Zenmuse Z3 - first photos and impressions

[Droneworxs]

How would the Z3 compare to the olympus 14 -42mm on the X5R for zoom capability . which one has the most zoom

 

[mikeL]

With the price drop on the x5 i am now trying to decide which to get as I can't afford both as an upgrade to the x3. How would you compare the quality at 3x zoom? £800 vs £1500 - how about the quality of video when zoomed in?

I am primarily looking at survey work but having an x5 I guess would open up other media related opportunities?

Is it worth the extra?

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[AnzacJack]

just got my camera and wanted to add this incase others having same issue
been trying all to get firmware on the bird updated and having all sorts of issues. Im still at 1.4 so tried updating to both 1.8 and 1.9 but would not work. Ive just switched back to my x3 and now it seems to be updating ok. For some reason the Z3 wouldnt do it. Once its all updated ill hopefully put the Z3 back on and all will be sweet.
(fingers crossed)

 

[CCDD]

Mine arrives tomorrow, fingers crossed as well.

 

[Mad_angler1]

Any thoughts on lens distortion compared to the X3 ?

 

[AnzacJack]

have just flown and all seems fine. gimbal did a couple of strange jumps, a couple of times.Almost like some form of lag from the control, nothing too concerning though.
My one concern is the vision on my ipad doesn't seem very good quality. I haven't checked picsfrom the memory card yet to see what the actual photos are like. Im not sure if something is wrong with my settings after firmware upgrade, but I was pretty sure my steamed footage to ipad was much better before.

 

[Mad_angler1]

Just a note to folks there appears to be a FW issue with some people getting poor live feed in 4K and 2.7k, lag and breakup, reports are its fine in 1080P, it's been reported to DJI by one of their reps so hopefully there will be an update soon.

 

[AnzacJack]

great, thanks for that. Im going out again in a bit so will check the settings. I don't normally use 4K but maybe the new camera has defaulted to 4K

 

[Mad_angler1]

great, thanks for that. Im going out again in a bit so will check the settings. I don't normally use 4K but maybe the new camera has defaulted to 4K

Let us know [emoji106]

 

[AnzacJack]

The camera did pretty well today although I wouldn't say i am amazed at this stage.

The camera gets a bit laggy at times (maybe up to a second sometimes). I turned it to 1080 but didn’t make a big difference. The vision on the ipad was not real flash, but the pics turned out not so bad although some did seem to be focused well

One problem I did have was it was a bit shaky , even when not zoomed and especially when pointing straight down. It definitely doesn’t like looking down and will shake to the point where the gimbal will come up with an error about reaching end points and will stop working. Just tilts and wont stabilise. I have it mounted to the original x3 mounts and wonder if I may need to upgrade to the stronger mounts made for the X5.

I also noted that the pics taken with RAW settings are only optical zoom and not the digital. But then i guess that what RAW is so no big problem there

 

[Mad_angler1]

The camera did pretty well today although I wouldn't say i am amazed at this stage.

The camera gets a bit laggy at times (maybe up to a second sometimes). I turned it to 1080 but didn’t make a big difference. The vision on the ipad was not real flash, but the pics turned out not so bad although some did seem to be focused well

One problem I did have was it was a bit shaky , even when not zoomed and especially when pointing straight down. It definitely doesn’t like looking down and will shake to the point where the gimbal will come up with an error about reaching end points and will stop working. Just tilts and wont stabilise. I have it mounted to the original x3 mounts and wonder if I may need to upgrade to the stronger mounts made for the X5.

I also noted that the pics taken with RAW settings are only optical zoom and not the digital. But then i guess that what RAW is so no big problem there

The digital zoom is in the app only and all card pics and video will be 3.5x optical only , you would zoom the rest in post.

As for the shaking not seen that mentioned so trying the V2 gimbal plate my a a good idea.

 

[AnzacJack]

yes i may have to get the bigger gimbal plate. Im assuming its a pretty easy change over?

 

[lake_flyer]

The digital zoom is in the app only and all card pics and video will be 3.5x optical only , you would zoom the rest in post.

That's only true in 4K.
Total zoom (optical plus digital) in resolutions up to 2.7 is PRE.
In 4K there is no digital zoom at all. So you would have to crop in POST to get the same enlargement as in the other resolutions. But that's cropping, with all the negative side effects that cropping does.
Let's not mix up cropping and zooming. Two different things.

 

[AnzacJack]

It would be good to hear from DJI, if changing to the X5 bracket will make a difference with the shaking. I dont mind spending money if I know it is of value, but after spending $1600 AU on a camera that is a step backwards from the standard, im not so keen on forking out another $200 on a mount that may do nothing.
Its a shame more testing wasnt done before release.

 

[CCDD]

Do we need this FW to properly use the Z3?

 

[The Editor]

Nowhere are there figures quoted for the maximum bitrate for the Z3 (DJI seem to be purposely omitting this important information now!).
Has anyone inspected the files coming off the Z3 to determine where the bitrate tops out at?
My guess is it will still be pegged at a poor 60mbps.

 

[Zap222]

want the Z5

 

[CCDD]

returning my z3

 

[Mizamook]

Curious: What is the effective difference between the Z3 ($899) and the Osmo+ with the Z3 on it? ($649)??

 

[AnzacJack]

maybe the Osmo+ will work?