ISO Feedback on Typhoon H

[Agent K]

Hello everyone, I've been reading on this forum and the DJI forum for the last 45 days or so and I love the community you have here, full of great people with similar interests.

Backstory -

I own a development and creative agency that has about 40 niche clients across the US. We do production work for a number of clients for TV. However in the last six months we are getting more and more requests for drone production work for TV commercials, or manufacturing shots indoors.

Currently we have not offered those services and referred them out since we didn't want to pursue the 333 exemption. Now we/I intend on getting our license to operate commercially.

Feedback -

After countless hours doing research I'm torn between 3 drone companies and of all the forums this forum seems to be the most unbiased out there, which I really appreciate. What we are looking at is the Typhoon H, Inspire 1 v2, or 3Dr Solo (meh).

The drone will be used for TV production work, surveying, and could and likely may be used for agricultural imagery since we are in Wisconsin. Of all 3 drones the Solo is nearly crossed off our list, while I like the company and the commercial support, it seems to be the least versatile for creative purposes.

We love the Typhoon H because of the hex, versatility with Realsense which will be a huge asset for us in commercial production work. Where I'm lost with it is the reliability of the hardware, ability to be used as a multi purpose drone, and I cannot find much on the agricultural side of it. The Inspire 1 v2 seems to have the credibility as a flagship for production work, the camera systems to support it, and now seems to be an affordable contender when considering investing in multiple drones.

Unfortunately and fortunately I'm a relationship guy and tend not to have an Apple phone and a Samsung tablet. So I buy into one system or company and I buy in deep for redundancy and service. Can anyone help clear the air for me thats had practical hands on experience with the Typhoon H against these other two drones?

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

[Rayray]

Prepare for the deluge...Personally I think you need something in a higher cost bracket.

 

[JCFlippen]

You need the Inspire (no redundancy ) or perhaps the Tornado 920 with CGO4 that is about to be upgraded.

I love my H and it works for my present client's needs but I am lucky in having a good one out of the box. I use two ST16s for team mode.

For business although the H is called a Pro thats just marketing it has no bearing on the quality of service you will need - unless you are in the UK.

If you really are set on the H then you will need a couple of them at least that are set up properly. Mickeyboo has first hand experience of professional use along with good video -look up his posts.

 

[Agent K]

You need the Inspire (no redundancy ) or perhaps the Tornado 920 with CGO4 that is about to be upgraded.

I love my H and it works for my present client's needs but I am lucky in having a good one out of the box. I use two ST16s for team mode.

For business although the H is called a Pro thats just marketing it has no bearing on the quality of service you will need - unless you are in the UK.

If you really are set on the H then you will need a couple of them at least that are set up properly. Mickeyboo has first hand experience of professional use along with good video -look up his posts.

Thank you for the feedback. I've looked at the Tornado 920 but that also seems to carry a few more of the growing pains the TH has dealt with. Is Yuneec getting better at quality when you refer to "out of the box"?

Looked up Mickeyboo, thank you for that, he is about an hour and 15min south of me as the drone flies. As for the Inspire do you feel its dated equipment in comparison to Yuneec's offerings?

 

[Tuna]

If you're doing TV work, I'd discount the 3DR and H. Much though I love the H, it doesn't have the flexibility for production work (lenses, filters, high ISO range etc.).

On the whole you need to be looking at higher end machines - the Yuneec H920 and Inspire are at the bottom rungs here. But then, you really can't treat these things as a sideline - to fly well, you need a practised operator and probably a second operator on the camera. You also need to consider maintenance, down time and upgrades.

The issues of course are that they are big machines - not something you can fly around your house. You could mitigate that somewhat by buying into a brand that has a range of devices that can cover your needs.

I'd strongly suggest you try and find a local operator who can spend some time with you and show you the realities of the kit. You can get awesome results, but it's not a fire and forget thing.

 

[Typhoon Charlie]

I build custom drones and have several customers in the film making business. I own an H and several other consumer drones. When filming commercially, it is all about the camera. The Inspire raw with the X5R camera is about as good as you are going to get without going custom and a pro camera like a red. I have a customer with 2 Inspires v2 with X5R and the raw video is awesome, the aircrafts are also very well made but like I said it's all about the camera.

 

[Agent K]

I said it's all about the camera.

