Air 3 Zoom in 3x photo?

[Billibong]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum. I currently have a Air 2s which I'm looking to update to an Air 3 because of the Zoom 3x optical camera. I need to know if using a 3x camera will capture the labels on rooftop equipment I need to read, while flying using the obstacle avoidance, which means I need to be about 6 feet away from the label. If that won't work I'll need to purchase the Mavic Pro 3 I guess with the 8x optical camera.

Anyone willing to post a photo using the 3x zoom of a newspaper from 6 feet away? I believe the Mavic 3 Pro also has the same 3x camera, so that would work as well. Thaks in advance!

 

[Gadgetdude]

Welcome to the forum!

I would be happy to do this later this evening after work if someone does not beat me to it. Only problem I have is I cannot remember the last time I even read or had a newspaper. But I will find something with writing on and do it for you.

 

[Gadgetdude]

BTW in video mode on the Air 3 you can use telephoto upto 7 or 8x zoom. I cannot remember exactly as I don't use that much and I am currently at the office. But you can zoom more than the 3x.

 

[Billibong]

Thanks, that would be awesome! Can you also try the 7 or 8X zoom in video. I tried the zoom on the Air 2s using video but it was still too blurry to read. It only worked in photo mode when I got about 2 ft from it with the obstacle avoidance turned off.

 

[Gadgetdude]

So I apologize but I do not have a newspaper. So I tried to utilize items that mimicked different font sizes of a newspaper would. A lego box and a cereal box.

So the drone is sitting on a stand exactly 6 ft from the item. Interesting note is that I could not get it to focus on an item 6ft away using the 3x (70mm). So it is focusing on the wall (Academy Awards picture behind it). That is about 2 ft behind the item. In the cereal box picture you can use the writing on the picture behind it to see the results. Especially the small print at the bottom of the poster print.

I dont know if this will help at all. Maybe someone else can do a newspaper test for you?
Air 3 6’ test

 

[Billibong]

Thanks so much, this is great!
I'm zooming in on each image in Photoshop-It's interesting in the Cheerios box photos the 24mm is actually a little bit sharper than the 70mm when I zoom into them. I can read most of the fine print.
On the NASA label photos, (the opposite is true) I can read the 70mm printing as it's sharper than the 24mm lens image. I think the Air 3 is right on the edge of reading the labels I need. Is the obstacle avoidance stopping you at approx. 6' on the Air 3 as it does on the Air 2s?
Thanks,
Bill

 

[Billibong]

These are both images blown up to the same approx size in Photoshop

 

[Gadgetdude]

Thanks so much, this is great!
I'm zooming in on each image in Photoshop-It's interesting in the Cheerios box photos the 24mm is actually a little bit sharper than the 70mm when I zoom into them. I can read most of the fine print.
On the NASA label photos, (the opposite is true) I can read the 70mm printing as it's sharper than the 24mm lens image. I think the Air 3 is right on the edge of reading the labels I need. Is the obstacle avoidance stopping you at approx. 6' on the Air 3 as it does on the Air 2s?
Thanks,
Bill

Yes it does stop about 5-6’. You can always turn that off though.

I should mention that all the photos were at 40mp option. I have done pretty extensive photo image comparisons on 20mp versus 40my. There are some that say the 40mp is not as sharp as the 20mp but I absolutely disagree with this. The 40 is amazing the amount of detail I am getting. I will upload some of the photos into the same folder linked above if you care to look at them. The detail I am getting rivals my Mavic 3.

 

[Meta4]

Anyone willing to post a photo using the 3x zoom of a newspaper from 6 feet away? I believe the Mavic 3 Pro also has the same 3x camera, so that would work as well. Thaks in advance!

It won't look good.
According to the specs, both tele cameras of the Mavic 3 pro have a minimum focus distance of 3 metres (10 ft).
I only checked the specs after having trouble focusing at 6 ft.
I managed to get perfectly readable newsprint at 8.5 ft with both tele cameras using manual focus.
Here's a link to the results:

Close Focus - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

BTW in video mode on the Air 3 you can use telephoto upto 7 or 8x zoom. I cannot remember exactly as I don't use that much and I am currently at the office. But you can zoom more than the 3x.

9x

 

[GadgetGuy]

9x

It's 3x digital on each camera, so 1x-9x, but not continuous. You have to switch cameras after 1x-3x on the 24mm camera to use the 3x-9x on the 70mm camera. Unlike the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Pro, there is no continuous Explore mode for 1x-9x zoom on the Air 3, yet. Maybe in a future FW update?

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

It's 3x digital on each camera, so 1x-9x, but not continuous. You have to switch cameras after 1x-3x on the 24mm camera to use the 3x-9x on the 70mm camera. Unlike the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Pro, there is no continuous Explore mode for 1x-9x zoom on the Air 3, yet. Maybe in a future FW update?

Yeah Love to but a bird hit my DJI AIR 3 today and I think it was taken from a beach bum before we could get it!
Film At 11:00

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yeah Love to but a bird hit my DJI AIR 3 today and I think it was taken from a beach bum before we could get it!
Film At 11:00

Bummer, but if you have DJI Care, it should at least qualify for "Fly Away" coverage.

 

[RangerEd]

Yeah Love to but a bird hit my DJI AIR 3 today and I think it was taken from a beach bum before we could get it!
Film At 11:00

For real?

 

[Billibong]

Woo sorry to hear that!

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

It's 3x digital on each camera, so 1x-9x, but not continuous. You have to switch cameras after 1x-3x on the 24mm camera to use the 3x-9x on the 70mm camera. Unlike the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Pro, there is no continuous Explore mode for 1x-9x zoom on the Air 3, yet. Maybe in a future FW update?

I see no change when I program the C1 to switch cameras

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

For real?

For real!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I see no change when I program the C1 to switch cameras

To my point, you still have to stop the recording, and manually switch cameras and restart the recording, in order to zoom from 1x-9x, with a 1-2 second delay when switching camera, no matter how you switch cameras. If you are not familiar with the Explore mode from the Mavic 3 and Mavic3 Pro, it is a continuous zoom on the zoom scroll wheel with no manual switching of cameras, without any stopping and restarting of video recording. It is 1x-28x on the zoom dial, without any manual camera switching, in a continuous, unbroken video recording.

 

[GadgetGuy]

For real!

So did you purchase DJI Care, and were you flying with the bound remote, to qualify for Fly Away coverage? ?

 

[Billibong]

I just noticed on my Air 2s when I save to .DGN format the images are only 960 X 640 resolution, as opposed to std. .jpg format they are 5472 X 3684 resolution (20 mp). I realize there is much more dynamic range in thev .DGN for exposure but 5.7x smaller resolution? Is this correct, or am I missing a setting in the DJI software?