Air 3S photo quality is... disappointing

[BingBong]

We can argue specs and tech endlessly, but the bottom line is the quality of the files produced. I've had a chance to edit the 12 and 50MP DNGs from the 24mm Air 3S camera in Lightroom Classic. Adobe added support in ACR 17.1, but got it wrong. It doesn't pick up the profiles automatically like it does with Air 2S files, and selecting them manually lists two different DJI camera number profiles both labelled 70mm. It probably only affects distortion correction. Hopefully they’ll sort it in the next release of ACR.

The 50MP DNG has lots of tonal detail, but a lot of noise and colour artifacts. The shot is of a lake with a bunch of distant seagulls floating on the water which look like multi-coloured party balloons! It took a linear grad mask with 80 Defringe to make these and other colour artifacts acceptable, and that was after creating a new files with AI Denoise. The 12MP DNG kills most of the noise, but lacks detail and sharpness. Both sizes are disappointing, the 50MP for the huge file size without the quality to match, and the 12MP for its lack of detail in an already small resolution. The 20MP Bayer Air 2S sensor is still generally better for stills with maybe a little less tonal detail and sharpness, but a lot less in the way of colour artifacts, and a useful resolution. Hopefully DJI can tweak the Air 3S processing to improve the output.

 

[wco81]

We can argue specs and tech endlessly, but the bottom line is the quality of the files produced. I've had a chance to edit the 12 and 50MP DNGs from the 24mm Air 3S camera in Lightroom Classic. Adobe added support in ACR 17.1, but got it wrong. It doesn't pick up the profiles automatically like it does with Air 2S files, and selecting them manually lists two different DJI camera number profiles both labelled 70mm. It probably only affects distortion correction. Hopefully they’ll sort it in the next release of ACR.

The 50MP DNG has lots of tonal detail, but a lot of noise and colour artifacts. The shot is of a lake with a bunch of distant seagulls floating on the water which look like multi-coloured party balloons! It took a linear grad mask with 80 Defringe to make these and other colour artifacts acceptable, and that was after creating a new files with AI Denoise. The 12MP DNG kills most of the noise, but lacks detail and sharpness. Both sizes are disappointing, the 50MP for the huge file size without the quality to match, and the 12MP for its lack of detail in an already small resolution. The 20MP Bayer Air 2S sensor is still generally better for stills with maybe a little less tonal detail and sharpness, but a lot less in the way of colour artifacts, and a useful resolution. Hopefully DJI can tweak the Air 3S processing to improve the output.

You're talking about in the drone processing of JPGs?

Or maybe they contribute something to Adobe an improve their processing of the RAW DNG files in Lightroom?

 

[BingBong]

You're talking about in the drone processing of JPGs?

Or maybe they contribute something to Adobe an improve their processing of the RAW DNG files in Lightroom?

No, I barely looked at the JPGs, which are OK but a bit flat. I was trying to get the best out of the Air 3S DNGs in Lightroom Classic. Yes, I'm hoping both DJI and Adobe can help get better results from the 24mm camera sensor.

 

[Droning on and on...]

If they're happy with the sales, then they made the right decision, though I think a lot of people are more interested in the various automated shooting modes like master shots.

W.r.t. the Mavic 3, I can't agree with this, same with the Mavic 4. The latter is rumored to have a QB main sensor.

 

[BPShoots]

Isn't the pixel peeping you are doing also overkill for amateur stills work as a hobbyist rather than a professional? Post processing will almost always improve the results from the recorded image. Yet, using automated software to manually stitch together multiple images for a superior result makes you shudder. It takes just a minute or two to stitch together 30 images to create 100MP images with PanoramaStudio 4 Pro for only $99.

PanoramaStudio 4 Pro | PanoramaStudio Panorama Software

www.tshsoft.de

That being said, the Mavic 3 Pro is a beast of a camera for still shooters. @Meta4 has made it sing with his cargo ship images shot with it. You will be very happy with it. I own it, too.

However the Free Panorama function on the Air 3S is a game changer for super high resolution images that one can zoom into for fine details, that don't turn to mush, which is why I just ordered one for myself. The resulting in camera stitch is usually good enough, and certainly a proof of concept "test print" for deciding which stitches are worthy of manual automated post process stitching for an even better result, using the saved original DNG's.

