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Air 2S vs. M2P camera quality

You should go look at sample pictures at different ISO settings and decide for yourself and maybe even download some sample images to play with. I am in the camp where it's better to have a picture than no picture at all. As a result, I'll take a shot at high ISO on any of these drones over nothing at all. You can always try to clean it up in your photo editor of choice, and you may be surprised at what you are able to achieve. I don't find the high ISO photos objectionable enough to not bother taking them. That's coming from a full-frame DSLR user. My first DSLR experience was with a Nikon D100 which had pretty bad noise, much worse than the M2P or Air2s and that camera had a much larger sensor. Digital cameras have come a really long way.

I don't own an M2P and just got an Air2s yesterday, but I've seen side-by-side comparisons of both. Neither camera is better, just different. The M2P boosts the shadows and as a result, you get more detail at the expense of noise. The Air2s favors noise reduction over shadow detail so you get cleaner-looking images at the expense of detail. I haven't done this, but IMO the results would likely be similar if you processed the images to have the same levels, contrast, and noise reduction. Get the drone that fits your needs best in terms of size and features, enjoy it, and don't look back. It's easy to get caught up in analysis paralysis, but honestly, it's hard for me to see anyone being disappointed with either if you take the time in post to achieve the best results.
Thanks for your reply. I probably will look at some of the sample pictures but I tend to take the sample shots from the manufacturer with a grain of salt as they are usually under idea conditions and set up to highlight the best features of the camera. High ISO photos don't bother me and I am familiar with taking high ISO photos as I am into astrophotography with my DSLRs but it can be a tricky balance between shooting at a high ISO and balancing an acceptable level of noise in the shot that can be cleaned up in post to get a good image. The same holds true with drone images except there is usually not as much information to deal with as we are not using full frame sensors.

I do agree with you about getting the drone that fits your needs in terms of size and features and I would also add cost. I am going to wait a bit and see how the A2S performs and what the images from it look like from users such as yourself.

Chris
 
I still love the Hasselblad camera on the Mavic 2 Pro, but I'm really curious what this thing can bring to the table with the 1-inch sensor. Anybody willing to guess how the quality between these two drones would compare against each other?
No need to guess anymore. Lens system on the M2P is definitively better especially when using the HQ mode “crop”. The lack of aperture and style settings crimp photographic creativity along with some qualitative drawbacks (too much contrast, sharpness ok, but I prefer a slight boost with post noise reduction. Color seems a bit strong too). Capturing video in HLG mode seem very good and definitively comparable to the M2P.
on the M2P I use +1,-2,0 style. I wish I could do that on the A2S. The lack of style is very disappointing.
 
It’s a matter of physics, so it’s not moot


All of my HDR work is done by me. No automated HDR is good enough for what I give my clients



“Very close” isn’t good enough.

The 1” will be nice to see.

So far I am not seeing better low light performance. The fixed contrast setting is too high. Also the noise picture does not seem better than the MP2.
 
Possibly. I do look forward to possible HDR video capabilities in the Mavic 3 Pro, assuming it's a thing...

Both the M2P and the A2S can do 10-bit HLG (which is HDR video).

M2P is better because of greater tolerance to under/over exposing when lowering contrast in custom styles.
 
I use my MP2 strictly for photography. The adjustable aperture is a big advantage for me over my MP1. Shooting at dusk and night a lot changing the aperture is much easier than using ND filters as the light is changing. F8 & F11 give me nice star effects on pinpoints of light in my night shots. I generally shoot at ISO 100-200 and RAW so noise if never an issue.Downtown Buffalo.jpg
 
You know you can just use ND filters though right?
You can but that means you have to come back and land and switch filters then take off and fly to the same spot again. Nothing like the simplicity of just turning the dial to adjust the aperture while in flight.
 
I still love the Hasselblad camera on the Mavic 2 Pro, but I'm really curious what this thing can bring to the table with the 1-inch sensor. Anybody willing to guess how the quality between these two drones would compare against each other?
There is no question the 1" sensor and Hasselblad lens puts out incredible videos and when you watch on a large screen is when you will really see the difference. I constantly get people saying how amazing my videos look. Also when you do a snapshot in a video clip the bigger sensor gives you stills you can actually use.
 
Curious about the A2S controller. Looks like in pictures the phone is mounted up top but don't see any cables?

No way they put in bluetooth pairing to the phone?
 
Guessing isn't going to give you facts.
Wait just a little longer and find out for real what the differences are.
Just received my air2s argos now selling it.
The camera seems to be awesome they have even included air sence which worked perfectly today showd helicopter from 5mile away. Also the dji fly editing software has had a upgrade.Screenshot_20210417_145230_com.huawei.himovie.overseas.jpg
 
It’s sounding like the MA2s will be a replacement for the M2Pro in the lineup. The rumors I am hearing is the MA2s will have a 20MP 1” classic bayer filter sensor with 10 bit color video and shoot 5.4k at up to 30p and 4k up to 60p.

It may not have an adjustable aperture which isn’t a huge deal but I definitely prefer adjustable over fixed.

The MA2s almost certainly will have an HDR video mode, though, I wasn’t too impressed with that feature in the MA2, though with a classic bayer filter it may be better (or worse.)

Incremental technology improvements assumes the bit rate will be at least 120mbps and better dynamic range than the M2Pro.

