Solo vs The "White" guy...

[Troiano27]

I just ordered my solo this morning.

 

[J R]

I just ordered my solo this morning.

Congrats!!!

Jerry

 

[Bigskyflyer]

So...today my boss decided to buy a Phantom 3 because he got a bit frustrated seeing me struggling with the Solo from time to time. We use the Solo for work purposes occasionally, and well...let's just say we can't risk any crashes around some of the expensive "merchandise". I tried to explain that operating any modern drone, whether it be the Solo or the P3, will provide the same obstacles, but he's an impulse buyer and decided to go for it.

Next week sometime I'll post up a review of the P3 in comparison to the Solo. I'm actually a bit curious myself.

I will be interested in your input on this. I have both and like them both. They are just different. Each has it's specific areas that they are better than the other. Just remember what forum you are on and be careful how objective you are, you may get lambasted by a few here but most are pretty open to others input.

 

[Maddog]

I will be interested in your input on this. I have both and like them both. They are just different. Each has it's specific areas that they are better than the other. Just remember what forum you are on and be careful how objective you are, you may get lambasted by a few here but most are pretty open to others input.

I'm always interested in an objective evaluation of other drones.

 

[pyrate]

LOL how often does that happen?

 

[Bigskyflyer]

LOL how often does that happen?

Not very often.

 

[J R]

Objectivity? Here's one I just cut up. I will be doing similar things with the Solo by next season...

Jerry

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[Bigskyflyer]

Objectivity? Here's one I just cut up. I will be doing similar things with the Solo by next season...

Jerry

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The lack of objectivity was definitely not aimed at you Jerry. I have read enough of your posts to no better. I am sorry if you thought it was aimed at you.

 

[Troiano27]

Objectivity? Here's one I just cut up. I will be doing similar things with the Solo by next season...

Jerry

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Video looks great. Your footage looks smooth. Is this still straight out of camera (no post stabilization)? I love that opening shot.

 

[J R]

The lack of objectivity was definitely not aimed at you Jerry. I have read enough of your posts to no better. I am sorry if you thought it was aimed at you.

No, not at all, Bigsky. Sorry you got that impression. I didn't feel that way at all.

Jerry

 

[J R]

Video looks great. Your footage looks smooth. Is this still straight out of camera (no post stabilization)? I love that opening shot.

Tro,

No, I did try my hand at tweaking it a little bit in Power Director. Looked okay, so I went with it!

Jerry

 

[Bigskyflyer]

No, not at all, Bigsky. Sorry you got that impression. I didn't feel that way at all.

Jerry

Good, glad to hear that. By the way I am very amateur when it comes to photography, was that last video the Solo or phantom?

 

[J R]

Good, glad to hear that. By the way I am very amateur when it comes to photography, was that last video the Solo or phantom?

BigSky,

The trip around the lake was the "white" one. Posted my first Solo produced video yesterday on the forum. I'm an amateur too!

Jerry

 

[rassalas]

Jerry, I think the Gopro looks crisper, although I did notice some jitter in there. I didn't read all the comments so please forgive if this question is a repeat, but have you balanced the props? For the colors I recommend reading this article, in particular the part about Abe's recommended settings: Understanding Video in the HERO4

 

[J R]

Ras,

Yes, balanced props, motors, replaced motors, swapped HDMI to ribbon, etc.

Thanks much for the link, I need to read more info about these kind of things!

Jerry

 

[erikgraham]

I debated whether I should post this video. I am not a photographer and I got into the UAV stuff more for the flying aspect than the photography. As I got a few more UAV's I started to see the differences between not only the flight control and characteristics but the camera abilities. Being a photography layman I'm looking for the plug and play stuff. I now understand the many variables that come into play with photography. It will probably take me years to master some of the things that many of you are able to understand and produce.

As many know, I have also been experiencing some vibration issues with my Solo. I've been trying everything I can come up with to resolve them but I'm not there yet. I am a major Solo fan and supporter and I believe the Solo will surpass the "white" guys.

