Does Mavic Shoot Video or Watercolor Paintings? Don’t settle. Get Involved!

[JPMavic]

How long have you had your mavic?

Approximately 3 weeks. In that time I installed one firmware update.

 

[Kestrel]

You'll get the prompt but you can ignore it. The dilemma is that the updates presumably address more than just cosmetic issues so for safety's sake I assume that DJI would recommend always using the
Latest release.

But if your Mavic flies fine under an older firmware, why not just use it. Unless the firmware is like an urgent thing or they finally get their heads out of their butts and fix the issue.

 

[JPMavic]

Today I was testing the camera and noticed that the photo meta data is showing "Exposure Bias: +1 step" in my photos where I had set the EV gain to values between "-.7V" and "0", never above "0". Has anyone else noticed that the Exposure Bias in the photo metadata does not match the EV gain setting? My photos are terrible as other are experiencing here. I've been trying different settings trying to get usable photos. Yesterday DJI told me to reset the camera. That didn't do anything. Photos have that water color effect and are over exposed.

That's really interesting. I guess confirmation on what "exposure bias" relates to would clarify if the software is applying settings on its own & ignoring whatever input you're putting in via the app. If that were the case that would explain a lot. The software is possibly ignoring or mis misinterpreting input. Setting sharpness & other settings that haven't been specified. Interesting..

 

[JPMavic]

Approximately 3 weeks. In that time I installed one firmware update.

To clarify.. in that time I was prompted to install one update which I did. Problems started. That's when I rolled back & reinstalled.

 

[JPMavic]

But if your Mavic flies fine under an older firmware, why not just use it. Unless the firmware is like an urgent thing or they finally get their heads out of their butts and fix the issue.

That's always an option. The firmware versions include some pretty major features plus with any updates I suspect that most manufacturers include patches that they don't include in the published release notes. Those could be related to serious safety fixes. Not so much of an issue if it's a PC sitting on a desk.

 

[Kestrel]

That's always an option. The firmware versions include some pretty major features plus with any updates I suspect that most manufacturers include patches that they don't include in the published release notes. Those could be related to serious safety fixes. Not so much of an issue if it's a PC sitting on a desk.

Plenty of people fly Phantoms with previous firmwares if the latest gives them trouble, that's why a lot of Phantom owners are reluctant to update unless other people try them first. Over on the Phantompilots forum people ask all the time if they are safe to update.

 

[Qoncussion]

So, wow - what a thread. I received my Mavic last Thursday and also have the watercolor issue. After reading most of this thread, so many tests were done with so many variables and varying results, that I have to ask: Has anyone found a solution to this problem? I see that so many of the Mavics that are sent in for repair come back with the same issue. So, before I head down that road, I want to try whatever I can to get a reasonably nice image.

Thanks

 

[Kestrel]

So, wow - what a thread. I received my Mavic last Thursday and also have the watercolor issue. After reading most of this thread, so many tests were done with so many variables and varying results, that I have to ask: Has anyone found a solution to this problem? I see that so many of the Mavics that are sent in for repair come back with the same issue. So, before I head down that road, I want to try whatever I can to get a reasonably nice image.

Thanks

Was your issue right out of the box?

 

[Qoncussion]

Yup, right out of the box. First ever images had that blurry watercolor effect. And yes, I did focus

 

[Kestrel]

Yup, right out of the box. First ever images had that blurry watercolor effect. And yes, I did focus

**** that sucks. Trying to figure out if i'm gonna get lucky with mine.

 

[borislip]

This is the first video i ever took with mine, from the air -

One can easily see that everything that isn't in focus (and Mavic's camera seems to have rather shallow depth of field), or smudged by motion blur, have this kind of "water color" compression artifacts.

My best guess - some of the Mavic cameras are defective and aren't able to properly focus at all, causing this effect on pretty much everything :-(

 

[2nd2non]

As I look at good mavic videos on YouTube, looks like the consensus is to use +1 sharpness and soften in post if needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[borislip]

As I look at good mavic videos on YouTube, looks like the consensus is to use +1 sharpness and soften in post if needed.

Hmm? More like -1 and sharpen in post if needed.

 

[2nd2non]

Hmm? More like -1 and sharpen in post if needed.

That would be ideal, but it exacerbates the watercolor issue

 

[borislip]

That would be ideal, but it exacerbates the watercolor issue

Thats the concensus on YouTube, though. And pretty much everywhere on the web.

 

[borislip]

Take a look at my video above, go to 00:30, i use "tap to focus" there. Looks at the tree branches at the bottom center. You can clearly see the "watercolor" effect, momentarily, while those branches are out of focus. The effect disappears the moment the branches are back in focus. Pretty much suggests a bad focus + compression is a combinations that does it, meaning we have to pay A LOT of attention on the focus. And if you just can't achieve a good focus at all, sadly, it probably means RMA :-(

 

[JPMavic]

Take a look at my video above, go to 00:30, i use "tap to focus" there. Looks at the tree branches at the bottom center. You can clearly see the "watercolor" effect, momentarily, while those branches are out of focus. The effect disappears the moment the branches are back in focus. Pretty much suggests a bad focus + compression is a combinations that does it, meaning we have to pay A LOT of attention on the focus. And if you just can't achieve a good focus at all, sadly, it probably means RMA :-(

It would be interesting if you rolled back the firmware using assistant 2 to the earliest availible version (at the bottom of the versions list). Recalibrate IMU, Gimbal. Don't adjust any camera settings to ensure that the install remains totally clean. Then see what results you get.

 

[Realist123456]

As I look at good mavic videos on YouTube, looks like the consensus is to use +1 sharpness and soften in post if needed.


I've done a lot of flying and testing on this.
My take-away is that it kinda depends on what you're looking at.
I started with settings like -3-2-2 as I'd seen that on a tech video. Har! What a disaster. Don't know what those guys were shooting but certainly nothing that I could get usable footage from. So after lots of testing I've kind of settled on the following:
-100 if you're shooting something without a lot of detail and/or everything is in very good, direct light.
Big, flat areas like buildings and car parks work well for this.
If you're shooting stuff like grass, leafy trees or anything with lots of fine detail go for 000.
You may get away with -100 but you're taking a chance. Conditions have to be just right and with really good light (and obviously correct focus) for it to be ok.
Once the sun starts to go low and you're say shooting areas of grass or trees and leaves in shadows bump it up to +100.
You'll start to get that horrible digital sharpening look but it's better than getting mush.
You might be able to soften the image slightly in post if it's too sharp but on the other hand once you get watercolour mush by going with zero (or negative) sharpening you've lost it and you're not getting it back.
Anyway, that's my take.

 

[Chase R]

I'm beginning to think DJI designed the mavic with the water color effect. Look at the GO4 splash screen (right side) [emoji33][emoji33]

Oh that's absolutely hilarious. What the **** were they thinking there?

 

[Qoncussion]

I shot this yesterday using d-log -1 -1 -1. It looks a little better after some post production work. What do you think? (it's taken from a single long-shot):