E30Z camera

[SamO]

Is anyone using the E30Z camera?

I have been using it now for 6 months for telecom inspection where I need to spot targets which are up to 15km away.
The optical zoom factor of the camera is impressive, the resolution and sensor quality are horrible.
There is no possibility to put ND or polarisation filters on the lens.
Taking pictures at high zoom factors is often based on the principle ' take a lot of pictures, and hope that one is more or less sharp and has the target in view'. Unless there is no wind at all, but when does that ever happen?
Luckily, the shutter button responds fast and one can take 10 pictures in a few seconds. I suppose this is because the resolution is small, making the file size of the jpegs tiny and saving fast.
In the end it fits my needs and the customer accepts my work.

What really frustrates me, and why I'm making this post, is that I dished out 3000 Euro for this camera and I get no support. The firmware is full of bugs and nothing has been fixed 6 months after the release of the camera. Back in April, Yuneec promised me: 'an update will be available shortly'.
The biggest issue is the zoom speed, advertised as: 'The maximum zoom speed from wide-angle to tele is just 2.55 seconds'. Well, in real life, it takes about 30 seconds to zoom from wide to tele and back. After a few times of trying to find your target, your flight battery runs out....
The camera is physically capable of zooming much faster because there is a soft 'return to wide angle' button and this only seems to take about 2,5 seconds. However this brings you back to fully zoomed out and you're off to another half minute to zoom in to 30x optical.

Another feature is that the zoom factor is displayed super small, as dark grey letters in a black field when the controller is on 'outdoor' scheme. Totally unreadable.

A timestamp (often Jan 2014 for a reason I cannot find) and zoomfactor (mostly wrong because it updates slower than the actual lens position) are always printed on the pictures, I did not find a way to turn that off.

I also asked them if a 'tap to zoom' function will be available in the future (like the DJI Z30, which is probably the same hardware), but no answer on that.

Does anyone have the same issues? It's unacceptable to me that it gets marketed as 'for use in SAR, monitoring, people search', but the bugs don't get fixed after 6 months.
Sam.

 

[Steve Carr]

These are all interesting observations which I have not previously seen mentioned. Has your dealer been able to provide any information?

The date is the only issue I've seen mentioned with other cameras. As I recall, the suggestion is to try a 32GB sd card formatted as FAT32.

 

[SamO]

These are all interesting observations which I have not previously seen mentioned. Has your dealer been able to provide any information?

The date is the only issue I've seen mentioned with other cameras. As I recall, the suggestion is to try a 32GB sd card formatted as FAT32.

Hi Steve,

My dealer forwarded the issue to Yuneec 6 months ago. Since I heard nothing after a few weeks, I reached out to Yuneec myself but I'm getting very little response other than 'There will be new software shortly'. This was at the end of April.

I tried to update again today but nothing new.

I have the timestamp issue also with my E90 camera. Sometimes when I format it in the H520, it works again for a while but the next time I use the drone it's incorrect again.
The text printed on the pictures is only with the E30Z though. There is a setting called 'OSD display' which you can turn on and off, but it doesn't make any difference.

The manual doesn't say anything about all this. Online there is even less information.

Another thing is that if you pinch zoom on the screen with the E30Z connected, it shows you a red circle with 'x 0.1' in it. It looks like that might be the speed of the zoom control (as it is about 10x slower than the 2.55 seconds advertised). But there is no way to change that 'x 0.1'.

Another issue that I noticed is when you zoom past the optical zoom and go into digital (there is no way to prevent that from happening because you cannot read the zoom factor in daylight nor can you turn digital zooming off), zooming out seems to optically zoom out but somehow stays digitally zoomed in, giving super bad quality pictures at that moment (imagine a 2.3MP picture cropped by a factor 4....)
Zooming out to 1x seems to solve that problem, but as stated before, it takes ages to zoom back in...

Yet another issue that I think of now is when you tilt in mode1 (where the lever position on the ST16 represents the tilt angle) and you zoom in, your lens looks under the horizon, even with the lever all the way up.
The only workaround is to tilt in the 'dynamic angle', where you have a constant tilt move when the lever is not in the middle. This is super annoying because you cannot feel when the lever is in the middle, it only gives you a tiny beep, which you can't hear when in the wind or next to a road.

