As someone passionate about FPV drones, I was excited to get my hands on GEPRC’s latest Cinelog30 V3 cinewhoop, which is specifically designed to support DJI’s cutting-edge O4 Pro Air Unit. After extensive testing, here’s everything you need to know from my experience—and whether this is the right drone for you.
New to FPV? Check out our Cinewhoop Buyer’s Guide to get started: https://oscarliang.com/cinewhoop/
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
Get your Cinelog30 V2 from these vendors:
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-8b7t (Coupon Code: BG55656b)
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oCY63Hr
- Amazon: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oCY63Hr
- NewBeeDrone: https://oscarliang.com/product-ctbo
Right out of the box, the Cinelog30 V3 comes neatly packaged with a ton of extras that FPV pilots will appreciate:
- 1 x Spare Frame
- 2 x HQprop DT76mmx3 V2 Propellers (set of four)
- 3 x Camera Canopies
- 1 x 15*150mm Battery Strap
- 1 x L-shaped Screwdriver 1.5mm
- 1 x Spare Screw Pack
- 1 x Battery Anti-slip Pad
- 1 x Damping Ball Install Tool
- 1 x Pin for DJI O4 Pro Bind Button
Specifications
- Frame: GEP-CL30 V3 with 2.5mm carbon fibre plate
- FC/ESC AIO Board: TAKER F722 45A 32-bit AIO
- Motor: SPEEDX2 1404 3850KV
- VTX & Camera: DJI O4 Air Unit Pro
- Battery Connector: XT30
- Weight (claimed): 187g
- Weight (measured): 192g
Design
The GEPRC Cinelog30 V3 isn’t just another cinewhoop with a modified camera mount. It’s clear that GEPRC designed this quad from the ground up for DJI O4 Pro Air Unit, with special attention to keeping it under the 250g weight limit—a threshold in many countries that helps pilots avoid registration and other legal hurdles.
Compared to the V2, the propeller guards have been noticeably reinforced, improving crash resilience. They’re still quite a flimsy design, definitely not the strongest out there, but it keeps the weight down so the durability trade-off feels worthwhile.
There’s built-in LEDs inside the ducts, and they can be toggled via a switch (CH8), already set up in the Modes tab by default.
The O4 camera is soft-mounted using four silicone dampers, which effectively eliminates jello in flight footage. However, if you crash, the mount may come loose—and getting those silicone balls back into place is a pain, even with the provided tool.
You can access the O4’s SD card slot and USB-C port easily by removing the rubber cover—very user-friendly.
Inside the frame, there’s a clever “6-in-1” expansion board that neatly connects the receiver, LED controller, buzzer, XT30, and FC USB port—all without extra clutter. This makes an extremely clean build.
Battery mounting is secure and flexible, accommodating various LiPo sizes. I tested 4S 550mAh, 650mAh, 850mAh, and even 1500mAh, all fit well. GEPRC includes two different straps lengths depending on the battery size, which is a thoughtful touch.
The Cinelog30 V3 weighed 192g without battery, with a 4S 550mAh LiPo, brings the weight to 249g. Any larger batteries like an 850mAh pushed the weight over the limit (286g) but provided significantly longer flight times.
If weight isn’t an issue, I recommend 4S 850mAh as it offers a great balance between flight time and performance. I can comfortably get 7 to 7:30 minutes of flight time. Otherwise if you want to stay sub-250, you should get a battery that’s less than 58g.
Flight Performance
The GEPRC Cinelog30 V3 excels at smooth, cinematic flying. It delivers jello-free, stabilized footage—perfect for capturing cinematic shots.
While it’s nimble enough to zip around indoor spaces or tight gaps, it’s not a freestyle beast. Push it hard through sharp corners or dives and you’ll notice prop wash and minor instability, which is typical of cinewhoops. It’s also not very stable in windy conditions.
However, it is surprisingly quiet, making it ideal when you have to fly around people or in busy environments where you don’t want to draw too much attention.
GEPRC did a great job with the PID tune, most people would be very happy with how it flies out of the box. The drone felt powerful, hovered around 23% throttle when using a 4S 850mAh LiPo. GEPRC claims up to 8 minutes of flight with 4S 720mAh batteries, but my real-world tests showed shorter times, typically around 7:30 minutes with an 850mAh battery.
