DJI Encourage 3 New Lens

So it feels actually bizarre doing a Evaluate of a lens for a DJI Encourage 3 drone. Often drones have mounted cameras, which suggests they’ve mounted lenses. This leads most of my opinions to be a few drone itself or the digicam itself, however by no means about only a lens. This panorama can also be a bit bit bizarre as a result of we all know that DJI’s Zenmuse X9 8K Air is a beast of a digicam, however we solely have a certain quantity of lenses that we will select from, all of that are made by the producer. Now there are a few different third-party lenses which have been made to suit this digicam, however it’s not like we’re purchasing for a brand new lens for our Sony digicam that has numerous third-party choices to select from. We actually solely have a few choices from DJI themselves.

With that stated, this evaluate goes to be based mostly on my expertise utilizing the 75mm lens on my DJi Encourage 3 that will help you decide if this is able to be lens so as to add to your package that will help you obtain completely different photographs you may not have been capable of with DJI’s different obtainable lenses. Additionally, this video is sponsored by Squarespace, however extra from them later.

The First Impressions: 75mm on the DJI Encourage 3

So earlier this yr after I began seeing the leaks for this lens, I began craving having an extended focal size than simply 50mm on my Encourage 3. As soon as it turned obtainable, I picked one up nearly instantly instantly by means of DJI and was shocked at how briskly it shipped and was delivered. I positioned my order on Monday, September ninth – it shipped the identical day and received to my home two days afterward the eleventh.

The rationale I received this lens within the first place was for a video shoot with a neighborhood hospital the place they wished to seize their helicopter taking off and touchdown from the helipad of certainly one of their newer hospitals. Being the next manufacturing shoot, they after all wished the very best digicam I may fly, so my Mavic 3 Professional wasn’t going to chop it. I knew that security was going to be probably the most necessary issues for this shoot. Staying as distant from the helicopter as I may to keep away from any kind of incident was my largest precedence. I additionally thought {that a} tighter focal size would assist deal with the helicopter, the pilot and medics, in addition to the branding of the constructing. This particular hospital was just lately acquired by this firm, and the highest of the constructing wasn’t all that a lot to take a look at as there have been AC models and different business gear.

I feel my favourite factor to do is when I’ve an upcoming shoot, I attempt to justify shopping for gear that will be mandatory for that shoot as if I can’t simply use what I already personal. And I’m positive everyone watching this video is responsible of the identical factor – like hey, if I am going out and if I purchase this lens to do that shoot and I make sufficient cash to pay this lens off after which some, the lens was technically free, proper?

Look, I do know that most individuals are right here for photographs captured from the lens, so I’m going to present that to you proper off the bat after which observe up with some miscellaneous issues that I wish to talk about about utilizing the 75mm on the Encourage 3. Whereas we have a look at these photographs although, why don’t I share with you a few of my ideas?

Efficiency and Picture High quality

It’s no shock that the photographs from this lens are insanely detailed and sharp. That is principally due to the Zenmuse X9 simply being a powerhouse of a digicam. I can’t rave in regards to the picture high quality sufficient, irrespective of which lens I’m utilizing. I might like to shoot with this drone extra if I may recover from the overall bulkiness that comes with it – carrying the gear, organising, the huge file sizes. I’m sadly lazy and would fairly simply convey my Mavic 3 Professional on most jobs, however when the consumer requires higher picture high quality or if I’m out taking pictures by myself time and resolve to interrupt this drone out, I’m so blissful that I did. After I begin enhancing the photographs, it’s critically unmatched and has made me take into consideration ditching my Sony A1 for the Ronin 4D loads of instances as my floor digicam as a result of it makes use of the identical digicam.

To get on subject right here in regards to the lens although, I feel that 75mm is a really area of interest focal size in relation to flying it on a drone. I’ve come to 2 main realizations in my time utilizing such a good focal size. The primary is when getting up-close element photographs, controlling the drone and digicam on the identical time could be troublesome because the tighter focal size will actually exaggerate anytime that you simply mess up on the sticks. Making an attempt to maintain your body regular no matter how secure the Encourage 3 is and the way rugged the gimbal on the Zenmuse X9 is is usually a problem. Coping with wind, slight actions from the digicam, and worrying about how flying the precise drone can result in jumps in your footage that you simply’d favor to not be there. These clips could be smoothed out after the very fact utilizing warp stabilizer as I’ll present you right here in a couple of minutes, however I feel utilizing this lens in coordination with the twin operator setup, so having a devoted digicam operator, might be going to be your finest wager. Having somebody devoted to controlling your body is tremendous useful on increased depth shoots just like the one which I had for the hospital, despite the fact that I dealt with that job by myself.

