As somebody keen about FPV drones, I used to be excited to get my palms on GEPRC’s newest Cinelog30 V3 cinewhoop, which is particularly designed to assist DJI’s cutting-edge O4 Professional Air Unit. After in depth testing, right here’s all the things you should know from my expertise—and whether or not that is the best drone for you.
New to FPV? Try our Cinewhoop Purchaser’s Information to get began: https://oscarliang.com/cinewhoop/
The place to Purchase?
Get your Cinelog30 V2 from these distributors:
Proper out of the field, the Cinelog30 V3 comes neatly packaged with a ton of extras that FPV pilots will admire:
- 1 x Spare Body
- 2 x HQprop DT76mmx3 V2 Propellers (set of 4)
- 3 x Digicam Canopies
- 1 x 15*150mm Battery Strap
- 1 x L-shaped Screwdriver 1.5mm
- 1 x Spare Screw Pack
- 1 x Battery Anti-slip Pad
- 1 x Damping Ball Set up Instrument
- 1 x Pin for DJI O4 Professional Bind Button
Specs
- Body: GEP-CL30 V3 with 2.5mm carbon fibre plate
- FC/ESC AIO Board: TAKER F722 45A 32-bit AIO
- Motor: SPEEDX2 1404 3850KV
- VTX & Digicam: DJI O4 Air Unit Professional
- Battery Connector: XT30
- Weight (claimed): 187g
- Weight (measured): 192g
Design
The GEPRC Cinelog30 V3 isn’t simply one other cinewhoop with a modified digital camera mount. It’s clear that GEPRC designed this quad from the bottom up for DJI O4 Professional Air Unit, with particular consideration to retaining it underneath the 250g weight restrict—a threshold in lots of nations that helps pilots keep away from registration and different authorized hurdles.
In comparison with the V2, the propeller guards have been noticeably strengthened, enhancing crash resilience. They’re nonetheless fairly a flimsy design, positively not the strongest on the market, however it retains the burden down so the sturdiness trade-off feels worthwhile.
There’s built-in LEDs contained in the ducts, and they are often toggled by way of a swap (CH8), already arrange within the Modes tab by default.
The O4 digital camera is soft-mounted utilizing 4 silicone dampers, which successfully eliminates jello in flight footage. Nevertheless, if you happen to crash, the mount might come unfastened—and getting these silicone balls again into place is a ache, even with the supplied instrument.
You possibly can entry the O4’s SD card slot and USB-C port simply by eradicating the rubber cowl—very user-friendly.
Contained in the body, there’s a intelligent “6-in-1” growth board that neatly connects the receiver, LED controller, buzzer, XT30, and FC USB port—all with out further litter. This makes an especially clear construct.
Battery mounting is safe and versatile, accommodating varied LiPo sizes. I examined 4S 550mAh, 650mAh, 850mAh, and even 1500mAh, all match effectively. GEPRC contains two totally different straps lengths relying on the battery measurement, which is a considerate contact.
The Cinelog30 V3 weighed 192g with out battery, with a 4S 550mAh LiPo, brings the burden to 249g. Any bigger batteries like an 850mAh pushed the burden over the restrict (286g) however supplied considerably longer flight instances.
If weight isn’t a difficulty, I like to recommend 4S 850mAh because it affords an awesome stability between flight time and efficiency. I can comfortably get 7 to 7:half-hour of flight time. In any other case if you wish to keep sub-250, you must get a battery that’s lower than 58g.
Flight Efficiency
The GEPRC Cinelog30 V3 excels at easy, cinematic flying. It delivers jello-free, stabilized footage—good for capturing cinematic photographs.
Whereas it’s nimble sufficient to zip round indoor areas or tight gaps, it’s not a freestyle beast. Push it onerous by way of sharp corners or dives and also you’ll discover prop wash and minor instability, which is typical of cinewhoops. It’s additionally not very secure in windy circumstances.
Nevertheless, it’s surprisingly quiet, making it superb when you must fly round folks or in busy environments the place you don’t wish to draw an excessive amount of consideration.
GEPRC did an awesome job with the PID tune, most individuals could be very pleased with the way it flies out of the field. The drone felt highly effective, hovered round 23% throttle when utilizing a 4S 850mAh LiPo. GEPRC claims as much as 8 minutes of flight with 4S 720mAh batteries, however my real-world assessments confirmed shorter instances, usually round 7:half-hour with an 850mAh battery.
