Anyone have experience with the DJI Mavic 3 Pro Wide-Angle Lens accessory?

[Ed Hurst]

Hey there,

As a new drone pilot, this is my first post here - am delighted to be entering this new realm of photography.

I have seen the "DJI Mavic 3 Pro Wide-Angle Lens" accessory and am curious about it. I have tended to avoid such things with my terrestrial cameras, as they always reduce optical quality somewhat - but of course, options to buy wider lenses are limited for drones. So I'd love to know:
- What's the optical quality like? (ideally using full resolution RAW files for comparison, with and without the accessory mounted)
- Does this change the effective aperture of the lens? Not sure whether this changes things at all.
- Any other tip or experiences using it.

Many thanks in advance,
Ed

 

[Starz]

I don’t have the pro model, just the M3. The DJI wide lens for that version works well for me but, I’m not a pixel peeper enough to verify your technical questions.
There was a discussion some time ago regarding the quality of the DJI lens versus an aftermarket lens which in my eyes was very evident that the DJI lens was far better.

 

[Dave Maine]

The standard wide angle lens is pretty good. All I have ever needed was an optical telephoto.

 

[brett8883]

Hey there,

As a new drone pilot, this is my first post here - am delighted to be entering this new realm of photography.

I have seen the "DJI Mavic 3 Pro Wide-Angle Lens" accessory and am curious about it. I have tended to avoid such things with my terrestrial cameras, as they always reduce optical quality somewhat - but of course, options to buy wider lenses are limited for drones. So I'd love to know:
- What's the optical quality like? (ideally using full resolution RAW files for comparison, with and without the accessory mounted)
- Does this change the effective aperture of the lens? Not sure whether this changes things at all.
- Any other tip or experiences using it.

Many thanks in advance,
Ed

The wide angle lens is one of the best accessories DJI has come out with in my opinion. It’s not a free lunch though.

As far as optical performance it creates massive distortion under the right conditions. To correct requires full slider of Lightroom Classic manual distortion correction which crops the image down to about 12MP or ~4000x3000. So in that way it degrades the image due to lowering resolution. It also makes the corners a bit softer. It’s a tool that you would use in certain situations that otherwise wouldn’t be able to get the shot.

As far as effective aperture, that’s a good question. I would think it does since more light gets through but at the same time I haven’t heard of a wide angle adapter doing that in the same way a focal reducer would.

 

[Ed Hurst]

Thanks everyone - appreciate the input. Since results have to be degraded to some degree, I'd only ever use it if I couldn't see a way of avoiding it; i.e. a tight position in which a pano isn't an option because of a moving subject. So it would only be in an emergency sort of situation.

I'll report back if I get this accessory!

 

[akdrone]

while it's something I rarely use when you have something that really -needs- it, it's great to have. I'm waiting for the Mini 4 Pro wide angle to become available so I can see how horrible the flare can become...

 

[lkunl]

- What's the optical quality like?
You will loose little bit of sharpness when using wide adapter but it still good. It will have similar of fish eye distortion effect.

- Does this change the effective aperture of the lens? Not sure whether this changes things at all.
No chage.

- Any other tip or experiences using it.
You can use osmo action or other fish eye lens profile to correct wide adapter distortion in Lightroom.

 

[Douglas Peebles]

Works well but a lot of distortion. Lightroom distortion control will fix that. It makes it about a 20 to 21mm lens, a bit soft in the corners but overall good. I have used it on a couple jobs.

 

[Ed Hurst]

Really appreciate the experiences and info. everyone - thanks

 

[Sharpshooter]

I don’t have the pro model, just the M3. The DJI wide lens for that version works well for me but, I’m not a pixel peeper enough to verify your technical questions.
There was a discussion some time ago regarding the quality of the DJI lens versus an aftermarket lens which in my eyes was very evident that the DJI lens was far better.

I have found the wide angle lens for my Mavic 3 indispensable. There is some sacrifice in sharpness, but not a deal breaker for most applications. The lens I use is DJI's product.