I actually think the MA2s is shaping up to be closer to what we expected an incremental upgrade to the Mavic 2 Pro or a Mavic 3 to look like than a successor to the Mavic Air 2. If all the rumors are true then either this is our Mavic 3 or the eventual Mavic 3 will be radically different from the Mavic 2 Pro.

One thing I find really interesting in the rumors is what they call “Spotlight 2.0.” This is interesting because one feature of the Inspire 2 that is invaluable is called Spotlight Pro which locks the camera onto the tracking subject while allowing you to fly the drone manually. The way it is done in the Inspire 2 which makes it so flexible is you can combine Spotlight Pro with any and all flight modes. So you can use it in Sport mode, waypoints, tapfly, etc. I really hope this functionality makes it into the Air 2s.

If the Mavic Air 2s really can do 5.4k in 10-bits this will really be a big step up. The major complaint with the Mavic 2 Pro was that in 4k it had to window the sensor to get the best quality, “HQ mode,” which meant you no longer were filming with a 1” sensor and took a noise hit because of that. If the MA2s can record the full width of the sensor this will no longer be an issue.

I don’t expect the photo quality of the MA2s will be much different from the M2P
I have an original MP, M2P, M2P Enterprise and a P4P V2. I will not even consider another Mavic until they have a 1 inch sensor with a global shutter. It is only my opinion because of the type of work I do with my drone requires a mechanical shutter. Mapping/Orthomosaics
 
It’s sounding like the MA2s will be a replacement for the M2Pro in the lineup. The rumors I am hearing is the MA2s will have a 20MP 1” classic bayer filter sensor with 10 bit color video and shoot 5.4k at up to 30p and 4k up to 60p.

It may not have an adjustable aperture which isn’t a huge deal but I definitely prefer adjustable over fixed.

The MA2s almost certainly will have an HDR video mode, though, I wasn’t too impressed with that feature in the MA2, though with a classic bayer filter it may be better (or worse.)

Incremental technology improvements assumes the bit rate will be at least 120mbps and better dynamic range than the M2Pro.

I actually think the MA2s is shaping up to be closer to what we expected an incremental upgrade to the Mavic 2 Pro or a Mavic 3 to look like than a successor to the Mavic Air 2. If all the rumors are true then either this is our Mavic 3 or the eventual Mavic 3 will be radically different from the Mavic 2 Pro.

One thing I find really interesting in the rumors is what they call “Spotlight 2.0.” This is interesting because one feature of the Inspire 2 that is invaluable is called Spotlight Pro which locks the camera onto the tracking subject while allowing you to fly the drone manually. The way it is done in the Inspire 2 which makes it so flexible is you can combine Spotlight Pro with any and all flight modes. So you can use it in Sport mode, waypoints, tapfly, etc. I really hope this functionality makes it into the Air 2s.

If the Mavic Air 2s really can do 5.4k in 10-bits this will really be a big step up. The major complaint with the Mavic 2 Pro was that in 4k it had to window the sensor to get the best quality, “HQ mode,” which meant you no longer were filming with a 1” sensor and took a noise hit because of that. If the MA2s can record the full width of the sensor this will no longer be an issue.

I don’t expect the photo quality of the MA2s will be much different from the M2P
I have an original MP, M2P, M2P Enterprise and a P4P V2. I will not even consider another Mavic until they have a 1 inch sensor with a global shutter. It is only my opinion because of the type of work I do with my drone requires a mechanical shutter. (Mapping/Orthomosaics)
 
Aperture adjustments, native waypoints, side obstacle avoidance, better wind resistance, mechanical shutter. The M2P has most of that already.
Is the only advantage of a mechanical shutter avoiding distortion on straight moving objects?Like baseball bat swung?
 
i think the adjustable aperture is a meme at this point, and it is more about some traditional attachment with the variable aperture than any negligible benefit one will get from it.

I see a lot of coping in this thread on why the M2Pro is better but almost every YouTube comparison between the two puts the Air2S ahead, not by much in photo/video, but still enough to make a compelling argument **for** the Air2S versus the M2Pro. Add on the new technological gimmicks like AT4.0 and the Air2S leaves the M2Pro in the dust.



 
Is the only advantage of a mechanical shutter avoiding distortion on straight moving objects?Like baseball bat swung?
Yes but it’s becoming less and less of an issue and only works with photos, it doesn’t do anything for video. If you look at the newest ground based cameras like the Sony A1 it reads out the pixels so quickly that you can’t tell a difference even though it’s still a rolling shutter.

We are already starting to see cameras that have global shutters (electronic shutter that reads out every pixel at the same time) but only on extremely high end cinema cameras. It will be awhile before this technology trickles down to consumer drones.
 
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Curious about the A2S controller. Looks like in pictures the phone is mounted up top but don't see any cables?

No way they put in bluetooth pairing to the phone?
No it’s still connected via a wire which is a good thing. You do not what to have it connected via Bluetooth. You’d get a much laggier and lower resolution live view.
 
No it’s still connected via a wire which is a good thing. You do not what to have it connected via Bluetooth. You’d get a much laggier and lower resolution live view.
True BT doesn't support as much bandwidth.

Wifi could, but I don't know how solid the connection would be. Would such to lose a connection during a flight.
 
Wifi could, but I don't know how solid the connection would be. Would such to lose a connection during a flight.
Wifi provides a crummy connection that has very limited range and gives a screen image that gets worse as you fly further away.
DJI's Lightbridge and Occusync are 10 times better than wifi.
 
I'm talking about just the connection between the controller and the phone, to replace the cable.
 
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