A bit different this question. I am keen nature photographer, I like to get photo's or video of truly wild animals, in the past I have caught shots of Otters, Brown Bear, Red deer swimming a lake. But when using a drone (Spark at the moment) I can never get close enough. So, I was hoping that the Mavic zoom would be the right tool, but the zoom is still not enough. I only post my videos on Youtube so my question is (yes I have got round to it) If I film in 4k ( Mavic Pro) can I then zoom in CLOSE in post edit?
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- Thread starter chris pascoe
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Dodge DeBoulet
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You can certainly zoom/crop in post, but you'll lose effective resolution. Optical zoom on the camera itself is the only option if you wish to maintain full 4K.
I understand that, so how far can you zoom in? I am finding that filming wildlife if you get closer than 200 meters they get spooked. As I said I only post in YT so does any know how far I can effectively zoom digitally and still post reasonable video?
PhantomFandom
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PhantomFandom
Well-Known Member
If the M2Z does not have enough optical zoom power for you and if you need to stay out at 200 meters or so, I think you would need to move up to a higher end craft like the Inspire 2 with either a X5S or X7S camera. Then you could choose from a variety of lenses including zoom lenses. I believe Panasonic has a 45mm-175mm zoom lens that will mount on the X5S camera. Of course the lens itself costs more than your Spark, but it depends on how dedicated you are to your hobby.
PhantomFandom
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Don't think you will find any reasonable and practical way to do it. Think about it...
Optical zoom requires focal length. Focal length requires a longer lens barrel and thus additional weight. Not only would it look like an elephant trunk on a Spark, but there's no way the gimbal could support that kind of weight. You need to move up to a bigger drone.
It's not optical but I occasionally use the screen record function of the mini4 and when I play it back from the camera roll, you can pinch and zoom different parts of the footage but it gets grainy and it's only the 720p you see on the screen.
Not what you are looking for but an option.
Dodge DeBoulet
Well-Known Member
"Reasonable" is a relative term.
When you implement a digital zoom, you're effectively cropping the image in such a way that it frames the object you wish to present, then using a transformation algorithm that scales that frame to fill the target canvas size. That algorithm can be simple (pixel multiplication) or complex (vectorization), with results that are also dependent on image complexity, contrast and color depth.
With the Spark, you're operating at a bit of a disadvantage from the get-go because it's photographic images are of middling resolution compared to modern DSLRs, and its video is an unremarkable 1080p/30.
Like others have said, if you're intending to get professional quality results, you will likely need professional quality equipment. The Spark is an awesome piece of technology and quite suitable for casual photography and video, but it's not even at the "prosumer" level for image quality.
nilanjan118
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If you film in 4k, you can effectively zoom in 4x in post editing and get a 1080p resolution video which is good enough for playback on most computers, phones and tablets.
Dodge DeBoulet
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I believe you mean 2x zoom, not 4x. A 2x zoom doubles both the vertical and horizontal size of the image, which would mean that the 4K dimensions of 3840x2160 would be halved to 1920x1080 and scaled by a factor of 2 to fill the 3840x2160 canvas. A 4x zoom into a 4K image would result in a 960x540 effective resolution.
With Mavic 2 Zoom, if you are recording in 1080p/30 or lower, you can zoom 4x lossless, while flying.
Don't need to do it in post.
nilanjan118
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I think you have mis read my post, I am aware that the spark is a budget option and will never produce the results I am looking for. The question was. How far (optical equivalent) can I zoom in on 4K (Mavic Pro) and still have a watchable video posting on You tube. I am not looking for professional quality, but I am lead to believe that 4k has a lot more detail and therefor could take some? zooming in post edit.
Yes I have seen many examples on fat tube, and they are IMO not going to help. But the question was zooming in on 4k footage in post?
Thanks for your post. So what would that 960x540 image look like.......rubbish? If as you say it's x2 then that would only put me at a 100 meters (so to speak) and still not very close. I guess I need a quiet drone?
so if I had a Mzoom and shot in 4k and used the optical zoom x2 so no loss so far? and then zoomed in post would that work?
Yes I agree, and I was n't really intending to try anything with the spark. But thought using 4k via any higher spec drone would allow me to zoom in post and still have an image at least as good as a spark up close? er
If 4x zoom of M2Z isn't enough for your needs, then zooming manually, in post, a 4k video, is useless too.
As said before, you should go for more "pro" (and costly) solutions.
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