DJI is doing a 3.5x optical the 2x digital zoom is 1080p only Don't forget in a lens this small the f-stop is going to float in DJI's application its going from a f/2.8 at the wide to a f/5.6 at the tele end
Here's Yuneec's implementation of a zoom..... It's hilariously bad
Hey, at lest they are playing 70 porn music which is exactly what I said a zoom on a drone would be.
YOU DON'T SHOW ZOOMS, you show pushes. On the ground it's a dolly push, you want to show it and if you want to show a zoom then you do it for an effect, again, like in the 70s scenes in Blow and Boogie Nights.
Here is a GREAT video that I just found on this (unless you are JUST trying to change focal distance that a ZOOM is not to be filmed but done, while a PUSH on a dolly track is to be recorded). Of course, my mantra of, YOU MUST KNOW the rules in order to BREAK THE RULES is shown here in this little video I found. Below it is a video of people that use the ZOOM for effect. Blow uses it for effect to show it is old. Some of the other ones are old kung fu movies which was a Chinese method of showing action on a quick shot but also some more modern films that wouldn't touch the lens without reason.
Here is a video showing some purposeful zoom for effects (with some exception. Again just found with a youtube search). ****NSFW (at the very end). The shots in here that don't look like traditional zooms where the background appears to move and the focal point stays in the same place is an old camera trick that is actually a zoom and a dolly. I'll post some of those separately and explain what they are after this one. **Disclaimer: I am not a DP, this is just general knowledge.
***HAS THE SAME THUMBNAIL AS BELOW BUT DIFFERENT VIDEO
Now when you know the rules, you can break them. Here is the most famous of what's called the "Vertigo Shot" or "Vertigo Move".
It is created by keeping he principle at THE SAME FOCAL DISTANCE while pulling the camera back at the EXAXT SAME speed making the background appear to move while the principle appears to stay at the same focal distance. Its a trick meant to cause confusion, fear and anxiety. It is a great shot but if you need to understand these things to do these things. I realize that this has nothing to do with aerial photography but understand why we have zooms and not just "to get closer" when YOU HAVE A FLYING bird I think while help drive my point home. For aspiring DPs, only use this shot if you have a REALLY good reason too as some people call it the "student film shot" because every student film tries to put it in. Trust me, I taught at two schools.
One of the most famous vertigo shots. He's anxiously watching the kids play, thinking a shark could come any second and bam, we are worried, not because of his eyes, but because of the movement of the camera. See how it works? The camera dollys back and there is an AC or a DP pulling back focus so the focal distance stays the same AT THE same time we are pulling back. We don't need 3.5 zooms on aerial photography and if you do, I suggest a better camera and bird. Ugh! Please don't make my Phantom 5 cost $4000. When I shoot close, I use my non-toy cameras like the Matrice with a Ronan and a DSLR. You will never get a professional camera or even a very good one on these things!
The shot was created by the late great, Alfred Hitchcock on the film "Vertigo" hence the name, "Vertigo Effect"
Go to 45 seconds (its the quick shot down the stairs). Hitchcock = Genius.
It has then been taken and used to great effect in many films.
My point is that what do you want the zoom for? Other than the ONE person that actually said he wants it to change focal length which WE DONT NEED TO DO because we have a flying camera, there is almost ZERO use for a 3,5 zoom lens on a flying camera.
Don't be a sucker and let them fool you because you don't understand what a zoom is for, You are not on a tripod and if you want to change focal lengths which are basically infinite, MOVE THE BIRD. Please don't make the cost of our hobby go up by having useless optical zooms. So many of you are going to be disappointed and of course they are going to give it to us. Go read my posts. I've been saying it for a couple years that its only a matter of time before they say if these idiots want optical zooms, we will sell it to them.
If millions of people asked me to sell them a dull knife, I would.