X5 always slightly out of focus

spero · Feb 12, 2017

Hi all,

I wanted to see if you had any ideas as there a lot of you that know substantially more that me on this site. I am an above average pilot and have been flying fixed wing rotor, and multi rotor for many years. The filming part is newer and I am slowly getting better and better at that part.

One Issue I seem to keep having is that when using the X5 camera, my video is almost always slightly out of focus using the M.Zuk 12mm lens. I have let it auto focus. I have manually set it to infinity. I still get this crummy focus.

If I use the X3, its perfect. X5 there is an issue most of the time.

I do use polar pro filters so could they cause this? I have bought a X5 Raw so I will have that in the next few days to see if its the camera itself. I also bought a 15mm and zoom lens to see it that is the issue. I am just lost. What the heck am I doing wrong. This is an I1. I have uploaded a trimmed but not retouched file from today to show what I mean, Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Ryan

AeroMirage · Feb 12, 2017

Have you done lens calibration?
Have you tried without the polar pro filter? Once there was a guy whose problem was a bad filter.

spero · Feb 12, 2017

I have done the calibration butbit always used one of a few filters.. It sunny here so a filter is almost always a must. I may try a new set to see if they are causing it.

AeroMirage · Feb 12, 2017

Or try lens for a few minutes without filter to see if anything changes.

spero · Feb 13, 2017

I'll do that. I believe I have always had a filter. I'll see what lens only does.

Feet Up · Feb 13, 2017

spero said:
Hi all,
I have let it auto focus.

Hi Ryan,

That level of out of focus is not your filters. Auto focus is an active process. It will not occur without you tapping for focus and it does not continuously focus during shooting (mentioned because that is not clearly defined and causes a lot of early confusion). When you tap a focus point in auto are you getting correct focus on your device?

spero · Feb 13, 2017

I thought I could just focus to infinity for all of the far off objects to be in focus. I would understand if these things were close but if I focus on a far out object it works sometimes. Others not. So I had just manually set to infinity for that video. A lot of the time, it looks on the iPad but when I get home... No bueno

SanCap · Feb 13, 2017

Have you tried the focus peaking mode?

AeroMirage · Feb 13, 2017

On my rig, Focus peaking is always on. Works great.

spero · Feb 13, 2017

Hmm... I'll look into that one, thanks

Inspire1vision · Feb 13, 2017

AeroMirage said:
On my rig, Focus peaking is always on. Works great.

What exactly does focus peaking do?

Sent from my iPad using InspirePilots

AeroMirage · Feb 13, 2017

Outlines anything in the image that is in focus.
For more info see: X5 Red lines explained

spero · Feb 14, 2017

Focus peaking and removal of ND filter helped. Still not sharp enough. Getting closer!

giumick · Feb 16, 2017

spero said:
Focus peaking and removal of ND filter helped. Still not sharp enough. Getting closer!

Could be your camera settings pal. I came from long term R/C flyer (mainly 3d fixed wing) to the drones and the X5R. I had to write off some of our first footage due to my settings. It has took me some learning to get good clarity from a full manual setting as i was a auto point shooter previous. Ours was slightly more in focus but just not good enough too.

Hope you get it sorted, its just a suggestion and hope i haven't caused offense.

Cheers
Mick

spero · Feb 16, 2017

No offence at alll! I suck at the video part. I can fly the hell out of just about anything but the video settings and techniques of high end cameras is another thing.

I did more reading and found my aperature settings were a big part. I have been flying in full auto which is a rookie thing to do. I have gotten much better video in aperature prioriety mode at 4.5 ish than auto at 2.0.

Still learning but I appreciate all the input as just about everyone knows more than I do about the X5.

giumick · Feb 16, 2017

spero said:
No offence at alll! I suck at the video part. I can fly the hell out of just about anything but the video settings and techniques of high end cameras is another thing.

I did more reading and found my aperature settings were a big part. I have been flying in full auto which is a rookie thing to do. I have gotten much better video in aperature prioriety mode at 4.5 ish than auto at 2.0.

Still learning but I appreciate all the input as just about everyone knows more than I do about the X5.

Just do some digging on the search here and online about the x5r and youll find alot of advice on app setting sweet spots etc for someone new to it.

If you haven't as well id get reading some beginners guides to photography. Mainly about focal lengths,depth of filed, app,iso,shutter,exposure etc and how they all fit in.

Youll have a big Ahhhh moment when you get the understanding of how all settings impact on each other and what your aiming for.

iso 400 is the native iso for the x5 apparently any over 800 is usually a no go
f5-11 is the app sweet spot
shutter is by the general law double the frame rate in video so 24fps 50 shutter speed.

The flying is easy on these pussycats as you know as a r/c flyer

If you cant hit these settings with the current filter, change to a ND filter thats right until you can

Hope this helps
Mick

spero · Feb 16, 2017

Thanks Mick. A large part of my problem seems to be that I've been very focused on shutter speed but have not paid much attention to things like aperture. I started off using ND filters but left pretty much everything else on auto. Since I started flying with the X3 which pretty much kept everything in focus I was under the false assumption the X5 would work in the same way. I would just put an ND filter on to keep the shutter speed close and I got pretty good results with the X3. Moving to the X5 changed a lot. Now that I'm starting to get a few good pictures out of it I can see it is far superior but also a far greater challenge. The good news is, if I survive this thing I'll at least be decent at aerial photography and not just a decent pilot. As you said, it's not rocket science to fly one of these birds but it does take some skill to do that and come out with awesome video. As always I appreciate all the help you and others have given me on this site..

howard rockliffe · Feb 18, 2017

Ryan, you need to be shooting with that Zuiko lens at about f4. I have found that to be the sweet spot. The other thing to remember is to set the lens at the infinity mark and not where the lens stops by turning the lens focus ring. A mistake many make. If you ensure these two things are in place, with correct calibration, which should be performed following changing the lens, although I do a calibration before each flight, then you will see a big difference. You should have sharpness, saturation and contrast each set to -3 in the app, and then input those aspects in the edit. Check this out Who Killed Infinity Focus? BTW, image contrast also plays a part in perceived sharpness too.

Ironmanofthesky · Feb 18, 2017

Even when shooting with wide angle lenses you need to be concerned with depth of field. F4, 5.6 and 8 apertures will give you the extra depth and added focus. And keep in mind not all glass is created equal. Always but the best glass for your beast.