Improvements should be:

- Zoom speed adjustable from 0.1 to the max speed physically possible (2.55s according to the marketing talk).
- A higher tilt angle in mode 1
- Better azimuth stability of the gimbal and maybe the possibilty to lock the pan angle.
- Possibility to turn off digital zooming
- Possibility for raw data
- Tap to zoom
- Tap to focus (the autofocus is bad so I put it on manual and then 'far')
- Bigger return to wide soft button and higher contrast zoom factor
- Possibility to put filters in front of the lens (although that would require other hw I guess...)

It could be a great product (for certain applications) but the software falls terribly short for the moment.

Sam.

 

[vr-pilot]

Hi Steve,

My dealer forwarded the issue to Yuneec 6 months ago. Since I heard nothing after a few weeks, I reached out to Yuneec myself but I'm getting very little response other than 'There will be new software shortly'. This was at the end of April.

I tried to update again today but nothing new.

I have the timestamp issue also with my E90 camera. Sometimes when I format it in the H520, it works again for a while but the next time I use the drone it's incorrect again.
The text printed on the pictures is only with the E30Z though. There is a setting called 'OSD display' which you can turn on and off, but it doesn't make any difference.

The manual doesn't say anything about all this. Online there is even less information.

Another thing is that if you pinch zoom on the screen with the E30Z connected, it shows you a red circle with 'x 0.1' in it. It looks like that might be the speed of the zoom control (as it is about 10x slower than the 2.55 seconds advertised). But there is no way to change that 'x 0.1'.

Another issue that I noticed is when you zoom past the optical zoom and go into digital (there is no way to prevent that from happening because you cannot read the zoom factor in daylight nor can you turn digital zooming off), zooming out seems to optically zoom out but somehow stays digitally zoomed in, giving super bad quality pictures at that moment (imagine a 2.3MP picture cropped by a factor 4....)
Zooming out to 1x seems to solve that problem, but as stated before, it takes ages to zoom back in...

Yet another issue that I think of now is when you tilt in mode1 (where the lever position on the ST16 represents the tilt angle) and you zoom in, your lens looks under the horizon, even with the lever all the way up.
The only workaround is to tilt in the 'dynamic angle', where you have a constant tilt move when the lever is not in the middle. This is super annoying because you cannot feel when the lever is in the middle, it only gives you a tiny beep, which you can't hear when in the wind or next to a road.

Improvements should be:

- Zoom speed adjustable from 0.1 to the max speed physically possible (2.55s according to the marketing talk).
- A higher tilt angle in mode 1
- Better azimuth stability of the gimbal and maybe the possibilty to lock the pan angle.
- Possibility to turn off digital zooming
- Possibility for raw data
- Tap to zoom
- Tap to focus (the autofocus is bad so I put it on manual and then 'far')
- Bigger return to wide soft button and higher contrast zoom factor
- Possibility to put filters in front of the lens (although that would require other hw I guess...)

It could be a great product (for certain applications) but the software falls terribly short for the moment.

Sam.

Hi Sam,

as an owner of the H520 with E90 and E10T I can really understand your frustration in all the details. Yuneec should take such reports very seriously as they show "real life, real use" issues.
I suppose you already tried the "trim" switches below the sticks on the St16S? For the E10T the right trim switches are used for separate digital zooming of the RGB and the IR image.

 

[SamO]

Hi Sam,

as an owner of the H520 with E90 and E10T I can really understand your frustration in all the details. Yuneec should take such reports very seriously as they show "real life, real use" issues.
I suppose you already tried the "trim" switches below the sticks on the St16S? For the E10T the right trim switches are used for separate digital zooming of the RGB and the IR image.

Hi vr-pilot,

I think these camera's probably don't sell in big quantities. So they don't really care about follow-up I guess.
I still didn't get a reply from Yuneec on my mail from 13 October....

For the E30Z, the right up and down trim controls the zoom, terribly slow as mentioned. Right/left does nothing.
The left trim up/down increases/lowers the exposure and right/left changes the white balance.

Something else I had during my last 2 assignments is that the gimbal goes crazy and limp during flight. The only way to fix it is to land and reset the H520... Had this problem 6 times now.
I hope this will not occur too much because I don't feel like sending in the camera for repair and lose it for several weeks.
I tried gimbal calibration several times but no change.

Anyway, I hope for some improvements soon.

Sam.

 

[Rayray]

Hi vr-pilot,

I think these camera's probably don't sell in big quantities. So they don't really care about follow-up I guess.
I still didn't get a reply from Yuneec on my mail from 13 October....
...
Anyway, I hope for some improvements soon.
Sam.

