Potential anafi buyer with a video quality question

[Chris Baish]

I had the opportunity to borrow an anafi for a flight. Being an existing Mavic 2 Zoom owner, I am looking for a 2nd drone that is less heavy and intrusive for flying during beach walks and holidays. I've been a drone owner for a couple of years so know my way around video settings but wouldn't call myself a photography expert.

I used the Anafi in auto settings and did not pay a huge amount of attention to the ISO, s/s or EV value. It was on a very bright sunny day with zero cloud, so assumed there would be no need to tinker too much. I also left it on auto WB. The resulting footage has what can only be described as 'buzzing' grain/noise in everything but the sky. This includes mid tones as well as shadows.

This has so far this has put me off a purchase, but I wanted to ask experienced pilots whether this is usual, or perhaps whether the anafi may have made a peculiar choice on ISO and set it at higher level than necessary (and therefore the shutter speed would have been higher too). As I didn't check it I have no way of knowing. Does the anafi make 'poor' choices on auto settings, and is it possible to get a clean video without the need for noise reduction in post, by using manual settings?

Other than this I was impressed by the anafi, and the extended kit is really good value at the moment, so I'm tempted if I can be assured this issue can be resolved.

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Hello Chris,

I’m still new with the Anafi, not too familiar with the camera/video settings. Have noticed when I switch to video, the live feed seems not as crisp as when in picture mode. But I’m not giving up on the Anafi, it has its strengths especially with zoom and other features.

I do have the Mavic 2 Pro, although the M2 P lacks a zoom mode I do like the larger camera.

I choose the Anafi because of the camera and it’s long flight time, close to the Mavic 2 Pro maybe 3-5 minutes less. If you do purshase the Anafi, get a new one in case it has issues it has a warranty. Pay the extra $$$ for the warranty, it’s worth it.

Sorry I wasn’t much help, still in the learning process with camera settings myself.

Good luck,
Paul

 

[Joe_Scot]

I've owned my Anafi for about 3 months and played with it in various lighting conditions in England and Scotland... Bright sunny days, cloudy days and at sunset time. I still haven't used anything other than Auto settings for video and I am truly blown away by how good it is. Only one video so far out of over 100 has turned out to be what I would regard as poor quality due to the exposure.

So I honestly think you may have had one with a fault. I watch my footage on a 4k TV and I am constantly impressed by the quality... And I am really fussy!

If you do get an Anafi, I'd completely agree with the above post that getting a warranty is well worth the extra spend, rather than going for a second hand model. I have had two faults (gimbal stopped working) and on the replacement Anafi the camera stopped working on the 2nd flight. So now I am onto Anafi number 3

 

[Chris Baish]

Thanks both for your input. I'm certainly looking at getting a new one, as the cost of the Extended package is fantastic value at £629. I must say I was surprised at the camera issue aa it didn't seem to compare with the crisp footage I was seeing on YouTube, although it is difficult to tell due to YouTube compression etc. I'm thinking it must have defaulted to a high ISO unnecessarily, and so perhaps I'd need to check this and adjust it manually if necessary.

Still interested to hear thoughts from others with experience.

 

[MrDosa]

What I noticed while flying is that sometimes the automatic white balance selection is not doing a great job, so I tend to select the appropriate white balance manually. Also the HDR is very situation dependent, it's not going to work well always. Other than this, the videos are crisp, nice quality, and in normal daylight, even when it's getting darker, no noise whatsoever.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I find the Anafi videos no matter how good they are really depends on which monitor\TV I am watching it on.

 

[jmbsmt63]

If you are used to the Mavic 2 Zoom...Reviewing the Anafi videos too closely will definitely result in that "smudged/grainy" impression you mentioned...
If the images or videos from the Anafi are shot in the same area/location and compared in a post-processing program for example to the same shots from a Mavic Pro or, in my case, an EVO, the amount of information captured is limited so that reflects on the sensor and it's processors capabilities.
As mentioned above, it does not choose the correct White Balance at times so one of the manual settings for that is better (I like "Blue Sky" or "Green")
Using HDR for VIDEOS will result in a very noticeable grain/smudge problem but PHOTOS with HDR seem better and does work to get the dynamic range better but as above, depending on conditions. (there are a few posts comparing that on this forum someplace)
I have found that using the "natural" color profile and bumping up the contrast, color, and sharpness to +1 gives a noticeable improvement also. The "p-log" color setting seems to introduce some of the grain in fringe areas due to the processing performed. ( again, there are a few posts somewhere here regarding that, also)
The overwhelming positives of the Anafi vs most others are the low noise, portability/weight and the plethora of smart features primarily the excellent waypoint system.
In short, the video quality CAN be tweaked to a better level but it is a step down in sensor/image processor than the Mavic pros ( I have an EVO to compare to). The Anafi relies on a lot of electronic wizardry to provide some of the photo features...especially the stabilization since it is not a 3 axis stabilized gimbal

 

[PascalG]

Could it just be that the borrowed Anafi had non standard settings set by its owner? I have never had to mess the camera setting, they re all factory default and quality is excellent. I don’t shoot in 4K, just 1080

I almost always use the drone in bright tropical light. This for instance is something i shot a few days ago. Doesn’t get brighter than this :

 

[Chris Baish]

Thanks all for your input. It's great to hear that decent noise free video is possible with the anafi. I do think there's a possibility the ISO was too high and so think it's worth the investment. Even through the Mavic 2 is a great drone and is fairly compact, I think the Anafi still wins in certain situations due to being much less noticeable and intimidating. An Anafi taken with me is a much better camera than a drone that is left in the case at home!

