So I got myself a DJI Osmo. I’m pretty impressed with it overall, but the video quality isn’t all that. Am I right in thinking that it’s the same camera as you get on the Inspire 1 drones, the Xenmuse X3?
If I was a reviewer then I probably wouldn’t accept the 4K footage that it shoots. Quite a few artefacts, even when shooting outside in the day in decent conditions. If you shoot in 4K and then downscale to 1080p then it looks pretty good, but then it kind of spoils the whole idea of having a 4K camera!
Thought we could get a bit of DJI thread going… who uses DJI for their drones/aerial footage? Do they use the X3 or the X5? Anyone use a different type of drone and camera setup? Does anyone submit X3 footage in 4K and maybe I’m just doing something wrong? Is the X5 the way to go? Anyone got an Osmo?
Yes, same x3 camera as Inspire 1 and many footage accepted from it here. There is no miracle with it’s h.264 60mb/s bit rate for 4k. Just for comparison many full HD dslrs (Canon 60d, 70d, 700d etc) shot 50 mb/s in full HD, so we need 200 mb/s for 4k right?
X5 have better sensor and optics but again 60mb/s.
X5R will have RAW, yaw! Shall be much better for pro work as you may guess by it’s price. 
Best regards,
Andrey
Hm isn’t there a gimbal available that can hold up a camera you own for the same price?
Would be a more future proof setup when you are able to switch the cam…
Yes, but you’re still limited to ‘sports cameras’, none of which have the best of bitrates. Unless you go for a Ronin or something, but I’m off travelling and need something small and light to fit in my bag.
I have a non-motorised steady cam type thing for my 600D, but once you factor that in with the camera, three lenses and a tripod, it comes to about 10Kg. With the average airline allowance, that’s not going to leave much room for my Speedos and jars of Marmite.
One of the reasons I went for the Osmo as well as it’s an all in one solution that comes in a small and handy case.
Yeah, the X5 seems better, but doesn’t seem like that much of an upgrade for the price if you’re still getting the same bitrate. I couldn’t find the X5r anywhere, so I’m assuming it’s not out yet?
I did read somewhere that you’re better recording at 24fps rather than 30fps, as then the 60mb/s kind of works out to 2.5mb/fame, rather than 2mb/frame. I might give that a try… I’ve not done a massive amount of testing yet. Pretty happy with it overall though, nice bit of kit!
24p vs 30p encoding is not that simple 2.5mb vs 2mb per frame.
This shall be the true for intraframe compression like prores, mjpeg, etc.
h.264 is interframe compression so it is not compressed frame by frame and compression result and visual quality depend on how much movements frame to frame. While we have 0.5mb more per frame at 24p but obviously litle bit more movement between frames in 24p so then this is harder for h.264 compression right? 
Best Regards,
Andrey
I read that you can choose between .mov and .mp4 for the recording format. Although I’m assuming that it would be still be the H.264 codec even if you go for .mov? I’ll try a few tests and see what I can come up with.
Anyway, would love a drone at some point. Maybe an Inspire 1 with an X5r. Wouldn’t really fit in my backpack though, so I’ll have to leave it for now!
Hi @SpaceStockFootage what is the main problem of footage, is it the bit of noisy and grain?
I just get a look on latest (month) aerials on VH, and there are some of quite (for me) low quality already accepted.
I have bought the Phantom Pro last summer, but already havent much time to play with it, because a lot of work. The landscapes aerials are pretty nice, although when I increase the contrast and saturation extremely, it use to have problems in detail structure of green grass fields for example.
I work in video post, and what guys use in one of latest of projects using aerials is the Spreading Wings and Panasonic GH4 with additional lens with really nice output. Some other use the Inspire1 for stockshots, but we do output just HD, not 4K. And also it is not the BMW Commercial
I am also looking to get one of Osmo, so I am interested in your opinion. It seems to be a nice toy for big guy, and probably it wasnt made as pro video tool, same as GoPro isnt, but already has found its place in video production. Thinking about X5 and X5R, their prices are in different level, there must be some profit way of use to buy this (for me), but here is probably better Ronin M with pro equipment.
The footage looks a bit muddy in my opinion, distant trees look like splodges rather than being crisp, for example. Everything kind of blends into one. I’ve just sold a Canon 600D and the same footage would be nice and crisp with clear separation between objects, whether they’re near or far, although I did have some decent lenses for it.
I’m not expecting it to be amazing, but I’ve had some very crisp and impressive results from consumer camcorders with tiny sensors that have looked batter than this. To be fair, if I record in 4K and then downscale to 1080p, it does look very good, but seems a bit of a waste having to do so. I’ve seen a lot of drone footage on here and most of it looks pretty good. I’m also assuming that a good portion of it is from the X3.
To be fair, I’ve not had that much time to play around with it, and I’ve just got an ND filter that might help, so hopefully it;s just a case of ‘user error’! Time will tell. Very impressed with the overall build quality, form factor and the stabilization though… and if you’re happy to film in 4K to use 1080p, then I’d recommend it. Can’t quite recommend it for shooting in 4K to use as 4K just yet, but we’ll see.
Yes, thank you for your response.
Of course we cant compare in one line DSLR with solid lenses and kinder-egg camera. And also probably the marketing works here “if you want pro output, lets buy the X5R”
I am thinking maybe to wait for some Osmo II, since the Osmo is on market for maybe half a year and they use to produce new models quite (too) often (in Phantoms at least).
Do you sell captured footage on market as well? I had a look on your profiles yesterday, but seen just “space stocks” kind of footage. So now I know where to search, if I will work on some space documentary 
I started a new account recently, EarthStockFootage for non-space stuff. Not much there at the moment, just a couple of bits I shot on my Canon a while back, but if I get any decent footage on my Osmo while I’m away travelling, I might upload it there.
Yeah, I think an X5R would be the way to go If I wanted production quality 4K. The standard X5 doesn’t seem to offer much more for the price, especially with the low bit rate.
Hey guys, sorry for bring the old topic from the dead, but I’m planning on buying a drone and I thought it’s related to this topic. I saw the DJI Phantom 3 4k on a sale recently. Do you have any experience with it? Whould the 4k footage from it get accepted here?
I recently got Phantom 4 which have about the same camera.
it’s really fun to play with P4 but unfortunately 4K footages from it are not passing my own quality control yet (I did not try to submit it here) due to low bitrate (or bad h.264 codec implementation). Full HD is OK when downscaled from 4K.
P4pro sounds more promising with it’s 1" sensor, h.265 and 100 Mb/s bitrate.
Best Regards,
Andrey
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Agreed. The 4K looks great at 1080p in good light, but I wouldn’t bother with the 4K, especially not for stock. I got a GoPro Hero 5 Black a couple of weeks ago… to be fair the 4K isn’t that much better than the Osmo, but the ease of use, frame rate options and functionality sold it for me. If I could just glue it to the Osmo handle!