Zenmuse Z3 - first photos and impressions

Richard M · Oct 14, 2016

I have been working with DJI Support to resolve my video transmission lag and break-up issue. And it is strictly a Z3 specific problem. I have been flying the X3 on the same firmware (1.9.1.30) with no issues at all. One positive is that at least the techie who is assisting me has been corresponding in a timely manner.
I am not sure if there is any firmware update that DJI is working on to solve this problem. At least the techie did not mention anything. He had me uninstall, then re-install the DJI GO app on both my iPads, then he had me downgrade the remote fw from 1.7.40 to 1.6.0 then upgrade back up to 1.7.40 again. Lastly, he had me downgrade the aircraft and camera fw from 1.9.1.30 to 1.8.1.00 then upgrade back up to 1.9.1.30 again. Now, I am unable to do a test flight due to stormy weather forecast in my area for the next several days, but now, a new problem has emerged: The aircraft will not go into Travel Mode. It thinks a gimbal is installed when there is nothing there. Good grief - shoot me already!

CCDD · Oct 14, 2016

I returned my Z3 as did many others. By the time DJI walks you through all of their troubleshooting steps, you'll be way past your return deadline and/or the Inspire 3 will be out.

Richard M · Oct 14, 2016

User error on the Travel Mode issue. The troubleshooting exercise was being done on my kitchen table and it was too shiny. I put a black book underneath the aircraft and it happily entered Travel Mode. What a relief! Serves me right for trying to do all this when I am tired and well past my bedtime. Now, all I need is a sunny day and a test flight with the Z3 performing normally.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jbundy63 · Oct 14, 2016

I recieved my Z3 a few days ago and have flown 4 flights at a distance of 4500 feet each flight, all seems to work well as far as live video and photos, I did have lag and freeze up in 4K which I normally don't use as of yet due to I don't have a monitor to run it. Overall I was pleased with the smoothness of the zoom and was excited to see the video feed was stable and not shaky, even at zoom. I was a little confused at first because the camera came in free mode and took a little to figure out why the camera was pointing all over the place and really confused my orientation of the aircraft LOL so reset to follow mode. The weather here has been rainy, will update after I have more flights. Hoping everyone else gets their issues resolved soon. Safe Flying!

Sky Pictures · Oct 16, 2016

Richard M said:
Experimented with the Z3 on a flare inspection for a client today.

Drone is 65 feet away from, and elevated 70 feet above the top of the flare. Total linear distance 95 feet. No zoom applied. Image resized to 33% to reduce file size:
View attachment 9920

This one is from the same position as above but zoomed in optical 3.5x. Image resized to 33% to reduce file size: (edit - just realized there was no digital zoom since my video setting was 4K at the time)
View attachment 9921

This is the exact zoomed-in image as above but with the subject cropped out and shown at the actual resolution captured:
View attachment 9922

Hello sir. Good you do us all a great favor and experiment with the several quality encoding settings I've heard about in the Z3? Is it possible to record h264 in over 60 mbit/s?

Thank you!

AeroVisionz · Oct 16, 2016

Richard M said:
I have been working with DJI Support to resolve my video transmission lag and break-up issue. And it is strictly a Z3 specific problem. I have been flying the X3 on the same firmware (1.9.1.30) with no issues at all. One positive is that at least the techie who is assisting me has been corresponding in a timely manner.
I am not sure if there is any firmware update that DJI is working on to solve this problem. At least the techie did not mention anything. He had me uninstall, then re-install the DJI GO app on both my iPads, then he had me downgrade the remote fw from 1.7.40 to 1.6.0 then upgrade back up to 1.7.40 again. Lastly, he had me downgrade the aircraft and camera fw from 1.9.1.30 to 1.8.1.00 then upgrade back up to 1.9.1.30 again. Now, I am unable to do a test flight due to stormy weather forecast in my area for the next several days, but now, a new problem has emerged: The aircraft will not go into Travel Mode. It thinks a gimbal is installed when there is nothing there. Good grief - shoot me already!

Keep us posted on any developments please.

Richard M · Oct 17, 2016

Sky Pictures said:
Hello sir. Good you do us all a great favor and experiment with the several quality encoding settings I've heard about in the Z3? Is it possible to record h264 in over 60 mbit/s?

Thank you!

Yes certainly. Next time I fly, I will try any and analyze the maximum bitrate attainable with the Z3. I say 'analyze' because I don't have professional video production equipment/software. So, whatever PowerDirector 15 can glean ftom the footage, I will share that with you.

Richard M · Oct 17, 2016

AeroVisionz said:
Keep us posted on any developments please.

Yes, will do.

AeroVisionz · Oct 17, 2016

Richard M said:
Yes certainly. Next time I fly, I will try any and analyze the maximum bitrate attainable with the Z3. I say 'analyze' because I don't have professional video production equipment/software. So, whatever PowerDirector 15 can glean ftom the footage, I will share that with you.

Could you also conduct 2 tests for video, one using 4K/30 and the other using 1080p/30/60 and maybe a few zoomed in/out jpg+raw images as well. Hope I haven't asked for much . Cheers !

Sky Pictures · Oct 17, 2016

Richard M said:
Yes certainly. Next time I fly, I will try any and analyze the maximum bitrate attainable with the Z3. I say 'analyze' because I don't have professional video production equipment/software. So, whatever PowerDirector 15 can glean ftom the footage, I will share that with you.

In programs like MPlayer or Quicktime, you can just playback and press Command+I or I by itself to view media information such as fps and bitrate.

There's surely something like it on windows applications aswell if that's what you're running. Thank you for the trouble!

Sky Pictures · Oct 18, 2016

I found raw 4K Z3 files from July yesterday and inspected them. They were capped at 60 mbit/s.

That doesn't confirm anything though. The several "Standard", "Fine" etc settings I've heard about in DJI GO for Z3 certainly seems new and it might be these were captured using "Standard". If that setting is related to bitrate at all.

Overall, the Z3 looked very much like the X3 but with zoom capabilities. I couldn't tell any difference in IQ.

Richard M · Oct 18, 2016

Am traveling right now, will check 1080/60 bitrate on my laptop when I have a moment. It cannot play 4K so that test will be next week.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Richard M · Oct 19, 2016

AeroVisionz said:
Could you also conduct 2 tests for video, one using 4K/30 and the other using 1080p/30/60 and maybe a few zoomed in/out jpg+raw images as well. Hope I haven't asked for much . Cheers !

Bitrate when shooting in 4K/30 fps is 60 mbits per second. I didn't find any 1080p/60 fps footage shot using the Z3 on my laptop, but I know I have some on my office workstation. See Quicktime Movie Inspector screenshots below. See my posts on page 3 for zoomed in/out jpg images. I will post links to RAW images from my next flight.

Sky Pictures · Oct 20, 2016

Thanks for the effort!

Strat · Nov 13, 2017

Z3 owners are you guys still having video issues or were these finally fixed??

Scoobywrx05 · Nov 13, 2017

Strat said:
Z3 owners are you guys still having video issues or were these finally fixed??

I do not have any video issues with mine (knock on wood) but I also run my image transmission in manual mode at 4 mbps. In auto it will run 10 or 12mbps which have been seeing it causing cpu problems on even the fastest iOS stuff. Other than that no problems at all with mine. Zoom works well, and comparing it to the x3 even tho it has the same sensor I think they used some better glass in it.