OliKMIA

The inspire, even with the X5 m43 sensor and lens stills tops at 60mbps in video which is very limited in 4k. The 3DR solo is a bit overweight and lack power compared to the P3/I1 (the IRIS had the same problem). In term of price, and weight, once you add the gimbal and GoPro 4 it's something between the P3 and I1. The image quality is a bit better than the X3 cam but there still this ugly fish-eye and very limited camera settings control unlike DJI drone where you can change the ISO, shutter and WB in real time. The fligh controller however us much better, thanks to 3DR experience with the Pixhawk. Last year, Yuneec received something like $70 million from Intel, they are trying to catch up with DJI and I must admit that the last Q500 is way better than the previous product they launched.

Thanks. I hear you but for more advanced work there is the Inspire with X5 (m43 sensor and interchangeable lens) and X5R (X5 with Raw mode). But they are out of reach for my budget but most importantly, too big and heavy for my style of shooting (travel light, must fit in overhead bin). For the focus, most of the time in aerial video, it's set to infinity anyway. What do you think ?

It's just me who suck at grading and color correction ! Of course the 8 bits doesn't help neither. I could also have done a better job in post with the sharpness for sure. But I really think the Phantom is a great product for the price. Considering you'll soon find a P3Pro for $800-900 I wouldn't be too picky. For the price of an entry level APS-C body or mid range lens, you got a full ready to fly kit with a 4K camera that fit in a backpack. You can't expect L grade optic and Red/Arri raw quality for this price. For most people, amateur, Indie, real estate and youtube work. That's a very competitive tool.

I do a lot of aerial video and I don't find this P4 very interesting. Not that It's a bad product but on a video standpoint, it brings very little compared to the previous P3 Pro. Still does 4K30 at 60Mbps, similar ISO performance, no new log or Codec. In other words, the P3 Pro will soon be sold for half the price of the P4 with the same video performance. Same for the batteries, the DJI smart batteries are known to be pricy ($150 each) and I expect a drop on the P3 batteries as it happened with the P2 when the P3 came out. Overall it will compensate the few minutes of additional flight time of the P4. Then there is the 1080 / 120, but let's see how it performs. These high frame rate mode are usually very bad in term of moire and aliasing (eg GoPro 4). Last, the real deal for me is the dual IMU that may help to avoid the DJI's infamous "fly away". But again, I prefer to save money and throw $250 in a full parachute kit with automatic deployment such as the Mars Lite and Mayday board that will ensure better safety for any drone malfunction, not just IMU/compass/GPS. Overall, IMHO, I would say, buy a discounted P3 Pro with a bunch of batteries if you don't care about all the bell and whistle auto flight modes. You'll get the same IQ at a very competitive price. Shoot with my P3P

Very promising but now that resolution have reached a great level, I' prefer 4K 60 or 120fps Raw on a consumer/prosumer type camera rather than 8K 30fps.

Thanks for the clarification and your honest review. Very rare these days...

Looks like you got a bad copy Andrew. Shit happens, can't you get an exchange from the store ?

Great Review. Thanks Andrew for being one of the few truly impartial reviewer on internet. I couldn't care less about other advertorials review and article found on many website. They are a nothing compared to your unbiased work. Cheers

The point is that you either go for the best of what you can get in mid-2015 with this budget, which is not the the 700D + crappy 18-55 or you have a low budget and focus on creativity and you'll get a 550D on ebay for $200 that will give you the same 5 years old 1080p30. These two options are perfectly respectable but there is no good reason to buy this flashy bundle.

Canon marketing at its best. How to re-brand and empty the inventory of previous generation camera. The 700D was probably the biggest joke of Canon these past few years. A 650D with 2 buttons changes.

​Black magic micro has a crop of 2.88 so I'll need a Pana or Oly 7-14 to get something wide which is what I need on a drone. I also noticed the other option but this is still too much weight and money in the air for my use. I need something small and crash "friendly". However the global shutter on the BM micro really got my attention.

I'm an avid prosumer videographer and as much as I enjoy Andrew articles and his endless independent effort to trash manufacturers when they have to be trashed, I must agree with the previous comment. If I remember well, the video market on the middle to high end camera market represent accounts for 10% of the sales. Most people don't buy DSLR or prime mirrorless to shoot video and canon is not (entirely) stupid. They do market survey and have a marketing department. So far Canon photo/video division is profitable and each camera they bring on the market is successful. They pick several market segment (still DSLR and Pro Camera) and they stick to it. That's their strategy and we'll see how it goes overtime.

I wish gopro could propose a camera without this ugly fish-eye effect. This is what I want for my drones. DJI already have that on the Inspire and P3. I'll pass this mini gopro.

I agree with all of the above and I'm going to say it: what really pissed me off was the introduction of the copyright match last year. I think it was one of the main reason why I went for a PLUS subscriptions in the first place: the ability to upload my video with the song I like. Now it get blocked and deleted right away !!! In the mean time, youtube got more and more flexible with the song copyright issue. Of course youtube put some ads on a video that use copyright soundtrack but I can live with that and it makes sense that the artists get some kind of retribution for their work.

That's why we have DXO and lenstip.com mft charts

Totally agree. $2.5k "drone" camera with a a zoom lens and no lock button... Meanwhile, BM micro camera will have a PWM & S.Bus port !!! With a Lumix 7-14 or the new Zuiko 7-14 2.8 the BM micro should be less expensive than the XC10 crapmera. Don't get me wrong, I own a 6D with a ton of glass and I love it for photo work. I'm not anti-canon but this camera is a joke. I'm keeping my GH4 for video and I'll buy A7sII and GH5 when they'll come out. Never going to buy C100 or Xc10 stuff. The first one is too expensive, the last one is an insult.

We all agree this camera is an overpriced piece of junk but I'm trying to understand what is the Canon logic behind this product development. What is the market target ? The vast majority of people use their cell phones for stills and video and people wiling to spend $2500 for a camera are educated enough to buy a GH4/NX1/A7S. If that thing is doesn't turn out to be a commercial disaster I must admire the marketing efforts of Canon !

I have the exact same problem on my GH4 and the 14-140 lens. I have the GH4 for 3 months now but I only did studio work so far. I know how to shot handheld with long focals, no problem on my Canon DSLR, even with a 70-300 on APS-C sensor, I always manage to get decent results. This micro jitter IS a panasonic issue and this is just inacceptable for a video DSLR. I have a $500 piece of junk that can't be use for outdoor, run and gun video work.