Cliff Totten

https://www.youtube.com/user/bbc92314/videos Look at his newest two videos. In the descriptions, he has the download links to short files right off the card. You can open the files with "MediaInfo" and check out all the DJI metadata. CT

Interesting.....Ken Booth on YouTube has released some Mavic-II Pro files right off the card for public download. His Mavic-II Pro has a good center and right side sharpness. However, the entire left side of his lens (the entire 1/3 left of his image) is WAY out of whack. It's very soft and clearly defective in a pretty bad way. Guys,...when you get your Mavic-II Pros next week, pay VERY close attention to the manufacturing tolerances of your lens. INSPECT ALL SIDES CAREFULLY. You "could" be stuck with a bad left or right side like Ken Booth did. (His is an early copy and is going back) OK,....I'll say this out loud,....why did DJI delay the launch in a sudden, almost emergency manner? Production issues? Sorry,...I just HAD to say it. I'm only wondering out loud. It was prolly delayed because of something very small and simple. I'm sure it was nothing serious. CT ?

Andrew Reid...VERY important!! Don't forget that DJI says that this 1inch-type "Hasselblab" (made in Sweden by Sony) sensor put's out 14.....[snicker].....stops....[giggle]....of....[heheehe]....dynamic....[HAHAHA!]......range!!....[LMAO!!!!!!!!!] I'm sorry, I couldn't type that with with a straight face. OMG...the ONLY customers that would EVER believe that are ones that don't even know what "dynamic range" even is!! CT ? P.S....Guys, I'm sorry but "Hasselblad" is nothing more than a Chinese camera "FASHION BRAND". It's just a big joke now.

You might be right about the H2 processor. I'm working with Mavic-II Pro 10bit HEVC files straight off the card. The noise reduction seems to be far superior to the Ambarella H1 files from the Phantom 4 Pro V.20. Shadows are clean but not overly scrubbed to Hell the way the Mavic Pro's Ambarella A9 used to be. These H2 files appear to be a big step up from the H1.

Damn,...are you pretty sure about this? The Ambarella H1 image processor was a massive improvement over that Ambarella A9 junk that the GoPro3 and Mavic Pro had. However, Ambarella surpassed the H1 with the H2 and H22 and now H3 which can do 4k 120fps and even 8k 30p. I'm hoping DJI would have chosen a much newer Ambaralla chip than the H1. I'm waiting for the first Mavic-II tear down video to get on YouTube. CT

I bought a Mavic 2-Zoom AND Mavic 2-Pro 30 seconds after it hit their web site.. I also own a Phantom 4 Pro+ V2.0 today. My goal was to sell my Phantom 4 Pro+ V2.0 and keep the Mavic II Pro as my main 1 inch aircraft. (Keep the Zoom too as backup) However, this issue with the Mavic II Pro's "HQ" mode and "FOV" mode has me concerned. Questions: Is the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 doing a full 16x9 pixel readout and scaling to 4k? (it looks pretty damn good today) Is the Mavic Pro-II now pixel binning or line skipping it it's "full" 16x9 readout? (NOT the same scan as the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0) Is the Mavic Pro-II cropping and using a 1:1 readout and calling THIS mode "HQ"?? WTF? IS the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 actually using a higher quality full pixel read out than the Mavic-II Pro?? This is one topic that really does concern me. I might not sell my P4P-2.0 if it's sensor scan is better than the Mavic-II Pro! DAMNIT!

