2S for photography and with Smart Controller in 2025?

[romik]

Lately I started to take more photos for a 100 years panorama comparison project. I have M2Pro since 2018 and Smart Controller since it came out. This month I bought and returned Air 3S because their 50Mpix mode have serious demossaicing bug (DJI is working on it, their engineers asked for my files and communicate back and forth). M2Pro Hasselblad lens is really bad, really soft in corners in anything less then F10 so not good in anything other than on sunny day. 3S lens was nice and crisp but that 50Mpix bug would leave me with only 12Mpix images. While waiting for M4Pro to come out I thought would it make sense to utilize Smart Controller with Air2S and its 20Mpix sensor? Is the Air2S lens and sensor any good for landscape photography? Is it better than M2Pro? Does it make sense to pick it up used to play with?

 

[a2tomm]

WOW ,If you returned the Air 3s because of one tiny bug ,I really don't think you will be happy with anything ,I personally think the Air 3s is an Amazing drone

 

[Cafguy]

Does it make sense to pick it up used to play with?

Yes !!!!!
I am NO photographer, "Better" is for you and the specs. to decide. I think you will love what you get for the price personally tho.
If you want "cinema" style results tho there's always a Taurus x8 with a RED

 

[SethB]

I am running an Air 2s with the original Smart Controller, it is great! The cam looks like the Hasselblad of the Mavic 2Pro, but does not have variable aperture, and is not labeled Hasselblad.

My primary purpose is video, I have not done a close comparison of stills quality with the Mavic 2P. I do like the flying performance of the 2s better…

 

[Photobobhunt]

I use the air 2s commercially as well as for my personal Photography. The one-inch sensor 20mp is very good and if doing stills, I use Topaz Gigapixel 2x and have made very good 20 x 30 prints.
I also shoot 4k30 but usually render at 1080.
The only drone I would consider upgrading to is one with a MFT or 1 inch with variable aperture.
I assume you have your 107? Flying is likely to get more regulations ,mostly for the recreational flyer.

 

[SethB]

I use the air 2s commercially as well as for my personal Photography. The one-inch sensor 20mp is very good and if doing stills, I use Topaz Gigapixel 2x and have made very good 20 x 30 prints.
I also shoot 4k30 but usually render at 1080.
The only drone I would consider upgrading to is one with a MFT or 1 inch with variable aperture.
I assume you have your 107? Flying is likely to get more regulations ,mostly for the recreational flyer.

The OP is in Prague, I’m unfamiliar with regs there, but certainly not required to have a pt. 107 certificate.

I do have mine…

Is that Topaz sw one of their AI products? I see great reviews for the latest Topaz line!

 

[romik]

I use the air 2s commercially as well as for my personal Photography. The one-inch sensor 20mp is very good and if doing stills, I use Topaz Gigapixel 2x and have made very good 20 x 30 prints.
I also shoot 4k30 but usually render at 1080.
The only drone I would consider upgrading to is one with a MFT or 1 inch with variable aperture.
I assume you have your 107? Flying is likely to get more regulations ,mostly for the recreational flyer.

Yes, I am in Prague so over here we fly by class C0 C1 C2 and by pilot certificate level and observing regs for each class... It may be similar to 107 IDK, like flying C1 C2 we need A1-A3 basic and flying restricted airspace and urban areas with permissions we need more advanced A2

For still pictures I am after crisp lens corner to corner. The Hasselblad branded lens on M2Pro is soft open, I wonder how sharp 2S lens is shooting raw. Dynamic range isn't really a concern for me and 20Mpix is fine. I also use Topaz if needed and also Lightroom super resolution works nicely.

 

[ryguy80]

WOW ,If you returned the Air 3s because of one tiny bug ,I really don't think you will be happy with anything ,I personally think the Air 3s is an Amazing drone

The Air 3S is getting ripped apart in the 3S forum. I had limited time with the 3S before winter rolled around, but I didn't have any initial issues with the images. For the pixel peepers, there's some purple fringing when you zoom in to 400% that Topaz eliminated.

When spring finally gets here, I want to take the Air 2S out and compare it to 12 mp 3S images and see if I can even tell a difference. The Internet has a way of overblowing issues. Other places like Reddit, think the world of the 3S. This forum seems to be the only place negative on it, other than the DJI Forum, but they don't like anything there.

 

[romik]

The Air 3S is getting ripped apart in the 3S forum. I had limited time with the 3S before winter rolled around, but I didn't have any initial issues with the images. For the pixel peepers, there's some purple fringing when you zoom in to 400% that Topaz eliminated.

When spring finally gets here, I want to take the Air 2S out and compare it to 12 mp 3S images and see if I can even tell a difference. The Internet has a way of overblowing issues. Other places like Reddit, think the world of the 3S. This forum seems to be the only place negative on it, other than the DJI Forum, but they don't like anything there.

3S is an amazing drone - for video and all pictures except of the 50Mpix mode from the main camera. They just have some bug in demossaicing algorithm and need to fix it. Yes it may appear as a serious pixel peeping but if you happen to print large prints like 1m x 3m (4ft x 12ft) then these artifacts will show. Plus even in smaller sized images they alter the color tone in shadows and complex surfaces like tree branches. It's not fringing and Topaz won't help. I posted a thread over at 3S forum with detailed comparison images. You can see that - for example - iPhone 15Pro - although QB sensor - does not have this problem so it is fixable. Here for you a screenshot of Topaz processed file - one with RAW denies only and another with additional denoise filter. That additional filter helps a little bit (and introduces other downsides) but we're trying to fix the problem which shouldn't be there in the first place.