Air 3S creates wavy patterns on metal sided building

[PhotoDB]

This perfectly white metal-sided building did not show any of this wavy pattern while I was shooting it, so imagine my surprise when I processed the photos with DXO 5.2 and Photomatix 7.12 and then looked at these results. See the "3examples.jpg" for even worse waves on the same and other parts of the building. It didn't happen to all the photos - maybe half. See the normal "All White.jpg" photo.
I can't blame the processing software because the patterns are noticeable in the DNG and JPG originals as well. I also shot the same building with my Nikon Z9, and none of this nonsense shows up in those photos. It reminds me of the moire patterns you sometime see when photographing fabrics.
Does anyone have any idea what caused this, or better yet, how I could have avoided it?

 

[PINEBARON]

I think it is a moire pattern which you can edit with an editor. You could try using an ND filter, change to a different frame rate.
Help with image quality- bad moire on roofs etc

 

[Meta4]

I can't blame the processing software because the patterns are noticeable in the DNG and JPG originals as well. I also shot the same building with my Nikon Z9, and none of this nonsense shows up in those photos. It reminds me of the moire patterns you sometime see when photographing fabrics

You can't blame anything except physics.
That "nonsense" is a moire effect.

What Causes Moiré, How To Avoid It & How To Remove It

In the following 11 minute video from Adorama TV, Gavin Hoey answers these questions about moiré as part of his Take and Make Great Photography series.

www.slrlounge.com

 

[akdrone]

many cameras us an internal filter to keep this from occurring. It's called an anti-alias filter but apparently it's not on the 3s. I don' think the 3s had a variable aperture, does it? If it does you can try another aperture or shoot it from another angle. Some programs like Photoshop have ways to eliminate it.

 

[PhotoDB]

Thanks all - I'll give Photoshop a try. Never had the need for that tool before.

 

[BingBong]

The first shot is classic moire, which sadly, the Air 3S wide camera seems quite prone to. It's not helped by the Quad Bayer sensor. If you shoot at 50MP, it is more likely to show, the 12.5MP shots may mask it a bit. It's an interference pattern between the spacing of the pixels on the sensor and the spacing of the lines in the image. Moving back or forward a little would probably reduce or get rid of it, but you probably won't see it while flying on the monitor as it's too small. The second composite shot looks very low-res and over-sharpened which makes it worse.

I don't think any DJI drones have had an anti-alias filter, but most of them cope with moire better than this sensor. Many DSLRs used to have AA filters which work by softening the image to prevent moire. Photoshop has tools to help. I use Lightroom Classic, and filter layers have an option to counter moire. Obviously you'll have more editing scope from a DNG file rather than a JPG.

 

[PhotoDB]

Thanks, @BingBong , I never shoot 50MP. The 12.5MP seems sharper to my eye and is fine for 300 d.p.i. magazine covers, which I do regularly.

I'd never encountered anything like this in all my years with the Platinum Pro and the Mavic 3, so I never needed to look for help from the software. I've now tried both LR Classic and Camera Raw in PS, which both helped, but not as much as I would have liked. Turns out you need to be trying to remove it at exactly 100% resolution, since higher and lower are liable to give you totally different looks - truly challenging.

I have seen the moire effect show up on my Nikon Z9's LCD screen, but you're right, it never showed on the RC2 Smart Controller.

Thanks again.