Image softness from the MA2 - Am I crazy?

[BuzzDronington]

Hi Everyone - Long-time lurker, first time poster here. I'm a landscape photographer and I've had my MA2 for about a year now, but just recently started to take my flying a bit more seriously (passed Part 107, shooting more, plans for future, etc). The more I shoot photography with it, the more I've noticed that my images are coming out pretty soft outside of the foregrounds. They look decent at first glance, but as soon as you look closer they fall apart pretty quickly. Mushy, noisy and undefined, and the depth is inconsistent - I notice this a lot when trees and hills are present, but it happens with cityscapes too.

Basically, I'm wondering A) Are my expectations for this 1/2" sensor too high, and this is how it's supposed to perform? B) Is this user error (either while shooting or in Lightroom) that could be accidentally degrading the image quality? C) Did I get a bad camera from DJI in this unit?

Sample raw images (unedited) are attached so you can play around and see what I mean. I'm not expecting them to be DSLR quality, but I can't help but feel like they should be coming out better/sharper? For reference, here's one local guy who I compare my images to, since I know he was shooting with a MA2 until he upgraded in June. His are generally super sharp, great color, low noise, and high IQ: https://www.instagram.com/oschapov/

Don't hold back on the critique - it's very possibly that I just need to improve! Thank you all in advance for your help!

 

[Saladshooter]

Your images look fine. The large quantity of trees in your photos are a challenge to the camera sensor but for the most part I think you are getting everything you can expect from the MA2. You should be able to add a little more sharpness in post if it will help achieve the look you want.

The Instagram account you refer to.... the first pictures that come up are nice and sharp but they are mostly of buildings which typically come out pretty crisp anyway. The homes and buildings in your shots show plenty of detail... which should be a good clue that the camera is working correctly.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Several of the Picture are out of Focus. Without a clear focus point they can appear soft.
One of the things you can do to really test the camera is just take a picture of something clean and in focus, Something close and if there is an issue it will appear there .

Try to focus the camera on the subject you really want in focus. , and try to use the Pano modes so each picture can have more detail and than crop the picture for the best view.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

 

[BuzzDronington]

Several of the Picture are out of Focus. Without a clear focus point they can appear soft.
One of the things you can do to really test the camera is just take a picture of something clean and in focus, Something close and if there is an issue it will appear there .

Try to focus the camera on the subject you really want in focus. , and try to use the Pano modes so each picture can have more detail and than crop the picture for the best view.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

Is there a way to manually focus the MA2? I was under the impression that was only available in the Pro models? Or do you mean just keep my subjects center/foreground in the frame and then doing the panorama as well will help ensure that most important things are in focus?

Agreed on panoramas - I always try to exposure bracket (5) and/or shoot panos for the best image quality. I have heard stacking with the burst shots can sharpen things up as well, but haven't tried it yet. Funnily I haven't noticed an improvement with IQ at all with the 48MP mode compared to the others. **** you, marketing!

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Is there a way to manually focus the MA2? I was under the impression that was only available in the Pro models? Or do you mean just keep my subjects center/foreground in the frame and then doing the panorama as well will help ensure that most important things are in focus?

Agreed on panoramas - I always try to exposure bracket (5) and/or shoot panos for the best image quality. I have heard stacking with the burst shots can sharpen things up as well, but haven't tried it yet. Funnily I haven't noticed an improvement with IQ at all with the 48MP mode compared to the others. **** you, marketing!

Do mean keep the subject that you want in the focus of the camera , rather than making it to broad. How you angle the camera can make a difference as to what is really in focus.

Phatomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[BuzzDronington]

Your images look fine. The large quantity of trees in your photos are a challenge to the camera sensor but for the most part I think you are getting everything you can expect from the MA2. You should be able to add a little more sharpness in post if it will help achieve the look you want.

The Instagram account you refer to.... the first pictures that come up are nice and sharp but they are mostly of buildings which typically come out pretty crisp anyway. The homes and buildings in your shots show plenty of detail... which should be a good clue that the camera is working correctly.

Thanks for taking a look - that makes me feel a little better. Really I just don't want the midgrounds and background to look like mashed potatoes so every time I see a crisp drone image and can't replicate that level of detail myself, it's a bit deflating. But maybe I just still need to find that sweet spot in my edits to get the most out of the image.

 

[BuzzDronington]

Do mean keep the subject that you want in the focus of the camera , rather than making it to broad. How you angle the camera can make a difference as to what is really in focus.

Phatomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

Gotcha. It definitely seems to be a forward focusing lens (not surprising with that 2.8 and focal length), so I'll try to be more mindful of keeping subjects in that middle lower third of the frame when flying in the future.

 

[Meta4]

They look decent at first glance, but as soon as you look closer they fall apart pretty quickly. Mushy, noisy and undefined, and the depth is inconsistent - I notice this a lot when trees and hills are present, but it happens with cityscapes too.