Sam, I see you're in Belgium.

I understand your frustration with Yuneec EU. If they finally contact you let us know.

I think you are right about the Zoom camera quantities sold. Now, to add to that, they are releasing a new E30Z in order to fit it to the H520E, which has an "X" camera mounting. Meaning that the older E30Z will disappear.

These zoom cameras have an incredible zoom, but because of the low resolution they make poor quality pics and videos. For all-around purposes one also needs the 1" high-res camera.

I wish you good luck...

 

[terrence davidson]

considering that the cameras between h520 and h520e cost the same. there are mixed indications if they are discontinuing the first gen h520. most h520 payloads in the usa are back order status with few exceptions one being the e50 which I consider to be overstock that not moving. even the c23 for the plus is on back order status. right now I waiting for the h520e version of the zoom camera is out before purchasing one. that's after I get my hands on the h520e with e90x camera from my preorder. I want to see how much if any improvement was made just by the new gimbal mount. oh yeah you folks in the EU most of the h520e equipment is in stock ready to be shipped out from some of the dealers in Poland area now. only major item on waiting list is the flight battery.

 

[Lica]

Hi vr-pilot,

I think these camera's probably don't sell in big quantities. So they don't really care about follow-up I guess.
I still didn't get a reply from Yuneec on my mail from 13 October....

For the E30Z, the right up and down trim controls the zoom, terribly slow as mentioned. Right/left does nothing.
The left trim up/down increases/lowers the exposure and right/left changes the white balance.

Something else I had during my last 2 assignments is that the gimbal goes crazy and limp during flight. The only way to fix it is to land and reset the H520... Had this problem 6 times now.
I hope this will not occur too much because I don't feel like sending in the camera for repair and lose it for several weeks.
I tried gimbal calibration several times but no change.

Anyway, I hope for some improvements soon.

Sam.

I am in the States and having a similar loss of control issue with my H520 CGOET camera also requiring the H520 power to be cycled. The gimble starts spinning the CGOET uncontrollably when the camera rotated to the 90 degree or straight down position. All other camera angles operate as normal. This appeared to be a gyro issue but after calibrating the gimble and then the H520 sensors; the problem remained after each sensor calibration. This problem does not occur using the E50 or E90 cameras. I recalibrated the H520 sensors since I noticed the loss of gimble control hasn't occurred at lower altitudes (<20m). I reached out to Yuneec but still waiting like everyone else. I did speak with a service tech, who said recently he has seen a few other H520's having similar problems with the CGOET but bench testing the camera reveals nothing. He thinks it maybe a software issue since most have reported this problem after a recent CGOET software update. He recommended trying to revert back to the previous software. I haven't had time to try removing the most recent CGOET camera update. I wonder if anyone else has luck fixing this problem.

 

[Rayray]

considering that the cameras between h520 and h520e cost the same. there are mixed indications if they are discontinuing the first gen h520. most h520 payloads in the usa are back order status with few exceptions one being the e50 which I consider to be overstock that not moving. even the c23 for the plus is on back order status. right now I waiting for the h520e version of the zoom camera is out before purchasing one. that's after I get my hands on the h520e with e90x camera from my preorder. I want to see how much if any improvement was made just by the new gimbal mount. oh yeah you folks in the EU most of the h520e equipment is in stock ready to be shipped out from some of the dealers in Poland area now. only major item on waiting list is the flight battery.

I think you should have your 520E before long. This world-wide virus has affected all aspects of production and distribution.
I believe Joe, the Yuneec EU boss, is working hard to set things right.

Are you in Louisiana, Terrance?

 

[vr-pilot]

Hi vr-pilot,

I think these camera's probably don't sell in big quantities. So they don't really care about follow-up I guess.
I still didn't get a reply from Yuneec on my mail from 13 October....

For the E30Z, the right up and down trim controls the zoom, terribly slow as mentioned. Right/left does nothing.
The left trim up/down increases/lowers the exposure and right/left changes the white balance.

Something else I had during my last 2 assignments is that the gimbal goes crazy and limp during flight. The only way to fix it is to land and reset the H520... Had this problem 6 times now.
I hope this will not occur too much because I don't feel like sending in the camera for repair and lose it for several weeks.
I tried gimbal calibration several times but no change.

Anyway, I hope for some improvements soon.

Sam.

