Evo 2 Pro or Evo Lite plus?

[Persuader]

I own an Autel Evo II Pro, a DJI Mini 2 and since yesterday an Autel Nano+. I'm thinking about getting rid of my Evo II Pro and get an Evo Lite, but I would like to tell you some differences that I found using the Nano+, which shares several things with the Lite models, such as the remote controller:



- The Nano/Lite controller is very simple. This could be OK for most of Nano users, but considering that Lite family could be for more advanced users, you will find a little difficult to adjust picture parameters. This is because you don't have the auxiliary wheel Evo II remote has in the right side. With that wheel you can adjust different things (exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc) without moving the hands of the sticks. But with the Nano/Lite remote, this adjustements must be made on the mobile screen. This even generates less accuracy because the Evo II wheel has different steps and using your finger in the screen is more difficult to select the value you want if its close to the previous one.
- Another thing is that the automatic photo mode of the Nano/Lite doesn't allow the user to change any parameter like exposure or ISO. So you will have to switch to PRO mode everytime conditions are not satisfaying in the AUTO mode. And the PRO mode is at the end of the mode list.

So for more "proffesional " users, it will be more comfortable to control the parameters in the Evo II.

 

[garycsan]

Some operators may not even notice it....but I can see the color shift in just about every EVO 2 Pro video on Youtube. It is particularly noticeable in deep shadows which often appear purple instead of gray. You can minimize it in post but if you tweak the video too far it will pull everything out of whack. As far as I can tell from the footage posted online, the Lite+ does not share the problem. I have posted the image below from one of my videos before; everything looks good until you look into the shadows. Its not a deal breaker but it does sometimes show up in odd places.

View attachment 12862

The color issue is a personal taste thing. I love the video I get from my EVO II Pro.

 

[Rubik3x]

It can be, used to run into the magenta more often when first got E2P and flew with setups similar to on DJI P4P and especially with color NONE. Have been able to adjust with Resolv and other tools in post. However what made big diff was combination of WB, style adjustments (e.g. sat etc), and using log more and NONE less. On DJI the log not as good where I find log on E2P particular with 10b HDR enabled to be much better. I like the idea of the lite+ and am watching it to replace my Mini for some projects, however will wait for the fw/sw to get sorted out.

I had a similar problem on a bright sunny, snowy day, except that my shadows in the snow were blue. Turns out I had left Color on NONE, White Balance on AWB and Style on 0,0,0. When I reshot with Color on LOG, WB on 5600K and Style on -2,+1,+1 the snowy shadows were nice and grey. Just don't overdo the saturation in Style or post.

 

[websiteauthor]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts, and I hope the conversation continues!

Today I purchased an Evo 2 Pro from a forum member, and he's already got it in the mail to me so I'm really looking forward to that. This is going to be my primary / alternate drone for personal / commercial use (need to have something without DJI's geofencing nonsense), but I also plan to do some videos on it as a comparison to the excruciatingly overpriced Mavic 3.

Regarding the magenta issue, I'm going to try and address that by being more disciplined about manually setting the white balance for each flight. I think it was Originaldobo who said something about adjusting the manual WB by a couple hundred on the Kelvin scale to counteract the magenta bias, so I'll try that.

That said, I'm still looking at the Lite plus or the Mini plus - primarily to showcase on my Youtube channel. Also, I have serious impulse issues when it comes to buying new drones. So, I'll continue to enjoy everyone's opinions here and throughout the forum.

 

[websiteauthor]

I had a similar problem on a bright sunny, snowy day, except that my shadows in the snow were blue. Turns out I had left Color on NONE, White Balance on AWB and Style on 0,0,0. When I reshot with Color on LOG, WB on 5600K and Style on -2,+1,+1 the snowy shadows were nice and grey. Just don't overdo the saturation in Style or post.

sounds like the auto settings for this drone need to be monitored more closely than with something like the Air 2S.

I don't get much snow here in Texas LOL but I may play with those settings for the conditions I do have here.

 

[gschulzuio]

I had a similar problem on a bright sunny, snowy day, except that my shadows in the snow were blue. Turns out I had left Color on NONE, White Balance on AWB and Style on 0,0,0. When I reshot with Color on LOG, WB on 5600K and Style on -2,+1,+1 the snowy shadows were nice and grey. Just don't overdo the saturation in Style or post.

Yup, good point about adjusting your saturations. Also, fwiw, if you try the Autel E2P or E2 LUTs, they also tend to oversaturate and bias towards reds, orange, magentas, e.g. avoid the LUTs.

 

[gschulzuio]

sounds like the auto settings for this drone need to be monitored more closely than with something like the Air 2S.

