how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P2V

[DKDarkness]

My daily routines for the past month or so, have included multiple checks of the news and support section of the dji website, followed by looking for news regarding the Adobe DNG RAW support for the FC200 on various forums. I got my first Phantom 2 Vision when it was first released in Denmark, and after 4 weeks of communicating with my local dealer who couldn’t get a response from DJI regarding poor range and a blurry camera, had it replaced with my now second P2V. My local dealer droner.dk was very nice about it, and I’m glad I didn’t have to fight DJI on this. Since the picture quality of the FC200 is, lets say, less than I desired, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Adobe DNG firmware.

Today I realized, that the missing support from DJI, and total lack of information from DJI regarding release dates, updates, roadmaps etc. has been a blessing in disguise. In the process of looking for solutions, I have build custom mount from 3 mm plexiglas (using the top and rubber dampeners from the original P2V). I have build a WIFI repeater (using DD-WRT) for my GoPro Hero3 (yes I can use the 2.4 gHz Hero3 wireless on my 5.8 gHz P2V). I have discovered the CHDK firmware “hack” for my old Canon PowerShot SX130IS (works on most powershots) and used it to take stills in Adobe PNG format (using a intervalometer script). I have learned that when people say I can’t put a 330 gram camera (SX130IS) on my P2V, they really say they haven’t tried it themselves. I’ve met pilot veterans, who tell me I can’t fly my 5.8 gHz P2V, because 5.8 gHz is reserved for FPV (or so it was back in 2002, when they last checked). I’ve learned that there are many rules, and that Denmark between airports, residential areas, roads and bird habitats, is more or less all restricted airspace. I’ve learned that opinions aren’t the same as facts. I’ve learned that what was impossible yesterday, might not be impossible today.

To sum up, I’ve learned to stop worrying, and love my Phantom 2 Vision

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

It's surprising what you can learn in your quest to solve a problem. DJI should learn that lesson but I doubt they will. Many customers have found better solutions whilst searching for answers and no doubt some will have switched to alternative products entirely.

Your post is an excellent example that whilst we should all carefully consider the advice we are given in forums that does not mean you can't try new things, even those that people claim will not work.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[FPV col]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

It's surprising what you can learn in your quest to solve a problem. DJI should learn that lesson but I doubt they will. Many customers have found better solutions whilst searching for answers and no doubt some will have switched to alternative products entirely.

Your post is an excellent example that whilst we should all carefully consider the advice we are given in forums that does not mean you can't try new things, even those that people claim will not work.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

+1

 

[gunslinger]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

My daily routines for the past month or so, have included multiple checks of the news and support section of the dji website, followed by looking for news regarding the Adobe DNG RAW support for the FC200 on various forums. I got my first Phantom 2 Vision when it was first released in Denmark, and after 4 weeks of communicating with my local dealer who couldn’t get a response from DJI regarding poor range and a blurry camera, had it replaced with my now second P2V. My local dealer droner.dk was very nice about it, and I’m glad I didn’t have to fight DJI on this. Since the picture quality of the FC200 is, lets say, less than I desired, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Adobe DNG firmware.

Today I realized, that the missing support from DJI, and total lack of information from DJI regarding release dates, updates, roadmaps etc. has been a blessing in disguise. In the process of looking for solutions, I have build custom mount from 3 mm plexiglas (using the top and rubber dampeners from the original P2V). I have build a WIFI repeater (using DD-WRT) for my GoPro Hero3 (yes I can use the 2.4 gHz Hero3 wireless on my 5.8 gHz P2V). I have discovered the CHDK firmware “hack” for my old Canon PowerShot SX130IS (works on most powershots) and used it to take stills in Adobe PNG format (using a intervalometer script). I have learned that when people say I can’t put a 330 gram camera (SX130IS) on my P2V, they really say they haven’t tried it themselves. I’ve met pilot veterans, who tell me I can’t fly my 5.8 gHz P2V, because 5.8 gHz is reserved for FPV (or so it was back in 2002, when they last checked). I’ve learned that there are many rules, and that Denmark between airports, residential areas, roads and bird habitats, is more or less all restricted airspace. I’ve learned that opinions aren’t the same as facts. I’ve learned that what was impossible yesterday, might not be impossible today.

To sum up, I’ve learned to stop worrying, and love my Phantom 2 Vision

Gotta love people who think out of the box and don't automatically take no for an answer. That's exactly how "innovation" happens. Nice job. It's even nicer that you can see the shiny side of dealing with DJI's corporate philosophy. Whatever that is...

-slinger

 

[LeoS]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

@DKDarkness: Awesome post man, you're an inspiration!
Any chance of sharing those mods? Maybe pics and some brief writeup, when you feel like it and have some spare time?

 

[DKDarkness]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

Sorry for the delay, bad weather combined with some family issues.

