Drones with HDR videocameras

Thezeb · Mar 23, 2017

Hi,
does anybody know if some producer is introducing a drone with cameras that records video with hdr feature ?
I saw some videos made with Panasonic vxf990 and results are stunning.
I know that dji has new 5.2k cinema raw cameras but resolution is not the point for me.

Thank you.

SteveNPhx · Mar 23, 2017

I think that the P5 might have this option available. I was checking out the company that makes the video encoders for DJI and that is their new innovation.. Time will tell..

Thezeb · Mar 23, 2017

ohh.. great ! Thank you !

alokbhargava · Mar 23, 2017

Technology is eating away our reserves. Last year I bough high end HDR TV but later on found that there is very limited hdr content available to view. I know by the time hdr videos will get popular, my TV will be obsolete.

I read now hdr cameras will come into drones in years to come, I'm wondering what all new I will have to buy: new processing SW, new hardware and who knows new monitor.

GMack · Mar 23, 2017

I was looking at the Freefly Alta 8 with a Red 36MP sensor camera that now shoots in 8K. So much for measely 4K. (Camera was $49K and Alta 8 setup maybe another ~$22K. Lens ~$3K or hold out for some $96K Fuji cinema lens. Maybe $75K once done on the cheap side?).

What kind of editing station for that must be a Cray Super Computer. Even the wimpy Inspire 2 shoots 5K on a half-terabyte SSD card. To edit will take at minimum of 1.5 terabyte computer unless you break it down in segments, but you still have to load it and break it apart to do so. I think the DJI 480GB SSD card only hold about 30 minutes of video in 5K too. No wonder there aren't many Inspire 2 SSD cards out there unless the owner has a Cray S.P. at hand.

I can't imagine what size file a 8K 2 hour movie would be without a whole lot of compression.

SteveNPhx · Mar 23, 2017

I still love my DLP 61 inch LED Samsung big screen TV. My friend who has a 4K TV came over and got close to it (6 inches) and asked me if it was 4K because he couldn't see the pixels and the picture looked awesome. I told him I got the TV in 2009 and that's the nature of the display. No screen door effect. I told him I had it calibrated when I first got it and I have cleaned the optics a few times. It's only 1080 but blurays still look amazing on it!! I'm sure there is a difference when you are up close to a screen like that but what I like about the 4K is that I can zoom into it if I need to.

Tron_X · Mar 23, 2017

Thezeb said:
Hi,
does anybody know if some producer is introducing a drone with cameras that records video with hdr feature ?
I saw some videos made with Panasonic vxf990 and results are stunning.
I know that dji has new 5.2k cinema raw cameras but resolution is not the point for me.

Thank you.

HDR video is a delivery format, not an acquisition format. To deliver HDR video you will need to record in 10, 12 or 14 bit depth and then grade the image for output as HDR10 or DolbyVision content. It is recommended that a professional monitor be used during the grading process with at least 1000 nits of brightness and DCI-P3 accuracy. Right now they cost more than the birds capable of acquiring the proper footage.

The Inspire 2 recording in ProRes or Raw would be the most practical way to get the proper files needed for HDR output.

The Panasonic "HDR" camera you have cited only records in 8 bits, so it is more a marketing gimmick then anything practical for professional use. Those modes typically output 8 bit files with lifted shadows, heavy noise reduction and boosted levels of saturation. They're baked-in files that cater toward the consumer who wants to play it back on their 4K TV and think that it's something "special."