How is the Evo 2 Pro at close up focus?

[Sherifftruman]

So, I’ve been a DJI user for the last 4 years or so. With a Mavic Air, and an Air 2. I’m a home inspector and my needs are primarily taking photos, and need to get pretty close to things. I rarely take video and don’t fly far away. Most of the time, I can easily hear the drone, much less see it.

I’m looking to possibly change away from DJI. I have a need to fly down close to a roof and take photos of things and hopefully read date codes off plumbing vent boots. One issue I’m having with the Air2 is with the smaller sensor and the pixel binning tricks it does to get the “20 MP” number, I can’t always read the date codes unless the lighting was good, cloudy days could be a challenge.

So, I’ve been looking at Autel line. I like the larger sensor of the Evo 2 Pro (and it seems like maybe the same sensor is on the Lite+) . However looking in the specs it shows a 1 meter focus distance compared to the Evo 2, which is 0.5 meter. But, since the sensor is running at native resolution when taking photos, I’m wondering if it would still be good.

Might go with the Evo Pro 2 over the Lite+ just for the ability to potential to add an IR camera or do control flight if I ever get into that, but it’s not a primary need.

What’s the real life focus like on these cameras? How are the controls for manual focus? Can I tap a spot or manually adjust it?

Here’s a photo and a crop to see what I’m talking about.

 

[herein2021]

So, I’ve been a DJI user for the last 4 years or so. With a Mavic Air, and an Air 2. I’m a home inspector and my needs are primarily taking photos, and need to get pretty close to things. I rarely take video and don’t fly far away. Most of the time, I can easily hear the drone, much less see it.

I’m looking to possibly change away from DJI. I have a need to fly down close to a roof and take photos of things and hopefully read date codes off plumbing vent boots. One issue I’m having with the Air2 is with the smaller sensor and the pixel binning tricks it does to get the “20 MP” number, I can’t always read the date codes unless the lighting was good, cloudy days could be a challenge.

So, I’ve been looking at Autel line. I like the larger sensor of the Evo 2 Pro (and it seems like maybe the same sensor is on the Lite+) . However looking in the specs it shows a 1 meter focus distance compared to the Evo 2, which is 0.5 meter. But, since the sensor is running at native resolution when taking photos, I’m wondering if it would still be good.

Might go with the Evo Pro 2 over the Lite+ just for the ability to potential to add an IR camera or do control flight if I ever get into that, but it’s not a primary need.

What’s the real life focus like on these cameras? How are the controls for manual focus? Can I tap a spot or manually adjust it?

Here’s a photo and a crop to see what I’m talking about. View attachment 13911View attachment 13912

I think it will be sharper than your current drones due to the larger photo sites in the EVO's camera.

With that said, I don't recommend manual focusing with drones, focus peaking is non existent and bright sunlight combined with dim tablets makes the task even harder. For the work that I do, I don't need the level of detail that you will need, but I still think the AF is up to the task. Another thing to keep in mind is that the lens on the EVO II is approximately equivalent to 35mm on a FF camera, most drone cameras have a lens that is around 24mm FF equivalent or wider, so you would be able to fly farther away from the roof to get an equivalent level of detail.

Of course this also means that you would not capture as much of the roof in each flight unless you flew farther away.

With the impending arrival of the EVO III I would hesitate to buy the EVO II right now.

If you do decide to take the plunge, this thread could help you get used to the Autel quirks a little faster.

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

Evo 2 Pro is sharper.
Yes, you can control it by Manual or Auto by clicking of screen and even lock it, but Auto focus works pretty good and you will not need it.
If you use 6K footage, you can achieve very easy a zoom of 4x that looks extremely good in 4K video.

 

[gschulzuio]

Evo 2 Pro is sharper.
Yes, you can control it by Manual or Auto by clicking of screen and even lock it, but Auto focus works pretty good and you will not need it.
If you use 6K footage, you can achieve very easy a zoom of 4x that looks extremely good in 4K video.

Concur with above. Likewise, if looking at E2P vs Lite, skip the lite and bugs, go with Pro. Otoh, the Pro has more flexibility with aperture vs Evo II (8K) and is great at videos and photos, however the regular E2 (e.g. 8K) does very good photos, especially with its zoom (jpg are zoomed, dng are regular). Have found when doing inspections and close ups, if all I need are jpg photos for quick turn, the 8K works great, however I also will shoot in J+R so I can process the raw if needed. The video on the 8K is not bad, however I normally shoot in 4K with my E2, and on my pro (6K), shoot in 4K as well.

 

[LeadSledGirl-AP]

Where are you located?

 

[gschulzuio]

Where are you located?

???

 

[ssb73q]

Hi Sheriff,

Before I get flamed, I have both the EVO ll 8k and 6k drones. Also have the Autel smart controller and live deck. The Autel EVO ll is wonderful for doing missions that can result in 2D&3D maps.

However, at a similar price for the EVO ll you can get the DJI Mavic 3 that has fantastic zoom capability which IMO would be very useful for roof inspections. Also, staying with DJI for your application would be a mild learning curve shift.

Regards,
Richard

 

[gschulzuio]

Hi Sheriff,

Before I get flamed, I have both the EVO ll 8k and 6k drones. Also have the Autel smart controller and live deck. The Autel EVO ll is wonderful for doing missions that can result in 2D&3D maps.

However, at a similar price for the EVO ll you can get the DJI Mavic 3 that has fantastic zoom capability which IMO would be very useful for roof inspections. Also, staying with DJI for your application would be a mild learning curve shift.

