50MP 1" sensor a wise choice?

[Wreckhunter]

I suspect a 20MP 1" on your Mavic 2 and 20MP M43 sensor on Mavic 3 will deliver cleaner photos than this 50MP 1"sensor. We will no doubt hear from the first owners of Air3S soon. Hopefully a honest assessment once the initial excitement subsides. It might be good enough for "travelers" as DJI is positioning this drone as "a perfect drone for travel photography" whatever that means....

I am not getting this one and am going to wait to see what the upcoming Mavic 4 has to offer,or when there may be a price drop on the Mavic 3 pro go after that one.The main 1" camera on the Air3S concerns me.

 

[Filmarik]

I wonder if it is some image processing optimization that can be done in firmware? Even with a one-inch sensor, you're still going to get noise when you enlarge the image beyond 100% zoom.

I bought the Air 3S for the photography aspect. I know someone YouTuber said it was the best photography drone they ever used (Russ?).

When I read that "some YouTuber said" all my own senses start flashing 'Caution!!..Caution!!' and my internal allarm bells go off

 

[MavicPro2Pilot]

It's probably a decent drone for videos but not really suitable for (serious) photography if you want a higher resolution than 12 MP. The 12 MP images are still noisy and show quite some colour artefacts but naturally these are not as visible as in the artificially enlarged 50 MP files. Personally, I'm waiting for the Mavic 4 now, even though I didn't want to spend that much money on a new drone. Buying the Air 3S doesn't make any sense to me, though, if my six year old drone still takes better pictures.

 

[ryguy80]

When I read that "some YouTuber said" all my own senses start flashing 'Caution!!..Caution!!' and my internal allarm bells go off

I misquoted Russ (51 Drones). He actually said, "[DJI] finally made a drone that is appealing to photographers...strictly aerial photographers".

 

[Filmarik]

I misquoted Russ...he actually said, "[DJI] finally made a drone that is appealing to photographers...aerial photographers".

Isn't that the same thing?

 

[ryguy80]

Isn't that the same thing?

Yeah, just said in a different way.

I want to see the photos for myself. The 12 MP files should at least be better than the 50 MP ones for noise and detail. If not, it's something in the processing.

 

[EricJT]

Having been on my DSLR journey for more than 14 years, I have learned there is not necessarily a direct correlation between more megapixels and sharpness. As previous posters have said, let's look at actual photos from that 50MP sensor.

I am still thoroughly pleased with my M2P for photos and video.

 

[Filmarik]

Having been on my DSLR journey for more than 14 years, I have learned there is not necessarily a direct correlation between more megapixels and sharpness. As previous posters have said, let's look at actual photos from that 50MP sensor.

I am still thoroughly pleased with my M2P for photos and video.

This Quad Bayer sensor pixel count trickery has muddied the waters a fair bit lately. The samples posted so far do not show any appreciable improvement in IQ from the 50MP sensor over the old technology sensors with 12MP. Quite the opposite seems to be the case. It is perhaps too early to be disappointed but from what I have seen so far it is hard to get excited..

 

[ryguy80]

Having been on my DSLR journey for more than 14 years, I have learned there is not necessarily a direct correlation between more megapixels and sharpness. As previous posters have said, let's look at actual photos from that 50MP sensor.

I am still thoroughly pleased with my M2P for photos and video.

Sensor size is the biggest factor. Megapixels just give you more room to crop and create larger prints. When you zoom in 300% on a photo with a smaller sensor, you lose the detail.

 

[YRauste]

The direction where this thread is converging at somehow points to the sensor of Air 2 (I own one). Mavic Air 2 also has a 48 Mega pixel mode, but for all practical purposes, the 12 MP output is as good as the output from 48 MP (and then averaged down).

 

[DanJ]

I am not getting this one and am going to wait to see what the upcoming Mavic 4 has to offer,or when there may be a price drop on the Mavic 3 pro go after that one.The main 1" camera on the Air3S concerns me.

It is almost guaranteed that the Mavic 3 pro will be going on sale before the 4 is released.
That is usually what DJI does.

 

[Droning on and on...]

DJI wants to sell as many drones as it can. Keep that in mind when cogitating on whether or not a new sensor is doing the job.

DJI could have put a newer, better version of the 1" 20MP sensor in the 3S. In fact, in a 1" there are a variety of choices. Yet, they chose this 12/50MP sensor. Why?

Remember: They want to sell drones. I reject the idea they're playing the pixel-count game like smartphones. The market for the 3S is too sophisticated for that stupidity. You're seeing it right here in this discussion.

Yet they chose that sensor. Again, why?

Much remains to be seen in the hands of customers, non-DJI associated, independent reviewers, testing.

However, I believe they chose this sensor because it yields far superior results to the 1/1.3" sensor in the A3 for most situations. I'd speculate that for the real-world testing they did, it subjectively beat the A2S sensor as well.

It's that simple. This wasn't a casual decision. DJI thoroughly researched sensors, tested, undoubtedly had Frankenstein contraptions of Air 3's with a lab-bench assembled prototypes up in the air, taking stills and video, of this and other sensors being evaluated. That's engineering.

This sensor won.

Give me a detailed description of any technology's weaknesses and i can perform tests that will make it fail like a blind man trying to land an airplane.

That doesn't mean blind people are bad at everything.

