Can YOU tell which DJI drone this is?

[Cliff_622]

OK folks...I'm doing an image quality deep dive lab test between the;

Mavic-II Zoom
Mavic-II Pro FOV mode
Mavic-II Pro HQ mode
Phantom 4 Pro V2.0

Look closely at the test circles. Which camera resolves deeper into the smallest circles?

Of these 4 images, can you guys guess which is which? Answer is coming in a full video this week!

All camera were set at +1 sharpening to help reduce noise reduction problems (artifacts).

 

[microlinux]

Now here's an interesting game.

A layman's guess . . .

1. P4P
2. Mavic 2 Pro FOV
3. Mavic 2 Zoom
4. Mavic 2 Pro HQ

 

[ErikSwan]

What was the zoom at on the Mavic 2 Zoom?

 

[Macabre]

If you're doing image quality why not just tell us instead of letting people guess?

 

[Kilrah]

Because clickbait.

 

[Gaz Mc]

Because clickbait.

yup sure is,,,but i wont be watching his video

 

[gnirtS]

Yeah clickbait so not bothering.

Also an extremely poorly thought out test. Its done at very close range where most of the cameras optics and lenses are optimised for much further distances.
Its also in horrible lighting conditions where noise is going to have an effect. And JPG which decreases details.

 

[Cliff_622]

All the shots are the exact same same scene that I setup and lit. (The playing cards on very top right/left are markers so that each camera's distance would be adjusted to the same matching field of view.) These results are all cropped in by the exact same factor which is about 400%. (roughly) All shots used 100 ISO, so the noise you see is baseline sensor output for each.

I found that the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 and the Mavic Pro-II use VERY different sensor readout techniques. One definitely uses a line skipping technique and heavily pixel bins, the other does not.

Although they both use a 1inch-type sensor, they both get very different resolution results and I thought the results were pretty shocking.

More to come.

 

[gnirtS]

They're also both in a low light, artificial environment which is not what the lenses and processors are optimised for and various other things.

 

[Cliff_622]

What was the zoom at on the Mavic 2 Zoom?

28mm to match the Mavic Pro.

CT

 

[Cliff_622]

They're also both in a low light, artificial environment which is not what the lenses and processors are optimised for and various other things.

They are not in low light. The scene was very brightly lit and all cameras are at 100 ISO, their baseline sensor output. The noise that you see is is baseline 0db for each camera.

CT

 

[Cliff_622]

Photography is going to be excellent on the Mavic-II Pro. It will match the Phantom 4 Pro, no doubt. These will be full column readouts like normal.

It's "video" that's the big difference. The Mavic-II Pro is using a crude line skipping/pixel binning read-out. I don't exactly know why. It's either done this way to keep the sensor cool and not overheat or it's done to protect the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 sales.

OK,.....I will give the answer on one of them:

The worst resolution of the four.....was the Mavic-II Pro in FOV mode!!! Even the Mavic-II Zoom EASILY beat it. I was so shocked, I had to retest it all over again. That full width FOV mode is a REALLY crude sensor scan. That's why DJI calls one mode "HQ" (high quality) and the other "FOV"...lol

Again,...this is ONLY for video. Photo's will be 100% fine.

CT

 

[mau5_h3ad]

Im sure his is the case with drone lenses aswell, but in the photography world each lens has a "sweet spot" that usually falls between f5.6 and f8. This is where you should see optimal performance in the center as well as corners. A better test for this would be to bring your test sheet to where it fills up the whole frame that way you can test corner and center sharpness. Jussayn. Id be curious to see those results. Cropping into an image at 400% doesnt really tell you much.

 

[WilliamG]

First image is definitely the P4Pro. It's so easily recognizable since it over sharpens everything - looks awful. The amount of edge enhancement is crazy. Look at the black edge-enhancement horizontal line below the King of Hearts. Dead giveaway, as well as in numerous other places.