Hi Sam,
regarding the "crazy going gimbals phenomenon" I can confirm that E90 and E10T both tend to loose their roll and tilt axis leveling capability.
The 2.40.3 gimbal FW (is it one for all cams or is each "2.40.3" file a dedicated version for E50, E90, E10T(v) and even CGO-ET?) needs at least a short stopover on the ground for letting the E90 re-level itself. For the E10T a restart of the H520 is needed (IIRC), which makes downtime significantly longer.
The E30Z seems to have its "own" FW 2.62.2 though.
Regarding FW: In May this year I had to let the EU service check both my E90 and E10T because both cams from one day to the other hang "loose" below the copter. My first thought was that in the end the 2.40.3 FW killed at least one of both cams gimbal motors. But I was told that it (luckily) was just a gimbal FW problem which they fixed with a test version and I should not update or calibrate in the meantime... (?)
LONG STORY SHORT:
A few weeks ago a friend took a look at my E10T and he wondered why the camera is not self balanced at all. (Indeed both E90 and E10T roll to one side quite distinctively.)
I told him that he actually is right because also large gimbal systems for big cameras must always be well balanced before usage, because otherwise you will experince jitter and off leveling...
Although I don't like the idea of adding (counter-) weights to the drone in order to fix unbalancing, I am afraid it will be the way to go...

 

[terrence davidson]

back in ohio now

 

[Steve Carr]

If you are referring to balance when the camera is powered off, you can use a weighted putty to level it.

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[vr-pilot]

If you are referring to balance when the camera is powered off, you can use a weighted putty to level it.

View attachment 23566View attachment 23567

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Hi Steve,

thank you for the advice! Probably it is the best (and easiest) way to fix the unbalancing of gimbals when they are powered off.
I just ordered 25 g and could check it by next week.

 

[vr-pilot]

Hi vr-pilot,

I think these camera's probably don't sell in big quantities. So they don't really care about follow-up I guess.
I still didn't get a reply from Yuneec on my mail from 13 October....

For the E30Z, the right up and down trim controls the zoom, terribly slow as mentioned. Right/left does nothing.
The left trim up/down increases/lowers the exposure and right/left changes the white balance.

Something else I had during my last 2 assignments is that the gimbal goes crazy and limp during flight. The only way to fix it is to land and reset the H520... Had this problem 6 times now.
I hope this will not occur too much because I don't feel like sending in the camera for repair and lose it for several weeks.
I tried gimbal calibration several times but no change.

Anyway, I hope for some improvements soon.

Sam.

Hi Sam,

just a little correction on my post regarding the functionality of the trim switches when using the E10T.
The RGB image can only be zoomed via a zoom gesture on the display. The IR image can only be zoomed by the trim switches: trim up/right = zoom in, trim down/left = zoom out.
I noticed this today when trying to zoom in the RGB image during a wild boar search over corn fields. The RGB zoom level icon on the touch screen can be very annoying because due it its high opacity and centered placement it unfortunately obscures the view on the target. This was especially bad during todays night/dawn mission.
The separate trim bar zoom function (up/down for RGB, left/right for IR) I told of was more a wishful thinking... It would really be an innovation: when not using the zoom gesture on the screen you still get the independant actual zoom levels displayed on the status bar (only readable in dark/night mode).

 

[SamO]

Sam, I see you're in Belgium.

I understand your frustration with Yuneec EU. If they finally contact you let us know.

I think you are right about the Zoom camera quantities sold. Now, to add to that, they are releasing a new E30Z in order to fit it to the H520E, which has an "X" camera mounting. Meaning that the older E30Z will disappear.

These zoom cameras have an incredible zoom, but because of the low resolution they make poor quality pics and videos. For all-around purposes one also needs the 1" high-res camera.

I wish you good luck...

Hi Ray,

Yes, Belgium, with their wonderful impossible drone rules. We're supposed to switch to EU drone regulation on 1 January but nothing is clear at this moment....

The Yuneec customer support is a disaster. I still didn't hear anything from them.
I know about the H520E and the new mount. This makes the support for the 'old' stuff even worse I guess.

So as from 1 January 2021, the new drone laws in the EU will go into effect. All drones (in 'open category') will have to have a 'C' marking which will indicate the weight class. They also need a transponder so that they can be identified by law enforcement from the ground. The law makes it impossible for old drones to be retrofitted with the 'C' standard. None of the manufacturers speak about this as far as I can see. There is a transition period but people will be limited flying close to buildings and people, eg 'old' drones over 2kg will need to stay 150m away from buildings and people. Good luck with that.
For that reason, I will not even think about switching to a H520E because it doesn't look 'C' compliant.
I will probably steer clear from Yuneec altogether next time as their support is basically non existent.