Here is the first, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS attatched to the Phantom 2 Vision: http://youtu.be/WvzeHJFpXig
The camera is tweaked with CHDK (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK) and I am using a script (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Countdown_Intervalometer) to take pictures every 5 seconds. I started out with Adobe DNG format, but had to many bad pixels on my old camera, so decided to use the CHDK superfine setting instead. The pictures in the video are DNG and rotated and cropped and color corrected etc. Just default settings on the camera, so not the best results. More of a Proof of Concept setup actually

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

Miles better picture quality. Now if only there was a way to see what the camera can see.

 

[tknquad]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

My daily routines for the past month or so, have included multiple checks of the news and support section of the dji website, followed by looking for news regarding the Adobe DNG RAW support for the FC200 on various forums. I got my first Phantom 2 Vision when it was first released in Denmark, and after 4 weeks of communicating with my local dealer who couldn’t get a response from DJI regarding poor range and a blurry camera, had it replaced with my now second P2V. My local dealer droner.dk was very nice about it, and I’m glad I didn’t have to fight DJI on this. Since the picture quality of the FC200 is, lets say, less than I desired, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Adobe DNG firmware.

Today I realized, that the missing support from DJI, and total lack of information from DJI regarding release dates, updates, roadmaps etc. has been a blessing in disguise. In the process of looking for solutions, I have build custom mount from 3 mm plexiglas (using the top and rubber dampeners from the original P2V). I have build a WIFI repeater (using DD-WRT) for my GoPro Hero3 (yes I can use the 2.4 gHz Hero3 wireless on my 5.8 gHz P2V). I have discovered the CHDK firmware “hack” for my old Canon PowerShot SX130IS (works on most powershots) and used it to take stills in Adobe PNG format (using a intervalometer script). I have learned that when people say I can’t put a 330 gram camera (SX130IS) on my P2V, they really say they haven’t tried it themselves. I’ve met pilot veterans, who tell me I can’t fly my 5.8 gHz P2V, because 5.8 gHz is reserved for FPV (or so it was back in 2002, when they last checked). I’ve learned that there are many rules, and that Denmark between airports, residential areas, roads and bird habitats, is more or less all restricted airspace. I’ve learned that opinions aren’t the same as facts. I’ve learned that what was impossible yesterday, might not be impossible today.

To sum up, I’ve learned to stop worrying, and love my Phantom 2 Vision

great post! finally someone who is doing something different and he is proud of.

bye from Rome under lots of rain (incredibile)

 

[DKDarkness]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

Thank you for noticing the shaky video footage. That was sort of the point of the video footage, to show the conditions in which I took the pictures.

The point of mounting Powershot camera to the Phantom was:
Can the Phantom 2 (Vision) carry the weight?
Will the camera produce usable pictures?
Will I be able to fly in conditions I would not normally subject my craft to?

- In other words, what can I do with my Phantom 2 (Vision)

I found, what works for me is:
Little or no wind.
Sunny skies with the scenic clouds.
Letting the Phantom 2 drift in ATTI mode.
Recording in 1080p@60 and reducing framerate to 30 or even 24 in post (maybe use a pol filter for motion blur and nice colors).
Using eerie slow background music to suggest calm video(!)

Unfortunately, the weather in Denmark this time of year is always like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cu7Zxnujt4 ...

 

[stefan_fvt]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

This is really interesting. I'm planning mounting an extra camera to my P2V to get shots straight down with high quality.

I want to be able to create terrain models and arial photos (like google map in satellite mode) with high res. I tried disconnecting the built in camera but didn't get a GPS lock on it. How did you dismount the camera of the P2V and you didn't have any GPS issues?

/Stefan

 

[DKDarkness]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

I have had no issues with GPS lock or connection lost when flying with the PowerShot or even with my GoPro Hero 3 with WIFI turned on, and connected to my DD-WRT wifi repeater. If anything, the Phantom 2 Vision in my case seems to perform better without the FC200 attached. (Could be the DJI Repeater messing with the remote, I don't know?)

 

[djunod]

Re: how i learned to stop worrying (about RAW) and love my P

This is awesome

Can you tell details about your DD-WRT device too? Thanks!

 

[kauaiboyy]

I have build a WIFI repeater (using DD-WRT) for my GoPro Hero3 (yes I can use the 2.4 gHz Hero3 wireless on my 5.8 gHz P2V).

Hello I've been in the process of also making a GOpro wifi repeater for my Gopro Hero4 silver. I found the motorpixels website a few months ago, but I'm confused, so I decided to search for more answers. Motorpixels instructs to use the Client Mode in DD-WRT? Do i just replace those instructions with Repeater Mode instead? If you could be so kind, to maybe make a step by step video how to configure a DD-WRT flashed router to be used as a gopro wifi repeater. I'm sure a lot of people would apprecciate it. ALoha!