Anyone else disappointing with picture quality?

[the-bunker]

Hey all,
I recently had to return my mini 3 due to blurry edges. F1,7 and wideangle gives softer corners ofcourse, but this was way off. So I got a new one, and guess what - same problem. And the weird thing is that the blur was there on some images and not on other. I guess it’s autofocus or focus in general, maybe a lens not perfectly aligned with the sensor etc. I returned this one as well.
I am really concerned about this. Firstly - If you take a look on DJI’s mini 3 site the reference image taken on the beach is portrait mode with all corners hidden by air or sea. A coincidence? Maybe not. Maybe.

Firstly - For filming, this drone is outstanding! For photography, I would not buy it until this issue has been adressed properly.

Secondly - Where do we draw the line of whats acceptable? Dji never promised perfect quality, but whats the point of a 48mpx image if you constantly have to crop it?

Have a nice evening all. /Erik

Hi Erik, I had the same problem with my first Mini 3, but fortunately the 2nd one is much better. If they made them fixed focus then I'm sure they'd get a much better rate of good ones - imho of course

 

[SwePilot]

Bunker - Nice to hear I am not the only one. I searched youtube, but can only find praise over this drone, nothing about this problem. That is disturbing.

 

[scro]

Bunker - Nice to hear I am not the only one. I searched youtube, but can only find praise over this drone, nothing about this problem. That is disturbing.

That's youtube and all the high profile sponsored "influencers" for you.

 

[the-bunker]

Bunker - Nice to hear I am not the only one. I searched youtube, but can only find praise over this drone, nothing about this problem. That is disturbing.

Not all pictures were bad with the first one, but quite a lot were - I had to take a reference picture of a brick wall from about 15ft to properly show how bad it was.

 

[abruzzopat]

I've only had a couple flights, but even at 12mp the pics seem sharp. This is 12mp jpg straight from the drone.

 

[SwePilot]

I've only had a couple flights, but even at 12mp the pics seem sharp. This is 12mp jpg straight from the drone.

View attachment 149899

This image is miles better than any images from my two mini 3’s.

 

[the-bunker]

This image is miles better than any images from my two mini 3’s.

Nice picture - the corners are soft, but the rest of the image is sharp. This is about as good as it gets on the Mini 3 - the Air 2S & Mavic 3 also have soft edges\corners. The last DJI drone to have sharp pictures edge to edge was the Mavic 2 Pro & the Phantom 4.

 

[Cymru]

You're never going to get sharp corners on a tiny sensor and f/1.7 glass.

 

[Jim S]

My only complaint with the camera is the slight vignetting in Raw. However considering the size of the lens its to be expected.
Overall I would say the camera is pretty amazing.
Sorry can't post any examples, I'm away from home but believe me this camera gives better quality images than the Mini 2 and my Mavic 2 Zoom.

 

[neodraig]

My only complaint with the camera is the slight vignetting in Raw. However considering the size of the lens its to be expected.
Overall I would say the camera is pretty amazing.
Sorry can't post any examples, I'm away from home but believe me this camera gives better quality images than the Mini 2 and my Mavic 2 Zoom.

For me the vignetting in the raw files is quite big.
But apparently there is a problem with the profile baked in the 12MP DNGs as the 48MP ones don't have that vignetting/darkening issue.
Hopefully it'll be fixed in the next update as this issue makes creating panoramas using the 12MP DNGs impossible as it results in bandings in the sky.

 

[JoshuaMavic]

All of the test photos I've seen here look horrible. They all look like they've had a ton of denoise added to them, creating a "painterly" effect. Really glad I'm holding out for the Mavic Pro 3S!

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Really glad I'm holding out for the Mavic Pro 3S!

Really? You feel let down or encouraged that the Mini 3 Pro with a 1/1.3 inch sensor is worse to a 4/3 inch?
The Mini 3 Pro is just fine but certainly cannot trick physics as the Mavic 3 cannot. If I compare the Mavic 3 to a proper 35 mm or even medium format it will be no real match too.

For its size it's holding a pretty neatly.
BTW, what is a Mavic Pro 3S? Do you mean the old Mavic Pro Platinum 3S? I truly doubt that the picture quality is better than the current Mini 3 Pro.

 

[JoshuaMavic]

Really? You feel let down or encouraged that the Mini 3 Pro with a 1/1.3 inch sensor is worse to a 4/3 inch?
The Mini 3 Pro is just fine but certainly cannot trick physics as the Mavic 3 cannot. If I compare the Mavic 3 to a proper 35 mm or even medium format it will be no real match too.

