Considering purchasing an EVO II Pro, need some info.

[Silver Wolf]

Hello all,
I’m a semi pro photographer (mostly hobby) and also have experience flying RC fixed wing nitro planes for years. Never owned a drone before. My favorite photography subjects are old barns and abandoned buildings and things.
Many of the subjects I find that I would like to shoot are out of reach for me to get to on foot or in my Jeep. (Either too treacherous to walk to or on private property) My thinking is having a drone may help me reach and photograph some of the gems I can’t get to.
My concern with a drone like the EVO II Pro is that the image quality would not be up to my expectations. (I use full frame camera gear with high end lenses). I know the camera on the drone won’t be up to that quality, but if it’s good enough for me to work with in LightRoom and photoshop I’d be happy to have it rather than not at all.
I’ve been looking for sample still photos of close up subjects such as barns or old houses but all I can find are wide ranging aerial images. Can anyone point me to some samples of hi res images of closeup shots of subjects so that I can check the quality and detail/sharpness? Once I can feel assured that the camera will suffice for me, I will look into other aspects of this endeavor.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[gschulzuio]

How close to you want to get to a barn? One of the challenges with most drones unless you get up into the DJI Inspire/M series (where you can put different lens/gimbals) is that there lens, sensors are smaller than what you are used. Otoh, the EVO II Pro (6K) with its 1" sony based sensor can really capture some interesting things while being in a reasonable portable form factor. Note that you can get smaller, lower cost drones like the DJI MM/MM2/Air/Etc, however many of those do not have the 1" sensor. The EVO II (8K) has the 1/2" sensor with 48MP, for detail it does a nice job however you also dont have as many manual controls as with the 6K. Let me see how the day goes, might be able to run down the road and get a shot of a barn and post it later.

 

[Silver Wolf]

How close to you want to get to a barn? One of the challenges with most drones unless you get up into the DJI Inspire/M series (where you can put different lens/gimbals) is that there lens, sensors are smaller than what you are used. Otoh, the EVO II Pro (6K) with its 1" sony based sensor can really capture some interesting things while being in a reasonable portable form factor. Note that you can get smaller, lower cost drones like the DJI MM/MM2/Air/Etc, however many of those do not have the 1" sensor. The EVO II (8K) has the 1/2" sensor with 48MP, for detail it does a nice job however you also dont have as many manual controls as with the 6K. Let me see how the day goes, might be able to run down the road and get a shot of a barn and post it later.

Thanks for your response. Being the lens are more of a wide angle I’d imagine I’d be shooting about 20-30 ft away and likely about 5ft or bit lower off the ground. Depending on lots of things of course.
As for focusing, can one manually select a focal point?
What brings me to the EVO II Pro is after watching reviews and comparisons it seems the general consensus is this camera is better than the rest.
Thanks again

 

[gschulzuio]

Thanks for your response.

No worries

Being the lens are more of a wide angle I’d imagine I’d be shooting about 20-30 ft away and likely about 5ft or bit lower off the ground.

Sounds like shooting about normal eye sight level vs. standing on a ladder or steps height.
From 20-30 ft away could give interesting perspectives, particular what photo mode/size selected (e.g. 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, image size etc).

Depending on lots of things of course.

Yup, including location, whats around the barn, obstacles, sight lines, etc.

As for focusing, can one manually select a focal point?

You can manual focus control, also adjust your f stops as you like.

What brings me to the EVO II Pro is after watching reviews and comparisons it seems the general consensus is this camera is better than the rest.

Concur with the Pro/6K.

Yes, the 8K can shoot 8K which some people have request 8K footage because, well, its 8K.

However most prefer the 6K or 4K with the pro after they see the results and differences.

The 8K with 48MP does give a nice image, however I keep finding myself going into manual mode and not having all of the camera controls on the 8k vs. with the Pro/6K.

Thanks again

No worries.

 

[Silver Wolf]

Yes, I’d most likely be using the drone to shoot from a perspective as I would if I were there with DSLR and tripod.
I like to shoot/crop to 3:2 aspect ratio but I would set the drone camera for whatever had the highest image quality and using the full sensor. I can always crop later in post.