Not as much as monitored, more like with any new camera/sensor, do some initial testing (can be done on the ground, then in the air), figure out what you want your settings to be and then go from there.

 

[gschulzuio]

I'm going to try and address that by being more disciplined about manually setting the white balance for each flight.

Avoid auto WB, try to get out of habit of also using the built in "sunny" and "cloudy", set your own WB its quick and easy to do. Usually around 5500-5600 can cover most scenarios outdoors, indoors, depending on types of lights, will want to adjust. Also experiment with using log.

 

[Andrew01]

Wow, this is depressing to hear. I'd heard of the magenta issue before but didn't realize how significant it was.

Is this opinion of the Evo 2 Pro the general consensus with Autel owners?

My Evo has saved the day a couple times on jobs, where I was cleared to fly but DJI's geo-nonsense (and Yuneec's for that matter) still caused problems. Yeah, I want a non-DJI drone available at all times, but it has to deliver the quality.

The magenta shift is there, but in LOG its a lot better and I haven't seen it at all since I got the tip here to shoot exclusively in sunny white balance, allegedly auto is the issue's root cause...

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

Guys,
Let's not talk about Magenta in AUTO settings...I mean no videographer will use AUTO in footage, only if is sadistic and wants to have a strong headache.
I use in each video now a combination of HDR+LOG with NEUTRAL Style, as "-1" on Manual Style does not work in Android (maybe works in IOS, but Android does nothing at -1 manual set), WB by day is set to 5300K, by night is set to 4000K...
I must say that I have never seen extra magenta in shots, just ones that I wanted...
In Normal mode and AUTO settings each drone will have a flaw...remember that even full sensor cameras have this flaw, cannot identify by 100% the environment... So...let's not ask from a "half nail size" sensor to work in AUTO, will fail.
In Normal mode the Magenta issues appears only in AUTO and REC709 as the color profile is compressed.
You can use HDR mode with ISO 200 or ISO 400 without issues, will not generate too much noise even in night (I believe moonlight algorithm is practically a HDR mode pushed in Lite+ and soft denoised), the BIG ADVANTAGE will be in Davinci Resolve when you will set your color profile to WIDE GAMUT, even if it is REC709...will have a Full Color profile with an incredible DNR up to 10.000 nits and you save a lot of informations that appears as blown highlights in normal REC profile.
As for Missions, no, you will not have it in new Lite models, as there is no hardware for this...and Missions from Litchi based on software GPS coordinates is a little to risky as can fly away in case of GPS loss. (also I have not seen Litchi working with any Autel as the demands are infinite lower than DJI).

Related to the profiles used, we have made 3 weeks of tests, from Normal profile to HDR profile, Log profile, Style mode, in order to see what is the best to use day and night with best quality image...
The results with best light/quality were:
Day:
- 4K HDR Profile, Normal or N+LOG (both work fine, in LOG I have better control of colorization in post), ISO from 100 to max 200, ND 16 or 32 filter depending on day in order to get 30FPS and 1/60 SS (be careful, SS will be AUTO for HDR, you need to see with the ND where it goes and set it by controlling the AP size), Style: Neutral
Night:
- 4K HDR+LOG (if you have a slow computer, go only HDR as post denoise is needed for LOG), ISO 400 to max 800, no ND, 25FPS , AP 2.8, SS AUTO set by Auto as HDR enabled (will go to 1/25SS, if you have faster moves in video, go with FPS 30 and apply an anti-flickering in post = DO NOT use drone anti-flicker, is unpredictable, better in post), Style: Neutral.
Cheers

 

[Saladshooter]

Guys,
Let's not talk about Magenta in AUTO settings...I mean no videographer will use AUTO in footage, only if is sadistic and wants to have a strong headache.

The magenta issue is real and appears in LOG footage as well as Normal footage on the EVO 2 PRO. I never use Auto settings and almost always shoot in A-LOG. If you fly on days with bright skies and deep shadows it shows in the dark areas. If you fly on a dull hazy day the hills are washed out and extra purple.

As I have mentioned previously its generally not a deal breaker. Most often the footage looks great and the ugly areas can be minimized in post or cut out. The reality is that we record much more video than we really need and you can simply throw out the parts that don't look right. It just doesn't help to let Autel off the hook for errors in their color science.

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

The magenta issue is real and appears in LOG footage as well as Normal footage on the EVO 2 PRO. I never use Auto settings and almost always shoot in A-LOG. If you fly on days with bright skies and deep shadows it shows in the dark areas. If you fly on a dull hazy day the hills are washed out and extra purple.

As I have mentioned previously its generally not a deal breaker. Most often the footage looks great and the ugly areas can be minimized in post or cut out. The reality is that we record much more video than we really need and you can simply throw out the parts that don't look right. It just doesn't help to let Autel off the hook for errors in their color science.