 

[DoomMeister]

Hi Ray,

Yes, Belgium, with their wonderful impossible drone rules. We're supposed to switch to EU drone regulation on 1 January but nothing is clear at this moment....

The Yuneec customer support is a disaster. I still didn't hear anything from them.
I know about the H520E and the new mount. This makes the support for the 'old' stuff even worse I guess.

So as from 1 January 2021, the new drone laws in the EU will go into effect. All drones (in 'open category') will have to have a 'C' marking which will indicate the weight class. They also need a transponder so that they can be identified by law enforcement from the ground. The law makes it impossible for old drones to be retrofitted with the 'C' standard. None of the manufacturers speak about this as far as I can see. There is a transition period but people will be limited flying close to buildings and people, eg 'old' drones over 2kg will need to stay 150m away from buildings and people. Good luck with that.
For that reason, I will not even think about switching to a H520E because it doesn't look 'C' compliant.
I will probably steer clear from Yuneec altogether next time as their support is basically non existent.

Such a sad state of affairs when good money is spent on a commercial grade aircraft and the manufacturer doesn’t maintain good support for its product. Looks like the US is not too far behind the EU when it comes to closing the skies to older aircraft.

You can drive a classic car, you can fly a classic airplane, but you can’t fly a three year old drone. Go figure.

 

[Rayray]

Very true. I guess you can fly older drones if you can do your own repairs. And the demise of leaded high-test petrol put a crimp in some of the older "hot rods".

Yuneec is apparently trying another reset. Their last USA reset didn't go too well so we'll see. Meantime the E30ZX should be getting more tests soon. Anyone who has a hand-held cam with zoom finds it next to impossible to get decent video with more than 10 or 15X. Inherently, drones can not compete with tripods, lol.

I personally wish Yuneec well, I like the forum and would not like to see it go into the sunset. Hang in there, Sam, if and when the virus is behind us (mid-2021?) the drone situation will stabilize.

 

[DoomMeister]

I hear you on Yuneec doing well! I love their hex series aircraft and wish they would give their customer base more engaging support and become more involved with this forum. Not just placating words , but real involvement with incorporating ideas from our membership and promoting their product by helping solve problems through use of the forum. I am sure it would be less expensive utilizing a tech on the forum and educating our members than running phone support.

For the older out of production systems why not release technical documents to help those that own them a chance to keep them working. I know I would invest my money in a company that actively supports their customers, rather than force them to buy another system because their present one can no longer be maintained. I would rather buy the new to supplement the fleet and not replace it.

 

[Mike Irish]

I hear you on Yuneec doing well! I love their hex series aircraft and wish they would give their customer base more engaging support and become more involved with this forum. Not just placating words , but real involvement with incorporating ideas from our membership and promoting their product by helping solve problems through use of the forum. I am sure it would be less expensive utilizing a tech on the forum and educating our members than running phone support.

For the older out of production systems why not release technical documents to help those that own them a chance to keep them working. I know I would invest my money in a company that actively supports their customers, rather than force them to buy another system because their present one can no longer be maintained. I would rather buy the new to supplement the fleet and not replace it.

Well said Sir. I feel the same way. Why invest into Yuneec's latest and greatest knowing it will meet the same fate as last year's model.
I love my H Plus but if Yuneec cant support me with updates to firmware and spare parts well I will look elsewhere.
Mike

 

[vr-pilot]

Hi Steve,

thank you for the advice! Probably it is the best (and easiest) way to fix the unbalancing of gimbals when they are powered off.
I just ordered 25 g and could check it by next week.

It has been a while since 24th of October 2020, but just last weekend I tried the gimbal balancing fix with the help of tungsten putty.
As you can see on the photos I applied the heavy self adhesive putty to one side of the E90 gimbal and on two locations at the E10T.
I was quite astonished because of the small amount of counterwights of about 5 gramms each. The "trick" is to place the putty at the farthest outer possible location in order to make the most use of the lever effect of the respective gimbal arms.
Both gimbals are now very well balanced, but until now I had no time to test this modification. I hope that this helps to prevent the gimbals from looking sideways...