The place I feel that you simply’ll get away with flying as a solo operator when utilizing this lens is while you’re taking pictures a metropolis skyline or if you happen to’re simply capturing landscapes, as there isn’t a bunch of issues occurring directly. Should you’re as a substitute filming a shifting topic like a ship or a automotive, getting somebody to function the digicam can be very useful.

This brings us proper to the second realization that I had after I was out filming the Philadelphia skyline with the 75mm lens. Whenever you get most of these photographs which might be so distant, they simply really feel like they have been performed with a helicopter or they resemble these blimp photographs of the stadiums earlier than a soccer sport. Like approach again when, earlier than drones have been a factor, helicopters have been used for all aerial images and cinematography, and the lens of selection was often a tighter focal size to seize topics in higher element whereas remaining a protected distance away. Now although, with a small unmanned plane, you are able to do issues and fly in areas a helicopter couldn’t, which I feel makes wider angle focal lengths a cool look from an aerial perspective.

Now look, I don’t assume these distant compressed photographs look dangerous – the truth is, I’m an enormous fan of having the ability to take off exterior of the town in an enormous park however nonetheless get close-up photographs of the massive buildings. And hey, there isn’t a saying that it’s essential be distant when utilizing this lens. It was actually enjoyable getting up shut and private capturing particulars of buildings up shut with such a high-resolution digicam.

Low-Mild Efficiency

Now lastly, I wished to attend and share all of my low-light photographs on the finish as a result of I can’t cease gushing over how effectively the sensor performs at night time. Let’s be actual – a drone’s finest use case for flying at night time is in a metropolis or city the place supplemental lighting is accessible. The f/1.8 aperture on this lens allows a bit extra gentle than the others, which have a minimal aperture of f/2.8. This allows you to completely steadiness your publicity settings so you’ll be able to preserve your shutter at about 1/one hundred and sixtieth and you’ll depart your ISO at its second native worth of 4,000.

The clips I’m sharing with you have been captured in ProRes 422 HQ, and I’ve been including noise discount by means of Neat Video and Ultimate Lower Professional to convey the noise ranges down in these clips. Simply know that you’ll want to do some kind of post-processing on this video – it’s not completely clear out of the digicam, however it does clear up very properly contemplating the excessive decision picture and the bit charge of the video that you simply’re taking pictures with this digicam and lens combo.

I can decide up particulars at nighttime that I wouldn’t be capable to see with every other drone. The little lights within the buildings get misplaced with the low-resolution cameras on different drones, however these low-light photographs from the X9 8K are insanely detailed. An instance of that is the rotating Eagles brand on the Heart – that is often a graphic that’s really even troublesome to see with your individual eyes in individual, not to mention utilizing a drone’s digicam. From out right here although, it’s completely seen with this lens and digicam combo.

Now if you happen to guys need, I’ll add some pattern photographs to the hyperlink down within the description. Have some persistence although as a result of they’re 8K ProRes recordsdata, so it would take a while to get them downloaded. Utilizing my web site, you’ll be able to choose the precise clip that you simply wish to obtain so that you don’t need to spend time downloading every part by means of WeTransfer all of sudden.

Now coming off the subject of picture high quality and aperture, that is the primary time that with a drone’s digicam I’d fear about setting my focus level, because the depth of subject is certainly evident when utilizing a tighter focal size. For the longest time with a wide-angle lens, irrespective of which drone you used, your complete body was often in focus as a result of what you’re taking pictures is so distant from the digicam. This made it very easy to only faucet on the center of the display screen to focus no matter your aperture after which shoot. Now although, with this massive full-frame sensor and the tight focal size of the 75mm lens, you may get some depth of subject relying on what you’re taking pictures and the way distant they’re from the digicam.