Yeah,.....but! We get 100Mbp/s for 8bit H.264. We then add 40+ times more color overhead....and NOT add even ONE single megabit of bitrate to cover that overhead. We can say, "Oh, but we are using H.265 HEVC and because it's more efficient, that will cover the bitrate loss." Not really, their H.265 HEVC is a MAIN profile and not a HIGH profile, so it's only a "partial" H.265 HEVC implementation. To make matters worse, there are videos out today that compare H.264 AVC at 100Mbp/s vs. H.265 HEVC at 100Mbp/s on the Phantom 4 Pro. It's being shown that the H.264 AVC shows LESS banding than HEVC when stretched. So,..."IF" H.264 at 8bit, high profile is ALREADY better than H.265, main profile in 8bit.....what makes us think that H.265 HEVC will be any better after DJI throws 40+ times the color space at it??? DJI makes GREAT aircraft and gimbals...but I honestly dont believe that DJI has people that understand video compression very well. CT

I ordered both Mavics (Zoom and Pro) but I can tell you one thing; This DJI claim of 13 stops for the 1/2.3 sensor and 14 stops for the 1inch-type....is a GROSS marketing lie. That is the biggest whopper that DJI had ever told. LOL!! Not even the A7S-II, FS5, FS7 or GH5-S sensors get "14 stops". (The FS7 gets close) CT

There is a good chance this is a line skipping or pixel binning process. It's hard to say for sure though. We know that Sony has created a high tech "full pixel readout" for their fantastic scaling engines but DJI does not buy Sony SOC's. DJI buys Sony sensors and uses Ambarella image processors on Phantom and Mavics. The original Mavic Pro used a dinosaur Ambarella A9 processor that has the absolute worst temporal noise reduction algorithm. It SEVERELY scrubbed the life out of everything below middle grey it's temporal analysis artifacts caused a "pulse" every 15 frames. Shadows are 90% washed, scrubbed and flattened SEVERELY! (a lot of people blamed 60mbp/s h.264 when it was really that disgusting noise reduction circuit to blame) Total junk chip that dates back to the GoPro 3. The Phantom 4 Pro uses the Ambarella H1 and it's pretty good. The Mavic Air used the Ambarella H1 and doesn't suffer that same noise reduction Hell that the Mavic Pro does and gives you 100mbp/s too. Today we have the Ambarella H2, H22 and H3 chips which are far more powerful than the H1 now. It's going to be interesting to see what video processor that DJI used for these new Mavics. The Ambarella H3 can do 4k at 120fps and 8K at 30p! It's very possible that DJI is making these motherboard designs usable for the new Phantom 5 too. This allows them to buy H3 or H2 chips, do all the programming work together and only activate features the need for each model and leave others hidden. This saves lots of programming man hours. To see this HORRIBLE Ambarella A9 vs Ambarella H1 noise reduction lab analysis comparison, check out my video here. I think it will answer a lot of people's questions about DJI Mavic image quality problems. It's NOT 60mbps vs 100mbp/s like we have all though for years. https://youtu.be/5WDc9PKCDm0?t=1m30s CT p.s....DJI is using H.265 HEVC but they are only using "main" profile and NOT "high" profile. This means it is only using a fraction of the HEVC tool sets and calculations that are available to the full HEVC/H.265 specification. So,...the "50% gains" over H.264/AVC are reduced even further. This is a "light" or "partial" HEVC profile designed to keep calculations per second lower and easier.

Lets be honest....companies dont give a damn about Sony's fabrication machines. There are a dozen major facilities that can do that for everybody. Why do companies choose Sony so often? SONY PATENTS! The only way to gain access to Sony's sensor architecture patents....is to BUY access to them and have "Sony" fab them into your sensor! If ANY other plant tries to infringe on Sony patents and "clone" Sony technology, you could literally have your camera pulled from store shelves and be forced to pay damages back to Sony. Its too risky....its much better to give Sony your specs and leagally buy the rest of Sony technology that way. This sensor fab thing is just a big, massive pattent war. And Sony protects their pattents like a pack of wolves protects their kill. Any idea that Sony just happens to be the plant we chose out of thin air by chance to fab OUR sensor is hilarious. Sony sensor architecture PATTENTS are what make their sensors amazing....not their fab equipment. If you take that away then you can go to Aptina or Dalsa or CMOSIS or Samsung our anybody else....thats why companies like Nikon and Panasonic and Samsung dont for their best cameras.