Your photos look fine.
Despite what was said in post #3, there is no focus problem at all in your images.
Given the huge depth of field that the drone's lens has, it would be very difficult to have any focus problem.

The only issue some of the pix are of soft subjects.
When so much of the image is millions of distant leaves, you will never get those parts of the image to look sharp.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Im pretty sure I counted around 40 boats , rocks and a big island and trees all out of focus, Not to good in my book,
but I never said it was a Focus Problem .

I do think that a better camera angle will provide a picture with more in focus.
and that the Panos are excellent for that,

I have taken quite a few Pictures this year ( 200 ) from a distance and they all have a nice focus spot, much of that to do better angles and relying on the larger Pano shots.

Hopefully Dale , our photo expert on the forum will shed more light on this for us.


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

 

[Meta4]

Do mean keep the subject that you want in the focus of the camera , rather than making it to broad. How you angle the camera can make a difference as to what is really in focus. ................ I have taken quite a few Pictures this year ( 200 ) from a distance and they all have a nice focus spot, much of that to do better angles and relying on the larger Pano shots.

You're only confusing the OP with your rather confused understanding of photography.
His photos are fine.

 

[BuzzDronington]

Your photos look fine.
Despite what was said in post #3, there is no focus problem at all in your images.
Given the huge depth of field that the drone's lens has, it would be very difficult to have any focus problem.

The only issue some of the pix are of soft subjects.
When so much of the image is millions of distant leaves, you will never get those parts of the image to look sharp.

Thanks, it seems like the general consensus is that my IQ is right in line with what I can expect. The softness is definitely what I was noticing, so I'm glad that I'm not (totally) crazy - do you think it's fair to say that even a 1" sensor like on the A2S wouldn't improve this issue much? I shoot landscapes, so a lot of trees and waves and distant mountains, so I just want to make sure I know how to get them as high IQ possible.

I also did go back and look at some past shots and the issues I'm describing are inconsistent - which tells me it's likely a function of the light/settings/operator error not the camera itself. For example, here are a couple other images where some are sharper and some aren't. Lessons to be learned from each one!

Charles - 1/250, ISO 100. Sharp-ish, probably needed a faster shutter to capture more light and eliminate noise
Fall - 1/30, ISO 100. Bottom two thirds of the frame looks great. Panorama probably helped add more data.
Hike - 1/320, ISO 100. I wish this one was sharper, it still looks fuzzy to me. But, maybe the scale was just too much to expect from the sensor. The mountain hut does still have pretty decent definition.

Anyway, thanks for the continued help and reassurance!

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Hi Everyone - Long-time lurker, first time poster here. I'm a landscape photographer and I've had my MA2 for about a year now, but just recently started to take my flying a bit more seriously (passed Part 107, shooting more, plans for future, etc). The more I shoot photography with it, the more I've noticed that my images are coming out pretty soft outside of the foregrounds. They look decent at first glance, but as soon as you look closer they fall apart pretty quickly. Mushy, noisy and undefined, and the depth is inconsistent - I notice this a lot when trees and hills are present, but it happens with cityscapes too.

Basically, I'm wondering A) Are my expectations for this 1/2" sensor too high, and this is how it's supposed to perform? B) Is this user error (either while shooting or in Lightroom) that could be accidentally degrading the image quality? C) Did I get a bad camera from DJI in this unit?

Sample raw images (unedited) are attached so you can play around and see what I mean. I'm not expecting them to be DSLR quality, but I can't help but feel like they should be coming out better/sharper? For reference, here's one local guy who I compare my images to, since I know he was shooting with a MA2 until he upgraded in June. His are generally super sharp, great color, low noise, and high IQ: https://www.instagram.com/oschapov/

Don't hold back on the critique - it's very possibly that I just need to improve! Thank you all in advance for your help!

Apologies if I have missed seeing it written - have you tried using a polarising filter on shots where you have good light levels and sun angles, especially where there is haze in the sky, on some of the longer distance landscapes? This might give you a slightly sharper definition and greater natural colour saturation on some features. The photos are very nice and you are hopefully pleased to be recording them. Maybe move up to a Mavic Pro or Mavic Zoom or on to the higher cost specialty cinematic cameras that DJI produces, after you get some good flying practice with your Air 2 (which I also own). It is a great all round manoeuvrable drone and records excellent still frames and videos. Thanks for posting. ????

 

[Dale D]

Hi Everyone - Long-time lurker, first time poster here. I'm a landscape photographer and I've had my MA2 for about a year now, but just recently started to take my flying a bit more seriously (passed Part 107, shooting more, plans for future, etc). The more I shoot photography with it, the more I've noticed that my images are coming out pretty soft outside of the foregrounds. They look decent at first glance, but as soon as you look closer they fall apart pretty quickly. Mushy, noisy and undefined, and the depth is inconsistent - I notice this a lot when trees and hills are present, but it happens with cityscapes too.