The one purpose I convey this up is as a result of when flying with this lens, it’s essential be a bit extra cautious about what you deal with so that you don’t get residence and see that all your photographs are delicate in focus. With that stated, taking pictures with this lens undoubtedly comes with its challenges, as after I’m flying round, attempting to make use of the dwell view is mainly unattainable. The focal size is approach too tight for attempting to navigate to your subsequent taking pictures location or attempting to fly the drone again residence.

Because of this the FPV digicam is extra useful than ever for getting round or flying with a devoted pilot and digicam operator. I preserve the FPV digicam within the backside nook after I’m flying solo, and I put the dwell view on the display screen so I can preserve my shot framed, however after I’m not taking pictures, I immediately swap to the FPV digicam to be my foremost focus so I can get round with out utterly crashing the drone. The Imaginative and prescient Help function can also be a lifesaver for after I’m shifting aspect to aspect, backwards, and even forwards for that matter, so I can see throughout the drone with these impediment avoidance sensors so I do know that I’m not going to run into something.

I feel I convey up this function in nearly each single certainly one of my movies, however I’ve to say it’s been such a game-changer. Irrespective of which lens or which drone I take advantage of, I often fly solo with out anyone to assist function the digicam, so this device or this function offers me the power to do this higher and extra safely.

Evaluating the Encourage 3 and Mavic 3 Professional

Now earlier than I get into what I’m going to the touch on subsequent, I simply have to preface this by saying on no account am I saying that the Mavic 3 Professional’s digicam is healthier than the Zenmuse X9 8K Air on the Encourage 3. What I’m merely saying is that I favor among the performance inside the Mavic 3 Professional’s digicam in the way in which which you can swap between lenses.

For those who may not have the Mavic 3 Professional, it has three cameras in-built with three completely different focal lengths. These are 24mm, 70mm, and 166mm. The large difficulty although is that as you go up in focal size, the sensor dimension on the digicam decreases, so whereas the footage from the primary 4/3 sensor seems to be stunning with nice dynamic vary and element, it will get worse as you go as much as the 70mm after which it’s even worse as much as the 166mm.

What I like about that is the comfort issue – proper from my drone distant, I’m capable of swap between focal lengths with out having to land. I simply press a button and shoot away. For instance, this got here in helpful after I was flying down in Cape Might and noticed an enormous yacht coming into the inlet that I wished to shoot. I used to be capable of get a shot with the primary digicam to point out the entire panorama after which flip to the 70mm for a more in-depth monitoring shot.

If I as a substitute had the Encourage 3 within the air at the moment, I might have been left to seize that boat with no matter lens I had on. I wouldn’t have had time to land the drone, swap lenses, and put it again within the air as a result of at the moment the boat would have handed by and been within the inlet already.

Now for me personally, boohoo, who cares – would have nonetheless been cool to seize some images and movies of the boat no matter what drone I used to be utilizing. But when this was a business challenge for the consumer that, let’s say, is the producer of the boat and we wished to get all these completely different photographs at completely different focal lengths, the Encourage 3 can be the drone to do it, however think about how a lot time is spent attempting to land the drone and swap the lenses. That’s extra time on web site and, within the case of this boat, extra gas burned.

Set up and Use

That is most likely time to say the mounting process for the 75mm lens, which is heavier than the opposite DL mount lenses, so it’ll require a counterweight. For set up, you simply take away the again plate that got here with the X9 8K Air and exchange it with the plate that comes with the 75mm lens. You’ll be able to depart this plate on irrespective of which lens you fly with because it nonetheless gives safety for the fan exhaust on the again so nothing will get sucked up within the digicam inflicting injury.

With this plate in place, while you wish to use the 75mm lens, you simply need to clip the counterweight on the again of the digicam after which connect the second weight to the vertical arm that holds the gimbal meeting. At first, I used to be fearful that this may fall off throughout flight, however that rapidly went away after messing with it as a result of that is clamped on very effectively.