While the 70mm telephoto on the Mavic 3 Pro can shoot 360° spherical panos, it takes 127 images in 3.5 minutes and cannot stitch anything from them. The top 30 images in the grid also have to be thrown away because there is no detail in the sky from which to stitch anything useful. There is no option to eliminate their shooting, nor customize the frame, other than 360°, 180°, Wide, or Vertical.

The Air 3S finally brings the Free Panorama from the Mavic 3 Enterprise line to the consumer line. Selecting what portion of the view you want automatically shot, saved, and stitched in camera by the 70mm telephoto camera is a game changer. As suggested above, it can automatically create a true 50MP stitched image of the same view as the 24mm MFT 20MP camera. That's huge, and fully automated, enabling saving time over shooting the same scene manually, and still not having any stitch to immediately review.

There is room for both the Mavic 3 Pro and an Air 3S, as DJI will not backfill newer features like the Free Panorama mode specifically designed to sell new drones. It will likely make it into the Mavic 4, but by then, obtaining a Mavic 4 in the U.S. may be impossible. Now, even getting an Air 3S in the U.S. is almost impossible! Adorama still had a few left in stock when I ordered mine last Thursday, but they are likely all gone by now.

Enjoy your new Mavic 3 Pro!

Your comments about having to throw out some of the frames because there's nothing to stitch tells me you haven't discovered the standout feature of PS4Pro when it comes to drone panos. In the initial Align step, when the Parameters window opens, go into Advanced Settings and check the box for "Place non-aligned images using metadata." There's apparently gimbal position data in the EXIF, and with that box checked, it will stitch featureless expanses of sky or water perfectly.

 

[MegaStoke]

Your comments about having to throw out some of the frames because there's nothing to stitch tells me you haven't discovered the standout feature of PS4Pro when it comes to drone panos. In the initial Align step, when the Parameters window opens, go into Advanced Settings and check the box for "Place non-aligned images using metadata." There's apparently gimbal position data in the EXIF, and with that box checked, it will stitch featureless expanses of sky or water perfectly.

Ah, this is great intel. I've had a few panos thwarted by unstitchable clear skies now.

Also, while I too have been disappointed by the single shots my Air 3s takes, stitching together free panos shot with the telephoto lens has been incredible for me. The amount of detail captured in a >200mp pano is enough to satisfy even the worst pixel peeper, and once you've done it a few times, the entire process is quick and easy.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Ah, this is great intel. I've had a few panos thwarted by unstitchable clear skies now.

Also, while I too have been disappointed by the single shots my Air 3s takes, stitching together free panos shot with the telephoto lens has been incredible for me. The amount of detail captured in a >200mp pano is enough to satisfy even the worst pixel peeper, and once you've done it a few times, the entire process is quick and easy.

Panos are a feature pretty unique to drones at least in terms of the facility and positional accuracy in producing them. It's so easy.

The custom pano feature introduced with the 3S is one of the more useful bells ans whistles DJI has added lately, and I'll bet it gets propagated to all the multi-camera models, and (hopefully) the top of the mini line (maybe show up with the Mini 5 Pro).

In any case, an enhancement I'd love to see further automating high res captures would be a "create a high resolution pano from the 70mm camera framing what is shown in the 24mm camera".

IOW, you like what you see in the main camera. You push a button, and it takes the correct snaps with the zoomed camera, stitches and crops to produce as near identical an an image as what is viewed in the main camera, but at zoomed resolution.

 

[MegaStoke]

In any case, an enhancement I'd love to see further automating high res captures would be a "create a high resolution pano from the 70mm camera framing what is shown in the 24mm camera".

IOW, you like what you see in the main camera. You push a button, and it takes the correct snaps with the zoomed camera, stitches and crops to produce as near identical an an image as what is viewed in the main camera, but at zoomed resolution.

That's already a thing that I do almost every time I fly.

• Go to free pano mode
• With the 1x camera selected and framed up how you want your final shot, press the C1 button twice without moving.
• Switch to the 3x camera.
• Shoot the pano. It produces a final image very similar to a single shot with the 1x lens, except with all the pixels.

