Hi Guys.
Hope this thread won't be deleted or considered as a duplicate from a previous one.

However similar topics were initially launched nearly a year ago with no (concrete) answers from the devs yet.

The reason for me to launch such a thread today is to send a respectful reminder since...:


using the extention rod removes the ability to perform any zoom in/zoom out using the joystick.

In order to perform any kind of zooming, you have to unmount the pocket 2 from the extention rod !!!

Please, devs, please quality assurance people, could you please remember that the pocket 2 is sold as a camera as well ?


Or that users might be willing to zoom while filming with the extention rod without having to unmount the whole system ?...

Shall we get rid of the extention rod in order to use the small joystick instead ?

Thank you all, thank you for your efforts,

Jacques

There was a similar topic recently, but that only proves people really want this option. I am one of those wondering why wasn't it implemented in the very beginning.

I don't have the extension rod myself, but I also never use the zoom option (I will zoom in in post, that gets the job done too)

Dji is too busy messing up the dji ronin 4d to care about the p2.

Zooming in post is a good work around.

DAFlys Posted at 10-31 02:22
Zooming in post is a good work around.

If I zoom in post, won't that mean that in zooming in, I would be losing image quality? For instance, if I filmed in 1080p, then the zoomed-in image would be less than that? One workaround, of course, could be filming in 4K at first and release the final video in 1080p, but I wouldn't like that option either, as the Pocket 2 has more limitations in higher resolutions (for instance, tracking working worse or not at all at 4K resolutions when compared to 1080p, some framerates and shooting modes available at 1080p not available in 4K etc.).

As far as I have understood, at least using the zoom on Pocket 2 itself would not cause (at least visible?) loss in quality. I haven't noticed that at least.

HGDC84 Posted at 10-31 03:56
If I zoom in post, won't that mean that in zooming in, I would be losing image quality? For instance, if I filmed in 1080p, then the zoomed-in image would be less than that? One workaround, of course, could be filming in 4K at first and release the final video in 1080p, but I wouldn't like that option either, as the Pocket 2 has more limitations in higher resolutions (for instance, tracking working worse or not at all at 4K resolutions when compared to 1080p, some framerates and shooting modes available at 1080p not available in 4K etc.).

As far as I have understood, at least using the zoom on Pocket 2 itself would not cause (at least visible?) loss in quality. I haven't noticed that at least.

Not really as it’s a digital zoom either way.

DAFlys Posted at 10-31 04:08
Not really as it’s a digital zoom either way.

Yes, in both cases it is digital zoom, you are right in that. But as far as I have understood, in 1080p when using the Pocket 2 itself, the zoom is somehow lossless. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) Not sure how they do it, is it that they somehow keep the sensor itself in 4K mode in normal mode and only let it go down up to 1080p when zooming in, and just render the final capture footage in 1080p. But anyhow, I haven't noticed visible loss of quality in that scenario. (I usually only film in 1080p, due to reasons I mentioned earlier on.) At 4K, if I use zoom, it only goes up to 2X and, if I have understood right, is not lossless.

Not sure if there is something equal available in post-processing zooming though. Any additional thoughts and points on the subject would be interesting to hear.

HGDC84 Posted at 10-31 04:21
Yes, in both cases it is digital zoom, you are right in that. But as far as I have understood, in 1080p when using the Pocket 2 itself, the zoom is somehow lossless. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) Not sure how they do it, is it that they somehow keep the sensor itself in 4K mode in normal mode and only let it go down up to 1080p when zooming in, and just render the final capture footage in 1080p. But anyhow, I haven't noticed visible loss of quality in that scenario. (I usually only film in 1080p, due to reasons I mentioned earlier on.) At 4K, if I use zoom, it only goes up to 2X and, if I have understood right, is not lossless.

Not sure if there is something equal available in post-processing zooming though. Any additional thoughts and points on the subject would be interesting to hear.

I might be wrong but digital zoom is never lossless.

DAFlys Posted at 10-31 06:04
I might be wrong but digital zoom is never lossless.

That's what I had thought earlier on, too - the footage of those first cameras with digital zoom looked absolutely horrid when zoomed in at maximum, it was completely unusable. But later on, it seems like some camera manufacturers have managed to create the sort of digital zoom that at least looks lossless to the bare human eye. Those don't seem to have those mushy, over-enlarged pixels or that horrible video noise in picture. When I have looked at the Pocket 2's footage zoomed in, I haven't noticed any huge drop in video quality (though I have to admit I haven't usually looked it with a terribly big screen).

Of course, it could be that zooming with Pocket 2 could involve some file packaging that could produce noticeable results when looking at the file size, colour depth etc. values, but judging by my eyes, I don't see a difference.

Indeed the Pocket 2 zoom is believed to do clever things with the sensor - like the extended zoom on some Panasonic cameras.  Also, if it is like the Action 2 zoom, it meters the light for the current framing, so if you zoom into a shadow area, thus removinig surrounding bright areas, the exposure adjusts appropriately.  That's different from post production zoom.  So, I'd recommend testing the P2 zoom before dismissing it - you could be missing out on something useful, or not.  As for the extension rod, remember it was designed for the P1 and it may simply not have the ability even with FW update to perform a function which did not exist when it was released.