Absolutely this is very true, or your editing skills. Do you feel the H could deliver the same footage as the Inspire 1 with an X5R if edited properly? Looking at the camera systems thats where I am stuck. Realistically all I need the drone capable of shooting is -

29.97fps in 1080i or 59.94fps in 720p

Do you feel the H capable at these frame rates to shoot "editable" footage for 5-8 seconds of a 30 second spot?

 

[Typhoon Charlie]

Absolutely this is very true, or your editing skills. Do you feel the H could deliver the same footage as the Inspire 1 with an X5R if edited properly? Looking at the camera systems thats where I am stuck. Realistically all I need the drone capable of shooting is -

29.97fps in 1080i or 59.94fps in 720p

Do you feel the H capable at these frame rates to shoot "editable" footage for 5-8 seconds of a 30 second spot?

Oh sure, if those are your requirements then yes. I am used to customers who want to shoot 4K for TV and big screen. You can see many videos on Youtube taken with the H that are very good quality. Here is a raw one I did using CCC no editing .If you are looking for the redundancy of the hexacopter then the H is it. If a quad is OK then I would look at the Autel X-Star premium, I have one and the camera I feel is better than the H.

 

[eric bee]

inspire with x5 is good for tv, because you have much better sensor and low light is possible and indoor room position is better too... so if it's possible better invest in that system...

another important thing is you have with the typhoon h a big latency... in two ways. the control have a delay and the picture transmission too. inspire with lightbridge give you accurate control without delay and the video transmission is very stable ...

I still like the idea of the typhoon h. but the quality management is bad and the software is buggy. here we see clear that DJI is some years longer on work...

 

[Agent K]

inspire with x5 is good for tv, because you have much better sensor and low light is possible and indoor room position is better too... so if it's possible better invest in that system...

another important thing is you have with the typhoon h a big latency... in two ways. the control have a delay and the picture transmission too. inspire with lightbridge give you accurate control without delay and the video transmission is very stable ...

I still like the idea of the typhoon h. but the quality management is bad and the software is buggy. here we see clear that DJI is some years longer on work...

Whats your take on the Inspire 1 v2 from an age point of view. Do you feel the hardware is a little older, like purchasing the an iPhone 5s when the iPhone 6 is already out? Also whats your take on DJI customer service? Everything I've read here thus far supports superior customer service with Yuneec, so long the drone and not the operator are at fault.

 

[eric bee]

I teach fly drones... and I have often the possibility to compare phantom, inspire, my typhoon h, and sometimes other typhoons or q500 4K ...
yes the inspire is an older model and the remote control of the H is nice.... but you have the delay in control of st16 and the inspire v2 with the x5 is miles away from the typhoon h. and the Inspire fly rocksteady without any delay. the software is good and stable. and the x5 cam is the best on the market at moment in that price point.
the CGO3+ starts make noise when it's dark with Iso 100. with a x5 the noise starts like a Panasonic G4 at 800 with noises...

I have started years ago with phantom1. u have seen how they grow up with their models.... that's needed to YUNEEC too, they must grown up...

concept and idea of the H is a nice...
but the quality and the software damage all the goods. I hope yuneec will have soon updates which makes the things better...
but you can't compare the sensor of cgo3+(GoPro) with a x5(Panasonic G4).

 

[QuadBart]

Some really good responses from forum members with applicable experience. Given what you want to do, and the choices you've posted, I'd agree that the Inspire would be a better choice as you can change the cameras out and have true 2 pilot capability.

 

[samsflite]

Agreed, it's all about the camera and Inspire with X5 will be the best route currently. We're all hoping Yuneec comes out with an X5 competitor that can be attached to the Typhoon H, but currently that's not a thing unfortunately. You will get so much better low light handling and editing flexibilty with an Inspire with X5, although it's significantly more money and doesn't have the redundancy.

 

[ArnhemAnt]

In this day and age, we all get so caught up on what is the 'latest, and greatest' and we all MUST have the newest thing on the market. But, how much of these 'new' features do we actually need or use??

Do you NEED 4k camera quality for what your end results are going to be??
Do you need to have two dedicated controllers to get the shots you want??
Etc,etc
Seriously think about this...

