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/
Where to Buy?
Get your Cinelog30 V2 from these vendors:
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
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.