Agree with you, but I believe each camera will have a flaw...depends on what can be done...
I correct all log in Resolve and is easy to manage any pink or magenta as long as is uniform applied. Not the case at M3, were magenta was in left and right part only, and this was a nightmare to correct.
But...E2P camera is truly capable of more than this, indeed...
Will see if I can make a LUT for correcting lower shades from magenta, I am full this weeks, but will try to see if got time.
(original LUT from Autel must be modified as for me it looks like "very cheap and worked fast by Rockies")

 

[Saladshooter]

original LUT from Autel must be modified as for me it looks like "very cheap and worked fast by Rockies

The Autel LUT was reportedly donated by Sony who made the E2P sensor. It was designed for the sensor but not necessarily with the needs of a drone in mind.

 

[gschulzuio]

The Autel LUT was reportedly donated by Sony who made the E2P sensor. It was designed for the sensor but not necessarily with the needs of a drone in mind.

Have tried the Autel LUT and if you want oversaturated reds, oranges, magentas its what you are looking for. Avoid the LUT if you can, if you have to use it, be ready to adjust your saturations at a minimum.

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

Have tried the Autel LUT and if you want oversaturated reds, oranges, magentas its what you are looking for. Avoid the LUT if you can, if you have to use it, be ready to adjust your saturations at a minimum.

Evo 2 LUT is a joke, indeed, never used it...Is oversaturating and casting a lot of reds.
There should be at least 2 LUT's, 1 for Log and one for HDR+LOG.
Will see if got enough time to finish our own LUTs, as in this time of year we are extreme busy...and this ones we are working at will be free for Autel community, as we all need to contribute with something in this.
Will keep posted.

 

[gschulzuio]

Evo 2 LUT is a joke, indeed, never used it...Is oversaturating and casting a lot of reds.
There should be at least 2 LUT's, 1 for Log and one for HDR+LOG.

Correct, have used both the E2P and E2(8K) free lots from Autel to see what they do, how they work, how they play with resolv and others. Also concur you can do some quick basic corrections with resolv, probably as fast if not faster than if using the Autel LUTs (especially if you have to spend time correcting from the LUTs).

 

[Ltp_90]

I'm keeping my E2P. I haven't noticed any color issues, besides that it's very flat coming out of the camera and is very quickly fixed in resolve to a point that looks great(to me and my clients at least).

I have times I do mapping to go into pix4d with it, so missions is important to me as well.

And although I normally fly in a way the negates the need for obstacle avoidance, the lack of side collision avoidance is a downside for me, many of the shots I'm getting for my clients require flying sideways, and my E2P side sensors saved me once or twice from stacks or other obstacles I did not noticed.

I think a Nano plus is in the cards, and I wouldn't turn down an evo lite plus, but it doesn't make financial sense for me to buy, except to have one before the RID stuff comes into play. Plus the longer I wait the more features will be added and problems worked out.

 

[Saladshooter]

Captain Drone released his review of the Lite+ last night along with a list of features that Autel told him that they are going to release via update. One disappointing feature listed as coming is 8-bit LOG. 10-bit really is the standard in advanced drones these days, taking full advantage of their camera's dynamic range.

Captain Drone's list of coming features:

 

[Eagle928]

Captain Drone released his review of the Lite+ last night along with a list of features that Autel told him that they are going to release via update. One disappointing feature listed as coming is 8-bit LOG. 10-bit really is the standard in advanced drones these days, taking full advantage of their camera's dynamic range.

Captain Drone's list of coming features:

View attachment 12926

Interesting. I thought it would be the 10 bit like all the rest but I can see why they would do this.

Right from the beginning they made sure to say the Nano's and Lite's are hobbyist drones. For full featured more professional level the Evo 2 is the platform to get.

I find it fascinating how the Lite+ rivals the new Mavic 3 in camera quality for about $850 less (base kit).

Ken Dono (Original Dobo YT channel) recently put out a video explaining why he was sending the M3 back and in another video explained why he was pleased with the point and shoot quality of the Lite+ that basically needed no post color correction which is a time saver for someone who shoots 7 real estate locations a day.

While the Nano+ has some bugs to work out the Lite+ appears to be working well in the hands of the reviewers and beta testers.

 

[Saladshooter]

Interesting. I thought it would be the 10 bit like all the rest but I can see why they would do this.

Even more interesting to me is that Maxwell Lee said he is bringing 10-bit LOG to the Nano+ in a recent interview. This makes me wonder if there is an actual limitation in the camera for the Lite+ and not just a ploy to sell the EVO 2 Pro.