 

[gschulzuio]

Yes, I’d most likely be using the drone to shoot from a perspective as I would if I were there with DSLR and tripod.
I like to shoot/crop to 3:2 aspect ratio but I would set the drone camera for whatever had the highest image quality and using the full sensor. I can always crop later in post.

Some unprocessed images (jpg) from EVO II Pro(6K), same location & alt, difference being image size/format (e.g. 16:9 large, 4:3 large, 16:9 small. About 30-40' from barn, approx 6-10' in the air.

 

[Silver Wolf]

Thanks for doing this, much appreciated. They look great here but I’ll examine them more closely when I get home later.

 

[gschulzuio]

Thanks for doing this, much appreciated. They look great here but I’ll examine them more closely when I get home later.

No worries, the dng were too large to post.

 

[MikeReidPhotography]

Yes the camera on the Evo 2 pro is better than anything else that folds. Its the sensor from the Sony RX100 v7 and I've compared it against the Inspire 2 with X5S camera and various Olympus lenses and the Mavic Pro 2.

I had the choice to take any of these to Iceland and I took the Evo 2. Part of that was the desire to not lug around the I2 in a huge case. The I2 does have the advantage of taking good shots at 50mm and 90mm with Olympus lenses. But it sounds like a flying lawn mower and is not at all subtle. My other camera that went on that trip was a Fuji GFX100s 102 megapickle medium format.

I have no barn photos...

BTW, One trick I use is to take 20 plus shots and then focus stack them in photoshop. This reduces noise. I also run them through Topaz DeNoise AI

 

[Silver Wolf]

Thanks for the info, Mike. Looked up the sensor in DXOlabs and it’s only drawback is low light capability. It’s got great DR and color depth, making it ideal for landscape and such.
Fantastic images there you posted.

Btw, do we know who makes the lens?

 

[Silver Wolf]

No worries, the dng were too large to post.

So these barn images look very good, more than adequate. Nice compositions and angle, btw
Were these shot as DNG and then converted to jpegs or were they jpegs output from the camera?

 

[herein2021]

Thanks for the info, Mike. Looked up the sensor in DXOlabs and it’s only drawback is low light capability. It’s got great DR and color depth, making it ideal for landscape and such.
Fantastic images there you posted.

Personally, I always say all of those numbers do not tell the whole story. IMO it has great low light capabilities for a drone. Below are two low light images, one at dusk and one at night. I don't remember the settings for the dusk image, the night image was shot at 1/20s, ISO800, F2.8, Daylight WB, RAW.

I know a lot of people think the EVO II 6K has the better camera than the other drones, but my personal opinion is that all of the modern drones with a 1" sensor are about the same. With any of them you can take fantastic images and video and if you process the images properly it will be nearly impossible to tell which took which. Sony makes the sensors for all of these drones so more than likely they all have the exact same 1" sensor.

Notice though that I said if you take images you would not be able to tell them apart. Video though is where IMO the EVO II 6K really shines. Autel's LOG implementation is far superior to DJI's unless DJI improved since I last used one of their products. The EVO II 6K's LOG curve is as perfect as it gets and this results in great highlight rolloff in HDR situations as well as maximum video DR for all situations.

Although you are not coming from a different drone ecosystem, this thread may help you with some of the findings I have encountered to date while flying the EVO.

 

[gschulzuio]

So these barn images look very good, more than adequate. Nice compositions and angle, btw
Were these shot as DNG and then converted to jpegs or were they jpegs output from the camera?

No worries thks, these were shot J+R, no conversions, its a jpg out of the camera. Tried earlier to upload a dng however said it was too large of a upload and unsupported file type.

 

[gschulzuio]

Thanks for the info, Mike. Looked up the sensor in DXOlabs and it’s only drawback is low light capability. It’s got great DR and color depth, making it ideal for landscape and such.
Fantastic images there you posted.

Btw, do we know who makes the lens?

Never looked at the dxolabs numbers, however from experience, the EVO II Pro 6K is a low light beast, for photos and video. Even at night the hdr and 10b color depth are amazing. Here are some examples.Night fireworks video.

and still images.

