Do I need 4k?

stevetheutard · Jan 12, 2016

I am going to pick up my drone this week at a local dealer. I have read too much about all these, the DJI, Q500, and others. I settled on the yuneec because of a few factors I won't go into here. But I hear that the 4k requires an expensive monitor, special editing software, etc, etc. Do I have the option of getting a lesser camera, and avoiding the 4k altogether? I am thinking that 4k will be more present soon, and that I should get it just so I can expand into this, and not having to buy another camera or drone.

Your thoughts?

Looking Glass Images · Jan 12, 2016

I plan to go this route myself (on the typhoon H pre-order list). You can always shoot 2k now and switch over to 4k once you've got the hardware for editing. There are folks shooting 4k too that convert it to 2k for their current systems or clients.

bshaker Air4c 1 · Jan 12, 2016

There're other settings for the camera you don't always have to shoot in 4k. I shoot 1080 @ 30fps and the videos look just fine. It's hard to believe a couple of years ago we thought they could never outdo 1080HD; then comes 4k............technology!

Ray Stachelek · Jan 12, 2016

Do as other have mentioned, just scroll down to HD definition with the 4K. Still photos can use 4K with no computer or software problems. They will produces finer grain photos.

I would go ahead with the 4K camera too, but if you have thoughts of only a HD camera, not considering the Go Pro, look into the
Typhoon 500+ model. It's all white in color.

Shane P. Robichaux · Jan 13, 2016

Get the 4K and switch to a suitable adjustment for task at hand. We don't shoot much in 4K , but do at times, depending. I think it's best to overbuy than to buy and wish u w of went the other route.
Only my opinion!!

Rnlcomp · Jan 14, 2016

I too had this conundrum before I bought my 500+, the way I finally decided was by asking my self, do I really need anything more than the HD we already enjoy? None of my computers have a 4k screen, nor any of my flat screen t.v.'s. I see the 4k as a future upgrade but to be honest, regular HD is plenty for me, when I can see the pores on someone's face in a movie, I figure that's more than I really want to see. Not many movies available recorded in 4k nor any stations, (cable and over the air) offer 4k broadcasts.

I see 4k as something way down the line and then only when the price point matches current technology or less, as we all know as tech grows it gets cheaper and cheaper.

Pharkas · Feb 1, 2016

Is the only difference between the 500+ and the 4k just the camera resolution? Do they have the same gimbal and the same exact flying platform (other than color)?

Sirwilliam70 · Feb 2, 2016

Pharkas said:
Is the only difference between the 500+ and the 4k just the camera resolution? Do they have the same gimbal and the same exact flying platform (other than color)?

As far as I know, yes. The 4k comes with a nice case too.

Rnlcomp · Feb 2, 2016

Sirwilliam70 said:
The 4k comes with a nice case too.

500+ comes with a case as well.

Pharkas · Feb 2, 2016

Amazon has 500+ for $699 and that includes aluminum case extra battery and hand camera gizmo. The 4k is $999 for same package. Both of our TVs are 1080 and I don't see us replacing them in the next 5 years. Is there any advantage at all for me to have the 4k? $300 seems like a big difference for a feature I don't anticipate having any use for. Am I missing something obvious?

Sirwilliam70 · Feb 2, 2016

Knowing that, it kinda makes me sick to think I spent $1450 6 months ago, I never have used the 4k capabilities, and now I could have the same features for $750 less! Thanks for the big slap in the face Yuneec!

Guld · Feb 5, 2016

On top of the cropping ability allowed by the higher resolution, to me, the color balance of the CGO3 looks better. The CGO2's color temperature appears too warm on many of YouTube videos that I've seen.

Pharkas · Feb 5, 2016

Guld said:
On top of the cropping ability allowed by the higher resolution, to me, the color balance of the CGO3 looks better. The CGO2's color temperature appears too warm on many of YouTube videos that I've seen.

I would like the ability to create "zoom" while editing 4k video but I would then need to convert the final video to 1080 for distribution. The 4k raw video would theoretically allow greater post-edit zoom-in sequences. Has anyone done this? I have a high end video editing computer that a built, but my current display is 1080. Would I need a 4k display to work with 4k video editing? As far as still frame photos, the CG02 has 16mp while the CG03 seems to only have 12mp.

DiscoStew · Feb 5, 2016

Pharkas said:
I would like the ability to create "zoom" while editing 4k video but I would then need to convert the final video to 1080 for distribution. The 4k raw video would theoretically allow greater post-edit zoom-in sequences. Has anyone done this? I have a high end video editing computer that a built, but my current display is 1080. Would I need a 4k display to work with 4k video editing? As far as still frame photos, the CG02 has 16mp while the CG03 seems to only have 12mp.

