Air 3S - Wondering why I upgraded.

[Macinfo]

Just watched that. I have to laugh. He says no banding in Air3 shot, when it obviously has more banding than the Air3. In the first set of images, he claims Air3 has more detailed image - it is obviously over sharpened, but not more detailed. Not a very good comparison.

Watched the video, noted no real issues in his comparison. It's not significant, but I thought the 3S was a little better. Course one can argue this forever... its all a matter of perspective and perhaps what your viewing it on in the 1st place.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I like coffee icecream, lol.

That happens to be my favorite too, since I was a wee lad

 

[Droning on and on...]

The air 3S got a lot of positive yt write ups. Most of the critics liked it, I just wonder if it is worth the cost.

Only you can decide that for yourself.

 

[Lazerbrains]

Does nobody have an issue with this? Borrowed from DJI forum, these are all screen grabs from 3s. This type of aliasing doesn't occur in the Air3.

 

[davidarmenb]

Does nobody have an issue with this? Borrowed from DJI forum, these are all screen grabs from 3s. This type of aliasing doesn't occur in the Air3. View attachment 179542View attachment 179543View attachment 179544View attachment 179545View attachment 179546

Because the 3 has an anti-aliasing filter. Which also has the side effect of softening the entire image.

It’s up to personal preference. If you want softer shots that will not have aliasing, got for the 3. If you want absolute sharpness and detail, at the cost of some aliasing in some locations of some photos, go with the 3S.

 

[Lazerbrains]

Because the 3 has an anti-aliasing filter. Which also has the side effect of softening the entire image.

It’s up to personal preference. If you want softer shots that will not have aliasing, got for the 3. If you want absolute sharpness and detail, at the cost of some aliasing in some locations of some photos, go with the 3S.

You are incorrect. There is no AA filter on the 3 to "soften the image". DJI hasn't used AA filters on their drones for several generations now. I have seen this persistent moire in many videos from the A3s as well as artifacts towards the edges. DJI hobbled this sensor by giving it lower bitrate than the A3. Moire typically shows because of less detail rendered, not more. DJI needs to up the bitrate to fix this. Higher bitrate aka fine details = less Moire and Aliasing.

 

[davidarmenb]

You are incorrect. There is no AA filter on the 3 to "soften the image". DJI hasn't used AA filters on their drones for several generations now. I have seen this persistent moire in many videos from the A3s as well as artifacts towards the edges. DJI hobbled this sensor by giving it lower bitrate than the A3. Moire typically shows because of less detail rendered, not more. DJI needs to up the bitrate to fix this. Higher bitrate aka fine details = less Moire and Aliasing.

By your logic, the Air 3S has higher bitrate.
The algorithm is 30% more efficient with the same quality. Doing some basic math shows that the Air 3S bit rate is not only similar to, but even higher than, the current Air 3 bitrate, when accounting the efficiency.
Now, how much you wish to believe their claims is completely up to you.

 

[Lazerbrains]

The algorithm is 30% more efficient with the same quality.

That's marketing BS from DJI. They can't change the algorithm of HEVC - if they did it wouldn't work with any editing software because it would not be recognized.

 

[Droning on and on...]

That's marketing BS from DJI. They can't change the algorithm of HEVC - if they did it wouldn't work with any editing software because it would not be recognized.

Not at all. Many knobs can be twiddled with HEVC trading off file size, quality, and compression time.

A faster processor could produce a more compressed (higher efficiency) result at same quality.

 

[guy_7]

This is my opinion only. After several weeks with this new drone I'm wondering why I ever sold my Air 3. For my flying and photography here are my observations.

Cons:
1. Don't find the images to be any better then the Air 3 and the video might be worse.
2. Battery life not as long.
3. Range is not as good. Places I routinely flew to with the Air 3 I'm having signal loss with the Air 3S
4. Issues with Avoidance System


Pros: It can fly a little faster.

This conclusion aligns with almost ever "Is it worth the upgrade?" reviews on youtube and articles.

 

[Lazerbrains]

Low IQ detected...

 

[bkushner]

That's marketing BS from DJI. They can't change the algorithm of HEVC - if they did it wouldn't work with any editing software because it would not be recognized.

Yep kind of like their 50mp sensor.

 

[Lazerbrains]

Yep kind of like their 50mp sensor.

Exactly. It's marketing, not truth. I believe my eyes over the marketing - I can plainly see the degradation from the lower bitrates showing up as moire/aliasing. They had similar issues with the Osmo action 5 (low bitrate) until enough people complained and they released an update that increased the bitrate. Hopefully they will do that with the 3S.

 

[ryguy80]

Just from reading over on the DJI forums, the Air 3S bitrate doesn't seem to be a priority to increase like it was for the Action 5 Pro. Part of that I think was that a member of the DJI R&D team was actively monitoring the Action 5 Pro forum at launch and saw the feedback. Don't think that is happening with the Air 3S. The AIr 3S feedback received by the DJI forum "bots" aren't getting to the developers.

 

[parkgt]

Just from reading over on the DJI forums, the Air 3S bitrate doesn't seem to be a priority to increase like it was for the Action 5 Pro. Part of that I think was that a member of the DJI R&D team was actively monitoring the Action 5 Pro forum at launch and saw the feedback. Don't think that is happening with the Air 3S. The AIr 3S feedback received by the DJI forum "bots" aren't getting to the developers.

Not enough people complaining on the DJI forum or YT.

 

[Lazerbrains]

Not enough people complaining on the DJI forum or YT.

There is a pretty big thread over there of people complaining about it. Hopefully squeaky wheel gets the oil.....

 

[ryguy80]

People are complaining, it’s just falling on deaf ears.

 

[parkgt]

There is a pretty big thread over there of people complaining about it. Hopefully squeaky wheel gets the oil.....

Obviously still not enough to make them care enough to respond or do anything.

 

[ryguy80]

I will say the DJI Forums amplify issues. You go in there and you would think every product DJI ever released was garbage with the majority of the posts being issues and everyone's wish list of features. It's a bit of a toxic atmosphere where a lot of discussion go down the name-calling rabbit hole and it's difficult to spend any amount of time on that forum. The negative experiences far outweigh the positive experiences users have with DJI products there.

 

[Mike4884]

For me best camera I ever used was the Phantom 4 Pro.

Right i miss ole’ betsy… the p4p was reliable day in and day out… never no problems… flew in anything… the camera still imo shames some of dji’s newer drones of today… i see some of my older p4p images every now and then pop up in my feed, and think wow these shots are phenomenal…. As a matter a fact i without a doubt have gotten my best shots with my old p4p…. Should have never sold it… that thing was all boosted to nice maxx uav kit suited the p4p nicely….. good memories gents