 

[davidarmenb]

It's probably a decent drone for videos but not really suitable for (serious) photography if you want a higher resolution than 12 MP. The 12 MP images are still noisy and show quite some colour artefacts but naturally these are not as visible as in the artificially enlarged 50 MP files. Personally, I'm waiting for the Mavic 4 now, even though I didn't want to spend that much money on a new drone. Buying the Air 3S doesn't make any sense to me, though, if my six year old drone still takes better pictures.

50MP photos are not artificially enlarged when shooting in 50MP mode. The sensor uses the individual 50 million pixels instead of binning 2x2 and interpolates a transitional bayer color filter from the physical quad bayer color filter. Quad Bayer interpolation is not artificial enlargement. And yes, this can and does cause artifacts for people who like to pixel peep, that still does not mean it is artificially enlarged. My friendly suggestion would be to study quad bayer sensors and how they work since spreading/repeating misinformation is not productive for anyone.

 

[Filmarik]

DJI wants to sell as many drones as it can. Keep that in mind when cogitating on whether or not a new sensor is doing the job.

DJI could have put a newer, better version of the 1" 20MP sensor in the 3S. In fact, in a 1" there are a variety of choices. Yet, they chose this 12/50MP sensor. Why?

Remember: They want to sell drones. I reject the idea they're playing the pixel-count game like smartphones. The market for the 3S is too sophisticated for that stupidity. You're seeing it right here in this discussion.

Yet they chose that sensor. Again, why?

Much remains to be seen in the hands of customers, non-DJI associated, independent reviewers, testing.

However, I believe they chose this sensor because it yields far superior results to the 1/1.3" sensor in the A3 for most situations. I'd speculate that for the real-world testing they did, it subjectively beat the A2S sensor as well.

It's that simple. This wasn't a casual decision. DJI thoroughly researched sensors, tested, undoubtedly had Frankenstein contraptions of Air 3's with a lab-bench assembled prototypes up in the air, taking stills and video, of this and other sensors being evaluated. That's engineering.

This sensor won.

Give me a detailed description of any technology's weaknesses and i can perform tests that will make it fail like a blind man trying to land an airplane.

That doesn't mean blind people are bad at everything.

DJI has pitched the drone as ideal drone for traveling photographers. I guess that section of the market will be their target. Time and their sales numbers over the lifespan of this drone will tell (the engineers) if this 50MP sensor was the right choice or not.

 

[davidarmenb]

Having been on my DSLR journey for more than 14 years, I have learned there is not necessarily a direct correlation between more megapixels and sharpness. As previous posters have said, let's look at actual photos from that 50MP sensor.

I am still thoroughly pleased with my M2P for photos and video.

Exactly! Sharpness is much more than just sensor resolution.
Here is one example, a low resolution sensor with a high quality, sharper lens can and will produce much sharper and higher “quality” images than a very high resolution sensor paired with a cheap, soft lens.

 

[davidarmenb]

DJI has pitched the drone as ideal drone for traveling photographers. I guess that section of the market will be their target. Time and their sales numbers over the lifespan of this drone will tell (the engineers) if this 50MP sensor was the right choice or not.

Well said. They have decided to go all in on high resolution quad bayer sensors, just like all of the higher-end cell phone companies, for reasons still unknown.

 

[Filmarik]

Exactly! Sharpness is much more than just sensor resolution.
Here is one example, a low resolution sensor with a high quality, sharper lens can and will produce much sharper and higher “quality” images than a very high resolution sensor paired with a cheap, soft lens.

I remember when Phase One started making digital backs, one of their first MF sensors was CCD 5MP. I saw 20x30" printed photos from that sensor and I was blown away. The amazing rich colors, the depth, the detail, I could not believe my eyes!! All that from 5MP sensor with large pixels, great Zeiss lens in front, RIP processor for printing. The results were jaw-dropping, like nothing I had seen before. Fast forward some 30 years I am looking at photos from 50MP 1" sensor scratching my head pondering

 

[okephoto]

I shot some still photos with my Air 3S yesterday before the weather got ugly. These aren't exactly art but give a good indication of what the images look like at 12mp. I'll show these in 2 posts starting with the 24mm shot. The first two images are straight from the camera in Photoshop 2025 showing the full image and then the image at 100%. The following 2 photographs are with the image up-rezed in Topaz AI into a 48mp image and at shown at 100%. There is no indication of noise in the shadows.

 

[okephoto]

This image was shot at 70mm. The first two images are straight from the camera in Photoshop 2025 showing the full image and then the image at 100%. The following 2 photographs are with the image up-rezed in Topaz AI into a 48mp image and shown at 100%. There is no indication of noise in the shadows. Unfortunately my drone will not let me shoot at 48mp due to a software glitch? so I can't offer anything about that yet.

 

[Filmarik]

This image was shot at 70mm. The first two images are straight from the camera in Photoshop 2025 showing the full image and then the image at 100%. The following 2 photographs are with the image up-rezed in Topaz AI into a 48mp image and shown at 100%. There is no indication of noise in the shadows. Unfortunately my drone will not let me shoot at 48mp due to a software glitch? so I can't offer anything about that yet.

With all due respect why are you posting screenshots? Wouldn't be better attaching the photos as such? It is hard to tell much from looking at screenshots.