Also have grainy footage

[az19]

On the first of January I bought a Mavic Mini 2. I was extremely pleased with the video quality but decided to return it as I thought the photo quality was pretty bad. I replaced it with the Air 2 which has better picture quality.

I have to say that so far I'm puzzled that the Air 2 is producing video that is inferior to that of my Mini 2. Across all frame rates and even at base iso of 100 the grain I'm getting is horrendous. Doesn't seam to make a difference if I'm in auto or manual or HDR. Thought I'd share a clip of what I'm talking about. You will see the most grain in the lower third of the clip in the water. Also what has happened to the wake of that boat it looks all jagged? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[walke121]

What kind of Micro SD card are you using? Brand, model, size? Did you format them in the drone before using them? I’m totally new to drones but very experienced in computers and RC in general and I’ve researched a lot when deciding on a MA2 and not formatting in the drone and low quality Micro SD cards seem to be the culprits a lot of the time.

 

[az19]

Good point. The sd card was the one I bought at the same time I purchased the mini 2. I bought that based on the combat ability with the mini 2 not even imagining I would be getting a air 2 a few weeks later. It has not been reformatted for the Air2. It is a Samsung 128 Evo Plus.

 

[boblui]

Can't see any ....

 

[volition]

That SD should be ok. Make sure your video settings are the same for both drones. I.e. MOV or MP4, H.264 vs H.265, Normal or cinelike. etc. The Air 2 has a bigger sensor and does produce a better image. Once you confirm they are identical settings same SD card specs and you can shoot with same lighting etc. then maybe contact DJI.

 

[DanMan32]

Not all Samsung Evo Plus are U3 rated. I have no idea why Samsung uses the same model name for different rated cards.
But then the 100Mbps is only used for 4K and above. For 8K, you want to use V30 rated cards.
Below 4K, a class 10 should be OK, though you'll still get warnings.

You're not looking at the cache video on the mobile, are you? That's only 720 or 1080, subject to any radio glitches/ interference, and more compressed to reduce use of radio bandwidth.

 

[az19]

Nah I’m taking it directly from the card. I did have a ND16 on but still. I’ll do some more tests tomorrow. I know it’s probably hard to see on the YouTube video but the grain is prominent. Also did you all see how odd the boat’s wake looked? Something is off.

 

[az19]

Compared to the Mini 2 video I took which had much less grain. Not sure you can tell the difference on a phone but on a tv or monitor the difference is glaring.

 

[volition]

Got an idea for a test. Don't fly either, keep them folded, Get Like a bit of firm cardboard. The idea is to have side by side hand held and record video. Like on a platter. If you use velcro or rubber band to attach them with some slits in the cardboard to slide the bands around. You can move them around manually and go record different subjects in different lights. I think it's important to move around and get a bit of variety.

I take it you still own both that is. Give them both the exact same settings, that is exactly. Then maybe also flip SD cards from each drone and do it again. Eliminating any concerns there.

Its really hard to say what's going on, because the MA2 is a better camera, simple. Its a 1/2"sensor uses the same hardware/software, etc. and the Mini is a 1/2.3" having roughly the same pixel density. So the bigger sensor will always be better. I assume they use the same manufacturer for the lenses etc. as well. That top video definitely lacks the lustre of the mini 2 one. But I suspect it's just a matter of the actual subject/lights, etc being much more favourable for the mini 2, I think the MA2 was at a disadvantage. My Side by side experiment will eliminate that variable.

It's probably the only quick way you can absolutely verify there is something at play. Keep us posted.

 

[lannes]

It's probably just the high contrast lighting conditions at the time, but I couldn't see much grain as well on my 4k screen.

 

[dsops]

It does not look for me to be grain in the dark surfaces, but compression artifacts. Try all compress modes and select the best one for you.

 

[tlswift58]

Nah I’m taking it directly from the card. I did have a ND16 on but still. I’ll do some more tests tomorrow. I know it’s probably hard to see on the YouTube video but the grain is prominent. Also did you all see how odd the boat’s wake looked? Something is off.

Are you in Zoom mode with the video on Air2? If you go above 1x - the grain really comes out; esp un 2x on 4k. Low light will also give far more grain - that is true of any camera - whether digital or otherwise.

I've done 2x Zoom in 4k and it sucks bad. 1x in 1080p is pretty decent. Anything above 1x will give you the grain.

If not using Zoom; then no real idea - maybe you're not up to date on firmware / etc. When firmware changes and you do upgrade - I've found on several occasion I have to RESET camera parameters in settings to get everything back in sync.

Beyond that - it's a DJI issue.

 

[rxlawdude]

Are you in Zoom mode with the video on Air2? If you go above 1x - the grain really comes out; esp un 2x on 4k. Low light will also give far more grain - that is true of any camera - whether digital or otherwise.

I've done 2x Zoom in 4k and it sucks bad. 1x in 1080p is pretty decent. Anything above 1x will give you the grain.

If not using Zoom; then no real idea - maybe you're not up to date on firmware / etc. When firmware changes and you do upgrade - I've found on several occasion I have to RESET camera parameters in settings to get everything back in sync.

Beyond that - it's a DJI issue.

That's what it looks like to me - Zoom mode. There's no way that in normal, 4K wide that the pixellation should be this bad, so if not in zoom mode, it may be defective.

 

[Tentoes]

Looked to me like a mighty nice video.