I tried using a 4S 1500mAh which is typically considered too big for such small drone, the Cinelog handled it with ease, hovered at only 33% throttle. However it didn’t seem to offer much longer flight time as expected – only 11 minutes, possibly due to the extra weight and efficiency loss.
And if you want to meet the 250g weight requirement, you will have to use a smaller battery such as 4S 550mAh, and it should give you 4 to 5 minutes of flight time which is still very decent and it should also improve handling, agility and power for freestyle moves too.
Considerations and Limitations
The Cinelog30 V3 isn’t designed for beginner practice flights or casual crashing. Its light weight frame is optimized for efficiency and cinematic flying, and capturing professional-quality footage, not hard-core freestyle bashing. However, it’s also extremely efficient for a cinewhoop. With the right battery, it can easily hit 10+ minutes of flight time, which is rare for ducted quads.
The camera soft mounting is highly effective, and the DJI O4 camera footage is stunning. For casual pilots, there’s no need to use a GoPro anymore in my opinion—the O4 Pro delivers 4K60, excellent stabilization, and D-Log M for color grading. I recommend recording in 4:3 mode for maximum stabilization and field of view. Make sure to use ND filters though if you want to get the best possible footage: https://oscarliang.com/nd-filter-fpv/
Although the Cinelog30 has enough power to carry a GoPro, I don’t recommend it unless absolutely necessary—the little improvements in image quality doesn’t justify the extra weight and compromises flight time and handling.
This drone also shows great potential for long-range flights thanks to its efficiency. However, it lacks a GPS module out of the box. That’s likely a design choice since most cinewhoop flying is done indoors or at short range. Still, if you plan to fly far or in challenging outdoor environments, I highly recommend adding a GPS and enabling Rescue Mode: https://oscarliang.com/setup-gps-rescue-mode-betaflight/
Finally, I am quite disappointed that GEPRC is shipping the ESC with BLHeli_32 firmware, which is no longer being updated: https://oscarliang.com/end-of-blheli_32/. Even more concerning, it’s a test version, not an official release. In my testing, the ESC worked fine, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re planning to update or troubleshoot in the future.
How to Setup
Before the first flight, I did the following:
- Removed all labels on the drone.
- Installed the two O4 antennas in the antenna mount.
- Removed the protective film from the camera lens.
- Install the camera canopy – choose your favourite color, all 3 protectors are identical.
- Placed the battery pad on the top plate.
- Plug in a smoke stopper, and connect a battery and test the drone and see if it powers up correctly. You should hear the ESC/motor initiation beeps.
Firmware
- The flight controller (FC) board target is GEPRC_F722_AIO, and it comes preloaded with Betaflight firmware version 4.5.1. For stock CLI Diff, see here.
- ESC Firmware: BLHeli_32 Proto: 31.9.2 (24KHz)
- ELRS Receiver Firmware Target: GEPRC Nano 2.4GHz PA100 RX, firmware 3.4.2
Betaflight Setup
- Bind the ELRS receiver – Detail tutorial: https://oscarliang.com/bind-expresslrs-receivers/
- Pair the DJI O4 Air Unit with your goggles – Guide: https://oscarliang.com/how-to-setup-dji-o4-pro/#Pairing-DJI-Goggles-3-with-O4-Air-Unit-Pro
- Load the ExpressLRS preset according to your packet rate – Instructions: https://oscarliang.com/betaflight-presets/#Loading-RC-Link-Configurations
- Set up custom rates – My Rates: https://oscarliang.com/rates/#My-Rates
- Configure the Modes tab (arm switch, turtle mode, etc.): https://oscarliang.com/betaflight-modes/#How-to-Setup-Arm-Switch
- Set up OSD, you can copy my CLI lines: https://oscarliang.com/betaflight-osd/#My-OSD-Setup-CLI-Commands
Final Thoughts
The GEPRC Cinelog30 has always been a well-designed and popular line, and the V3 continues to raise the bar—now with full DJI O4 Pro support.