You don't need a 4K monitor to do your editing, the monitor is only your window into the image so you will still see the image as 1080. ( I, personally, don't think the eye can perceive the difference between 1080 and 4K on anything smaller than a 10' display at six inches from your face...but that's just my opinion.) But, you can use AfterEffects to create a virtual 35 mm camera (or any size) and the 4k image (as 3d layer) and get cool zooms into the video as well as pans and cranes. The 4k layer is so dense with pixels, that when you export your video to 1080 (most common useable definition), it will still be clear and sharp as if you recorded the video, originally, in 1080

Colin · Feb 6, 2016

Pharkas said:
I would like the ability to create "zoom" while editing 4k video but I would then need to convert the final video to 1080 for distribution. The 4k raw video would theoretically allow greater post-edit zoom-in sequences. Has anyone done this? I have a high end video editing computer that a built, but my current display is 1080. Would I need a 4k display to work with 4k video editing? As far as still frame photos, the CG02 has 16mp while the CG03 seems to only have 12mp.

This video was recorded at 4k and zooms in to a 1080p high frame several times to simulate flying nearer to something than my wifi video feed would actually allow.
The three most notable zooms are 1. quite near the start when heading out towards the island, 2. when first heading directly towards the lighthouse, and 3. about 2/3 the way through the video when heading across the lagoons towards the oyster farm buildings. Hope it gives you and idea what to expect, it's a technique I use regulary both to "get closer" to something and to "speed up the flight" during long straight runs.
Col.
PS. I don't have a 4k monitor either.

Pharkas · Feb 6, 2016

DiscoStew said:
You don't need a 4K monitor to do your editing, the monitor is only your window into the image so you will still see the image as 1080. ( I, personally, don't think the eye can perceive the difference between 1080 and 4K on anything smaller than a 10' display at six inches from your face...but that's just my opinion.) But, you can use AfterEffects to create a virtual 35 mm camera (or any size) and the 4k image (as 3d layer) and get cool zooms into the video as well as pans and cranes. The 4k layer is so dense with pixels, that when you export your video to 1080 (most common useable definition), it will still be clear and sharp as if you recorded the video, originally, in 1080

Stew and Colin Thank you. That I think is the definitive answer to this thread. If you are using this platform for video hobby/profession then the ability to post-edit zoom into your video and still retain at HD resolution fully justifies the price difference between the cameras since neither camera systems offer optical zoom. Theoretically the zoom would also be limited by the stablility of the gimbal system. For example, if you print out an eye chart and place it on the ground. Fly up to 200 ft and film the area of the eye chart. Now post-edit zoom onto the eye chart. Your ability to read the eye chart will be a function of the density of pixels captured as well as the stability of the captured video (gimbal function). This is like trying to hand-hold a camcorder and zoom in on a distant scene. Your camcorder may have a 30x zoom but in order to use this you need a stable tripod. Anyways, this absolutely makes me much more interested in the 5004K vs the 500+.

Sirwilliam70 · Feb 6, 2016

Colin said:
This video was recorded at 4k and zooms in to a 1080p high frame several times to simulate flying nearer to something than my wifi video feed would actually allow.

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The three most notable zooms are 1. quite near the start when heading out towards the island, 2. when first heading directly towards the lighthouse, and 3. about 2/3 the way through the video when heading across the lagoons towards the oyster farm buildings. Hope it gives you and idea what to expect, it's a technique I use regulary both to "get closer" to something and to "speed up the flight" during long straight runs.
Col.
PS. I don't have a 4k monitor either.

That's amazing! I thought you were just speeding up the video. Now that I'm looking at it on a bigger screen (not my phone) it looks even more incredible. You can't even tell you're zooming digitally, the resolution stays the same. I obviously need a new computer if I want to make videos this great!

Colin · Feb 6, 2016

Thanks for the nice comments guys, they're very much appreciated.

I'm not sure if this is going to help or just cloud the issue but I have a videos of the two flights I comnined to make the lagoons and lighthouse video above that have the dashware flight plan on them. If you look closely you might notice that on several occasions it looks as if I get really close to something (a certain shore line or an island or whatever) but the dashware distance just doesn't tie in with the distance the Q APPEARS to have travelled in the finished video I posted above... needless to say hose are the times when I've zoomed into a 1080p high frame. I can only fly a maxinum of about 300m before my video locks up but by eye it often looks like I've gone at least twice that.

There is no post production zoom in either of these videos:-

Col.