Hello Fellow Yuneec Pilot!
Join our free Yuneec community and remove this annoying banner!
Sign up

I adjusted my focus!

I know the GoPro has software which has the ability to remove any lens distortion on edges. The only Phantom 2 Vision+ had such software as well. I would not be surprised if in future, if Yuneec keeps this lens, that software will be available to do this as well.
For video I use a program called ProDrenalin for my Phantom 2 Vision Plus. Google it. For the stills I use something called Gimp 2
 
Last edited:
well if you focus the lens at 3" your depth of field drops to 4.2" with your focus zone being 2" to 6"

since we are shooting aerials and we really don't need close focus focusing on a building or a ridgeline will get you perfectly acceptable results
Good point but, some of us are trying to photograph structures on occasion, even in aerial work it can be nice to get something fairly close in the frame (OK not in the inches range I admit)
However, my point was really that as their seems to be no QC at Yuneec, perhaps they are focussing too close? My images are much worse at distance.
If I re focus myself, what would be the optimum distance to set the focus?
 
According to the calculators I can find the closest match for a 1/2.3" sensor with a 3.6mm lens at f/2.8: the hyperfocal distance is 1.38 feet. Meaning if you focus the lens at 1.38 feet everything from 0.69 feet to infinity will be in focus.
Personally with my lansdcape photography I've never been happy with my results since higher resolution sensors have been available when relying on just depth of field calculators. I tend to use a circle of confusion (basically the largest diameter circle you want a point of light focus to) of 1/2 to 1/3 what most of the calculators recommend. If you use a circle of confusion of .0004mm (about 1/3 of the recommended for a 1/2.3" sensor) the hyperfocal distance is 3.77 feet. If you focus the lens at 3.77 feet everything from 1.9 feet to infinity should be in focus.
For my own use I plan on focusing the standard lens on my CGO3+ at 4 feet. That still gives a close focus distance of just less than 2 feet and everything out to infinity should be good.
Your preferences may vary.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RiverRunner
This focusing issue is such a wide spread problem and yuneec obviously know about it. IF the focusing of the lens is what is needed to correct any blur then they should release a detailed how to guide on how to do it and also state that it wouldn't affect the warranty. If turning the lens works then it could just save their *** and giving owners the go ahead to solve this issue will give them a lot more time to concentrate on QC rather than fixing hundreds of dodgey lenses.

They just to confirm that the focus is the problem and be done with it all.
 
How many times can I say this. it's not a focus problem with these small sensors there isn't a critical focus if it's sharp one foot from the lens its sharp to infinity.

The problem with these cameras is a low RESOLUTION lens, and some bad choices in the signal processing along with a low data rate
So the laws of physics change when you use a smaller sensor? We know you don't like the CGO3+ camera. We know it is limited. We are just trying to extract the best performance we can from it. I don't want to start a fight, but it doesn't help to reply to nearly every camera related comment with your negative opinion of the camera. I think we all know we can get better performance from bigger, different, and/or more expensive cameras, but most of us on this forum have bought the Typhoon H. For whatever our reasons, we want to get the best performance out of this machine. You seem knowledgeable about cameras and video. Instead of telling us our camera isn't any good try to help us out please.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LooseSid
WOW... now that's a helluva comment and very incorrect. Raw is your best bet for exposure recovery and for post sharpening. The small sensor cameras want as much light as they can get and are optimized for a sunny day. to fix the over expose just reduce the EV. Use of ND filters is always going to help by reducing your shutter speed which helps to make your video look less like video and more "Cinema" like.

Yikes! You're regurgitating the tips from the DJI Phantom/Inspire. Tn many cases those work. I like you to take your advice and try it with the Typhoon H and report your results.
 
Have you tried it with the Typhoon?
Not used ProDrenalin with it yet (I've only had 4 flights with the H so far and have been concentrating on flight rather than video) but I think it would be straight forward to make a profile in ProDrenalin for the H. Same with the stills using Gimp: Not had the opportunity but I do know that you wouldn't need to do a profile...you adjust the edges using sliders.

ProDrenalin has a built in pre-set profile for the Phantom 2 Vision Plus (and many other cameras too including Go-Pro) so all you do with that is click on the name and it automatically adjusts the video for lens distortion.

Other features include saturation, stabilization (including rolling shutter), Digital Zoom, etc, etc. Like I say, I think a profile for the Typhoon should be doable if it hasn't already got it as a pre-set.

Google is your friend :)
 
According to the calculators I can find the closest match for a 1/2.3" sensor with a 3.6mm lens at f/2.8: the hyperfocal distance is 1.38 feet. Meaning if you focus the lens at 1.38 feet everything from 0.69 feet to infinity will be in focus.
Personally with my lansdcape photography I've never been happy with my results since higher resolution sensors have been available when relying on just depth of field calculators. I tend to use a circle of confusion (basically the largest diameter circle you want a point of light focus to) of 1/2 to 1/3 what most of the calculators recommend. If you use a circle of confusion of .0004mm (about 1/3 of the recommended for a 1/2.3" sensor) the hyperfocal distance is 3.77 feet. If you focus the lens at 3.77 feet everything from 1.9 feet to infinity should be in focus.
For my own use I plan on focusing the standard lens on my CGO3+ at 4 feet. That still gives a close focus distance of just less than 2 feet and everything out to infinity should be good.
Your preferences may vary.
Refocusing the stock lens does not correct the soft image. It is the resolving ability of the lens that plays a major part in this .
 
