Longer (6mm & 8mm) PixAero Lenses Now Available!

[Eagle's Eye Video]

I'll see what I can do. The weather is poor at the present and I had intended to have the lens fitted soon. I bought three cheap CGO3+ and this is the worst of the lot. The lens really is quite poor and I can see why some have complained about the quality. The best is almost as good as my Pixaero 3.77mm, although there is a colour tint.

Exactly my experience. 2 CGO3+... one OEM that was not bad at all, but I upgraded with the PixAero 3.77... second OEM was noticeably worse, and that was initially swapped with the Peau 8.25 and has now been upgraded to the PixAero 6.0. I'm going to be calling CD to get an update from them... weather has played a big part in the delay with this project. As soon as I have my camera sent back, it will include comparison video and photos from all 3 lenses... Pixaero 3.77, Peau 8.25 and PixAero 6.0.

 

[PatR]

Looking forward to the comparison. Thanks for putting in the effort.

 

[Rubik]

I finally got time to pull the stock lens out of my early CGO3+ and install the Pixaero 6mm lens. I took a photo of the neighborhood out my window before and after. The focus on the new lens is not perfect yet but I'm getting close. What concerns me more is that the Pixaero 6mm lens is only ONE turn into the stock mount when focused. That is not enough. I guess I'll have to tear down the camera more and replace the mount with the new one supplied by Pixaero. Uhg! Does anyone know how to remove the stock mount that is glued to the sensor board?

 

[Rubik]

I finally got time to pull the stock lens out of my early CGO3+ and install the Pixaero 6mm lens. I took a photo of the neighborhood out my window before and after. The focus on the new lens is not perfect yet but I'm getting close. What concerns me more is that the Pixaero 6mm lens is only ONE turn into the stock mount when focused. That is not enough. I guess I'll have to tear down the camera more and replace the mount with the new one supplied by Pixaero. Uhg! Does anyone know how to remove the stock mount that is glued to the sensor board?

OK, I just found Richard Gilmore's video on the subject. The mount supplied with the 6mm pixAero lens is no longer than the stock mount. According to Gilmore, pixAero has a longer mount available which I just now ordered. Does anyone know if the PeauProductions longer lens mount have the same threads? I might be able to get that faster than the pixAero mount from Russia.

 

[PatR]

I don’t know if they will match but some weeks back was informed by Peau they try to ship immediately when they have the product in stock. You might call them tomorrow and ask about it.

 

[Rubik]

Thanks. I'll give a try.

 

[Rubik]

I don’t know if they will match but some weeks back was informed by Peau they try to ship immediately when they have the product in stock. You might call them tomorrow and ask about it.

I just received the Peau longer lens mount. Boy, it's only a little bit longer than the black stock mount. But its threaded all the way to the end whereas the stock mount threads are recessed a bit. So, there should be enough thread engagement to hold the lens secure. Also, the square base is smaller. It fits snugly around the sensor and the screw holes line up just fine but I have some more adhesive to scrape off so that it sits flat. I'll post again when I get everything working.

 

[Graham]

I made some flights yesterday with a view to comparing CGO3+ lenses.
The lenses were a stock Yuneec lens, Carolina Dronz (CD) 3.77mm, Pixaero 3.77mm, Pixaero 6mm and Peau 8.25mm. Dngs were shot at 100 ISO, natural, sunny and 1/400s settings. Ambient light appeared quite consistent. The camera was pointed straight down and photos taken at three altitudes, 5m, 10m and 15m as indicated on the ST16s display. I did not have time to make comarison videos.
The dng photos are here;
Camera comparison 17 Feb18 for Yuneec Pilots.zip

 

[oliver]

I made some flights yesterday with a view to comparing CGO3+ lenses.
The lenses were a stock Yuneec lens, Carolina Dronz (CD) 3.77mm, Pixaero 3.77mm, Pixaero 6mm and Peau 8.25mm. Dngs were shot at 100 ISO, natural, sunny and 1/400s settings. Ambient light appeared quite consistent. The camera was pointed straight down and photos taken at three altitudes, 5m, 10m and 15m as indicated on the ST16s display. I did not have time to make comarison videos.
The dng photos are here;
Camera comparison 17 Feb18 for Yuneec Pilots.zip

fantastic & professional job, thank's

 

[rdonson]

Other than focal length/FOV differences were there lenses that stood out as better for sharpness, color and aberrations to anyone?

 

[PatR]

Thanks, and well done. Using your unaltered DNG examples, the raw photo quality and light management capabilities of the lenses make it appear the PixAero 6mm wins the magnification stills. The CD 3.77 at 5m appears to be a bit more color accurate (less yellow) for the dirt areas than the others from the same distance. The Peau 8.25 obviously provides more magnification than the PixAero 6mm but the PixAero should require less work in post processing. With either the Peau or PixAero someone doing inspection work would be well served with stills resolution and be able to maintain a safe distance from the subject although the Peau might need more color correction effort in post.