Regards,
Richard

If going (or staying or adding) DJI, why not just go with the M2P or M2Z, sure its not the latest and greatest, however it also does not have the latest and greatest bugs and other issues compared to the M3P/Z. I use a M2P mainly for autonomous mission compatibility with 3rd party apps that dont support Autel in fly mode (E.g. Litchi, DD, etc). I use E2(8K) and E2P (6K) for missions with Autel explorer, as well as adhoc and close up, indoors and outdoors. Maybe in a year or so might add an M3P/Z, however right now if I add a backup DJI it will be another M2P.

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

Hi Sheriff,

Before I get flamed, I have both the EVO ll 8k and 6k drones. Also have the Autel smart controller and live deck. The Autel EVO ll is wonderful for doing missions that can result in 2D&3D maps.

However, at a similar price for the EVO ll you can get the DJI Mavic 3 that has fantastic zoom capability which IMO would be very useful for roof inspections. Also, staying with DJI for your application would be a mild learning curve shift.

Regards,
Richard

I have tried the M3....unfortunately the primary camera is awful at sharpness, is all blurry after the distance of 200 meters... The optics sucks.... I had great expectations from Mavic 3, but from my point of view, compared to Evo2Pro that is a 2 years old sensor, M3 is a complete failure.
Maybe Mini3 will be better )))))))))))))))

 

[Sherifftruman]

Thanks for the replies. I added my location. It’s in the Raleigh NC area.

As far as DJI, I’ve considered it, but have had a bunch of issues lately with not being able to fly in areas where I’m allowed, have LAANC authorization. In addition to the normal way the DJI software works, which limits me at times to lower altitude than I can get using LAANC, when I have to request unlocking from DJI, half the time it gets in an endless loop where I can’t put the 6 digit code in to fly at all.

I just can’t afford to be standing around unable to properly complete my inspection and wasting time entering it 5 or 7 times hoping it will finally work.

Plus DJI keeps doing dumb things with the firmware. The latest is they, after like 2 years of things working fine, randomly removed the ability to download photos as you take them and now I have to land and then select them to download, which wastes more time.

 

[gschulzuio]

Thanks for the replies. I added my location. It’s in the Raleigh NC area.

As far as DJI, I’ve considered it, but have had a bunch of issues lately with not being able to fly in areas where I’m allowed, have LAANC authorization. In addition to the normal way the DJI software works, which limits me at times to lower altitude than I can get using LAANC, when I have to request unlocking from DJI, half the time it gets in an endless loop where I can’t put the 6 digit code in to fly at all.

I just can’t afford to be standing around unable to properly complete my inspection and wasting time entering it 5 or 7 times hoping it will finally work.

Plus DJI keeps doing dumb things with the firmware. The latest is they, after like 2 years of things working fine, randomly removed the ability to download photos as you take them and now I have to land and then select them to download, which wastes more time.

DJI makes it easy to comment about how bad they are with handling geo fence etc, otoh, they do not do a good job of highlighting how relative easy it is to get and setup a custom unlock code. Granted it takes a few minutes to setup a custom unlock code and hopefully you have correct info so it does not get rejected (DJI could fix and streamline some things in that process). However once you have the unlock code for a given broad area, once its loaded into your controller/app/aircraft, it only takes a few seconds to enable, disable, and no typing in numbers etc. What would be nice is if DJI UI engineers changed the blue check boxes on black bacground to be something more contrasting in the app, makes it tricky to see out in the field if you dont know where to tap the ok check boxes. So if you have DJI and are having to fly in an area, get a custom unlock code and save your self some time down the road. Granted not as easy as Autel, however for some functions particular around missions, 3rd party app compatibility, still prefer to use my DJIs and for ad hoc and other things the Autel E2s.

 

[gschulzuio]

So, I’ve been a DJI user for the last 4 years or so. With a Mavic Air, and an Air 2. I’m a home inspector and my needs are primarily taking photos, and need to get pretty close to things. I rarely take video and don’t fly far away. Most of the time, I can easily hear the drone, much less see it.

I’m looking to possibly change away from DJI. I have a need to fly down close to a roof and take photos of things and hopefully read date codes off plumbing vent boots. One issue I’m having with the Air2 is with the smaller sensor and the pixel binning tricks it does to get the “20 MP” number, I can’t always read the date codes unless the lighting was good, cloudy days could be a challenge.

So, I’ve been looking at Autel line. I like the larger sensor of the Evo 2 Pro (and it seems like maybe the same sensor is on the Lite+) . However looking in the specs it shows a 1 meter focus distance compared to the Evo 2, which is 0.5 meter. But, since the sensor is running at native resolution when taking photos, I’m wondering if it would still be good.

Might go with the Evo Pro 2 over the Lite+ just for the ability to potential to add an IR camera or do control flight if I ever get into that, but it’s not a primary need.

What’s the real life focus like on these cameras? How are the controls for manual focus? Can I tap a spot or manually adjust it?

Here’s a photo and a crop to see what I’m talking about. View attachment 13911View attachment 13912

FWIW, FYI, here are images from an E2P and regular E2 (e.g. 8K). Note the attached PNGs are scaled down for a smaller upload size from the JPG that came out of drone/camera (shot J+R). There is a zoom and non zoom image from both cameras/drones. The zoom images are 4X for both cameras/sensors, also shown is a 5X zoom for regular E2. Even with the scaled down image, you can still get a feel for the zoom capability, especially on the E2.

For doing roof and other inspections or where need closeup/zoom with quick turnaround for a client, the JPG in zoom mode work great. I can then later work with the raw to do other things if the client wants or requests.