Resolution and quality issues with our Typhoon H-plus hexcopter

[Louiselliott]

Hello all,
I am new here on YP. I am a photographer so perhaps I am looking at this issue through the wrong lens. (pun intended). But, my father and I have a yuneec H plus hexcopter and we are having s lot of trouble with getting good looking still images out of the c23 camera. we have experimented with adjusting virtually all of the resolution settings and camera modes and can't seem to find the sweet spot where our resolution and image quality is suitable for our needs. We use our copter for roof inspections and without the best image quality it is challenging to make definitive conclusions about the condition of a roof. Does anyone have Idea as to why our images look so poor? And/or, does anyone have suggestions or a fix for low resolution output issues? We need help! Please and Thank you.

 

[Mrgs1]

Why not post a couple of photos, then people might be able to give you some ideas. There's a few who really know their stuff.

 

[FlushVision]

Hello all,
I am new here on YP. I am a photographer so perhaps I am looking at this issue through the wrong lens. (pun intended). But, my father and I have a yuneec H plus hexcopter and we are having s lot of trouble with getting good looking still images out of the c23 camera. we have experimented with adjusting virtually all of the resolution settings and camera modes and can't seem to find the sweet spot where our resolution and image quality is suitable for our needs. We use our copter for roof inspections and without the best image quality it is challenging to make definitive conclusions about the condition of a roof. Does anyone have Idea as to why our images look so poor? And/or, does anyone have suggestions or a fix for low resolution output issues? We need help! Please and Thank you.

The image quality obtained by the c23 camera is generally regarded as quite good by those pro users that use it. Not the very best out there but unless you spend thousands you ain't gonna get the best there is.

There could be a wide array of reasons why you aren't seeing good looking still images which range from user inexperience in setting up the camera to mechanical/electrical/optical issues. For example:
Mechanical...vibrations being transferred through to the camera via the gimbal... badly unbalanced props? Too stiff dampener grommets? etc. This will be noticeable with video but can effect still pictures.;

Electrical...I'm not an expert in this area, maybe someone else can chip in here?

Optical...misaligned lens? dirty lens (it's not unheard of for greasy fingerprints to be on the lens through bad practice in the manufacturing process. etc.

Best you post a few pictures so we can have a go at narrowing the issue down a bit. I presume you are shooting in 4K?

 

[DoomMeister]

The first thing that comes to mind is the photo format. Are you using DNG or JPG in your workflow? The JPG’s from the C23 are known to be over saturated and contrasty. The DNG’s require post processing, but record an image with much more latitude and allow much more detail to be pulled from the shadows if they are not over exposed.

As the others have suggested, post a couple of examples here for us to better understand your problem.

 

[johnnyb57]

Heres one I took with the c23, but I brought into PS added the clouds and played with the hue a little oh and it was on auto ?

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

@johnnyb57, as mentioned in the post above yours, if this JPG came directly from the C23, the visual issues you are seeing are inherent in the C23's output to JPG format. This is the fault of the engineers at Yuneec and is a known issue. For a test, next time shoot in the JPG+DNG mode to directly compare the output between the two formats. Your usable results will come from the DNG.

 

[johnnyb57]

,

@johnnyb57, as mentioned in the post above yours, if this JPG came directly from the C23, the visual issues you are seeing are inherent in the C23's output to JPG format. This is the fault of the engineers at Yuneec and is a known issue. For a test, next time shoot in the JPG+DNG mode to directly compare the output between the two formats. Your usable results will come from the DNG.

I do but , in order to post it have to save it as jpeg, also in PS its imported as a raw file

 

[Ty Pilot]

As a 20 Megapixel camera attached to a flying platform, the C23's imagery is about as good as it gets in the sub 2K price range. The JPG's are way over-sharpened using too large a radius making them just about useless for any serious photographer. The DNG's on the other hand, are very good.

Below are two photos I took shooting DNG+JPG. I have reduced the sizes of the images to fit on this screen and I used the same reduction process on both. The JPEG is in its original condition with no post work except the reduction. The DNG was first brought into PS and the exposure was reduced and the fill light was increased, slight adjustments were made to bring the colors back out and a very slight amount of sharpening used. The DNG was then exported and saved as a PNG.

JPEG




PNG

 

[NorWiscPilot]

To really get into possible issues and suggestions, any chance of posting some images of your actual subjects, that is... roofs?

Having the exif data can help as well. Just saying “everything was auto” tells us nothing. There may be a need to go full manual to match conditions to desired capture.

