This thing is beyond terrible... astonishing that Ulanzi (normally quite a reliable brand) ever let this thing hit the market!

I appreciate that you made an effort to provide a review of the Ulanzi 2X Converter.  However, what you provided a was a personal rant, with little to no objective information for the rest of us.

smbishop Posted at 12-15 14:29
I appreciate that you made an effort to provide a review of the Ulanzi 2X Converter.  However, what you provided a was a personal rant, with little to no objective information for the rest of us.

That is totally unfair. Did you watch the whole video? There were video examples of all the problems: distortion (bending), strong white vignetting, blurred edges, and visible purple fringing - all shown and labelled.

smbishop Posted at 12-15 14:29
I appreciate that you made an effort to provide a review of the Ulanzi 2X Converter.  However, what you provided a was a personal rant, with little to no objective information for the rest of us.

No objective information? There is video showing each defect. What more do you want? You can see: 1) Severe distortion 2) An incredible 'white' or hazy vignetting 3) Purple fringing and other chromatic aberrations occur throughout 4) Only the centre of the frame remains reasonably in focus - the edges are a blurry mess. It's all clearly depicted.

Far from 'ranting' I do say that I rather like Ulanzi products generally and I use them regularly. This, however, falls far short of expectations. I've also used various front converters in the distant past (both wide and tele on camcorders) and do know to expect some degree of negative impact on image quality. This, though, is the worst I have ever encountered. In my opinion, it is unusable.

If you do find the optical quality acceptable (I certainly don't), by all means buy it and use it, but be aware that there are already some reports that it is damaging the gimbal motors. I cannot verify these so did not mention it, but combined with the optical quality it is enough for me to not wish to continue with it.

Is there another brand you would recommend?   Ive been wanting to get Teleconverter since I got the Pocket 3.  

DAFlys Posted at 12-16 00:03
Is there another brand you would recommend?   Ive been wanting to get Teleconverter since I got the Pocket 3.

Unfortunately not aware of anything generally available at present. I suspect it is going to be difficult to make one that is both optically OK and does not stress the gimbal motors. Best option would be for DJI to issue a version of the Pocket with a built-in short tele lens...

Natural Sounds and Sights Posted at 12-16 00:07
Unfortunately not aware of anything generally available at present. I suspect it is going to be difficult to make one that is both optically OK and does not stress the gimbal motors. Best option would be for DJI to issue a version of the Pocket with a built-in short tele lens...

Id be happy if they would just allow for some digital zoom at this point.  

DAFlys Posted at 12-16 00:14
Id be happy if they would just allow for some digital zoom at this point.

Well, there is a digital zoom on the Pocket 3, but obviously you sacrifice pixels and lose resolution. Personally I've found that doing that in post tends to yield somewhat better results (provided you shoot in 4K to begin with). For more on the tele side, I just switch to a mirrorless.

Natural Sounds and Sights Posted at 12-16 00:18
Well, there is a digital zoom on the Pocket 3, but obviously you sacrifice pixels and lose resolution. Personally I've found that doing that in post tends to yield somewhat better results (provided you shoot in 4K to begin with). For more on the tele side, I just switch to a mirrorless.

No,  that's the problem they left off the digital zoom from some of the shooting modes like Timelapse.  

DAFlys Posted at 12-16 00:21
No,  that's the problem they left off the digital zoom from some of the shooting modes like Timelapse.

Correct. Only available in limited modes.

I'd like to see some more examples without text overlays of straight objects.

Now it was 90% talking and only a few examples.
(those were quite bad, I have to say, but still)

I wish the Pocket 3 had the 'Clarity Zoom' feature that the Insta360 Ace Pro has. I appreciate that the Ace Pro is an 8K camera and can therefore punch in 2x and still provide that 4k output, but that would be such a great feature for the Pocket 3. I use it quite often with my Ace Pro 2.

Montfrooij Posted at 12-20 00:17
Now it was 90% talking and only a few examples.
(those were quite bad, I have to say, but still)

Context is everything. As noted, I used some front wide and tele converters years ago, and this thing is worse than any of those, even those dating back 25 years! You do expect SOME degradation, but this is the worst I have seen despite being involved in photography and video for decades.

Montfrooij Posted at 12-20 00:17
I'd like to see some more examples without text overlays of straight objects.

Buy one and test it yourself. After hearing reports of damage to the gimbal motors I would certainly not be prepared to give it an extended trial. I saw enough already. The purple fringing is shocking. In any event, mine has already been sent back and refunded. They are very well aware of the problems... they are now trying again with it 'adjusted' to  1.5X ratio, but that will only get you to 30mm equiv, so hardly worth the hassle and risk IMHO.

Natural Sounds and Sights Posted at 12-20 01:48
Context is everything. As noted, I used some front wide and tele converters years ago, and this thing is worse than any of those, even those dating back 25 years! You do expect SOME degradation, but this is the worst I have seen despite being involved in photography and video for decades.

I personally don't watch talking videos too much.
Takes too long for me.
I am more of a 'see it yourself' watcher with some examples, accompanied by a little bit of voiceover or captions maybe.
(but that's just me)

Natural Sounds and Sights Posted at 12-20 01:51
Buy one and test it yourself. After hearing reports of damage to the gimbal motors I would certainly not be prepared to give it an extended trial. I saw enough already. The purple fringing is shocking. In any event, mine has already been sent back and refunded. They are very well aware of the problems... they are now trying again with it 'adjusted' to  1.5X ratio, but that will only get you to 30mm equiv, so hardly worth the hassle and risk IMHO.

I was just hoping for more examples in your video and less talking
I am looking into getting a tele converter once I get my Pocket 3, but not this one

Montfrooij Posted at 12-20 02:20
I was just hoping for more examples in your video and less talking
I am looking into getting a tele converter once I get my Pocket 3, but not this one

There are no others widely available at present.

My opinion, better off doing a zoom in post. Yes, you lose some pixels, but way better than this thing. Not worth risking damage to your gimbal, either.

Natural Sounds and Sights Posted at 12-20 03:01
There are no others widely available at present.

My opinion, better off doing a zoom in post. Yes, you lose some pixels, but way better than this thing. Not worth risking damage to your gimbal, either.

Yeah, good point. I hope one will start making them.

thanks for making this video
otherwise i could have bought it blindly.
i really want a teleconverter for the osmo pocket 3