DJI X5 Lens Test Olympus 14-42mm

benjo · Apr 23, 2016

Is no one using this lens for photography with Lightroom?

benjo said:
Is anyone using this lens for stills, especially with Lightroom?

I've noticed that regardless of focal length, the DNG metadata is always reporting 14mm. This is causing LR to apply an incorrect automatic lens profile. The result is 42mm stills are treated as 14mm stills and massive pin-cushioning is introduced.

Would be good to know if this behaviour is the same across the board, or if something in my set up is duff.

tweaker · Apr 23, 2016

On a side note and slightly off topic- Had 14-42mm fitted today flew in fresh winds.mid to upper teens w/s and had a bit of jello/shake in footage.
Befor I start checking prop balance etc has any noticed if high winds move the gimbal?

Andreas Hansen · Apr 23, 2016

Another one from today, same lens:

Best,
Andy

Richard M · May 3, 2016

seanmclean said:
Used it for a damage inspection today.

No editing done to it, but a great lens for inspections.

Hi Sean - I am particularly impressed with this video and would like to reach out to you for advice. I own an industrial inspection company and presently use an Inspire 1 with an X3 camera. Next month I have to do an inspection of a 200 ft. tall boiler stack. To do this inspection properly I would like to get your thoughts on the following points:

1. If I use the X3, how close to an object would I need to fly to capture details like cracked and spalled mortar and missing bricks?
2. Do you think using an X3 is too risky considering I would have to fly too close to my subject?
3. If I upgrade to an X5, would you recommend I use a 14-42 mm lens like you did for the church steeple, or should I get a 45 mm instead?
4. I have zero experience balancing cameras, how does one identify whether balancing is needed?
5. When you captured the church steeple, how far from the roof and bell tower was your Inspire 1?

Basically, I want to be able to do this job effectively and at minimal risk of crashing my Inspire 1 into the stack. I will be operating under an SFOC (Canada), the area will be cordoned off, all nearby structures are steel, and no people will be near the stack when the drone is in flight, so the only risk will be to my asset.

*Sorry for so much off-topic content like the X3 but I could not use the "conversation" feature of the forum with a message containing more than 420 characters.

Thank you in advance,

Richard

AllanM · May 3, 2016

^^ http://www.scantips.com/lights/fieldofview.html may help you with field of view. So at 10M distance the sensor will cover 3.8M horizontal distance with a 45mm lens, 14M with 12mm lens.

IMO, the 45MM lens may be too restrictive, you lose definition as you move away. 14-42 looks ideal for this type of work.

Richard M · May 3, 2016

Thank you Allan. That's a great link!

seanmclean · May 3, 2016

Richard M said:
Hi Sean - I am particularly impressed with this video and would like to reach out to you for advice. I own an industrial inspection company and presently use an Inspire 1 with an X3 camera. Next month I have to do an inspection of a 200 ft. tall boiler stack. To do this inspection properly I would like to get your thoughts on the following points:

1. If I use the X3, how close to an object would I need to fly to capture details like cracked and spalled mortar and missing bricks?
2. Do you think using an X3 is too risky considering I would have to fly too close to my subject?
3. If I upgrade to an X5, would you recommend I use a 14-42 mm lens like you did for the church steeple, or should I get a 45 mm instead?
4. I have zero experience balancing cameras, how does one identify whether balancing is needed?
5. When you captured the church steeple, how far from the roof and bell tower was your Inspire 1?

Basically, I want to be able to do this job effectively and at minimal risk of crashing my Inspire 1 into the stack. I will be operating under an SFOC (Canada), the area will be cordoned off, all nearby structures are steel, and no people will be near the stack when the drone is in flight, so the only risk will be to my asset.

*Sorry for so much off-topic content like the X3 but I could not use the "conversation" feature of the forum with a message containing more than 420 characters.

Thank you in advance,

Richard

You would have to be entirely too close for comfort to get any meaningful detail with an X3. The 14-42 balances perfectly using the DJI Balancing ring. Nothing to guess, just screw it on and you're good to go. I think I was 10-15m away from the tower when capturing that video. I have a 45mm lens as well, but for an inspection I really prefer the 14-42. It allows you to open it up to safely position the inspire, and then zoom in as needed. It can be hard to get the 45mm exactly where you want up close, when you don't have the ability to see the entire view.

