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Camera, Lens Options

Joined
Dec 1, 2018
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150
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Location
Louisiana Cajun
I just want to start by saying this has been one of the best, most dedicated groups I have had the pleasure of being member. thanks for all the help to this relative newcomer.

I'm a semi-retired photographer of over 33 years. I have watched the drone industry grow for several years, but was reluctant to invest into another direction that could be drastically affected by legislation. Now that the prices have come down and the quality continues to climb. I have finally decided to dive in. My needs in a drone my vary from most of you but I need some advice. I'm still in the evaluation stage with my Q500. Considering what I paid, I'm thrilled with the results so far. My experience is very heavy in still photos but very light in video. As for now, I spend most my time exploring the limits of this bird for still photographs. For those you that have yet to shoot your stills in the DNG format I highly recommend it. However, you will probably need to upgrade you basic photo processing apps to something that properly process the DNG file. I use Photoshop CS, but this is a monthly subscription and many of you will probably not want to go that route. Since PSCS & Lightroom CS is all I use i cannot recommend alternatives, but I am sure there are many good ones out there.

The CGO3 is a 14mm focal length lens. While this is probably a great choice for landscapes and scenics, it is a little too wide for many architectural subjects. Yes, making sure the camera is located in the middle of a vertical structure will give the best results because the camera should be level thereby minimizing distortion, but there will still be distortion. The closer you are to the subject, the worse the distortion will be. There are many digtal apps that are made to correct this, but there is just no replacement for the right lens. The closer we can get to a normal focal length the imager size the more true the image will be. For a 35mm camera a normal lens is 50mm. I'm not sure what the imager size is for CGO3, but I'm guessing about have that of a 35mm. Maybe some of you can help me here. So I'm thinking a focal length of about 25-28 mm might work well for architecture.

So here is my question. Are there any camera options or variations of the CGO3 that could get me there? Also, I see some of the newer drones now have cameras with 1" sensors. Are there any options in that direction? Forgive me if I bored you.
 
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I just want to start by saying this has been one of the best, most dedicated groups I have had the pleasure of being member. thanks for all the help to this relative newcomer.

I'm a semi-retired photographer of over 33 years. I have watched the drone industry grow for several years, but was reluctant to invest into another direction that could be drastically affected by legislation. Now that the prices have come down and the quality continues to climb. I have finally decided to dive in. My needs in a drone my vary from most of you but I need some advice. I'm still in the evaluation stage with my Q500. Considering what I paid, I'm thrilled with the results so far. My experience is very heavy in still photos but very light in video. As for now, I spend most my time exploring the limits of this bird for still photographs. For those you that have yet to shoot your stills in the DNG format I highly recommend it. However, you will probably need to upgrade you basic photo processing apps to something that properly process the DNG file. I use Photoshop CS, but this is a monthly subscription and many of you will probably not want to go that route. Since PSCS & Lightroom CS is all I use i cannot recommend alternatives, but I am sure there are many good ones out there.

The CGO3 is a 14mm focal length lens. While this is probably a great choice for landscapes and scenics, it is a little too wide for many architectural subjects. Yes, making sure the camera is located in the middle of a vertical structure will give the best results because the camera should be level thereby minimizing distortion, but there will still be distortion. The closer you are to the subject, the worse the distortion will be. There are many digtal apps that are made to correct this, but there is just no replacement for the right lens. The closer we can get to a normal focal length the imager size the more true the image will be. For a 35mm camera a normal lens is 50mm. I'm not sure what the image size is for CGO3, but I'm guessing about have that of a 35mm. Maybe some of you can help me here. So I'm thinking a focal length of about 25-28 mm might work well for architecture.

So here is my question. Are there any camera options or variations of the CGO3 that could get me there? Also, I see some of the newer drones now have cameras with 1" sensors. Are there any options in that direction? Forgive me if I bored you.

You have a few options, but some of those will require a different platform, with various capabilities. As far as 1" sensor cameras, you do not have the ability to change out sensors... so if you need a 1" sensor, you will the Typhoon Plus platform, with the C23 camera.

As far as lens alternatives for the CGO3+, you have two manufacturer options... Peau Productions and PixAero.

Peau Productions 8.25mm (click on Specifications tab)

Lens Specs - PixAero 6mm

Peau comes in focal legths of 3.97mm and 8.25mm. PixAero comes in 3.77mm, 6mm and 8mm. You have the option of installing yourself, or having a shop do it for you.
 
At the moment there is no 1" camera for the Q500 available. They are for the H Series only.

The lens can be changed quiet easily. On my Typhoon H (CGO3+) I swapped the original lens to one made by Peau Production. The main reason for doing so was not to gain more focal length but to improve color and sharpness, since many CGO3+ had some trouble with it. Mine had blurry areas on the left side of every image or video. The improvement is amzing!

The actual focal length of the CGO3 is something like 3.77mm. My new lens has 3.97mm, which is not really noticable. PP does also offer a lens with 8.25mm. This might be the right solution for you.
 
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Standard focal length on the OEM lens is 3.29mm... the OEM replacement Peau is 3.97mm and the PixAero OEM replacement is 3.77mm.
 
At the moment there is no 1" camera for the Q500 available. They are for the H Series only.

The lens can be changed quiet easily. On my Typhoon H (CGO3+) I swapped the original lens to one made by Peau Production. The main reason for doing so was not to gain more focal length but to improve color and sharpness, since many CGO3+ had some trouble with it. Mine had blurry areas on the left side of every image or video. The improvement is amzing!

The actual focal length of the CGO3 is something like 3.77mm. My new lens has 3.97mm, which is not really noticable. PP does also offer a lens with 8.25mm. This might be the right solution for you.


Thanks for your reply! So if the standard focal length is 3.29 mm, the 8.25mm may get me there.
You have a few options, but some of those will require a different platform, with various capabilities. As far as 1" sensor cameras, you do not have the ability to change out sensors... so if you need a 1" sensor, you will the Typhoon Plus platform, with the C23 camera.

As far as lens alternatives for the CGO3+, you have two manufacturer options... Peau Productions and PixAero.

Peau Productions 8.25mm (click on Specifications tab)

Lens Specs - PixAero 6mm

Peau comes in focal legths of 3.97mm and 8.25mm. PixAero comes in 3.77mm, 6mm and 8mm. You have the option of installing yourself, or having a shop do it for you.
thank you! Will look into these options.
 

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