I've been shooting panoramas for 25+ years, starting by taping film prints together, then manually aligning photos in photoshop, then auto aligning pano processing, sweep panos, and now this. It blows my mind how far we've come. I now have a relatively inexpensive flying camera that can shoot 300mp two axis panoramas, in an almost entirely automated fashion. Simply incredible, and I can only imagine it will be even better on the upcoming Mavic 4.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Very cool! Obviously I don't have a 3S.

Is the Free Pano feature documented anywhere? Couldn't find it in the v1.0 3S manual...

 

[romik]

I just received this drone and I am tempted to return it. The 50Mpix mode is horrible, like outright unusable. The QB technology really does rear its head and the color maps are all over the place! Here quick side by side of 3S (left) and 2Pro (right). Honestly I don't know what to do! On one hand I have no problem to buy 4Pro when it comes out but that is going to be certainly above 900g so a different class and flight limits! I can't believe C1 category would be stuck with this garbage as far as high Mpix images go! (12Mpix mode is quite alright)

 

[GroovyGeek]

The recent posts about horrible color fringing, mushy images at 12 MPx and boatload of sensor noise at 50MPx even in broad daylight is consistent with my observations in the OP. I was hoping that it was because of operator error with the DNGs I dug up, but it now looks like this is a "feature". The concerning thing is that it appears only at sharp edges - a tell tale sign of poor control of chromatic aberrations in optics. If this was just a demosaicing artifact I would think that it would appear as color noise all over the image... Unless DJI is doing mild onboard sharpness enhancements along the line of the **** Samsung pulled with their 10x lens on the Galaxy S23U.

In contrast, I am SUPER impressed with the main sensor on the Magic 3P. The attached image was taken at sunrise, shooting into the sun. I did AEB bracketing but when I got home I discovered that I can pull up the shadows 2 stops from a single frame with completely acceptable noise levels (after AI denoising). Another strange feature of the Air3S DNGs was that PS's AI denoising seemed very ineffective on them.

PS for those temped to look at this image at 200% magnification and tell them that objects in the distance and outside the center area are slightly blurry - that is an intentional action to give the image a sense of depth. I don't subscribe the sharpness fetishes

 

[Filmarik]

I just received this drone and I am tempted to return it. The 50Mpix mode is horrible, like outright unusable. The QB technology really does rear its head and the color maps are all over the place! Here quick side by side of 3S (left) and 2Pro (right). Honestly I don't know what to do! On one hand I have no problem to buy 4Pro when it comes out but that is going to be certainly above 900g so a different class and flight limits! I can't believe C1 category would be stuck with this garbage as far as high Mpix images go! (12Mpix mode is quite alright)

If you are not happy with the image quality this drone gives you and have an option to return the drone, I'd suggest you to do it and get something else (preferably not with QB sensor camera).

 

[ryguy80]

If you are not happy with the image quality this drone gives you and have an option to return the drone, I'd suggest do it and get something else (preferably not with QB sensor camera).

There are several people on the DJI Forum that should take this advice too. Literally posting everyday asking for firmware updates, particularly the Osmo Action 5 Pro. I asked the same question if the product makes you miserable, why not return it? They got defensive about the word "miserable" and deflected the question. I gave up and stopped visiting certain areas of that forum. Not sure what they are looking for, other than to troll DJI.

 

[romik]

If you are not happy with the image quality this drone gives you and have an option to return the drone, I'd suggest do it and get something else (preferably not with QB sensor camera).

This is exactly what I did, the 3S is gone and I am waiting for 4Pro to come out. Mini4Pro and (t)rusty 2Pro in the meantime. To explain why would I ever pixel peep at 400% - sometimes I make prints 2x3m and at that size these color fringing demosaicing issues begin to be problematic. You just can see them.

@GroovyGeek - unfortunately the problem is demosaic the example of which you can see clearly at that string operating blinds. It's white in reality and also on the image from 2Pro. On the image from 3S it's like a national flag of some kind... These demosaic color problem will unfortunately rear their head also at the overall color tone of an image, of the color tone of a green foliage etc.

Don't take me wrong, I think the 3S is a terrific drone and 12Mpix mode on the main camera is alright. Just the landscape photographers with hi-res needs will have to look elsewhere and most likely and unfortunately fly 4Pro as C1 drone and hope for the best. Pity.