Basically, I'm wondering A) Are my expectations for this 1/2" sensor too high, and this is how it's supposed to perform? B) Is this user error (either while shooting or in Lightroom) that could be accidentally degrading the image quality? C) Did I get a bad camera from DJI in this unit?

Sample raw images (unedited) are attached so you can play around and see what I mean. I'm not expecting them to be DSLR quality, but I can't help but feel like they should be coming out better/sharper? For reference, here's one local guy who I compare my images to, since I know he was shooting with a MA2 until he upgraded in June. His are generally super sharp, great color, low noise, and high IQ: https://www.instagram.com/oschapov/

Don't hold back on the critique - it's very possibly that I just need to improve! Thank you all in advance for your help!

Sorry but I could not find the softness that you were speaking about I found the images quite pleasing but some did need a bit of editing in Photoshop. Here is one example of one image that I played around with.

Dale
Miami

 

[Dave Maine]

They look ok to me as well. What pixel dimensions are the originals, and what codec was used? If you are comparing landscapes shot with Canons, Nikons, or other good dlsrs, you will see major differences on a good computer monitor.

All DJI sensors will be noticeably less sharp and noisy in comparison due to the far higher linear pixel count.

It is hard to judge the images on a tablet.

 

[tlswift58]

Hi Everyone - Long-time lurker, first time poster here. I'm a landscape photographer and I've had my MA2 for about a year now, but just recently started to take my flying a bit more seriously (passed Part 107, shooting more, plans for future, etc). The more I shoot photography with it, the more I've noticed that my images are coming out pretty soft outside of the foregrounds. They look decent at first glance, but as soon as you look closer they fall apart pretty quickly. Mushy, noisy and undefined, and the depth is inconsistent - I notice this a lot when trees and hills are present, but it happens with cityscapes too.

Basically, I'm wondering A) Are my expectations for this 1/2" sensor too high, and this is how it's supposed to perform? B) Is this user error (either while shooting or in Lightroom) that could be accidentally degrading the image quality? C) Did I get a bad camera from DJI in this unit?

Sample raw images (unedited) are attached so you can play around and see what I mean. I'm not expecting them to be DSLR quality, but I can't help but feel like they should be coming out better/sharper? For reference, here's one local guy who I compare my images to, since I know he was shooting with a MA2 until he upgraded in June. His are generally super sharp, great color, low noise, and high IQ: https://www.instagram.com/oschapov/

Don't hold back on the critique - it's very possibly that I just need to improve! Thank you all in advance for your help!

What are your camera / video setting in FlyApp? That will tell us a lot to start helping.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

Sorry but I could not find the softness that you were speaking about I found the images quite pleasing but some did need a bit of editing in Photoshop. Here is one example of one image that I played around with.

Dale
MiamiView attachment 134369View attachment 134370

I agree, I thought a few were underexposed which causes noise issues with the small sensor and limited dynamic range.

 

[BuzzDronington]

Apologies if I have missed seeing it written - have you tried using a polarising filter on shots where you have good light levels and sun angles, especially where there is haze in the sky, on some of the longer distance landscapes? This might give you a slightly sharper definition and greater natural colour saturation on some features. The photos are very nice and you are hopefully pleased to be recording them. Maybe move up to a Mavic Pro or Mavic Zoom or on to the higher cost specialty cinematic cameras that DJI produces, after you get some good flying practice with your Air 2 (which I also own). It is a great all round manoeuvrable drone and records excellent still frames and videos. Thanks for posting. ????

I do have a CPL, but I've found it to add an annoying green hue to the sides of the image so I don't use it that much. I have corrected it in LR in the past, but it's an extra step I don't always care to do. Plus lining up the composition to match where the line in the CPL is can be tough in the air. But maybe I'll give it another try!

 

[BuzzDronington]

Sorry but I could not find the softness that you were speaking about I found the images quite pleasing but some did need a bit of editing in Photoshop. Here is one example of one image that I played around with.

Dale
MiamiView attachment 134369View attachment 134370

My apologies, I thought I uploaded RAWs, but it looks like they were just unedited JPGs, which doesn't do y'all much good! I definitely edit these to look better than what showed up before.

It's funny though, you picked out the picture where I notice the softness the most. Specifically in the upper left corner on/around the mountain. Just looks like green mashed potatoes to me - but to be fair, that's miles away.

A few RAWs, properly this time --> Google Drive Folder

 

[BuzzDronington]

What are your camera / video setting in FlyApp? That will tell us a lot to start helping.

Shooting RAW+JPEG, always in manual. Try to keep the shutter between 1/60 and 1/600 depending on the exposure - that could be arbitrary to the results, it's just something I've done. Happy to change if I can improve the quality by doing so! I typically flip between Tripod/Cine and Normal mode when shooting photos.

 

[BuzzDronington]

One more try on the DNGs... can you tell it's my first time posting? lol

Aerial Test Shots - Google Drive