Air 3S photo quality is... disappointing

[Triggus]

I don't do pixel peeping. I shoot into the light A LOT, so shadow latitude is very important to me - that is what I was looking for. The observations about mushiness and purple fringing were an accidental discovery.

No amount of stitching will overcome poor performance in shadow performance. And the Air3S seems to be struggling in that department. I just don't understand how DJI can claim improved DR based on the images I have seen so far.

I would love to get my hands on more DNGs shot in contrasty situations, especially into the sun. I am surprised at the relative dearth.

Just a quick question, have you comapred both 50 mp and 12 mp modes ?
As its the 50mp that suffers terribly with noise and potential artifacts.
12 mp shots on 24 mm do not look much worse or possibly quite the same as air2s in terms of shadows and noise - just different aspect ratio of 4:2 instead of the "standard" 3:2 and lower pixel count as its 12 mp vs 20 mp (so possibly some minor details loss also when pixel peeping)
Still disappointing despite what the other guys here in the topic said about too high expecations etc ... the complaints arent about its not being better than mavic 3 pro, they are about its not being better then the predecessor air2s ..two upgrades later.. and the marketing gimmick of 50 mp they selling us adds to the confusions.

 

[BingBong]

Just a quick question, have you comapred both 50 mp and 12 mp modes ?
As its the 50mp that suffers terribly with noise and potential artifacts.
12 mp shots on 24 mm do not look much worse or possibly quite the same as air2s in terms of shadows and noise - just different aspect ratio of 4:2 instead of the "standard" 3:2 and lower pixel count as its 12 mp vs 20 mp (so possibly some minor details loss also when pixel peeping)
Still disappointing despite what the other guys here in the topic said about too high expecations etc ... the complaints arent about its not being better than mavic 3 pro, they are about its not being better then the predecessor air2s ..two upgrades later.. and the marketing gimmick of 50 mp they selling us adds to the confusions.

I was all set to get the Air 3S, but have got hold of some 12MP and 50MP JPG and DNGs. The 12MP shots seem to lack the detail you'd expect from 50MP pixel-binned to 12. The 50MP shots are sharp but noisy, and sometimes have colour artifacts like fringing and moire as you'd expect with less colour resolution from the Quad Bayer sensor. The Air 3S 24mm camera seems quite prone to a hard blob of flare into the light, much more than the Air 2S. I'm sticking with my Air 2S for now, as its native 20MP 3:2 sensor is still better for stills, which are my main interest. It's disappointing that all recent DJI drones have gone for 4:3 sensors. I think 3:2 works better for most single wide shots without the hassle of stitching.

 

[GroovyGeek]

I was all set to get the Air 3S, but have got hold of some 12MP and 50MP JPG and DNGs. The 12MP shots seem to lack the detail you'd expect from 50MP pixel-binned to 12. The 50MP shots are sharp but noisy, and sometimes have colour artifacts like fringing and moire as you'd expect with less colour resolution from the Quad Bayer sensor. The Air 3S 24mm camera seems quite prone to a hard blob of flare into the light, much more than the Air 2S. I'm sticking with my Air 2S for now, as its native 20MP 3:2 sensor is still better for stills, which are my main interest. It's disappointing that all recent DJI drones have gone for 4:3 sensors. I think 3:2 works better for most single wide shots without the hassle of stitching.

My exact observations from the files in the first link I posted in this thread. The binning reduces the noise as you would expect, but the loss of detail is - to me at least - unacceptable.

I have to go back and take a closer look at the 70mm binned images, I don't recall seeing any in the links I have access to. To me at least free pano is helpful but not critical, if I am going to stitch it does not matter if I have to crop later - just shoot that 180 degree pano and crop later. Or just do a manual pano series like you would do with a stills camera.