With all of this in mind, I wanted to see the real world, layman's, difference between my Solo and P3Pro. I put this clip together for my own use. There was nothing special done to either bird. The Solo used a GPH4B that I purchased with the 4.35mm lens installed from Peau Productions. I used the "good" settings in the Suggested GoPro Settings for Solo | 3D Robotics Drone Forum thread, I did change the FOV to wide. The "white" one is the one supplied with the bird and was left pretty much defaulted, I did use the thumbwheel to adjust exposure once I got it in the air.I did no special settings and no editing other than cutting up the clips and putting it together in Power Producer.

It was a bit of a process for me as I wanted to match everything the best that I could. In order to maintain the same conditions I had to try to fly one right after the other. In some cases one was slower than the other and I had to cut the clips to see similar angles. The altitude and radius was the same for both birds.

This obviously isn't any type of scientific test. I know little to nothing about photography and proper settings. I'm certain that there are many faults that could be pointed out. I'm not looking to annoy or upset anyone. I just thought the clip was interesting and that some may benefit from seeing it.

I'm very interested in opinions and thoughts, particularly on how I can optimize my Solo and GoPro settings. I hope that I won't get bashed for providing and soliciting input. I value this forum and it's members and feel very fortunate to have been afforded such fantastic support with my Solo endeavors. The information and education that I receive here is priceless to me and I'm very grateful to those that have contributed to my UAV successes. I'm just trying to pay some of it back by providing the little contributions that I can.

Jerry

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The good settings have ProTune turned ON, which means you have to color correct in post to get the exposure and colors to look good. Protune footage without color correction is very flat and drab looking.

So to get a fair out of the box laymans comparison, you should turn Protune OFF and let the GoPro adjust colors and exposure for you. Protune footage allows for much better color control and dynamic range in your video, BUT you have to color correct it in post.

 

[J R]

The good settings have ProTune turned ON, which means you have to color correct in post to get the exposure and colors to look good. Protune footage without color correction is very flat and drab looking.

So to get a fair out of the box laymans comparison, you should turn Protune OFF and let the GoPro adjust colors and exposure for you. Protune footage allows for much better color control and dynamic range in your video, BUT you have to color correct it in post.

Gotcha!

Jerry

 

[erikgraham]

Great comparison!

To my eye the Phantom video appears to have better color and is also more stable. Also seems to react a lot less to the sun in terms of lens flairs.

The Solo footage has more detail and better definition. Also FOV is a lot better. Color is flat though and there is some definite micro vibrations both of which can be corrected. The lens flare is another detractor. But that seems apparent on any of the 4. whatever mm lenses that are out there be it Peau, Ragecames or whatever else.

Out of the box, ide give the edge to the Phantom. For those like myself who like to tinker I feel the potential for superior footage is with the Solo.

The road has not necessarily been easy but the shots im getting now with my Solo are stable, defined and rival footage ive seen shot with an I1 but with a better FOV. I am more than satisfied for the time being. And now with the new ribcage air I can swap lenses on the fly. Plus the 'murdered' out look just looks better

When you shoot in Protune, the video will always look flat. As I said in the previous comment, it MUST be color corrected. If you are not going to adjust exposure, color saturation and sharpness in post, then you should absolutely NOT use Protune.

All camera's do some kind of processing to the information captured by the sensor. When you turn ProTune ON, it records to the internal SD card at a higher bit rate, and does less processing to the sensor data. This means that in post you can take the time to make all the adjustments yourself, which allows for a much better image than what any camera can hope to do in realtime.

 

[Troiano27]

My solo arrived today. Got home from work. Installed the imp GPS shield, and relish flat HDMI cable, before installing the gimbal. Upgraded everything, and went outside and did a compass calibration. All seems to work well. I was able to cycle through the different frame rates. It recorded when I hit the record button. Need to balance the props, and hopefully I'll get some time and nice weather to go for a fly later this week.

 

[J R]

My solo arrived today. Got home from work. Installed the imp GPS shield, and relish flat HDMI cable, before installing the gimbal. Upgraded everything, and went outside and did a compass calibration. All seems to work well. I was able to cycle through the different frame rates. It recorded when I hit the record button. Need to balance the props, and hopefully I'll get some time and nice weather to go for a fly later this week.

Congrats, Tro!!! With all of the time you've been prepping, you should be RTF! Hey, I'm really happy for you. I hope you have a great time flying. Good luick and start posting some videos!

Jerry