I think 2016 is going to have some groundbreaking stuff come out that is why dji is only having 1 p4 they are waiting to see what other companies bring to the table
P4 why no zoom?
- Thread starter Plungerboy
- Start date
$1800 isn't bad it looks pretty nice to!!!Mirage Drone with 5 Times Optical Zoom Camera
Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
Since we're shooting in 4k, and we're not trying to peek in windows, we are able to zoom pretty well in post production. Digital zoom on a hovering platform is not going to produce cinematic results, period (at least at this product level). 
has more than p4 has going to get interesting that's why I'm holding off to buy until winter time plus luv my p3s
Zoom capabilities offer great utility in inspection applications, such as radio towers, windmills, bridges, tall buildings, fire fighting, training videos, etc. Please don't say it's not a worthy feature, because it does have significant benefits in certain applications. I'm sure it will come with time. I got word that DJI is currently beta testing digital zoom that works when recording in less than 4K. A digital zoom that crops the 4K sensor in software (the Go app) is an easy way to see and capture HD video (same quality as 1080 or 720), and it seems like this could be done without a hardware change. I expect this to be released this year for P4, P3P and Inspire-X3 since they all use the same sensor. I would expect X5 will get it's own version of digital zoom too, and it may be the first to support it. On the other hand, maybe it will only be supported with P4, since the zoom feature could require collision avoidance P mode to enable zoom.
Exciting times are among us. Time will tell.
Exciting times are among us. Time will tell.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
The difficulty with optical zoom is stability. Even the Inspire 1 Pro with the X5 camera is barely stable enough to use a 45mm (90mm equivalent) lens effectively.
DJI could simply just put a 1080p mask in DJI go app. Leave the FPV as is to help with spacial awareness for piloting and draw a central rectangle overlay box in the GO app. This will let the user film in 4K and help the user frame the 1080p shot. If the P3/P4 cannot handle the onboard editing, the user can simply post edit the 4k vid and re-frame for 1080p knowing that the subject will always be in frame or shot they wanted.
Anyone who really thinks they need a zoom with the gimbals now should take their videos and enlarge them 200%-500% in a video program, you'll really notice shaking
I want to record my sons football games and to get great footage I feel I got closer then I should. So if I had a zoom I'd feel better
That wouldn't provide any added utility visually for flying if I'm understanding your suggestion correctly. You're saying the image wouldn't increase in size for inspection purposes, and not able to see things closer during the flight, correct? That's no different than post editing, which is of no use during the flight when you need to see up close what your inspecting, in order to know where to allocate the inspection time.
Implementing a 2 to 3X zoom would be acceptable. I think anything over 4 might be too shaky, unless the camera software included electronic image stabilization, like provided on camcorders. That might be adequate out to 5X zoom in that case. We'll have to wait and see.
I don't think so. Reading this it says the Karma will be compatible with their cameras, meaning it won't come with an integrated camera. It's another Solo.
And what's more important is this:
Shares of GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) have plunged 80% over the past 12 months due to slowing sales and poorly priced product launches. Last quarter, the action camera maker's sales fell 31% annually to $436.6 million, while its bottom line slipped to a net loss of $34.5 million -- a disappointing reversal following several straight quarters of profitability.
Sales for the full year rose just 16%, down from 41% growth in 2014 and 87% growth in 2013. Looking ahead, analysts expect GoPro's 2016 sales to slide 15%.
This could be caused by GoPro's inability to remove fisheye from their lens like DJI and Yuneec has done with their 4K cameras.
GoPro cameras have digital "zoom" settings (narrow, medium, wide). I think that is what he meant. And, the GoPro super wide angle lens is a design choice, and nothing to do with their ability to manufacture a flat perspective lens. It's a good choice for an action cam, less good for an aerial camera, IMO. I have a Hero4 that has had the stock fisheye lens replaced with a flat lens. It's great for aerial.
Yeah, I'm thinking of changing the lens in my hero 4. So why can't go pro make a camera without fisheye in full 4K mode.
They could, they just don't. As you pointed out upthread, the action cam market isn't even as big as they and their investors thought. The subset of those using action cams on an aerial platform is even smaller.
The aftermarket options are really pretty good, and vary from ordering a lens from China and self installing with the help of YouTube to a very expensive rage cams type mod that you can buy ready to go.
It may be worth noting that the tolerances for any kind of "follow me" tracking algorithm and flight control mode are much less demanding when you have a nearly 180 degree FOV. Assuming the Karma's primary mission will be to follow crazy people around and film them doing dangerous things at high rates of speed, wide angle could be considered a plus.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
Did you write that? Or is that from the article? Why would they not be able to remove fisheye? There are lots of aftermarket rectilinear lenses for the GoPro. They could easily sell a GoPro with a rectilinear lens. Or you can remove the lens effect in any software tool.
That's not zooming. That is different types of pixel binning which is a different process.
Can you explain more about pixel binning??
It might be what DJI / P4 will be doing with 120fps @ 1080p. I read somewhere that the 120fps will be a narrow 47 degree view instead of the 94 degrees.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
Pretty sure DJI will be using the same method as the GoPro.
As for pixel binning, as I understand it, it is an analog process of combining adjacent photodiodes on the image sensor itself.
Digital zoom is taking the image provided by the sensor in it's digital form, cropping it and expanding what's left to fill the screen.