Just a thought.

Jeff

 

[rolyexpress]

I am having issues with my H520 E90 that are similar. My photos, especially when moving (for mapping) are really bad quality when compared to my DJI P4P. I noticed jitters in my videos and thought this might be related, so I'm currently looking more into it. I replaced a gimbal damper that was really loose/broken compared to the others but this didn't help. I'll keep looking.

 

[Ty Pilot]

It will be almost impossible to help you without actually 'seeing' what you are seeing. I've seen photos and video from a P4P and a MP2 as well as from my H Plus and I can tell you that the H Plus imagery is on par or better than both of those others.

Can you tell us more about the problem and how you are setting up your camera? Do you know what the settings where at the time of shooting? And are you using Jpeg's or DNG's for photo are are you perhaps just shooting video and grabbing individual frames as photos? If you're taking frames from video, those will be of far less quality than a single photo and this is especially true if grabbing frames from a 1080 video and even far worse grabbing from a 60 FPS video frame.

 

[NorWiscPilot]

I am having issues with my H520 E90 that are similar. My photos, especially when moving (for mapping) are really bad quality when compared to my DJI P4P. I noticed jitters in my videos and thought this might be related, so I'm currently looking more into it. I replaced a gimbal damper that was really loose/broken compared to the others but this didn't help. I'll keep looking.

@rolyexpress,

Regarding your “jitters”... have you performed any bench testing to rule out camera vibration or “buzz”?

1) Set your aircraft on a table.
2) use the camera slider to slowly change the camera angle through its range.
3) set the pan control to a slow pan and repeat step 2. May also vary the pan speed for more testing.

If you hear a buzz or vibration, that is the cause of your jittery video. In my case, the vibration started on it about the -30 degree camera deflection (angling down , that is.). It continued down to vertical, and would not quit until either brought back to horizontal, or sometimes required power cycle.

You should be able to find many discussions of jello, buzzing, and vibrations for both the E90 and the C23. The E50 is not immune either.

Some fixes have been achieved with:

-firmware (upgrading and downgrading)
-dampers (one E50 was “fixed” by using CGO3+ style versions)
-counterweight
-the latest: a special parameters application (code upload to camera) by our friend @Steve Carr. (Others may have teamed with Steve; just cannot recall at the moment.)

Not to be forgotten, other factors can contribute to this condition including as propeller imbalance, wind, flying style, temperature. With the latter, as those dampers get cold, their flexibility decreases. Personally, I have noticed this when temps were in the single digits.

Do some testing, if not done previously. Then use the search feature of this site. Flying is optional!

Good luck!

Jeff

 

[NWSaint]

As a 20 Megapixel camera attached to a flying platform, the C23's imagery is about as good as it gets in the sub 2K price range. The JPG's are way over-sharpened using too large a radius making them just about useless for any serious photographer. The DNG's on the other hand, are very good.

Below are two photos I took shooting DNG+JPG. I have reduced the sizes of the images to fit on this screen and I used the same reduction process on both. The JPEG is in its original condition with no post work except the reduction. The DNG was first brought into PS and the exposure was reduced and the fill light was increased, slight adjustments were made to bring the colors back out and a very slight amount of sharpening used. The DNG was then exported and saved as a PNG.

JPEG
View attachment 18466



PNG

View attachment 18467

WOW!.. the difference there is amazing btwn. the 2..
So for video footage (instead of still shots) what settings would you recommend ??

.. btw, i'm running with your standard T-H with a CGO3+ 4K UHD camera.


NW.

 

[Ty Pilot]

WOW!.. the difference there is amazing btwn. the 2..
So for video footage (instead of still shots) what settings would you recommend ??

.. btw, i'm running with your standard T-H with a CGO3+ 4K UHD camera.


NW.

For video, the important thing is to keep the shutter speed at twice the FPS, so if I am shooting at 30 FPS, I will set my shutter speed to 1/60 and use an ND filter to get the exposure right. Also on the CG03+, I always made sure after boot up to lock the WB, or select one other than auto as auto white balance will be changing constantly as you fly and position the camera.

 

[NWSaint]

Also on the CG03+, I always made sure after boot up to lock the WB, or select one other than auto as auto white balance will be changing constantly as you fly and position the camera.

Man that's GOLD right there.. much appreciation.. stay healthy & take care.


NW.

 

[PISQUE1969]

Heres one I took with the c23, but I brought into PS added the clouds and played with the hue a little oh and it was on auto ? Wow, that's not very good...