I would argue that a high percentage of people on this forum (and elsewhere) do not need to push things to the limits. I would also argue that the vast majority of the users just don't have the depth and understanding to make the most from what they have.
Just look at Mickeyboo - he has shown what can be achieved with a YTH. Why? because he understands the background and just what it takes to get the most from a certain shot in a certain location - and he has the understanding with editing/post production.

This frame is a very capable flying platform and the video is great (if you know what you are doing). It is not going to suit everyone as it takes a little understanding to get the most from it, but then again, that's not always a bad thing.

 

[Agent K]

I would argue that a high percentage of people on this forum (and elsewhere) do not need to push things to the limits. I would also argue that the vast majority of the users just don't have the depth and understanding to make the most from what they have.

Just look at Mickeyboo - he has shown what can be achieved with a YTH. Why? because he understands the background and just what it takes to get the most from a certain shot in a certain location - and he has the understanding with editing/post production.

This frame is a very capable flying platform and the video is great (if you know what you are doing). It is not going to suit everyone as it takes a little understanding to get the most from it, but then again, that's not always a bad thing.

This is where I'm stuck at this point. Similar to Mickeyboo our production work experience and team put us in a great spot understanding/competence in how to get the shot and post production work. I agree with the feedback on the Inspire relative to specs for commercial work and being a platform to just get the job done and more or less taking more time out of post production, but that may also require the Inspire to log more flight time.

Flight time relative to wear, then customer service, it seems Inspire or any DJI pilots absolutely hate DJI's customer service. That issue alone weighs in far more than what the platform is capable of, I refuse to waist hours chasing customer service issues.

I've been looking at the Autel X Star it seems they really have a fantastic product as well, anyone have any feedback on it?

 

[banned user]

because its true its always about the camera, I'm hoping Yuneec or someone will make a reasonably priced gimbal for this this camera which is designed exactly for aerial remote control
Blackmagic Design: Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera

 

[JCFlippen]

The problem in this modern world is clients don't take advice on suitable kit for a job any more. They dictate they want whatever camera you haven't got! If you have Canon 5D they want Panasonic GH4 and vice versa. If you have Red they want Arri. When you explain that certain cameras will give similar results for a particular application they won't listen. It is hard to win.

On your own productions it is fine for you to use what you want but remember no amount of post production will make a CGO3+ camera look and feel like GH4 or Canon 5D. If you give your H video your own "special" look then no one will query it. Having said that most broadcasters have a machine that can spot iffy pictures when they check specs for transmission.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

FWIW, I'm an amateur hobbyist, but RC flying and photography are my passions... as an AMATEUR.

Having said all that, I own multitudes of DSLR's and mirrorless systems. I also happen to own (among other multis) a Typhoon H, a Phantom 4, a Phantom 3 Pro and an Inspire 1 v2. In the interest of full disclosure, my Inspire only has the X3. I just couldn't see the investment in the x5 for my purposes.

I fly'em all.

The Inspire with an X5 RAW is your machine. It's in-budget. Redundancy is affordable. And it's a micro 4/3 system with interchangeable lenses. No contest with the three you named. Period. 3 3DR is essentially a Phantom so I covered that in a way in what I have, though I don't actually have that one.

I will throw this out there. It may make sense to by yourself a Phantom 4 to learn on. You may also be pleasantly surprised what it can do. It could be all you need, especially while you get your feet wet. Transitioning to the Inspire, should you see a need to, will be a breeze (Get the two controller version of the Inspire for separate camera control.) mostly because the software is the same.

I'd love to be able to mount my a6300 or even my 80D or Mk III on a multi, but it's just not practical inside my hobby budget, and even if I could, the on-ground feedback in realtime and control just isn't there yet.

That's my 2 cents worth. That and $5 will get you a decent cup of coffee.

 

[DerStig]

Inspire with X5r. The Yuneec doesn't even come close

I shoot features and premium cable shows and no one will accept the "quality" of the Yuneec products even the cgo4. 5D's and black magic's don't cut it anymore either. Shows are shot on Sonyf55's, Panasonic Varicam's, Red's or the Alexa family (including the Alexa 65) The X5r can be graded to look close to those cameras.

 

[Marnix Verschraegen]

If you would like to use the CGO3+ you need at least to change the lens
for example with the PixAero 3.77mm f2.8 16mp (108USD)
and hope they will update to camera so we can user a higher bitrate.

O yes if i had the money i would go for the tornade H920

Marnix