Admittedly,...this is going to sound really stupid. However, I think the word "Micro" was a bad choice for the title of this system. People are OK with a 4:3 aspect ratio but nobody wants a "Micro" sensor. All it does is remind people every time it is said that it's a "small" sensor. Imagine if it was named the "Super 4/3" system"? "Super" 4/3 would have diverted attention away from its size and "psychologically" is a much better marketing name. Yeah....I know this sounds stupid but sadly, I still think this idea holds true. Super 4/3....much better "ring" to that name.

This is the most facinating camera I have ever seen in my life. Not just because of its technical ability or its ridiculously low price. Its the sheer marketing balls that BlackMagic has to challange Panasonic and Sony in such a cut-throat way. (Canon is so far out of this discussion that we cant even include them) Here is the shocking part. If Sony didnt develop such an incredably advanced STARVIS IMX294 sensor, (or IMX272 ) would we be this excited for this camera? If this camera used a common CMOSIS or Fairchild MFT sensor that topped out at 800 ISO.....would all of these other great features be wasted? Is the image sensor of this camera driving this entire show? Has Sony single-handedly enabled or gifted the "small" Micro 4/3 format with the power to actually compete with large sensor cameras?...(something M4/3 could never do in the past?) Sony Semi Conductor company seems to really have turned the screws on Sony Imaging Company. Sony Imaging is forced to compete against new cameras that are using Sony's best core technology. They are competing against their own patents! This is REALLY a massive industry shift...a true earthquake. We are going to see the shockwaves from this for years and years to come. Once tbe genie is out, its VERY hard to push him back into his bottle!

What is going on in Canon's head in the past 5 years. These guys are just getting stranger and stranger as the months and years go by. With all the Sony, BlackMagic and Panasonic offerings this year.....why in the Hell would anybody want this thing? What does it bring to the table that is not already better than this thing? Who's super16 sensor is Canon going to use? Will it be a small Canon front side illuminated sensor that is based on 10year old architecture? Canon can get away with lousy large sensor production but there is no way they can challange Sony on small sensor efficiency. Not even close. What off the wall "cripples" will Canon employ on this thing....lemme guess, MJPEG? Ony CFast recording? Even more crop on the sensor? No clean HDMI out? Woah....weird and a sign that Canon is losing their marketing witts.

If this truely is the GH5-S sensor than,....oh my God. This will be a MASSIVE industry earthquake. I dont think it will be possible understate how sick this thing will be for its price! Im certain it eill be hard to buy for 6 months,

Yet,...their new ENG get 10bit. Oh,....forgot,...those cameras are no threat to the FS7. Its funny how one camera model like the FS7 can have an affect on every model below it. If the A7S-III doesnt get 10bit,...could we blame XDCAM managers for playing internal Sony politics and blocking it from Alpha? I dunno but it makes you wonder.... Panasonic managers are breathing a sigh of RELIEF tonight!!

Looking at this "new" FS5-II...... Is it possible that the FS5-II has ZERO new internal hardware components and 100% of the changes were just firmware changes? Lol....nah, I'm sure Sony wouldn't do something like that.

Well?...this goes to show us how BADLY Sony wants to protect every tiny inch of the FS7 market. It seems that Sony is not willing to lose one single FS7 sale to this FS5-II. On the A7S-III, I"m really starting to believe that Sony is having a very hard time with the engineering aspects of the A7S-III. If they are "trying" to compete with the GH5 and GH5-S and give the A7S-III by giving it 4k 60p and/or 10bit 4k, maybe they just cant beat the heat problems. Every 10bit camera that Sony makes is actively cooled with a fan. Even the 2 new 10bit ENG cameras. We know that the A7S-III cannot use a fan to cool off. It has to do all that with a GIGANTIC, hot sensor,...and no fan! Im betting that heat is a big problem in the A7S-III labs. Hmmmm.....