This isn’t a freestyle basher. Its relatively fragile prop guards make it less ideal for beginners or those who crash frequently. But as a professional-grade cinewhoop, the GEPRC Cinelog30 V3 is superb—perfect for filmmakers, content creators, and pilots focused on smooth cinematic flying in tight spaces. The main concern would be the test version of BLHeli_32 firmware it’s using, though it’s working just fine in my testing, it’s something to keep in mind.
If you want a sub-250 cinewhoop with DJI O4 Pro for cinematic flying, that is powerful, efficient, quiet, and beautifully tuned right out of the box—this would be my top choice.
20 comments
Hi, I have a problem with this drone: So I crashed it, not heavy there is no visible damage, but since then I really have problems to connect the drone to my controller. Yesterday it just worked fine but today nothing works. I tried to flash erls again, i tried everything, but nothing works. Do you have any idea what I should or could do? Thank you very much!
Sounds more like a hardware issue. Maybe check the connection between receiver and flight controller in the drone. If it is connected with cable and plugs, check the cable and whether the plugs a properly connected. Otherwise maybe change the receiver. Good luck!
Hey Oscar, thanks for everything you do! Not sure if this is the right place to ask but when I searched my blheli32 firmware, it brought me here and saw you mentioned it in the review I have geprc mark 5 with an o4 and im getting a lot of vibrations in my o4 video. It was suggested that I change the esc from 24 to 48khz. Looked into doing that and saw everything about blheli shutting down operations and that I wouldn’t be able to update it. Im on 31.9.2. Is there a work around somewhere or should I look into updating to am32? Thanks so much!
You can change PWM frequency without re-flashing ESC firmware, just get BLHeliSuite_32 configurator.
I have a tutorial on how to flash AM32, but you might want to check if your ESC is supported yet: https://oscarliang.com/flash-am32-blheli32-esc/
Hi Oscar, thank you very much for this review. I will received mine next week. I already have a mini GPS (Beitian BE-122) and have to find a place to install it. I already designed some very simple ports on FreeCad, I will try to design a 3d printable canopy with an integrated GPS mount. I can’t find existing parts like these. If I succeed I will keep you up to date.
I have been flying the Cinelog30 for about a month now as my first FPV drone.
In addition to the drawbacks mentioned by Oscar in his article I’d add the following points:
– the largest weakness is by far the way the o4-camera is mounted. In every second to third crash the rubber mounts pop out or are even sliced by a propeller. Even worse, propellers can get stuck in the camera mount which risks damaging the drone if its not disarmed fast enough.
– another weakness are the antenna extension cables which tend to break when you change the frame (which, as mentioned by Oscar, is something you probably will have to do at some point in time)
Other than that, I really like how stable and quiet the drone flies, and the footage it produces.
So, for everyone thinking about buying it, my recommendation:
1. Buy enough spare-rubber-mounts for the camera
2. Buy at least 2 replacements for the antenna extension cables
And, by the way:
Following one of Oscar’s other articles I added a FlyfishRC M10 Mini gps on the battery strap, which works perfectly.
Nils, I had the same experience. Those antenna extensions are terrible and nearly disintegrated on first use. I only flew the drone maybe a dozen times before one of the antennas tore off the connector at the extension. I now have to buy another antenna and preferably bypass the extension altogether.
Did you find better extensions? I don’t think antenna cables, especially this small are supposed to have extensions. It would be better to either buy antennas with longer cables.
What did you end up doing?
Hey Oranjoose,
Unfortunately, I haven’t found a better solution then just making sure I have enough replacement antenna-extension-cables at all times so far. I tried to reinforce the connections between antenna and extension cable by wrapping part of a toothpick (yes, toothpick :)) around it so it doesn’t bend so easily. Can’t tell if this will help though.
I agree: Ideal would be a suitable antenna with a cable long enough so you do not need an extension. Not sure if there are alternatives to the original with longer cables though?
I ended up getting LHCP antennas with 150mm long cables (pretty sure they were CADDX brand). The wire tubes weren’t the correct length, so I had to carefully cut off enough of the tubing to have the exposed wires be as close to the perfect length as possible. I did a test flight and thank God it seems to be good for now.
