Hi folks,

I just got the Action 4 last week and tried it out today on a walk with my dogs. The results are extremely underwhelming. I must be doing something wrong?

I just posted this 15 second video on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0drNrIK7DY.

The first part of the clip is shot at 4K 24fps. The second slo-mo segment is shot at 4K 120fps, slowed down at 25% speed. Minimal editing done on DaVinci Resolve.

I bought the Action 4 because I bought the Mavic Air 2 and the 4K video quality on it is amazing. I use DaVinci to edit my drone videos and the 4K looks sublime.

With the Action 4, it looks like 720p, or maybe 1080HD at a push.

I'm not exporting anything different or uploading different as to how I would do my drone videos. And the 4K has loaded in case anyone thinks I'm being impatient.

What could it be?

Thanks in advance!

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out and we do apologize for the trouble. Could you please upload the original unedited video via Google Drive and then send the link here so we can check the video further? Please keep us posted. Thank you.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-5 03:11
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out and we do apologize for the trouble. Could you please upload the original unedited video via Google Drive and then send the link here so we can check the video further? Please keep us posted. Thank you.

Yes. The first link is the footage I used in the first ~7 seconds of the YouTube video, from approximately 0:36 - 0:43.  As can be seen for most of the clip, the footage is pretty grainy. And although the day was mostly overcast, the sun wasn't due to set for another 20 minutes, so there was ok light. It was shot in 4K at 24 fps.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfvKk9LZO8p5tPW49Cmc9lgvEFh-sgtL/view?usp=drive_link

The footage I used for the second part of the video runs from approximately 0:46 - 0:48. I have it slowed down to 25% speed in DaVinci Resolve. Please find that footage below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GDa87JDU9qBpPesWcjJmKwM3XEJ4tfJ9/view?usp=drive_link

I am by no means an expert with the Action 4, but straight out of the box, the Mavic Air 2 was majestic, whereas this camera isn't half as good. But it's very possible I'm doing something very wrong.

Thanks for your help!

need to explain your settings more
4K24 is not enough but works quite well if asked I do not expect anything more then this for me

Fishycomics Posted at 2-5 04:01
need to explain your settings more
4K24 is not enough but works quite well if asked I do not expect anything more then this for me

4K 16:9, 24fps , auto exposure, auto white balance, normal color 10 bit, ultra wide FOV, RockSteady+ is on, no digital zoom. That's all the info I can give I think?

thank you  hope Lutz... can offer a suggestion, I know certain settings get desabled with RS+ , like for me HB turned off  my Auto low light, even RS+. so recheck , reshoot find what works best, see what DJI has to offer

Fishycomics Posted at 2-5 04:44
thank you  hope Lutz... can offer a suggestion, I know certain settings get desabled with RS+ , like for me HB turned off  my Auto low light, even RS+. so recheck , reshoot find what works best, see what DJI has to offer

Will do, thank you Fishy!

Looks ok to me, did you wait for YT to finished processing? Did you choose 4K from the settings in YT?

BTW, 24fps ain't great for slow mo, i think it might look more blurry with it, ideally 60 or higher. Thats what i prefer anyway...

djiuser_3P084jibC8Tz Posted at 2-5 03:37
Yes. The first link is the footage I used in the first ~7 seconds of the YouTube video, from approximately 0:36 - 0:43.  As can be seen for most of the clip, the footage is pretty grainy. And although the day was mostly overcast, the sun wasn't due to set for another 20 minutes, so there was ok light. It was shot in 4K at 24 fps.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfvKk9LZO8p5tPW49Cmc9lgvEFh-sgtL/view?usp=drive_link

Hi djiuser_3P084jibC8Tz,

I think your ...54_D.MP4 is suffering from the surrounding vegetation with bright sky behind them in the scene and their motion in the video is increasing the demand for data bandwidth a little too much.

But the allowable bitrate appears to be 83513kbps (from the video file properties ). When there is not enough data bandwidth (which is set by DJI depending on System on chip they use, H.264 vs HEVC choice, cropping factor fps...  and perhaps your memory card), camera's internal compression algorithms erode details starting mostly from the low contrast, low light areas of the video and as a result video can look like 720p. Not sure if switching off the HEVC can make a difference...

Cheers

fans0c6c1ced Posted at 2-5 22:00
Hi djiuser_3P084jibC8Tz,

I think your ...54_D.MP4 is suffering from the surrounding vegetation with bright sky behind them in the scene and their motion in the video is increasing the demand for data bandwidth a little too much.

Such a comprehensive answer, thank you so much!

The vegetation/sky idea makes a lot of sense. Unlike a green field, where the colour is pretty homogenous, the vegetation is very mixed between yellow, brown, and green. And our weather hasn't been the best lately, extremely overcast, so the sky looks very washed out.

The memory card I use is 128GB AData Premier Pro microSDXC CL10 UHS-I U3 V30 A2. I understand it's not the Kingston brand that DJI uses, but I have other reputable brands such as Sandisk, Samsung etc. with my Mavic Air 2, and the results have always been stellar. Do you know if there has ever been an issue with AData Micro SD cards that perhaps I'm not aware of?

The HEVC is good to know too, thanks again!

djiuser_3P084jibC8Tz Posted at 2-5 03:37
Yes. The first link is the footage I used in the first ~7 seconds of the YouTube video, from approximately 0:36 - 0:43.  As can be seen for most of the clip, the footage is pretty grainy. And although the day was mostly overcast, the sun wasn't due to set for another 20 minutes, so there was ok light. It was shot in 4K at 24 fps.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfvKk9LZO8p5tPW49Cmc9lgvEFh-sgtL/view?usp=drive_link

Thank you for the information provided. We will coordinate this with the relevant team for further clarification. We will keep you posted.