By the way, beautiful location PascalG!

 

[PascalG]

I have never used a Mavic 2 but have used a first gen Mavic. While indeed the Anafi is less visible in flight, I don’t think the difference is big enough to warrant purchase. If you fly in a setting where people would react negatively, it s not going to make a difference.

 

[mastix]

I am or have been an owner of a Phantom 4 Pro mavic air Anafi and in a few days a mavic 2 zoom. The video quality of the Anafi is lower to the dji drones. First and most important is the stabilization of the 2 axis gimbal. If you fly with wind forget to film the digital stabilization will ruin your video no matter how hard you try. Unless you are flying on high altitude if you film for example houses or other objects from not to far away the micro jitter and jello of the digital stabilization will be horrible.
Noise will also be higher even at base Iso. Can be removed in post but again DJI drones are much better in this regard.
I have found that I like Anafi color science much better that Dji drones. The 20+ MP camera is really great.
The Anafi is an amazing machine specially as it is so light. i have no worries I can hurt someone if it falls from the sky. Cannot be said with Phantoms nor Mavic 2 drones. But if you are after video quality ANAFI is not your best option .

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

I cannot confirm, that the video quality of Anafi specially jitter and noise are "horrible".
Also compared with "DJI drones" (which?) you should post videos of the same scene (described as "fly in high altitude ... houses not to far away ..."??) taken with the two compared drones to allow a judgement by others.

 

[mastix]

I am telling my experience not making a review . Yours might be different.

My experience is that videos filmed with the Anafi on windy days have a terrible jitter compared to those made with DJI (in my case Phantom 4 Pro and Mavic Air). Noise is not terrible but higher than the mavic air and much higher than the Phantom 4Pro which is understandable as se P4P sensor is much larger than the one inside the Anafi.
I sold my first Anafi because lots of issues specially with the Gimbal and NDs. Those have been solved with the new NDs made by freewell that have been redesigned.

But still the Gimbal of the Anafi is a joke compared against the ones of DJI. They are just in another league. But the Anafi weights like a feather and costs also much less than a Mavic Air Mavic 2 or Phantom 4Pro. And taking into account this if you are sensitive with the limitation it has great videos can come out of it.......

 

[PascalG]

I don’t agree about the jitters on windy days. I have used a number of drones over the year incl Mavic Pro and there is really very little difference in quality. The video I posted earlier in this thread includes a lot of movement and high speed passes and the stabilization is excellent. Wind was about 12 kts that day which isn’t high but I have shot many videos in about 15 to 20kts with no issues. I suspect the drone you used had a problem

The worst drone for action video is DJI spark as it is not stabilized in sports mode

 

[mastix]

I just uploaded 2 videos shot a few days ago so you can see what happens when the Anafi confronts a windy situation. Please look at it at 4k or 2k to see how bad the footage really is.

Footage straight out the drone with any retouch work.

I can tell you that my P4P or Mavic Air are much much steadier in similar conditions.

 

[Joe_Scot]

I just uploaded 2 videos shot a few days ago so you can see what happens when the Anafi confronts a windy situation. Please look at it at 4k or 2k to see how bad the footage really is.

Footage straight out the drone with any retouch work.

I can tell you that my P4P or Mavic Air are much much steadier in similar conditions.

I just watched both your videos in 4k on YouTube on a big monitor - yes indeed I totally see why you are unhappy with the video quality! The jitter across the videos is terrible. This is definitely a fault with your Anafi I'm afraid. Mine does not do this at all and I have flown on some very windy days and been really amazed by how the gimbal stabilises the footage very effectively. I have honestly not seen anything like the examples you have posted. I'm sure you have good grounds for a warranty claim.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Yup there is something wrong with your Anafi for sure, mine does not do that on very windy days. Not at all. Send it back to get a replacement.

 

[mastix]

Ok thank you very much for your opinions and advice. I thought this was because the windy conditions although i don't get this with my djis but again the Anafi is much lighter. With total still conditions I don't get any jitter but with light breeze I also get small jitters every now and then. I have followed your advice and have opened a return with Amazon. I think for the time being I will now rely on my Phantom 4Pro and the new Mavic 2 Zoom. Love the weight, silence and color science of the Anafi but already have returned another unit before. I hope that if I purchase another in the future it will be the ONE.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Well good luck with your exchange.
I have two Anafis. I also have a set of Freewell ND filters. Both my Anafis will initialize the camera on startup but I have seen many do not. So not all Anafis are created equal. I'm wondering if maybe you have one of the ones that have a weaker gimbal?
Hope you get it resolved

 

[mastix]

Thank you. Yes the first anafi had problems with the Freewell ND. They did not initialize correctly, The gimbal was hanging with the ND so they had to be positioned once the gimbal was initialized what I didn't like at all even doing it carefully. I had a few mails at that time with freewell and pointed them to the video where a youtuber made a dent on the protection cap and the it could initialize with the cap on. At that time I returned all 6 freewell filters and the Anafi. Now I wanted to try it again as I really think the low noise is amazing and I didn't want to use the more noisy Dji for some videos. So I bought it again and ordered 2 Freewell filters. The initialization worked perfectly and what was really surprising is that the freewell filters now have a dent similar to the one that the youtuber did on his video with the lens cap.
In any case I like a lot of things of the Anafi and hope that they will further enhance it in future versions as there are so many great things about it. I have seen in this forum that a version 2 might be in the works. For me the only thing I would really focus on improving is the gimbal 3 mechanical axis and get rid of software stabilization. This is always a last compromise with regular cameras and is always of lower quality that using right a Gimbal in the first place.