Hi – thanks for the review…
I have a Cinelog 30 V3 on the waiting list but there are some Things i dont Like that much…
The Missing GPS and flimsy camera mount are my main concern points – but there is no real competition Out there when looking into that regard.
What i want: sub 250g cinewhoop with O4 Pro and 4s Power, GPS, Buzzer snd ELRS.
The Cinelog30 V3 triggers a lot of those – but i have to add GPS because i see how useful it can be on my Flywoo Explorer.
Could you make a tutorial about adding GPS? I dont like soldering small parts that much but it seems like i have to when i wanna stick with the Cinelog30 V3 cause of missing 4s cinewhoop alternatives with GPS already included.
Yes I could make a tutorial adding GPS in the next 2-3 weeks.
Hello! Great review!
I have a question, as I can’t find an answer. In Argentina, I only get the elrs version, but I have the DJI RC3. Could I connect them simply by changing the port in Betaflight? Are there any cables missing, or is there an extra step?
Thanks!
I’m in a similar situation, I could only get the Crossfire version. You need to check the 6 pin cable going from the O4 to the FC – if there are only 4 wires instead of 6 (like mine came) you need to either replace the cable with one with all 6 wires, or add two wires to the existing cable. Then you need to reflash the firmware using Betaflight with sbus receiver protocol instead of xfire. Unfortunately I haven’t got my recover to work yet, stuck on checking ports, I watched Bardwell’s video and followed steps but still not working for me although I do have video. I did desolder and remove my xfire module, I didn’t think I would need it anymore, should I have left it?
I have the ELRS version, and GEPRC has removed the SBUS and GND wires in the O4 cable. That means you can’t use the DJI RC3 unless you put those wires back, or get the original O4 cable (it has 6 wires) and replace it.
Then you need to set it up in Betaflight following this guide: https://oscarliang.com/setup-dji-rc3-o4-betaflight/
Thanks, I have replaced the cable with a 6 pin and followed your guide, but still get no response from the control sticks. I’m about to the point of just soldering the wire to another UART. I’ve tried setting SBUS FAST on the FC and goggles, and still nothing. I thought since I removed the crossfire module that there wouldn’t be a conflict with UART 2 which according to the diagram should be the right UART for the O4 plug.
Hi, I wanted you to know that I found and solved the issue. One of the pins on the O4 Pro connector was bent and not making contact. I fixed the issue and now it’s working perfectly. Those pins are very tiny and you have to be very careful.
Hi Oscar, great review! I’ve been flying the drone for a month now and I’m really happy with it. Would you recommend updating the ESC firmware or sticking with BLHeli_32?
I tried the Gemfan D76 5-blade props this week — very stable overall. But in tight spaces like door frames, the quad feels briefly unstable – like the airflow pushes it off course, making indoor control tricky, possibly due to turbulence. I’ve disabled Air Mode for indoor flying, but it didn’t make much difference.
Any tips? Would you tweak the stock PID tune?
Thanks again for your great work!
I don’t think AM32 has a target for this ESC? So I don’t think there’s anything you can do right now regarding ESC firmware.
When you are close to the ground you get something called ground effect which is inevitable. I don’t know how experienced you are with PID tuning, but best not to change it if you are new to this, you could make it fly worse.
Try using lighter props – they may make less thrust and they would be more responsive and more stable.
Try reducing weight first, like removing the LED for a start, and use a smaller battery etc… If you know tuning, you could try reducing filters and boost PID gains – this could reduce the response latency and improve its ability to handle instability.
That makes sense about the ESC firmware — I’ll stick with BLHeli_32. Appreciate the reminder about ground effect, and you’re right, I’m still fairly new to tuning, so I’ll leave the PIDs alone for the moment.
I’ll definitely give lighter props and a smaller battery a try. Great tip about removing the LED too — hadn’t thought of that. Thanks again for all the advice and for taking the time to help!
Amazing review! I’m really considering buying this drone. GPS is good to have aside from rescue, to see speed, altitiude, heading, etc. I guess i’ll solder an m10 chip myself. What i need to know is, will the gps module work with usb power only? I hope you can do a follow up review/mod with the cinelog30v3 having GPS. Thanks!!