For its size it's holding a pretty neatly.
BTW, what is a Mavic Pro 3S? Do you mean the old Mavic Pro Platinum 3S? I truly doubt that the picture quality is better than the current Mini 3 Pro.

Oh I understand that. I was planning on getting the Mini 3 in the interim--before the Mavic 3s--but opted to keep my Mavic 2 Pro instead of selling it. The Mavic 3s is the rumored successor to the Mavic 3 that fixes the GPS connection issues, among other things. DJI Mavic 3s Rumored For A Possible Fall Release

 

[Cymru]

They're not going to release a successor to the Mavic 3 when its less than a year old and hasnt even finished development yet.

 

[JoshuaMavic]

They're not going to release a successor to the Mavic 3 when its less than a year old and hasnt even finished development yet.

Successor may not be the right word, but read the article yourself. I'm not arguing a case either way, but there are hardware issues and DJI needs to fix them. If you recall, the Mavic Pro was originally released back in October 2016, while the Pro Platinum followed a little under a year later. IF they release a "fixed" version, I wouldn't be surprised if it followed similar suite, marketing-wise, to the Pro Platinum release.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Oh I understand that. I was planning on getting the Mini 3 in the interim--before the Mavic 3s--but opted to keep my Mavic 2 Pro instead of selling it. The Mavic 3s is the rumored successor to the Mavic 3 that fixes the GPS connection issues, among other things. DJI Mavic 3s Rumored For A Possible Fall Release

Ah, I see, the rumoured one.
Got you!

As for picture quality I would have gone to the Mavic 3 too but it's simply too expensive over my M2P and then, even then, if I would be ready to spend it, the regulations are so tight for recreational flying now, that it will fall into A3 category in EASA space soon, that means 150 m from mostly everything I can reach easily.

So, while I might get the best/better quality I am nearly unable to legally fly it.
As also people get more and more paranoid, I wan't to be on the safe side at least to further enjoy my hobby.

These are my thoughts but I can understand if you don't share the same concerns, you might easily wait for the Mavic 3 fixed platinum upgrade.

 

[JoshuaMavic]

Ah, I see, the rumoured one.
Got you!

As for picture quality I would have gone to the Mavic 3 too but it's simply too expensive over my M2P and then, even then, if I would be ready to spend it, the regulations are so tight for recreational flying now, that it will fall into A3 category in EASA space soon, that means 150 m from mostly everything I can reach easily.

So, while I might get the best/better quality I am nearly unable to legally fly it.
As also people get more and more paranoid, I wan't to be on the safe side at least to further enjoy my hobby.

These are my thoughts but I can understand if you don't share the same concerns, you might easily wait for the Mavic 3 fixed platinum upgrade.

I'm still interested in getting the Mini 3 for backpacking due to it's small size, but I do still find the image quality to be a bit concerning. I'm going to dig deeper. Cheers!

 

[globetrotterdrone]

@JoshuaMavic
I am really pleased, so far the quality is at least on par with the M2P or even better with less noise in highlighted shadows etc. I do have to get acquainted with the Fly app, it's a bit inconvenient for exposure settings etc. compared from my old SC, but here's a section sample of my recent flight abroad (and edits of course I always apply to all my RAW):



Reduced from 358 MP (full panorama).

1:1 from other projection:


Besides technical capabilities, light, composition and framing are key, be it on ground or airborne.

 

[TNichols]

Yeah I ended up getting the Lightroom trial and was able to open up and edit the DNG files, looks pretty decent.

I have to say I was kind of an idiot and not understanding things correcttly, the picture quality is not MINDBLOWING but it's good enough for what it is, a tiny sub 250 drone

I shoot raw files all the time on my Nikon D750 and have no problem editing those images in my ACDSEE software. However, the DJI dng files look awful. I have downloaded a free dng viewer but the images is no better. I hate how software companies are all going to the yearly subscription and Adobe pricing is absolutely ridiculous for the novice hobbiest. There has got to be a way to view/edit these dng files without paying Adobe prices.

 

[Dale D]

I shoot raw files all the time on my Nikon D750 and have no problem editing those images in my ACDSEE software. However, the DJI dng files look awful. I have downloaded a free dng viewer but the images is no better. I hate how software companies are all going to the yearly subscription and Adobe pricing is absolutely ridiculous for the novice hobbiest. There has got to be a way to view/edit these dng files without paying Adobe prices.

Adobe has a free RAW converter.Version 14.3.0 Also try Irfanview for PC. I use the AdobeCamera RAW (ACR) that comes with Photoshop and Lightroom.