 

[Filmarik]

This is exactly what I did, the 3S is gone and I am waiting for 4Pro to come out. Mini4Pro and (t)rusty 2Pro in the meantime. To explain why would I ever pixel peep at 400% - sometimes I make prints 2x3m and at that size these color fringing demosaicing issues begin to be problematic. You just can see them.

@GroovyGeek - unfortunately the problem is demosaic the example of which you can see clearly at that string operating blinds. It's white in reality and also on the image from 2Pro. On the image from 3S it's like a national flag of some kind... These demosaic color problem will unfortunately rear their head also at the overall color tone of an image, of the color tone of a green foliage etc.

Don't take me wrong, I think the 3S is a terrific drone and 12Mpix mode on the main camera is alright. Just the landscape photographers with hi-res needs will have to look elsewhere and most likely and unfortunately fly 4Pro as C1 drone and hope for the best. Pity.

The QB sensors seem to be the problem. The Mavic4Pro will likely have also QB type but this time 100MP sensor in the main camera. We need to wait and see how the stills will look.like. The other reality is that DJI is gearing the new drones predominantly towards video. QB sensors have obvious advantages for video recording and IQ issues are not a major problem there. Noone is going pixel peep at 400% when watching video. But if you are printing 3m photos why not use the panorama mode with the 70mm camera in A3S? I know that for moving subjests this is not an option but for landscapes this apparently produces huge files with pretty good results even when printed large. Anyway we will all see what the M4P will be able to do when it comes to photos, probably not in too distant future. For now the M3P rocks, and for me at least it is a keeper.

 

[Mrktn]

The QB sensors seem to be the problem. The Mavic4Pro will likely have also QB type but this time 100MP sensor in the main camera. We need to wait and see how the stills will look.like. The other reality is that DJI is gearing the new drones predominantly towards video. QB sensors have obvious advantages for video recording and IQ issues are not a major problem there. Noone is going pixel peep at 400% when watching video. But if you are printing 3m photos why not to use the panorama mode with the 70mm camera in A3S? I know that for moving subjests this is not an option but for landscapes this apparently produces huge files with pretty good results even when printed large. Anyway we will all see what the M4P will be able to do when it comes to photos, probably not in too distant future. For now the M3P rocks, and for me at least it is a keeper.

Well put and totally agree

 

[ryguy80]

I want back and looked at one of my Air 3S DNG images from when I got the drone. This was zoomed at 400% of a sunset in my neighborhood from the wide camera with the 50 MP setting.

On the left is the unprocessed DNG with the chromatic aberrations and on the right is the DNG processed with Topaz Denoise. Seems like it's something with the processing as the Topaz took care of the CA.

 

[Filmarik]

I want back and looked at one of my Air 3S DNG images from when I got the drone. This was zoomed at 400% of a sunset in my neighborhood. On the left is the unprocessed DNG with the chromatic aberrations and on the right is the DNG processed with Topaz Denoise. Seems like it's something with the processing as the Topez took care of the CA.

View attachment 181034

With all due respect looking at any photo at 400% on monitor serves no meaningful purpose. In real life noone in his/her right mind is going to be looking at 3m (120") photo with magnifying glass to see the blobs of ink. I mean seriously, don't you have anything better to do? Sorry...

 

[ryguy80]

With all due respect looking at any photo at 400% on monitor serves no meaningful purpose. In real life noone in his/her right mind is going to be looking at 3m (120") photo with magnifying glass to see the blobs of ink. I mean seriously, don't you have anything better to do? Sorry...

Kind of proves my point. You don't really see problems with Air 3S photos unless you pixel peep. Anyone can nitpick any drone to death if you really want.

Reminds me of the Nikon Z6 III and the Internet nitpicking flaws that have no bearing on real world use.

 

[Filmarik]

Kind of proves my point. You don't really see problems with Air 3S photos unless you pixel peep. Anyone can nitpick any drone to death if you really want.

Reminds me of the Nikon Z6 III and the Internet nitpicking flaws that have no bearing on real world use.

I think that by now it has been well established or at least there seems to be a general concensus that the 50MP photos have issues. No point keep beating dead horse on the ground. For many the A3S remains to be a great tool allowing them to create memories and beatiful videos and photos which they would not be able to create without a drone. And that is all what matters to most users. I'd say fair enough!! And to the pixel peepers, keep peeping and looking for issues and dead pixels at 400% if you find satisfaction in that.