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Pictures vs. Video

mjbok

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When I first got into the hobby (with the OG Phantom) and added a GoPro 2 to it I was amazed at what was possible in all its jello goodness. Years (and too many drones to count) later there is one thing that stands out for me on the Evo vs. my other drones. The fact that I can take pictures while recording video is huge. With my other drones to get video and pics I would have to retrace my steps in the air. At the end of the day while I love video and am amazed at what is possible to do for under a grand now I find that pictures may be less impressive on the surface, but have more viability as far as sharing what you do.

People will look at a dozen pictures no problem, but many of the same people won't watch a 5 minute (or longer) video. Because of this a lot of time I have moved away from video altogether, just framing and taking pics along the way.

My question is do most people do video, pictures, or both, and why?
 
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Since I also prefer stills to video, & continue to fly the X-Star, the capability to take still images while recording video is a big motivator to upgrade. I am usually recording video whenever I’m in the air and interrupt it to catch the photographs. Unfortunately, this results in poorly choreographed & interrupted video that is difficult to edit, & enough confusion to screw up the flight.
 
I just take videos primarily on the XSP but if i want some stills I will just take them out from the video while editing.
 
When I first got into the hobby (with the OG Phantom) and added a GoPro 2 to it I was amazed at what was possible in all its jello goodness. Years (and too many drones to count) later there is one thing that stands out for me on the Evo vs. my other drones. The fact that I can take pictures while recording video is huge. With my other drones to get video and pics I would have to retrace my steps in the air. At the end of the day while I love video and am amazed at what is possible to do for under a grand now I find that pictures may be less impressive on the surface, but have more viability as far as sharing what you do.

People will look at a dozen pictures no problem, but many of the same people won't watch a 5 minute (or longer) video. Because of this a lot of time I have moved away from video altogether, just framing and taking pics along the way.

My question is do most people do video, pictures, or both, and why?
I am not sure but it might be a lower quality picture than when not recording. Still, it is a good capability.
 
I am not sure but it might be a lower quality picture than when not recording. Still, it is a good capability.
It is slightly lower quality. It is at 4k resolution (16:9) whereas regular pics are 4:3 and slightly larger.
 
When I first got into the hobby (with the OG Phantom) and added a GoPro 2 to it I was amazed at what was possible in all its jello goodness. Years (and too many drones to count) later there is one thing that stands out for me on the Evo vs. my other drones. The fact that I can take pictures while recording video is huge. With my other drones to get video and pics I would have to retrace my steps in the air. At the end of the day while I love video and am amazed at what is possible to do for under a grand now I find that pictures may be less impressive on the surface, but have more viability as far as sharing what you do.

People will look at a dozen pictures no problem, but many of the same people won't watch a 5 minute (or longer) video. Because of this a lot of time I have moved away from video altogether, just framing and taking pics along the way.

My question is do most people do video, pictures, or both, and why?
You hit the nail on the head for me. I love watching my videos, but nobody else cares. They do like seeing my photos. (I'm also a terrible drone videographer, so there's that, but even if I was good at it I don't know that anyone besides other drone nerds would want to sit and watch videos.) I do use the pics while videoing feature on the Evo, but I don't think it captures RAW photos while you're recording video, so when I'm shooting I'm usually just shooting stills.
 
I fly XSP's and take video for the entire flight. If I want a photo, I just take one from the video. I have taken stills but, somehow they just didn't look as good to me as a frame from the video.
 
I fly the XSP for weather/storm pics mostly. Doing a 360º video will document the current conditions, then stills are taken of specific points of interest. Because of the camera FOV limitations, video is somtimes more useful.

storm 6.1c.jpgstorm 6.1a.jpgstorm 6.1d.jpg
 
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Except for the occasional sunset, sunrise or similar event, I only do video. The reason people won’t watch a five minute video is because most of them are boring as crap. And I’m just as guilty as any. Flying left to right over a forest - 30 seconds... flying right to left over a forest - 30 seconds... flying toward a forest - 30 seconds... flying away from a forest - 30 seconds... The rule of thumb is each clip/scene/view should be under 5 seconds. The automated video producer in the Mavic Pro does an excellent job of creating really great 35 second videos, stitching clips that are only 3 or 4 seconds each. Thanks for bringing this up. I really need to tighten up my act!
 
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The rule of thumb is each clip/scene/view should be under 5 seconds.

Very much agree with this - in =most= videos. There are times when scenes require more time for reveal/story line/drama, etc. A great example is to take most any commercial on TV and try to count each scene cut in a 30 second spot. Well crafted editing is truly an art form. [one that I fail at, constantly...] :)
 
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I couldn't care less about video. There are so many more practical uses for still photography. In the end you have something that can be printed and displayed.
 
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I couldn't care less about video. There are so many more practical uses for still photography. In the end you have something that can be printed and displayed.
Every frame in your video is a picture that can be extracted.
 
It is slightly lower quality. It is at 4k resolution (16:9) whereas regular pics are 4:3 and slightly larger.
I took my first mid-video pic by accident today (newbie) and was very impressed with the quality of the JPEG image. I'm using the new firmware and I wonder if this algorithm has been improved as my pic seemed cleaner than previous EVO ones I have found.
 

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