 

[Silver Wolf]

Excellent work, the dusk shot is stunning.
Yes the numbers in those tests don’t tell us the whole story but it’s good to know. I’m not all that into video, but also good to know this system shines if I ever get the itch with it.
Thanks for the link, I’ll gather all the info I can before diving into this.

 

[herein2021]

Excellent work, the dusk shot is stunning.
Yes the numbers in those tests don’t tell us the whole story but it’s good to know. I’m not all that into video, but also good to know this system shines if I ever get the itch with it.
Thanks for the link, I’ll gather all the info I can before diving into this.

Here is one of my most recent videos, in this video all aerial night footage was shot with the EVO II 6K. This video really showcases the lowlight video capabilities of the EVO II 6K's camera. All night footage was shot at 1/30s Shutter, F2.8, ISO800, daylight WB, ALOG. Even this video is not using the full sensor resolution since it goes up to 6K. I personally rarely shoot in 6K because the color bit depth drops to 8 bit. I'd rather 10bit color for maximum color grading flexibility vs 8bit; of course for night footage 8 bit will look the same as 10bit due to the minimal color grading needed.

The EVO is so great at video I would imagine that it would be hard to own it without shooting video with it. Even if its old barns, I would imagine some orbits, dolly in, crane up + tilt downs would nicely memorialize those barns in ways photography simply can't replicate.

So many people get drones for photography then discover the world from "up there" with video. You could shoot a whole video around an old barn. Pictures simply cannot show the livestock moving around the barn, the sunlight coming through the trees, the grass blowing in the wind, etc like video can. The biggest downside to video is it is an endless money pit when it comes to the equipment needed to shoot it.

One challenge that I do think you will run into is trying to get as low as you have described when it comes to shooting barns that are out of reach when walking/driving. Drones (all of them Autel included) are safer the higher up they are. The most hazardous places for drones are below the 100' AGL mark. Below that level; trees, obstructions, signal loss, etc. start to become real problems. No consumer drone currently on the market will let you park your car somewhere then fly it a few thousand feet away and hover 6-10' off of the ground with trees and buildings between you and the drone. You will experience signal loss, risk collision with pretty much everything, and may create a real hazard for anything on the ground near the drone. I feel most comfortable when my drones are at least 200' AGL and up.

At the 100' AGL mark I start to keep a close eye out for buildings, trees, power lines, cell phone towers, etc. and I definitely don't drop to 6-10' AGL unless I'm over open water or less than 20-30' away from it, and I live in FL one of the flattest states in the country, in a mountainous or hilly state those number could all move upward by a few more hundred feet.

 

[Silver Wolf]

Here is one of my most recent videos, in this video all aerial night footage was shot with the EVO II 6K. This video really showcases the lowlight video capabilities of the EVO II 6K's camera. All night footage was shot at 1/30s Shutter, F2.8, ISO800, daylight WB, ALOG. Even this video is not using the full sensor resolution since it goes up to 6K. I personally rarely shoot in 6K because the color bit depth drops to 8 bit. I'd rather 10bit color for maximum color grading flexibility vs 8bit; of course for night footage 8 bit will look the same as 10bit due to the minimal color grading needed.

The EVO is so great at video I would imagine that it would be hard to own it without shooting video with it. Even if its old barns, I would imagine some orbits, dolly in, crane up + tilt downs would nicely memorialize those barns in ways photography simply can't replicate.

So many people get drones for photography then discover the world from "up there" with video. You could shoot a whole video around an old barn. Pictures simply cannot show the livestock moving around the barn, the sunlight coming through the trees, the grass blowing in the wind, etc like video can. The biggest downside to video is it is an endless money pit when it comes to the equipment needed to shoot it.

One challenge that I do think you will run into is trying to get as low as you have described when it comes to shooting barns that are out of reach when walking/driving. Drones (all of them Autel included) are safer the higher up they are. The most hazardous places for drones are below the 100' AGL mark. Below that level; trees, obstructions, signal loss, etc. start to become real problems. No consumer drone currently on the market will let you park your car somewhere then fly it a few thousand feet away and hover 6-10' off of the ground with trees and buildings between you and the drone. You will experience signal loss, risk collision with pretty much everything, and may create a real hazard for anything on the ground near the drone. I feel most comfortable when my drones are at least 200' AGL and up.

