Best zoom lens?

[SRJ_Inspire _2_ES_MD]

What is the best zoom lens for the I2? And how does the zoom work? Sorry totally a newbie with my I2 and X5S....

Thanks in advance,

Stephen

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Hi Stephen. There are 2 zooms that are supported on the X5S. The Panasonic 14-42mm and the Olympus 9-18mm. They work basically like any other lens with the exception that the 14-42 is a powered zoom and you can change focal lengths from the ground (you can use the app or the focus hand wheel to control the zoom). The 9-18 is a manual zoom so you need to set your focal length on the ground and land to zoom in or out. Also, the 9-18 uses a balance kit that adds weight to the back of the X5S by changing out the back plate to a heavier one - its a little more difficult to get perfectly balanced because of the weight and how the weight shifts as you zoom in or out. The 14-42 is not regarded by most people (with a very critical eye) as a cinema style lens but a lot of people in real estate work use with no problems at all - same thing for aerial survey or some inspection work. It is nice to have the power zoom and all the range it gives you. The 9-18 is probably a better lens and fills the gap for people needing a very wide angle option. Hope all is well and that this helps point you in the right direction!

 

[SRJ_Inspire _2_ES_MD]

Thanks Michael for the info!! That clears up things some!
Hope you are having a great summer and a good week.

 

[PatrickP]

Thanks Michael for the info!! That clears up things some!
Hope you are having a great summer and a good week.

check out this link

X5S compatible lens and balancing thread

a member of the forum has been using a 45 to 175mm panasonic lens.

 

[Eric Braun]

What is the best zoom lens for the I2? And how does the zoom work? Sorry totally a newbie with my I2 and X5S....

Thanks in advance,

Stephen

The Olympus 14-42 zoom also works. I use it a lot to see what perspective I want to use for a shot. But then I put on a prime lens for the actual shot. These lenses aren't very good compared to the primes. They are a little soft on the edges and have some chromatic aberrations... depending on settings. The Panny 14-42 is a slightly better lens than the Oly 14-42, but the Oly definitely works too.

 

[Photologist]

Hi... I use the Panasonic 14-42 PZ for high quality golf course shoots. The optics are very good, and the power zoom works well with the handwheel2 for smooth slow precise zooming. Works fine with iPad mini as well.... I use a B+W MRC xspro UV in 37mm, with the br-6 ring and a glassless Tiffen ring as a hood. This is in Florida sun. The DJI br 6+17 rings weigh 23 gm. The setup I use weighs 21 gm. This lens chatters a bit at less than 18 gm. It is fine with the 17 gm br17 and the B+W filter at 26 gm. Hope this helps... BTW, I own the high quality Olympus 12 & 45mm primes as well, but the Panasonic performance is excellent on 4K and 5.2K....

 

[PatrickP]

Hi... I use the Panasonic 14-42 PZ for high quality golf course shoots. The optics are very good, and the power zoom works well with the handwheel2 for smooth slow precise zooming. Works fine with iPad mini as well.... I use a B+W MRC xspro UV in 37mm, with the br-6 ring and a glassless Tiffen ring as a hood. This is in Florida sun. The DJI br 6+17 rings weigh 23 gm. The setup I use weighs 21 gm. This lens chatters a bit at less than 18 gm. It is fine with the 17 gm br17 and the B+W filter at 26 gm. Hope this helps... BTW, I own the high quality Olympus 12 & 45mm primes as well, but the Panasonic performance is excellent on 4K and 5.2K....

interesting, I didn't get this particular lens due to a common complaint of softness on the edges, do you have that problem or is there something you did to mitigate it?

 

[theirishdroneranger]

I tested my pani yesterday and the results were not good at all. Lots of jelly effect. The zoom function worked well though. Does yours beep at both 14 and 42mm?
Have put a post up about my issues.

 

[Ftolino]

Pano 14-42HD works great. You'll get jello if your zoom out all if you're moving fast. I don't get any really.
Be sure to get either heavier ND filters or balance rings

 

[theirishdroneranger]

Pano 14-42HD works great. You'll get jello if your zoom out all if you're moving fast. I don't get any really.
Be sure to get either heavier ND filters or balance rings

Cheers for the response but this is not while zooming I'm afraid but all the time. Its almost like the props vibration is causing it, or similar. These are the official dji balance rings so I can't understand why they aren't sufficient.

 

[nicopter]

hi,
ranger you could try use another set of props. Maybe one is badly balanced. You also can try to balance your props, it may help. I haven't done yet on Inspire (need specific tools/rings) as I don't have problem with the 15mm, but it may be helpfull for specific lenses that are on the borders of the operating range of the gimbal.

Thank you Florida for your clear explanations on the two zooms.
I'm on my side looking for a wider solution than the 15mm.
12mm: a bit expensive, and maybe the difference with 15mm dealing with frame coverage is not huge.
9-18mm: problem with pictures in the border of the frame (jpeg artifact), I did not take much information about it (I1 and I2?), that plus a relatively hight chromatic aberration can lead to a lot of job to do on picts before sending them. I wonder if CA can become a problem on 4k footage as it cannot be removed.

 

[Photologist]

interesting, I didn't get this particular lens due to a common complaint of softness on the edges, do you have that problem or is there something you did to mitigate it?

No softness to note, sometimes in compound zooms, dropping a stop cleans the edges, Also zooms like these can suffer from "well my copy is fine" inconsistency, like the Canon 100-400, Tamron 150-600, or the Pentax 16-50. All great lenses, with a "lottery" risk....