Digital zoom coming?

Cale262 · Mar 17, 2016

A new FW update just came out for my X3 OSMO which now includes digital zoom when recording in 720, 1080 & 2.7. To zoom on the OSMO you just simply pinch the screen on you device and voila. I know this was a hinted rumour for the P4 before release so I wonder how long it will be before we see this feature added to the P4 or maybe inspire gets this first...or both.

John Locke · Mar 17, 2016

A month ago I got word this is in test with DJI drones. Won't be long I think.

Mbundy · Mar 17, 2016

Same feature (digital zoom) was also released in FW 1.7.0.90 for the Inspire today.

Davphys · Mar 17, 2016

Digital zoom is a complete POS.

PrecisionAeroworks · Mar 17, 2016

Not everybody's use case is shooting production 4K video or hi-resolution photography.

Digital zoom can be very useful in a live search and rescue application or a live inspection/reconnaissance application.

Personally, I would prefer the ability to zoom and control just the live view while leaving the recording alone. (Maybe a 3rd party app for that?)

DU162 · Mar 17, 2016

Cale262 can you tell me what firmware you updated to on the osmo?

Kenneth Marsola · Mar 17, 2016

Davphys said:
Digital zoom is a complete POS.

I agree, I have used a digital zoom, on both cell phones, and cheap camcorders, and the results are poor.

John Locke · Mar 17, 2016

Davphys said:
Digital zoom is a complete POS.

So you've already seen this on Osmo and Inspire operating?

Kenneth Marsola · Mar 17, 2016

So you've already seen this on Osmo and Inspire operating?

No, I did not say I did, but my experience with any digital zoom that I have used or tried, was disappointing.

Darrell1 · Mar 17, 2016

Digital zoom is NOT crap. It was in the days of shooting SD, but if you are shooting in 4k, and delivering a final product in 1080, it is awesome.

Cale262 · Mar 17, 2016

Even if the quality is low I think it has great potential for other uses as mentioned above.

DU162 said:
Cale262 can you tell me what firmware you updated to on the osmo?

OSMO FW 1.5.2.0
Major Updates

1. Consumption reduced, increasing Osmo battery life to 90 minutes for a total recording time of 70 minutes (80 minutes with Wi-Fi off).
2. Fan turns off automatically when recording video. To keep fan off during video recording, tap Mute Fan
in the Audio Control menu. When activated, the fan will only restart to prevent critical overheating.
3. Video downlink optimized for enhanced live streaming.
4. Added Digital Zoom Control when recording video at 720p, 1080p and 2.7K. Put two fingers on the screen and pinch to zoom out, open your fingers to zoom in, or switch on Digital Zoom Control for fine control.
5. Control of Osmo tilt and pan axis simultaneously added by setting the joystick control direction to Free.
6. Added Portrait option to optimize portrait photography.
7. Optimized D-Log and D-Cinelike colors.
8. Downloading of videos and photos to mobile devices now three times faster.
9. Continuous photo capture by holding down shutter button added.
10. Added a key combination to turn on/off Osmo Wi-Fi. Pull down the power switch while simultaneously pressing and holding the trigger then release the trigger. Wi-Fi is off when the system status LED blinks twice. Repeat to turn on Wi-Fi. The Osmo will operate for longer when taking timelapse photos without Wi-Fi.
11. Note appears in DJI GO when trying to connect to an Osmo that is already connected to another mobile device.
12. DJI GO now displays the current photo instead of a live preview when shooting timelapses.
13. Audio control optimized to avoid audio distortion when recording in noisy environments.
14. Audio data loss when using some Micro SD cards under class-10 or UHS-1 fixed.
15. Double capture of the same shot when shooting panorama fixed.
16. Gimbal drifting reduced.
17. Joystick control optimized.
18. Horizontal calibration data saves automatically after powering off.
19. Single video recordings in high temperatures are capped at 30 minutes to ensure video quality.

DU162 · Mar 17, 2016

Thanks a lot

tcope · Mar 17, 2016

Options are good... so I don't see that the ability to have digital zoom could be anything but good. However, the same can be obtained after the fact with editing. As mentioned above, I can certainly see uses for it in the field.

Cale262 · Mar 17, 2016

I think it would be a great option for finding things that may show up on the final product but are hard to see on which ever device you are using to fly with...For example, I was flying in some hills in the Tucson area and was looking for sheep, they are very hard to see on the iPad mini4 I was using without getting close enough that I may spook them. Using zoom I may have been able to zoom in on suspected areas and find the sheep, Once found I could zoom out again and start recording @4k, that footage would show up better in post especially when viewing on a large monitor or television.

storrowdrive · Mar 17, 2016

Cale262 said:
A new FW update just came out for my X3 OSMO which now includes digital zoom when recording in 720, 1080 & 2.7. To zoom on the OSMO you just simply pinch the screen on you device and voila. I know this was a hinted rumour for the P4 before release so I wonder how long it will be before we see this feature added to the P4 or maybe inspire gets this first...or both.

You can already do this on the P4 by using your fingers to pinch, you just cant do it in 4k mode.

Cale262 · Mar 17, 2016

storrowdrive said:
You can already do this on the P4 by using your fingers to pinch, you just cant do it in 4k mode.

I didn't know that, several reports I've seen where people had said they were disappointed that this wasn't an option...maybe this wasn't included in the initial (TOMATO) FW release...???

Thanks for confirming this.

John Locke · Mar 17, 2016

Kenneth Marsola said:
So you've already seen this on Osmo and Inspire operating?

No, I did not say I did, but my experience with any digital zoom that I have used or tried, was disappointing.

Oh OK, you are are assuming digital zoom will be "a complete POS". You know what they say about those that *** U ME

John Locke · Mar 17, 2016

storrowdrive said:
You can already do this on the P4 by using your fingers to pinch, you just cant do it in 4k mode.

I'll be testing this today. Awesome news. I'm curious why this wasn't mentioned in the manual. Did I miss that?

Cale262 · Mar 17, 2016

John Locke said:
I'll be testing this today. Awesome news. I'm curious why this wasn't mentioned in the manual. Did I miss that?

I missed it and I was looking for it... I'm quite positive every review I've watched said it wasn't included ...

Even on DJI's forum...

DJI Forum|Why No Camera Zoom? It Would Have Been Amazing!

Stewkur · Mar 17, 2016

Quick question. Is the digital zoom done on the camera essentially the same that you could do in post-production by cropping and zooming in? No benefit picture quality wise by using the camera's zoom feature over doing it in post?