 

[Cliff_622]

One thing about noise reduction and detail - Ambarella noise reduction is not our friend. It's usually poor quality and ALL noise reduction destroys detail at certain levels. It's just a side affect that we need to live with. Noise reduction is also a DESTRUCTIVE process. Once you apply high amounts of noise reduction, it cannot be recovered or removed in post. Once noise reduction destroys detail, there is no plugin on planet Earth that can undue it when you get home. Therefore it's better to limit the amount of noise reduction in camera and capture more detail and noise in your file and then soften and apply noise reduction in post editing. Softening and image is the easiest thing to do in a video editor. Plus, you can surgically clean noise FAR more efficiently when editing than any camera can do live on the fly.

Applying +1 sharpening tells Ambarella's processor to ease up on this crappy noise reduction allowing more detail to come through. This gives you WAY more accurate options to soften and clean an that image in your editor.

 

[ErikSwan]

Cliff,

Do you have an original Mavic Pro to do this same test with? I would like to know how it compares to the Mavic 1 Pro.

The only complaint I agree with about this test is the focusing distance. The specs state the minimum focusing distance on the M2P is 1m, so it seems possible you could have been running up against that with this test and we could be seeing some focusing softness that you wouldn't see in a real life scenario.

But if the results are valid, I am not terribly surprised by the readout and image processing differences. The P4P has a larger battery, larger body to sink heat to, and probably more bandwidth in the overall imaging pipeline seeing as it can record in full DCI 4K and 4k60p where the M2P cannot. So I am not surprised that it would be reading out more pixels and using a higher quality downsampling algorithm, since it has a bigger power and thermal budget. Although it is a little unfortunate for those of us expecting/hoping for P4P quality.

Anyways, it's pretty obvious that the P4P is the best out of all the images. Here's my take on it:

Image 1 - Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 - resolves up to circle 20
Image 2 - Mavic 2 Pro "HQ mode" - resolves up to circle 16
Image 3 - Mavic 2 Pro "Full FOV mode" - resolves up to circle 13
Image 4 - Mavic 2 Zoom - resolves up to circle 16-17

 

[justin1230]

One thing about noise reduction and detail - Ambarella noise reduction is not our friend. It's usually poor quality and ALL noise reduction destroys detail at certain levels. It's just a side affect that we need to live with. Noise reduction is also a DESTRUCTIVE process. Once you apply high amounts of noise reduction, it cannot be recovered or removed in post. Once noise reduction destroys detail, there is no plugin on planet Earth that can undue it when you get home. Therefore it's better to limit the amount of noise reduction in camera and capture more detail and noise in your file and then soften and apply noise reduction in post editing. Softening and image is the easiest thing to do in a video editor. Plus, you can surgically clean noise FAR more efficiently when editing than any camera can do live on the fly.

Applying +1 sharpening tells Ambarella's processor to ease up on this crappy noise reduction allowing more detail to come through. This gives you WAY more accurate options to soften and clean an that image in your editor.

Hi, I would like to know do we need to still turn sharpness +1 to disable the NR in Mavic 2 Pro?

 

[0Kajuna0]

One thing about noise reduction and detail - Ambarella noise reduction is not our friend. It's usually poor quality and ALL noise reduction destroys detail at certain levels. It's just a side affect that we need to live with. Noise reduction is also a DESTRUCTIVE process. Once you apply high amounts of noise reduction, it cannot be recovered or removed in post. Once noise reduction destroys detail, there is no plugin on planet Earth that can undue it when you get home. Therefore it's better to limit the amount of noise reduction in camera and capture more detail and noise in your file and then soften and apply noise reduction in post editing. Softening and image is the easiest thing to do in a video editor. Plus, you can surgically clean noise FAR more efficiently when editing than any camera can do live on the fly.

Applying +1 sharpening tells Ambarella's processor to ease up on this crappy noise reduction allowing more detail to come through. This gives you WAY more accurate options to soften and clean an that image in your editor.

Is that still an issue on the Pro 2? I thought noise reduction had been fixed on the Air

 

[pilux314]

Hi ,
I am very curious to see the results of your test! When will you video be published ?

 

[Cliff_622]

Hi ,
I am very curious to see the results of your test! When will you video be published ?

All of the lab work and testing was finished this weekend. It's sort of a "bombshell" video results for some people. The Mavic-2 Pro line skipps it's @*** off!

CT