Working with color correction for all three lenses from the 5m height it seems the Peau is more difficult to color correct than the other two.

It will be interesting to see how well the gimbal stabilizes the 6mm and 8.25mm lenses for video. That may well end up the deciding factor when having to make a choice between the two. For stills I'd have no problem using either one.

 

[oliver]

It will be interesting to see how well the gimbal stabilizes the 6mm and 8.25mm lenses for video. That may well end up the deciding factor when having to make a choice between the two. For stills I'd have no problem using either one.

exactly

 

[Graham]

Thanks! I am very grateful for your detailed comments.

 

[PatR]

You're most welcome, and I thank you for doing such a good job with the comparisons. Because of you others will be able to make qualified lens choices!

 

[Rubik]

I made some flights yesterday with a view to comparing CGO3+ lenses.
The lenses were a stock Yuneec lens, Carolina Dronz (CD) 3.77mm, Pixaero 3.77mm, Pixaero 6mm and Peau 8.25mm. Dngs were shot at 100 ISO, natural, sunny and 1/400s settings. Ambient light appeared quite consistent. The camera was pointed straight down and photos taken at three altitudes, 5m, 10m and 15m as indicated on the ST16s display. I did not have time to make comarison videos.
The dng photos are here;
Camera comparison 17 Feb18 for Yuneec Pilots.zip

Nicely done! Are you running 5 different cameras?
Looking at each .dng photo in both Windows 10 "Photos" and "Windows Photo Viewer" on a 4k monitor, here's what I see:

Peau 8.25mm:

• narrowest view
• greenish tint to car
• darkest overall, deep shadows
• sharp overall

pixAero 6.00mm:

• slight greenish tint to car
• lightest overall (over exposed?)
• corners darker
• corners out of focus

pixAero 3.77mm:

• slight blueish tint to car
• right side out of focus

CD 3.77mm:

• blueish tint to car
• dark overall

Stock 2.50mm (est):

• widest view
• white car is white
• sharp
• uniformly exposured
  
• detail visible in shadows

Actually, I'm disappointed in the pixAero 6.00mm lens results. I hope mine does better. The stock lens is doing a really good job in this comparison.
There may also be variations in the sensors and the accuracy of lens focus adjustment. I have not attempted any post processing color corrections.
Thanks Graham for posting these real results.​

 

[Graham]

Yes, I have 5 cameras. I got 3 cheaply from the USA and the fourth at a good price from Richard Gilmore. Richard has been doing the lens fitting for me as I have a tremor in my hands and I no longer feel comfortable doing delicate work.

Thanks for your detailed comments. I am slightly disappointed in the Pix 6mm too. There were problems with the supplied mount and this was replaced with one that was slightly longer. Even so, it was hot glued for security. The 6mm is back on sale and it seems still with the short mount. Pixaero were contacted about the mount some weeks ago.

6mm PixAero lens For Yuneec Typhoon H CGO3+ and other | eBay

 

[pctyphoon]

Thank you very much for doing this. I think I am going with the Peau because it will serve me the best in SAR! I really appreciate the work and I told Frank at Carolina Dronz to go ahead and order the Peau! Also, Pixaero does not have the 8mm in production....

 

[PatR]

I sort of look at edge issues in different ways. If there is any blurring on a single side I figure it's derived from a non centered lens. If it's all the way around it might fall more under barrel distortion. Unless someone has a very specialized jig to set lenses it's real easy to set one that leans to one side or the other, especially if the lens mount is very short or could be positioned off center at the board.

Each lens certainly provides their own attributes, and what we do with them most of the time would impact which we would choose. SAR work is more about clearly defining what's being passed through the camera so minor color shifts are less important than magnification. Someone performing inspections where colors are indicative of a failure issue might settle for a little less magnification but need more accurate color representation. The post processing program used by people with stock magnification lenses would influence lens choice due to ability, or lack of, their post program in dealing with color correction. I have yet to find a one size fits all camera and lens. Nice thing about digital, we got to take film types and film processing out of the equation.

 

[rdonson]

I mostly shoot 4K video and an occasional DNG on my TH480 CGO3+.

I looked at all the photos in Adobe Lightroom on my 27" iMac.

I'm really surprised by how well the STOCK lens did vs. the CD 3.77 lens. The color in the STOCK lens was a LOT better and no significant difference in sharpness.

That doesn't mean that I couldn't have corrected for the color shifts in the CD 3.77 in Lightroom but It's a bit more tedious in video. I have one CGO3+ that's not nearly as sharp as the STOCK lens in this test. The CD 3.77 has a somewhat smaller FOV which is is fine with me but I'd hate to give up the STOCK color for a small improvement in FOV.

 

[PatR]

Kind of shows there’s not a lot of consistency across all the security cam lenses, which is what these essentially are. I was also surprised by the image from that stock lens. I have three of them and none of them are that good.