I’ve an embarrassing story to go together with this. You guys know at first of the video I discussed that I purchased this lens for that shoot with the helicopter? Effectively, after I confirmed up, I noticed I didn’t have any of the counterweights, which suggests I had to make use of this lens, and the footage was a shaky mess, which I might advocate you don’t do except you completely need to as a result of it may dissipate the gimbal motors. Here’s a uncooked shot from the digicam, and as you’ll be able to inform, it’s a full mess, however fortunately after I decelerate the footage and add warp stabilizer, it was utterly usable. With the ability to do that utterly saved me on at the present time.

Now to observe up on what I used to be speaking about earlier, type of evaluating the Mavic 3 Professional and the X9 8K Air – while you have a look at the picture high quality distinction between the Mavic 3 Professional’s 70mm digicam and the X9 8K Air with the 75mm digicam, it’s utterly night time and day. I’m not going to be spending a lot time exhibiting examples right here as a result of it’s type of like evaluating an motion digicam to a cinema digicam, however the 70mm lens on the Mavic 3 Professional has at all times been delicate compared to the X9.

It’s actually clear that utilizing the Mavic 3 Professional, regardless of its comfort, simply wouldn’t even get you near the picture high quality from the Encourage. There are completely different instruments for the job, and whereas the 70mm digicam on the Mavic 3 Professional isn’t unusable, you actually will nonetheless see an enormous profit to utilizing a digicam just like the X9 that permits you to swap between prime lenses.

Personally, I don’t assume that both of the 2 methods we have now proper now work all that nice. On one hand, you have got a number of cameras constructed into one drone that positive offers you the comfort and performance to change between focal lengths simply from the controller, however the picture high quality isn’t all that nice between the completely different cameras. Alternatively, you have got a digicam with removable prime lenses which positive offers you the very best picture high quality however functionality-wise, it’s a nightmare to take care of.

It’s not like a mirrorless digicam the place I can pull lenses out of a bag and swap it proper there in my fingers and proceed to shoot. As an alternative, it’s an entire manufacturing – you’ve received to land, flip off the drone, swap the lenses, you’ve received to perhaps alter the counterweight, you’ve received to then flip the drone again on, permit it to ascertain its GPS connection, boot up, and then you definately’re again within the air, which is simply an total cumbersome course of.

To me, I feel we want one easy resolution that’s purposeful, handy, and doesn’t compromise on picture high quality. The reply to this, and what I might like to see, is a digicam choice with an inside optical zoom that doesn’t influence picture high quality. For instance, have a look at the Zenmuse H-line of cameras for the M350 – you get optical zoom blended with digital zoom that’s used extra so for inspection, Search and Rescue, and different business operations.

These cameras aren’t constructed for high-fidelity picture seize with an excellent excessive bit charge or loopy dynamic vary for high-end productions. The zoom on them, nevertheless, is loopy – like flying from Manayunk zoomed all the way in which in with the H20T, I used to be capable of clearly decide up the skyline that’s like 5 miles away. This after all was aided by digital zoom so the picture is grainy, however it’s spectacular nonetheless.

Ultimate Ideas and Future Wishlist

Now look, I don’t want that a lot zoom after I’m out doing my images and videography for private causes or for my shoppers, however I want to have some flexibility of optical zoom that doesn’t compromise on picture high quality, giving me the very best of each worlds – the performance to only swap my focal size or zoom in from my controller with out having to land, but additionally offers me the high-fidelity picture high quality of the primary sensor of the digicam as a substitute of switching to some secondary sensor that’s smaller simply so I can zoom in additional.

And guess what – the Mavic 2 Zoom already does this, and despite the fact that this digicam is just not actually all that nice (the sensor dimension is small), inside this digicam module inside this lens housing you do have an optical zoom between 24mm and 48mm. I might like to have this identical performance in a drone that has a bigger sensor and a continuing aperture all through. Whether or not it’s f/2.8 or f/1.8, to me that doesn’t matter – I simply total would prioritize the performance and the picture high quality.

I might love to have the ability to go wherever between 24 and 50mm and have the identical picture high quality all through with out having to leap round between cameras, with out having to land and swap lenses. Give us one digicam with optical zoom and all of our questions can be answered.

Anyway, thanks guys a lot for watching. Let me know your ideas on the 75mm lens down beneath and the considered an optical zoom digicam sooner or later as a result of I might love that.

Anyway, thanks for watching and as at all times, I’ll discuss to you later.

Peace.