacked GH2. The Apocaplyse Now Drewnet hack was not reliable so I returned to safe known territory with Sanity5 for 720p50 filming.
Absolute balance is critical with this Zenmuse camera mount. A few shots in this sequence display an unpleasant jitter in the tilt axis. Those that do not were after a re-balance of the gimbal and subsequently display none of that nasty stuff.
The S800 was not at all happy with the altitude initially (circa 6500ft/2000m) and the heat was a cause for concern. Whatever it was at the root of the problem there were some hairy flying moments as it went ape**** every now and then. But it was a case of making do with some physical mods and dabbling with the gains because I took no spares at all or alternative props etc.
The footage is a mixture of 1080i50 and 720p50 footage using both a standard and a Sanity5 hacked GH2. The Apocaplyse Now Drewnet hack was not reliable so I returned to safe known territory with Sanity5 for 720p50 filming.
Last edited by a moderator:
hjls3
Member
WOW!!!! Gorgeous!!!! For what its worth Mr Flash - I fly at 6500 7k ASL all the time with my S800/Z15n. I have it pretty dialed in. However - went to an altitude of about 9000asl yesterday and did some filming. Holy cow - had a few moments of butt pucker myself. Seemed to work it out half decent with higher gains. Agreed on the balance thing. I have done mine twice now and it is dead nuts. However - I am having a bit of trouble with the ZEN horizon (roll axis) being level after powering up. Sometimes it is okay and sometimes it is out of whack and not even close to level. You got any ideas?
Last edited by a moderator:
MombasaFlash
Heli's & Tele's bloke
With barely two weeks before leaving for Kenya the brand new Z15 was powered up and settled at all but a full degree off horizontal. Some frantic email exchanges brought about a creditable response from DJI China and the Zen was replaced. However, the replacement was not much different - except that it leaned the other way. The brief experience gained from messing with the first one allowed me to apply the tricks I had learned to the second. DJI had said that the reason for the off-kilter Roll axis was improperly calibrated motor encoders. Whatever. I bent it into shape by loosening the set screws on the Roll axle and rotating the Roll cradle. The same was applied to the Pan axis which was not facing forward. It was all very much trial and error, with the whole thing getting completely out of whack at one stage when it had been rotated too far, but ultimately it was all adjusted to read 0.0° after initialisation.
What I appreciate about the Zen is the really solid feeling of that critical Roll axis. Many other 'acceptable' gimbal/stabilisation systems have a slightly floating, not quite battened down feeling about the Roll, but the Zen remains solid. Unfortunately, it does have a tendency to drift slightly sometimes. This should not be a big issue with a two man setup - as long as the camera operator stays awake - but it is annoying with a single operator setup.
The other thing that needs attention from DJI is for a proportional option to be added, again, to make the Zen more user friendly for the single operator. Currently the three axes operate in slew only mode and this is hopeless without centering controls - which the single operator doesn't have because they are being used to fly the airframe.
hjls3
Member
Thank you for the info Mombasa. I have been eyeballing that set screw - I am hesitant though because sometimes it is okay and eventually it levels out after flying (takes 4 or 5 minutes though and that is all kinds of annoying when you only fly for 8-9 minutes)
I am crossing my fingers for firmware improvements to help us solo ZEN flyers. I understand that 5.20 has tilt in FPV mode. Could be useful, just not there yet. Like you stated, I would love if I moved my slider to the bottom and the gimble was pointed down and not continuously rotating.
Anyways - thanks again for the info - and again - that is phenomenal footage.
I am crossing my fingers for firmware improvements to help us solo ZEN flyers. I understand that 5.20 has tilt in FPV mode. Could be useful, just not there yet. Like you stated, I would love if I moved my slider to the bottom and the gimble was pointed down and not continuously rotating.
Anyways - thanks again for the info - and again - that is phenomenal footage.
Fiveflat
Banned
New here, haven't really introduced myself in the intro forum but I've been getting ready for this coming wakeboard and wakeskate season. The still is shot in 12mp which is ultra wide FOV and I'm dissappointed in that fisheye look. Since this photo I've changed it to 7mp and medium field of view. Hopefully it'll be less round. The video is 1080p 24fps.
DJI F450 and GoPro Hero3 Black
View attachment 10044
DJI F450 and GoPro Hero3 Black
View attachment 10044
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
helloman1976
Ziptie Relocation Expert
What are you disappointed about? It looks great to me, high quality, no obstructions...do you just not like wide angle? The fish bowl look gets worse the wider you go. Try 1080p@ medium.
RC Flying
A Drone Mind
I think the fisheye effect has its uses. It can be great when flying close to objects or the ground to get a feeling of speed, and also to get large buildings completely in shot without having to be too far away, and getting larger areas of enclosed environments in shot where a flatter lens would be useless.
Fiveflat
Banned
Oh agree and I like the opportunity to use a fisheye. But for the most part, 90% of any still I take I would most likely use a prime.
If you have any tilt down of your gopro the fisheye effect is exaggerated. If you have your gopro looking level ahead you end up with a far less fisheye look. Its the same with all wide angle lenses. Take any wide angle lens and tilt it down and the parallels all warp
kloner
Aerial DP
medium and narrow fov is alot less but in video recording, is the hardest to get the jello out.
fixed mount hero2 in 1080 med, it's a plank so it moves around alot and there aint as much fisheye. the narrow mode works even better
and heres the hero 3 in the same mode
fixed mount hero2 in 1080 med, it's a plank so it moves around alot and there aint as much fisheye. the narrow mode works even better
and heres the hero 3 in the same mode
Last edited by a moderator:
Chadfish
Member
Firstly, your video is only playing at 480p, so I suggest encoding the upload file at at least 5000kbps so it will play in HD like you intended. Secondly, I'm done some testing with the "Medium" setting. I found that when I take Medium fov footage into Final Cut Pro and check the specs on it, it is displaying at 133%! So it's not really 1080p with a medium fov, its Wide 1080p zoomed in to hide the edges. So for me, I now have gone back to shooting wide because when I stabilize the footage, that will zoom it in a bit to hide the curvature at the furthest edges. But if I still want the FOV to be less wide, I can always zoom the image more in the timeline because that's all they are doing anyway when you set it to Medium. So for me I just shoot in Wide all the time now. If one was just going straight from the camera to upload without stabilizing, I'd say go with Medium, but if you are tweaking the footage in post, I say leave it at wide so you have the most to work with.