Filmed a couple of pull backs, in H264 and DLogM to compare the results, these were short one after the other with the same settings except for H264, DlogM and I did one other in HLG which I havent processed yet.  Used the DJI Lut on DlogM footage and nothing to the H264.  Apart from the quality difference I did notice how mush space you can save by transcoding the video,   I ran an 800mb clip through compressor, set to output the same resolution etc and it came out at 150mb.

First one looks better

Hi, we really appreciate you for sharing this amazing video test of yours. Please don't hesitate to reach us if you have other inquiries or concerns. Thank you for your continued support!

For me, shooting normal mode always looks better than Dlog, no matter how I grade it.
Dlog has a 'haze' to it, as shown in your comparison.
Many, many other videos I've seen show the same effect.
And fixing the barrel distortion doesn't seem to come out perfect either.
And then there is the slow computer when editing h.265 vs h.264.

Hmmm.  Just thinking.
I shoot in 4k 30fps FOV.
Seems the haze is always around the perimeter of the image.
Maybe HQ gives better results?  Uses a center-crop instead of a down-sample of the whole image.

What did you shoot these in?

capthook Posted at 10-29 22:23
Hmmm.  Just thinking.
I shoot in 4k 30fps FOV.
Seems the haze is always around the perimeter of the image.

I filmed 4k 30fps FOV.

I'm gonna try shooting some Dlog HQ/ Dlog FOV / Normal this weekend to see if HQ improves Dlog.
Only shot HQ a few times in normal.
I prefer the wider angle and find the sharpness difference to be tiny at most.

capthook Posted at 10-29 22:47
I'm gonna try shooting some Dlog HQ/ Dlog FOV / Normal this weekend to see if HQ improves Dlog.
Only shot HQ a few times in normal.
I prefer the wider angle and find the sharpness difference to be tiny at most.

Looking forward to seeing your results.

So here are some results for:

Mavic 2 Pro
4k 30fps Normal FOV vs 4k 30fps DLOG FOV
Settings: 0, 0, 0

The first picture below is Normal straight out of camera vs DLOG with DJI DLOG LUT and distortion correction.
As seen below, the DLOG barrel distortion never gets quite right.
This is applying the correction of (Full FOV  0.245) in Davinci Resolve as recommended by DJI.
And the DLOG sharpness is painfully dull.



Here is a 2x zoom for sharpness comparison:



Here are the same pictures with full grades.
Normal has small contrast and saturation boost and a modest application of ResolveFX dehaze.
DLOG has medium contrast and saturation boost and larger dehaze AND aggresive sharpening filter.



And a 2x zoom for sharpness comparison:



The DLOG, even with the extra, aggresive sharpening, is still painfully dull.

Conclusions:
I have done many, many settings tests with the Mavic 2 Pro.
They all have lead me to shoot in 4k 30fps Normal.
This test of Normal vs DLOG, for me, confirms my decision.

The 'unfixable' barrel distortion, 'washed-out' image, and 'muddy' unsharp image are my primary issues.

Next up - comparing HQ:
4k 30fps Normal HQ vs 4k 30fps DLOG HQ

capthook Posted at 11-1 14:24
So here are some results for:

Mavic 2 Pro

Exactly, I was thinking it was blurry but I wasn't sure.  I heard DJI rushed the Mavic 2 to beat Autel from some reports.  When I was looking at drones at BestBuy, got the Spark to start, I don't think the flagship Autel was even there on display.  They beat Autel to BestBuy.

Yuneec was the dream drone when I heard about it when it first came out but from the Stability of the Spark, I had to get more DJIs.

Normal HQ vs Dlog HQ

Almost same as before: dlog sharpening filter removed
Normal has small contrast and saturation boost and a modest application of ResolveFX dehaze.
DLOG has DJI DLOG LUT, distortion correction, medium contrast and saturation boost
and larger dehaze applied.
There is a nice bump up in image quality of HQ vs FOV.

2x crop:



So HQ or FOV, Dlog has been implemented by DJI native in-camera that results
in a significantly softer image compared to Normal.

I hope to compare -1 Normal and +1 and +2 Dlog soon.

You'd expect/hope D-LOG is software (ie less sharpened) than normal by default.

If you are just applying DJI LUT why bother to shot in DLOG? Just use normal mode...

capthook Posted at 11-1 23:23
Normal HQ vs Dlog HQ

Almost same as before: dlog sharpening filter removed

Yeah, get +1 +2 +3 D-Log going.  You can just take-off from where you live to take the pictures.  I wonder if it's a sharpening error where it sets it to -3.  I've read that companies add noise reduction to hide the noise.

Even if we can make the sharpness look identical, the crop in FOV is still bad.

DanielVieira Posted at 11-2 12:08
If you are just applying DJI LUT why bother to shot in DLOG? Just use normal mode...

A lut is a starting point for editing and no more.
DLOG is giving you 10 bit video which is going to help provide more latitude for editing (especially where you're dealing with a high DR).

4k 10-bit data rate is recommended at 880 Mbps. 400 Mbps is the recommended minimum.
The M2P has a data rate of 100 Mbps.
Amazing in such a small, flying device.
But this is where compromises are required.
Trying to cram 4k 10-bit Dlog through the M2P narrow data pipeline results in an inferior image over Normal mode IMO.

capthook Posted at 11-2 22:28
4k 10-bit data rate is recommended at 880 Mbps. 400 Mbps is the recommended minimum.
The M2P has a data rate of 100 Mbps.
Amazing in such a small, flying device.

So that is the reason.  Perfect answer.  How come they didn't give us 4K60 instead of D-Log M at 10-bit or even leave it at 8-bit?  How come they didn't make it where it's 720p30 at 10-bit with more Mbps instead of it being locked at 100 Mbps?  Autel and the P4 can do even 4K60.  H.265 at 1080p60 saves at 35Mbps data rate.  How come it doesn't use the full 100?  I think the D-Log M was data rated at 35Mbps too.

If we look at how movies are, good movies aren't super sharp.  Even the movies made on in theaters aren't even sharp or even super smooth like the Lion King which seemed to be shot at 24p.  DJI had the S-series that movie creators make, so if they are going to make D-Log look like "garbage" compared to how normal mode looks, we should assume it's the way movies should be.  Sure, we want the sharpest, smoothest footage, but real movies aren't like that.  They are LUTed along with sound to create the right drama.  Because we aren't all proper film creators but observers, we see D-Log mode as bad when it really isn't according to the movie big screen standards.

Basically, DJI engineers is a pass in their eyes, the ones who engineer stuff for movie development.  We just lack the proper creation of sound fx and LUTs like the very few that have made amazing films w/ D-Log M.

The best example I could give to compare would be, track cars handle so hard on the streets but on the track, you would know why they are designed the way they are.

capthook Posted at 11-1 23:23
Normal HQ vs Dlog HQ

Almost same as before: dlog sharpening filter removed

Did you try to correct the sharpening in post?

AntDX316 Posted at 11-2 23:56
So that is the reason.  Perfect answer.  How come they didn't give us 4K60 instead of D-Log M at 10-bit or even leave it at 8-bit?  How come they didn't make it where it's 720p30 at 10-bit with more Mbps instead of it being locked at 100 Mbps?  Autel and the P4 can do even 4K60.  H.265 at 1080p60 saves at 35Mbps data rate.  How come it doesn't use the full 100?  I think the D-Log M was data rated at 35Mbps too.

4K D-log records at 99.8 Mbps for me.