Richard M · May 3, 2016

seanmclean said:
You would have to be entirely too close for comfort to get any meaningful detail with an X3. The 14-42 balances perfectly using the DJI Balancing ring. Nothing to guess, just screw it on and you're good to go. I think I was 10-15m away from the tower when capturing that video. I have a 45mm lens as well, but for an inspection I really prefer the 14-42. It allows you to open it up to safely position the inspire, and then zoom in as needed. It can be hard to get the 45mm exactly where you want up close, when you don't have the ability to see the entire view.

Thank you Sean. That was most helpful!

GaryWrench · May 5, 2016

Just fitted the 14-42mm Olympus lens and DJI balancing ring, impressed. Theres no Autofocus though or am I missing something? pretty tricky focussing in the app on the fly..

seanmclean · May 5, 2016

GaryWrench said:
Just fitted the 14-42mm Olympus lens and DJI balancing ring, impressed. Theres no Autofocus though or am I missing something? pretty tricky focussing in the app on the fly..

Just tap to focus. 14-42 is autofocus by default (no on-body switch to turn it off).

GaryWrench · May 5, 2016

seanmclean said:
Just tap to focus. 14-42 is autofocus by default (no on-body switch to turn it off).

Thanks, all I seem to get is a small white box with 'MF' above it on the screen.. doesnt seem to want to autofocus. I'm new to the Inspire having had it about a week , am i missing something in settings?

GaryWrench · May 5, 2016

GaryWrench said:
Thanks, all I seem to get is a small white box with 'MF' above it on the screen.. doesnt seem to want to autofocus. I'm new to the Inspire having had it about a week , am i missing something in settings?

Hmm, sussed now, after a reboot or two I now have something on the app to switch between AF/MF , all I had before was two sliders to zoom and focus. Hopefully it'll appear every time now.
Thanks for help, was beginning to think I'd bought a wrong version of lens!

Fanti · May 5, 2016

Kept bird in same position. Only zoomed from 14 to 42 mm.

apsussex · May 8, 2016

Thought I would try this lens myself, and its not too bad at all. Very useful for inspections, even the FOV at 14mm is quite usable for general stuff. I just put an ND filter on the lens and have no jello and seems well balanced.

apsussex · May 8, 2016

Andreas Hansen said:
Another one from today, same lens:

Best,
Andy

Excellent example Andy, very smooth even at the longer focal length.

Andreas Hansen · May 10, 2016

apsussex said:
Excellent example Andy, very smooth even at the longer focal length.

Thank you very much!

I turned to do all the filming with the 14-42 as of now, even when putting the X5 on the Osmo. For me it is unbeatable to change focal length in the air - my personal killer feature.

You get more artifacts vs a fixed focal lens (chromatic aberrations mostly), but it is worth it.

Ikopta · May 10, 2016

apsussex said:
Thought I would try this lens myself, and its not too bad at all. Very useful for inspections, even the FOV at 14mm is quite usable for general stuff. I just put an ND filter on the lens and have no jello and seems well balanced.

So, you used the ND instead of the balance ring, or with. I have been using balance ring, but cant find an ND to fit the balance ring.

apsussex · May 10, 2016

Ikopta said:
So, you used the ND instead of the balance ring, or with. I have been using balance ring, but cant find an ND to fit the balance ring.

Yes, just an ND filter without the balancing ring. So far so good.

apsussex · May 10, 2016

Andreas Hansen said:
Thank you very much!

I turned to do all the filming with the 14-42 as of now, even when putting the X5 on the Osmo. For me it is unbeatable to change focal length in the air - my personal killer feature.

You get more artifacts vs a fixed focal lens (chromatic aberrations mostly), but it is worth it.

Totally agree and with a usable 14mm on the wide it really is a great all rounder.

ringolong · May 18, 2016

Seen this on FB

*USEFUL TIP Olympus 14-42mm Lens*

When using the 14-42mm lens you will noticed that the lens never pancakes back down when you power off. It appeared the only way you could do it was to put the lens on a normal MFT camera and do it that way.

I have now found out how to do it on the Inspire. What you need to do is turn the controller off first, then turn the Inspire off. The then lens pulls in. I would advise taking your props off first before doing this just for safety. Although I have tried several times and the motors haven't activated.