Buy a drone or not?

I've always been really impressed by the DR on my Phantom 4 and on every DJI drone I see.

Did you blow your highlights? I feel like it's really easy to overexpose because it can be really hard to see what you're getting. I see a lot of overexposed drone footage. I always try really hard to squint and make sure I'm still getting detail in the highlights and pull the exposure down to get it.
 
ahalpert said:
I've always been really impressed by the DR on my Phantom 4 and on every DJI drone I see.

Did you blow your highlights? I feel like it's really easy to overexpose because it can be really hard to see what you're getting. I see a lot of overexposed drone footage. I always try really hard to squint and make sure I'm still getting detail in the highlights and pull the exposure down to get it.
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Yeah, I was flying without ND filters in manual mode so there's no way to control aperture (it's fixed 2.8) except for lowering ISO/raising shutter speed. I wanted to keep the shutter at 48 (@24fps) as an experiment to see if I could get "cinematic" footage with the drone. I also shot in auto mode and I wasn't too crazy about the higher shutter speeds (the Gopro also does this as it is fixed aperture, too). I'll have to do a run with ND filters and see what I get.

BTW does anyone know how the Mavic Mini meters? It looks like a spot meter the way it dealt with a tree line where half of the trees were in sun and the other half shade...
 
mcbob said:
They're not that expensive (depending on the model) and are a good bit of kit to have.

On the other hand, most decent models are made in China, and due to political developments it may soon become very difficult to get dependable support (not that it's very easy to begin with... my Mavic Air developed sudden violent left turns, and I cannot get them to respond to my submitted ticket for the life of me).
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Starting to see what you mean. It takes forever to get in touch with them -- calling or online support!
 
I won't buy a DJI because of the poor support, had one once, had a problem, got the run around... Talking to one of our former students who makes a substantial amount of his living with their higher end quad copters, and he says support is the same for him. Think he is still flying Inspire 2 and the best camera offered for that machine.
 
Hey guys,

For filmmaking, what would be the right choice between the Phantom 4 pro v2.0 and the Mavic 2 pro? I've read the IQ on the Phantom is better but shouldn't the Mavic have the upper hand with 10-bit color vs the 8-bit on the Phantom?

Thanks
 
NorBro said:
A higher-resolution with proper processing and a healthy bitrate is much more important for this particular hardware (especially with smaller sensors).

8-bit, 10-bit...it's the last thing you'd see with your own eyes in an IQ.

P.S. Maybe see what Sony's up to too...

https://www.cined.com/sony-launches-new-drone-project-airpeak/
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Thanks. But what about its uses for indie filmmaking where you'd want to grade and take the footage into a specific direction?
 
In theory, 10-bit should be better because it's more of something that's part of a recipe in creating an image, but the quality from those particular drones is already so questionable that it's moot, IMO (and I know they keep improving).

And not all specs are created equally. There is something called "good HD" or "good 10-bit", etc.

Like the new iPhone is 10-bit, but it looks pretty mediocre. Whereas a 2K 10-bit image from a camera made 10 years ago looks robust and just pleasant.

I'm also a realist and not much of a creative/artist anymore and I'd also ask how many drone shots are you planning on using? Just a few seconds here and there for establishing shots or is it like a film documentary on forests?

If it's for a few seconds here and there, will anyone care? Like does it really matter? (If it really does then I'd also consider options which can hold cameras so then you'd have a much better product.)
 
Thanks NorBro. My initial idea was to get a drone (didn't even had to have a camera) that could fly a pocket cinema camera, but I can't seem to find one (at least not at these price points). Any suggestions?
 
Yeah, drones for third-party cameras are still expensive. Maybe there is something out there that I don't know about it, but I don't think so.

There are several options that are made for interchangeable cameras (that the company making the drone sells) that maybe will eventually have other adapter systems or "frames" as they call them.

Something like below with a future attachment. (In its current state, it's only usable with the company's options. DIY isn't safe and never recommended for drones.)

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1395666-REG/yuneec_yunh520us_typhoon_h520_airframe_st16s.html
 
Getting into a copter that's built to handle a proper camera (BMPCC or otherwise) is much more involved than most people think. I'd advise against it if this will be your first aerial platform. I've owned and flown just over a dozen different platforms over the past 7 years of flying professionally - from pre Phantom 1's to custom built heavy lifters. I can tell you that it's a lot to take on if you're not flying full time. Battery education, management, storage, gimbal options and tuning, camera control, copter tweaking, setup and breakdown time, etc. There are of course some distinct advantages as well. But if you're just getting into aerial, the ready to fly route is generally the way to go for now. DJI has it's own issues. But no company, app or platform is perfect. Just comes down to finding the best match to suit your particular needs. Between the 2 birds you mentioned earlier, the Mavic 2 Pro is the better choice for video. The P4pro takes better photos (partially due to the mechanical shutter). But the flight and gimbal performance isn't as good. The gimbal can exhibit micro vibes in higher winds. This is especially noticeable when flying backwards at full throttle in anything more than breeze. You can also get props or landing gear in shots often depending on camera angles. The Mavic2pro is more portable, quieter, handles wind a tad better, and does decent enough 10bit video that can be cut with other cameras (provided exposure and other settings are correct). Giving pretty much full camera control from their app is simpler solution for a 1 man op.
 
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