Okay, the ultimate question: Which video setting is better on the mavic pro and which you do you find yourself using the most? 4K or 2.7K?

As for myself, I used to film only 4K, but now I found out 2.7K is almost as good if not better than 4K...

I originally recorded 2.7K but as I more and more grab still frames from video, I've decided to  switch to 4K.

the way i see it why not use the best quality possible?  you can always downsize

boostedford Posted at 2017-5-22 14:30
the way i see it why not use the best quality possible?  you can always downsize

Totally Agree.

boostedford Posted at 2017-5-22 14:30
the way i see it why not use the best quality possible?  you can always downsize

Well, this guy has pretty good explanation about sharpness settings and others. He said he will come out with part 2 explaining other settings like 4k or 2.7k but I think he got too busy and hasn't done it yet.
He did say this:
"Just a quick tip since I won't have the video ready. I'd shoot at 2.7k with +1 sharpening. D- Cinelike or D-log, and plan for neat video NR in post. I'll explain more later.

I shoot mainly in 1080p for one reason...  I can use those extra CCD pixels to zoom in while in flight instead of having a static frame.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-22 15:22
I shoot mainly in 1080p for one reason...  I can use those extra CCD pixels to zoom in while in flight instead of having a static frame.

how's the quality when zooming? does it get crappy like with a cell phone camera?

boostedford Posted at 2017-5-22 15:38
how's the quality when zooming? does it get crappy like with a cell phone camera?

That is the point.  It is not a typical digital zoom.  It uses the rest of the unused pixels in the CCD so you have 0 quality loss.  A digital zoom that actually works.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-22 16:00
That is the point.  It is not a typical digital zoom.  It uses the rest of the unused pixels in the CCD so you have 0 quality loss.  A digital zoom that actually works.

oh thats awesome ill have to give it a try

boostedford Posted at 2017-5-22 16:12
oh thats awesome ill have to give it a try

Now granted, you could do this post production and take a 2160p all the way down to 1080p and zoom in that post production, but A.  That is a lot of work, B. If you are going to be showing 1080p content from a 2160p video, you should be shooting 1080p to start with and not chewing up all that memory, and C. You can actually see in real time what you are shooting.

This makes it immensely useful in my humble opinion.

and saves hd space lol

Still waiting on my goggles to ship but just learned you can't select 4K with the goggles turned on so it looks like I will be standardizing on 2.7k for most of my video.

boostedford Posted at 2017-5-22 15:38
how's the quality when zooming? does it get crappy like with a cell phone camera?

one way to find out.

boostedford Posted at 2017-5-22 15:38
how's the quality when zooming? does it get crappy like with a cell phone camera?

I shoot in 2.7K because it still supports the zoom feature.  The 1080P is awful.  Vertical lines look jagged.
Here is a video on the zoom feature.

Hummingbird.UAV Posted at 2017-5-24 13:38
I shoot in 2.7K because it still supports the zoom feature.  The 1080P is awful.  Vertical lines look jagged.
Here is a video on the zoom feature.

personally it's difficult to see the difference (imo) between 4k and 2.7.  So I mostly shoot in 2.7...it also records more smoothly (no delays hiccups/lag when recording) and importantly plays back in QT without any stuttering.  For the small screen I think it works quite well.

Hummingbird.UAV Posted at 2017-5-24 13:38
I shoot in 2.7K because it still supports the zoom feature.  The 1080P is awful.  Vertical lines look jagged.
Here is a video on the zoom feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamYBkA5RVg

Interesting video...

I have 10k$ 4k tv at work and this is the only reason I shoot in 4ķ it is just awesome on this tv.

4K for a better, crisper filming.   

geoffz Posted at 2017-5-24 21:30
personally it's difficult to see the difference (imo) between 4k and 2.7.  So I mostly shoot in 2.7...it also records more smoothly (no delays hiccups/lag when recording) and importantly plays back in QT without any stuttering.  For the small screen I think it works quite well.

The data rate of 2.7K is less than the 4K and on many computers 2.7K will playback smoother because of this.

Hummingbird.UAV Posted at 2017-5-25 05:46
The data rate of 2.7K is less than the 4K and on many computers 2.7K will playback smoother because of this.

Including mine lol

Hummingbird.UAV Posted at 2017-5-24 13:38
I shoot in 2.7K because it still supports the zoom feature.  The 1080P is awful.  Vertical lines look jagged.
Here is a video on the zoom feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamYBkA5RVg

I don't seem to get your jagged problems in video at 1080p with 30 FPS selected.  If I go to 48 or 60 FPS, I get it.  Looks ugly.

Note on your 2.7K, the camera is not capable of doing zoom without quality loss.  In 1080p, it is. capable of zooming without any quality loss.

At what point in the 'zoom cycle' does the 2.7K become equivalent (or worse) to the 1080p? In 2.7K you obviously start with more pixels, but then lose these in the zoom, but it seems the 1080p stays at 1080p at all zoom settings?

The Doctor Posted at 2017-5-26 07:38
At what point in the 'zoom cycle' does the 2.7K become equivalent (or worse) to the 1080p? In 2.7K you obviously start with more pixels, but then lose these in the zoom, but it seems the 1080p stays at 1080p at all zoom settings?

