Do I have a bad sensor or is this really how bad underexposed shots look with the Zenmuse X5?  I hope not because I've paid a lot of money for this.  Blotches and purple tinging in the shadows.  Here's some samples of underexposed footage.  I've never had a camera that looked this awful underexposed.

That is truly awful.

But as you say, it's underexposed. Modern CMOS sensors perform best in their upper exposure ranges (which is why you should expose to the right). Even several higher end Cinema cameras are unpleasent looking when you underexpose them. Given the X5 is designed to go on a drone I'm sure DJI was mostly concern with the full-daylight, ETTR performance of the X5.

As for the purple shadows - you using an ND filter?

Can you confirm what settings you had for the exposure. Was it set on auto or were you using manual with the histogram?

rockliffe@btcon Posted at 2015-10-28 02:10
Can you confirm what settings you had for the exposure. Was it set on auto or were you using manual  ...

Did you use the LOG mode when shooting this? Log should protect highlights enough not to look this awful and let you do a fairly good looking grade. Please let us know, I'm very curious.

Nevermind! Seen the description details. This doesnt look so good, but please share the settings you used for this

Regardless of what setting you have on the camera, if it was shot with auto exposure, then you have a serious problem. Unless you had the exposure compensation set several stops under. There are some shots in there that neither have too dark an area or anything too bright to affect the metering. So if it was auto, then like I say, there is a problem. To test, shoot a scene that has overall, tones, without too many highlights or dark areas. Set the camera for auto and make sure the exposure compensation is set to 0. Shoot the scene and then repost.

not only does video quality not match up yo x3, the x3 is much lighter and does much better on the gimbl in terms of fluidity of movement   when you push the wheel on the remote to roll the camera when the x5 is attached, it looks much more choppy than the x3  i think it is because of the extra weight    has anyone seen this

I'm experiencing the same issues with the X5. I shoot in manual mode w/ DLOG enabled.
While I utilize ETTR all the time for raw image formats (when shooting time-lapse) on non DJI gear, you have to be careful with the highly compressed 60mbps h264 4k video on the Inspire/Phantom3Pro because you cannot easily recover highlights in post. I find a balance between shadows/highlights on the histogram within GO when shooting high contrast scenes. This achieves great results (despite the tiny sensor size) on my P3Pro. On the X5, I shoot in the same way but have been experiencing all the nasty, purple posterization and blotchiness in the shadows and midtones. Using ETTR will eventually fix the problem in the shadows, but then you're dealing with blown out highlights.

I was convinced that the sensor on the x5 I have been using might be a lemon, so this is an interesting post to see another user having the same issue.  It's embarrassing when my P3Pro can produce a better image (excluding the longer focal legnth on the x5 which is desirable in my opinion) during a sunrise/sunset scenario where I'm pushing the sensor to its dynamic range limit. Based on technical specs, the x5 should be far superior to the P3Pro. Why isn't it?!?

Here are two X5 examples of the issue (4K video frames, no post work):Click to enlarge.
#1 Look at the trees in the shadow -- lower, middle.
#2 Look at the trees in the distance and also the foreground in the lower left corner.



Now two Phantom 3 Pro (4K video frames, DLOG, 1/50th, no post work) - No purple posterization issues:

Would this have anything to do with calibration? I'm on the verge of buying an X5 and if there are issues like this, I'd rather wait till they sort this out and stick to my X3 for now

ghoonk Posted at 2015-11-18 11:19
Would this have anything to do with calibration? I'm on the verge of buying an X5 and if there are i ...

Not sure. The calibration is specifically for the focus system. We tried a full camera reset. The purple shadows in underexposed areas still occur unless you really expose to the right (ETTR).

Hey guys!
I have the same problem on our Inspire pro.
Check my attached picture.
We have this purple circle on the footage.What is this? Yes, we are disappointed too... i hope we can get some solution.
(picture is leveled with photoshop for better visibility)

Here are my problems in video:

I have now seen these same issues on a 2nd Inspire Pro unit. The only "fix" seems to be really pushing your exposure to the right at the cost of clipping highlights during those high dynamic range scenes at sunrise/sunset. It's a real shame DJI's new sensor isn't delivering on the dynamic range they promise. Has anyone heard an official response to this issue directly from DJI?

I should also add, that part of this might be a compression issue too. I noticed a strange, sharp vertical line moving around within the blotchy/purple shadows. No easy fix on that shot in post.

Looks like DJI has fixed this problem in the latest firmware posted today (11/24/15). It includes a 12 bit read out off the sensor now (previously 10-bit) and contrast/sharpness enhancements. Will update and report back.