That's for doing micro focus adjustments on a DSLR's auto focus, it's not really for what we are needing when swaping out lenses

I'm not doubting you but when I replaced the lens in the GoPro Hero 3 Black edition, the manufacturer who made and supplied the lens sent me a chart similar to that one, and from memory said focus it initially using the supplied chart then mark that position on the lens and camera body with that then take a few still images check on a HD monitor or TV for sharpness and if necessary make very small adjustments by screwing lens in or out very slightly until overhaul you get a perfectly sharp in focus image and if required mark that new position, following there instructions I got a perfectly sharp in focus image, if I can found the instructions it did state the distance to carry out this test but I cant remember that distance off hand but if I found it I will post it here.
 
Not used ProDrenalin with it yet (I've only had 4 flights with the H so far and have been concentrating on flight rather than video) but I think it would be straight forward to make a profile in ProDrenalin for the H. Same with the stills using Gimp: Not had the opportunity but I do know that you wouldn't need to do a profile...you adjust the edges using sliders.

ProDrenalin has a built in pre-set profile for the Phantom 2 Vision Plus (and many other cameras too including Go-Pro) so all you do with that is click on the name and it automatically adjusts the video for lens distortion.

Other features include saturation, stabilization (including rolling shutter), Digital Zoom, etc, etc. Like I say, I think a profile for the Typhoon should be doable if it hasn't already got it as a pre-set.

Google is your friend :)
Great info, thanks!
 
No not "Regurgitating" tips. I've been shooting Movies and TV shows for 30+ years that's how you need to do it. You know why they say that on DJI forums? it works. There is nothing special on the yuneec camera that changes that.
Crap my spelling when typing on a phone sucks (just read my previous post).

I'm not 100% convinced this would work with the Typhoon camera. I have not tried it yet myself. As a DJI owner it does "sometimes" become applicable with that platform depending on lighting and what is being filmed.
 
I am happy to say I was able to get better focus than I had before.
After watching the monitor and taking several JPG's to fine tune it looks much better.

Comparing video's on my Phantom and H it's hard to tell the difference between the two.

Can you post links to your videos from Phantom and H so we can take a look.......thanks
 
I figured that the lens just needed a little turning. Funny Yuneec uses glue to keep it from getting out of focus when they ship it out of focus. Major quality control issue on Yuneec's part and bad for their reputation. Word spreads fast on social media!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: WilsonFlyer
There's no way focusing a lens at 6" on a 1/2.3" sensor will give you the hyperfocal distance. It's going to be several times further than that. If you can focus the lens on infinity the closest object in focus is at the hyperfocal distance.
 
Might want to go and do the math. 6" PoF gets you 3" to infinity

What focal length are you using in the calculations?

I'm using 2.5mm assuming that the lens is actually 14mm equivalent in 35mm full frame terms. The crop factor of 1/2.3" sensors is 5.6.

If you focus it at Hyperfocal, you're looking at about 40cm in front of the lens, but in this case the furthest horizon will just about be within acceptable sharpness, if the lens is a sharp lens. With a lower resolution lens you want to be focusing it further out so the furthest horizon is sharper than at the calculated hyperfocal distance, if you plan on printing large.
 
Last edited:
The GoPro 3+ was shipped originally with the camera focused too close. Many who used these for aerial photography complained and returned them to be refocused or replaced. My Xiaomi Yi was also focused too close for AP. I refocused it myself for a great distance. It works fine now.
A lens is only precisely focused at one distance. If you want to shoot mostly subjects at a long distance, then you need to focus it at a long distance.
There are online calculators for hyperfocal distance but these do not do well for our type of photography. Many are based on viewing an 8 x 10 print at a close distance, not a 4K image on a 50" screen.
 
According to the calculators I can find the closest match for a 1/2.3" sensor with a 3.6mm lens at f/2.8: the hyperfocal distance is 1.38 feet. Meaning if you focus the lens at 1.38 feet everything from 0.69 feet to infinity will be in focus.
Personally with my lansdcape photography I've never been happy with my results since higher resolution sensors have been available when relying on just depth of field calculators. I tend to use a circle of confusion (basically the largest diameter circle you want a point of light focus to) of 1/2 to 1/3 what most of the calculators recommend. If you use a circle of confusion of .0004mm (about 1/3 of the recommended for a 1/2.3" sensor) the hyperfocal distance is 3.77 feet. If you focus the lens at 3.77 feet everything from 1.9 feet to infinity should be in focus.
For my own use I plan on focusing the standard lens on my CGO3+ at 4 feet. That still gives a close focus distance of just less than 2 feet and everything out to infinity should be good.
Your preferences may vary.

i'm with you, circle of confusion is what to watch for focus evaluation and figures calculations. Cinematographer's abc
 
Here is an example of the difference between sharp and acceptably sharp. I am planning on changing the lens on my GoPro 3+ to the Peau Productions 3.97 mm one. I was always happy with the sharpness of the existing lens but wanted a narrower field of view and less fisheye. My new lens should arrive soon but in the meantime, I loosened the old lens and tried refocusing it to see if there would be any improvement. You can easily see the difference. The original setting on the left and refocused on the right. These are 100% crops from the full size and were taken about a minute apart.refocus.jpg
Using a hyperfocal distance close to the camera will give an acceptably sharp image at a distance, but if most of what you are shooting is at a certain distance, then you should focus at that distance for maximum sharpness. Objects which are 6" from the camera may be out of focus now, but I will never have my copter that close to something.
 

New Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
20,954
Messages
241,586
Members
27,284
Latest member
csandoval