It creates artifacts that can be seen.  That is the issue.  I'd rather have a clean 1080p video than a 1440p video with artifacts, but to each his own I guess.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-26 06:35
I don't seem to get your jagged problems in video at 1080p with 30 FPS selected.  If I go to 48 or 60 FPS, I get it.  Looks ugly.

Note on your 2.7K, the camera is not capable of doing zoom without quality loss.  In 1080p, it is. capable of zooming without any quality loss.

My 1080P looks like the Sharpness is too strong.  Any fine detail flickers.

Are you sure you aren't running more than 30 FPS?  I get that at 1080p when I run higher frame rates.  They shimmer /  flicker.

Actually; if the mavic would record decent 1080-60 I would not use either.  1080P-60 is the best I have used on the P4 and on my action cameras as well.  Has anyone shot much video in 1080P-30 with the Mavic?

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-22 15:22
I shoot mainly in 1080p for one reason...  I can use those extra CCD pixels to zoom in while in flight instead of having a static frame.

How does 1080P-30 work for you, since 1080P-60 is not usable?

Works fine.  I don't have some of the flickering problems mentioned here, but that might be a shutter speed issue.  If you try and go above 30 FPS though, it looks pretty ugly.

2160p is nice, but most days I am looking for long recording time over multiple batteries on a 64GB card over super high res, plus lossless zoom.  4K I am noticing a 53 Mbps data rate and that will eat a 64GB card pretty fast.  I think 1080p is down around 18Mbps.  The sweet spot for resolution is probably the 1440p setting though.

At the end of the day, I am going to downsample most video to 1080p so why waste the space?

My observations are approx 3GB per 10 min of video in this setting.  So 18GB per hour so figure about 3.5+ hours for one 64GB SD card.  1 hour 15 min to 1hr 20 min on the 4K setting for the same card.

I just got my Mav a week ago so for now I am just recording in 1080P. Once I get a feel for it and get my old fpv wings dusted off I will do most of my filming in 2K. Don't let my Beginner tag full you, I started flying in 2012.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-22 15:22
I shoot mainly in 1080p for one reason...  I can use those extra CCD pixels to zoom in while in flight instead of having a static frame.

@Xmain1 - the quality of the 1080p 50 & 60 is horrible - do you shoot 1080p 25 or 30?

I like this poll.
I was asking similar question there : https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... &fromuid=657576  
having concerns about the dynamic range when using 4k compared to 2.7k (probably using different compression level and so on)

I am using 4k from the very beginning, but sure yet it is the best choice

MDSH Posted at 2017-6-2 10:55
@Xmain1 - the quality of the 1080p 50 & 60 is horrible - do you shoot 1080p 25 or 30?

I never go above 30 FPS.

I vote for 4K@30fps


Resolution tests

I'd prefer 8K, so I can crop some 4K video from it while still having room to grab a good large format still from that....c'mon DJI get with it!

Hi! Good question! I use 4k for the following reason! When you edit in Post, you can zoom up to 4 times in 4k and still have a HD video! So I suggest shooting in 4k and then export your video at 1080 or 2,7k! I hpe that helps!

boostedford Posted at 2017-5-22 14:30
the way i see it why not use the best quality possible?  you can always downsize

Because of bitrates.

Based on the Mavic's H.264 encoder and encoding rates (which seems to be the same as the sub-par system from the I1 and P4), you're looking at:

4k footage: ~7.5 bits per pixel per second.
2.7k footage: ~11 bits per pixel per second.

Shooting at 2.7k and outputting to 1080p is probably the quality sweet spot on DJI copters that aren't the P4Pro (100Mbps encoders including HEVC) and the I2 (ProRes and CinemaDNG) - you get the most data per frame coming in while still shooting above your output target for reducing to 1080p in post.

As an aside I also wouldn't bother with D-Log on DJI copters that aren't the I2 unless you really, really need it for a specific reason. Log profiles going into 4:2:0 compressed 8-bit encoding (a la the Mavic) is fairly gimmicky IMO. D-Cinelike seems to be the best bet for a semi-gradeable, "flatish" image.

Ma(v/g)ic Pro Posted at 2017-6-21 07:13
Hi! Good question! I use 4k for the following reason! When you edit in Post, you can zoom up to 4 times in 4k and still have a HD video! So I suggest shooting in 4k and then export your video at 1080 or 2,7k! I hpe that helps!

Technically you can zoom up to 2x in a 4K shot (no 4x) and still have enough pixels for 1080p.

When zoomed 2x into the centre of a 4k video you'd have 960 pixles on each side of the zoom window and 540 pixels above and below.

BUT...

This doesn't really apply to compressed 4k (especially compressed 4k at 60Mbps). The quality loss between the sensor and the flash storage is so great that your zoom is just going to show off the compression noise.

The Mavic zoom seems to do the zoom pre-compressor which is why it's less offensive looking, but zooming the MP4/MOV file you get off the flash card is just asking for ugly.

Depends. 4K is nice and high quality but a pain to edit. Some people film a lot too and might not have the space for it. I like 2.7K, it's a happy medium for size and quality.

SimplePanda, thanks for the best answers. Those were, incidentally,  the reasons why I too shoot at 2.7K, 25fps.

Here he 4K is shown to give more detail, though. Good tutorial in general too


The summary from video descripton:
For a simple, no processing settings I suggest 2.7k - D-Cinelike, +1-1-1
For the best sharpness and quality I suggest 4k - D-Log, +1,-1,-1 along with the corrective LUT and Neat Video to de-noise the image.