I have the strong suspicion that this A7-III image sensor is the exact same one that the Sony CineAlata Venice is using. Sony has stated on record that the Vinice sensor came from the Sony Alpha division. Sony rarely goes through the trouble to design and manufacture one single sensor for only one single camera. They often re purpose them for other models as well. The only exception to this that I know of is that crazy A7S sensor. I dont think they have ever re used in outside the A7S or ever sold it outside of Sony.

In the A7S-III...Will Sony be bold enough to give us: 10bit internal recording? If not 10bit internal, how about 10bit HDMI? Unlimited recording time? Full size HDMI port? I think these are the biggest, burning questions. This will take a lot of guts on Sony's part. I'm sure the XDCAM marketing and sales folks will privately HATE the A7s-III if they do give it all of this above. NAB 2018!!

Canon has zero desire to compete on a technical level. They literally just dont care if their cameras are 5 or 10 years behind the industry. Why should they care. They sell cameras on just their name alone. While other company kill themselves to spend money on research and development, Canon just sits back and laughs....because they dont "NEED" to spend their money on R&D! Their logo carries them as far as they want to go without all that development cost. Its an interesting business model. Just lean on your brand name and ride the wave for free! Canon can literally make money without actually "competing" with the rest of the world. They can actually be 98% "lazy"...and STILL bring in the sales numbers. They count HEAVILY on their customers "brand loyalty"!!!

Look guys....I truely and sincerely believe that Canon is NOT "holding back" on its customers. Instead, i believe that Canon is actually doing the best it can. I now 100% believe that they are just not able to control heat in small cameras and they just arent anywhere near as sophisticated as Sony in terms of sensor architecture and processing ability. Canon cameras are far behind Sony, Panasonic, Olympus and Fuji....not because they are "trying" to be...it's bacause they just cant compete on a technical level. Stop dumping on Canon guys. These poor folks are only doing the best they can. We all just want them to be something they are not. Luckily for Canon, their customers just dont care about technology the way the rest of us do. To these people it's about getting the right logo on your camera. Once they have that, its "mission accomplished". Its all about the brand "name" and thats really all that matters to them. So lets stop trying to squeeze blood from a rock....

I dunno....Sony Semiconductor sells its chips and leases its patents to anybody. ( with the exception of BlackMagic Design??)

Im going to go out on a limb here and say that I don't think Canon "can" do any readout other than a crude 1:1 sensor readout and deBayer technique. We know that Sony has fully mastered 6k readout, deBayer image processing and seemless downsampling to 4k today. Sony Semiconductor WILL sell it if Canon wants to pay for it. Hell, Panasonic was only doing simple 1:1 readout in 4k too. They bite the bullet and buy Sony 1inch-type sensors and also Sony's IMX272 for their GH5 and BOOM! Now Panny has 6k/5k overnight with no problem! I suspect Canon is WAY too proud to buy Sony 6k scaling engine or sensor readout patents. So?....Canon is still stuck in 1:1 readout. This means in 4k you get 1/2 resolution green channel and 1/4 resolution red and blue. Crap....

I really laughed out loud when I read this! My wife goes,.."whats so funny?" I tell her, "nah, there is no way you would understand if I told you"... I will literally bet my entire life savings and,...Hell, my very actual "life" that Canon is too terified to put any log gamma in this camera too.

The question is: Can Canon even do a 6k or even 5k full pixel readout and do they have a scaling engine without getting the help from Sony? I dont think Canon has ever done more than a simple 1:1 deBayer to 4k ever in the past. Even Panasonic was stuck in 1:1 deBayer for 4k for years until they bought the GH5's IMX272 image sensor from??....wait for it............Sony!!! Tah..daaaa! SUDDENLY Panasonic could do full pixel 6k and 5k read out and do that beautiful Sony-style 5k to 4k scaling! Coincidence?....maybe. Maybe not. ;-)