There are a few reasons your footage looks washed out here and there and looks like 720p - as you put it. And it has nothing to do with 4k or 2.7k or 1080p.


You are filming in 24fps. This causes more motion blur. And when motion blur gets compressed it can look washed out. But this also combines with the fact that there's no adequate light so manually setting the shutter and ISO will come into play.


When there's not enough light (around sunset, overcast skies, indoors, etc) having the camera on full Auto is not necessarily your best friend. In these situations you should activate PRO mode and select Auto so you can manually dial in shutter and ISO ranges.


Generally, you want your ISO to be as low as possible for the best quality image, which means ISO 100-200. However, if there's not enough light you'll end up with a good quality albeit dark footage. If you select max ISO range (100-12800), this can compensate for lack of light but the quality of the footage will suffer.


And then there's the other factor, shutter speed. The lower the shutter speed, the more light will hit the sensor but low shutter will throw off the IES so the footage will be jittery. Your goal is to find the right balance between shutter speed and ISO based on a given lighting condition.


For EIS to work decent enough, you need at least a 1/200 shutter. You could get away with 1/100 if you walk very slowly and don't make sudden, jerky moves.


Here are a few samples I shot. They're all 2.7k, RockSteady, 24fps, Wide. Only the shutter and ISO is set differently.


First is your not so friendly full Auto mode (well, it's not so friendly when the sun is MIA). Camera picks the shutter and ISO as it pleases. You can see in areas where the sky meets the small branches, the footage is jittery due to the camera selected shutter is too low for the EIS. Also, because the auto selected ISO is high, if you step through it frame-by-frame, you can see some compression artifacts in various regions.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... mC/view?usp=sharing


Onto the next one. Here, PRO Auto mode is selected. Shutter range is 1/100-1/8000 and ISO set to 100-200. Quality would be ok, except the low shutter causes jitter in EIS. Combine that with the motion blur caused by low frame rate (24fps), and you'll end up with a few not so pleasing frames.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... qE/view?usp=sharing


This sample has the same shutter (1/100-1/8000) but the ISO is set to 100-1600. Jitter is still there and more compression artifacts can be seen due to higher ISO.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... MH/view?usp=sharing


On this one, the shutter is bumped up to 1/200-1/8000 so the EIS is working much better. The jitter is virtually gone but because of the higher shutter and the low ISO range (100-200) the footage is dark, despite quality is the best out of the 5 samples I shot.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... AX/view?usp=sharing


Finally, on this last one, shutter is 1/200-1/8000 (to have decent EIS) and ISO is raised to 100-1600. There's no jitter (due to higher shutter) but because the ISO is higher, the quality is not as good as on ISO 100-200.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... hQ/view?usp=sharing


Of course if the sun is out, you won't have to worry about all this and just use full Auto mode, although you can still manually dial in shutter and ISO ranges (using PRO mode) if you want full control.


So in your case, the quality is not so pleasing here and there due to all of the above reasons. First and foremost, not the best lighting condition, then motion blur due to low frame rate, combined with auto selected low shutter and also auto selected high ISO. Put all this in a bowl, mix it together, and you'll end up with a footage that makes you question the camera. Experimenting is the key so when there's no adequate light you can switch to PRO mode and manually dial in values more acceptable to a given lighting scenario.

Hi there. Thank you for patiently waiting. We have received feedback from our engineers and as we refer to the original video files, it was found that this is under normal range. Please try to change the video player to further isolate the issue. Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us.

wow they narrowed your issue to the Player, Resolved. Happy filming

Fishycomics Posted at 2-11 03:50
wow they narrowed your issue to the Player, Resolved. Happy filming

And to be more specific, it was a VHS playa that caused the issue. The heads were not clean.

osmonauta Posted at 2-11 19:06
And to be more specific, it was a VHS playa that caused the issue. The heads were not clean.

you meant Beta vhs be more  spacific ifasked,

Fishycomics Posted at 2-12 03:50
you meant Beta vhs be more  spacific ifasked,

Forgot to add the Humor icon sorry.   360P back then was awesome.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-10 23:33
Hi there. Thank you for patiently waiting. We have received feedback from our engineers and as we refer to the original video files, it was found that this is under normal range. Please try to change the video player to further isolate the issue. Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us.

The video player? Do you mean there's an issue with my QuckTime Player? Sorry, I'm not sure I fully understand you. I understand in certain conditions, like the ones I uploaded here, I should be manually adjusting settings, instead of leaving them on auto.

What should I do about the player? Thank you!

patcdev Posted at 2-17 09:11
The video player? Do you mean there's an issue with my QuckTime Player? Sorry, I'm not sure I fully understand you. I understand in certain conditions, like the ones I uploaded here, I should be manually adjusting settings, instead of leaving them on auto.

What should I do about the player? Thank you!

We appreciate your response. Yes, you may try to use a different video player and check if the issue persists. If you still experience the issue, we highly recommend sending the unit in for proper diagnostics. You can contact our support team to start up a ticket at https://www.dji.com/support . Please note that the warranty can be applied depending on the damage assessment conducted on the unit and if the unit is within the warranty period. Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us. We appreciate your understanding.

I think Osmonauta gave you a good answer and help.

You could/should also set the sharpness to 0 and noise reduction to -2 for sharper footage.
And I also recommend setting it up to minimum 1/200s shutterspeed and rather let the ISO control the exposure. But Osmo mentioned it with his longer answer.