At the 100' AGL mark I start to keep a close eye out for buildings, trees, power lines, cell phone towers, etc. and I definitely don't drop to 6-10' AGL unless I'm over open water or less than 20-30' away from it, and I live in FL one of the flattest states in the country, in a mountainous or hilly state those number could all move upward by a few more hundred feet.

Well that throws a monkey wrench into my plans. So if I were to hover in front of a building out in a field with a few trees around I should be ok if I can see the drone at 6-10 ft off the ground and perhaps a thousand feet away, but if I decided to roam around to the other side of the barn or building where the structure is blocking my line of sight with it, I would likely lose control?
If it does lose signal, does the drone return to where it took off or until it gains signal again?

Very cool video and production btw

 

[gschulzuio]

Well that throws a monkey wrench into my plans. So if I were to hover in front of a building out in a field with a few trees around I should be ok if I can see the drone at 6-10 ft off the ground and perhaps a thousand feet away, but if I decided to roam around to the other side of the barn or building where the structure is blocking my line of sight with it, I would likely lose control?
If it does lose signal, does the drone return to where it took off or until it gains signal again?

Very cool video and production btw

You want to have Visual Line of Sight (VLOS), aircraft should Return To Home (RTH) if it loses signal, or if you push the RTH button. Would the aircraft maintain signal if it were behind the barn for a brief period? Maybe, maybe not. Would the aircraft start a RTH if it lost signal? It should. However here's the big caveat which is having your VLOS or knowing the area to make sure nothing is above your aircraft when it needs or wants to RTH. So something you can do is fly in high, get to your subject, then look around, rotate camera/aircraft around, tilt gimbal (camera) up/down to see what you have for obstacles. If all looks safe, ok, then you could lower your aircraft as needed, key is knowing what is in the area that you might fly into. So, could you say be in a field, see a barn 1,000 feet away have VLOS and be about 6-10' of the ground, sure, however before moving around, rotate the aircraft around, see what else you might not be seeing. Also have your Obstacle Avoidance (OA) and radar on. They are there to help give you situational awareness as an aid, they may or may not prevent you from flying into something, thus have a look around. You may then want to raise the aircraft up high, move it around to another angle, look to see if you have a clear path before lowering it, while also seeing how well you can keep an eye and have VLOS on the aircraft (hint, add extra strobes like firehouse to improve visibility). So, in summary, do your initial roaming around from higher up, assess the area, see what you can see then go from there.

 

[herein2021]

Well that throws a monkey wrench into my plans. So if I were to hover in front of a building out in a field with a few trees around I should be ok if I can see the drone at 6-10 ft off the ground and perhaps a thousand feet away, but if I decided to roam around to the other side of the barn or building where the structure is blocking my line of sight with it, I would likely lose control?
If it does lose signal, does the drone return to where it took off or until it gains signal again?

Very cool video and production btw

Like @gschulzui mentioned, there is no way to know but I would guess that in that scenario you could be ok as long as you did not end up with the entire barn between yourself and the drone.

The EVO II, has some pretty incredible range in perfect conditions, mine is only limited by battery life and I have been able to fly 5 miles out and back over open ocean and land with 10% remaining, but obstructions and interference very quickly eat into that range also the lower you are to the ground the shorter your range is. The best that I have done is 5 miles at 20' above open ocean at 10' that range dropped by about 40% even in those conditions.

You may be fine with your plans, I have no idea how many barn scenarios are exactly as the one you described; I just wanted to ensure that you were aware of what you will probably encounter. $2K+ on a first drone is no small expense.

 

[Silver Wolf]

Thanks to all, lots of good information and advice. This has been very helpful.


Yes. 2k is a lot to throw away and I think it would make more sense for me to go in with something less costly to first see if it fills my goals, and to gain experience flying with one.
For half the price I think the Air 2S might be a wiser initial investment.