I attempted utilizing a 4S 1500mAh which is often thought-about too huge for such small drone, the Cinelog dealt with it with ease, hovered at solely 33% throttle. Nevertheless it didn’t appear to supply for much longer flight time as anticipated – solely 11 minutes, presumably as a result of further weight and effectivity loss.
And if you wish to meet the 250g weight requirement, you’ll have to use a smaller battery resembling 4S 550mAh, and it ought to provide you with 4 to five minutes of flight time which remains to be very respectable and it must also enhance dealing with, agility and energy for freestyle strikes too.
Concerns and Limitations
The Cinelog30 V3 isn’t designed for newbie apply flights or informal crashing. Its gentle weight body is optimized for effectivity and cinematic flying, and capturing professional-quality footage, not hard-core freestyle bashing. Nevertheless, it’s additionally extraordinarily environment friendly for a cinewhoop. With the best battery, it may possibly simply hit 10+ minutes of flight time, which is uncommon for ducted quads.
The digital camera tender mounting is extremely efficient, and the DJI O4 digital camera footage is gorgeous. For informal pilots, there’s no want to make use of a GoPro anymore in my view—the O4 Professional delivers 4K60, wonderful stabilization, and D-Log M for colour grading. I like to recommend recording in 4:3 mode for optimum stabilization and area of view. Make sure that to make use of ND filters although if you wish to get the very best footage: https://oscarliang.com/nd-filter-fpv/
Though the Cinelog30 has sufficient energy to hold a GoPro, I don’t suggest it until completely vital—the little enhancements in picture high quality doesn’t justify the additional weight and compromises flight time and dealing with.
This drone additionally exhibits nice potential for long-range flights because of its effectivity. Nevertheless, it lacks a GPS module out of the field. That’s probably a design alternative since most cinewhoop flying is completed indoors or at brief vary. Nonetheless, if you happen to plan to fly far or in difficult out of doors environments, I extremely suggest including a GPS and enabling Rescue Mode: https://oscarliang.com/setup-gps-rescue-mode-betaflight/
Lastly, I’m fairly disenchanted that GEPRC is transport the ESC with BLHeli_32 firmware, which is now not being up to date: https://oscarliang.com/end-of-blheli_32/. Much more regarding, it’s a check model, not an official launch. In my testing, the ESC labored advantageous, however it’s one thing to pay attention to if you happen to’re planning to replace or troubleshoot sooner or later.
Methods to Setup
Earlier than the primary flight, I did the next:
- Eliminated all labels on the drone.
- Put in the 2 O4 antennas within the antenna mount.
- Eliminated the protecting movie from the digital camera lens.
- Set up the digital camera cover – select your favorite colour, all 3 protectors are similar.
- Positioned the battery pad on the highest plate.
- Plug in a smoke stopper, and join a battery and check the drone and see if it powers up appropriately. You must hear the ESC/motor initiation beeps.
Firmware
- The flight controller (FC) board goal is GEPRC_F722_AIO, and it comes preloaded with Betaflight firmware model 4.5.1. For inventory CLI Diff, see right here.
- ESC Firmware: BLHeli_32 Proto: 31.9.2 (24KHz)
- ELRS Receiver Firmware Goal: GEPRC Nano 2.4GHz PA100 RX, firmware 3.4.2
Betaflight Setup
Remaining Ideas
The GEPRC Cinelog30 has at all times been a well-designed and in style line, and the V3 continues to boost the bar—now with full DJI O4 Professional assist.
This isn’t a freestyle basher. Its comparatively fragile prop guards make it much less superb for freshmen or those that crash steadily. However as a professional-grade cinewhoop, the GEPRC Cinelog30 V3 is excellent—good for filmmakers, content material creators, and pilots centered on easy cinematic flying in tight areas. The principle concern could be the check model of BLHeli_32 firmware it’s utilizing, although it’s working simply advantageous in my testing, it’s one thing to remember.
If you need a sub-250 cinewhoop with DJI O4 Professional for cinematic flying, that’s highly effective, environment friendly, quiet, and superbly tuned proper out of the field—this could be my best choice.
