Disappointed with Mavic 3 Classic image quality

[Filmarik]

Got to be honest, if I were turning over between £2 and £4 grand for a flying camera.... I'd expect Quality Control to go the full nine yards to ensure the imaging device lived up to the Hasselblad marque on the front of it BEFORE it left the factory. If the lens cover had 'VIVITAR' printed on it: I might expect dodgy optics.

DJI acquired Hasselblad and by the look of it with that comes their right to use its name on their drone cameras. The details of the deal are obviously not in a public domain but as far as it was disclosed, Hasselblad is only behind the color science of this DJI camera. Hasselblad does not do optics and their cameras always used Zeiss lenses made in Germany.
This little drone is remarkable in many ways but to expect IQ on a par with any genuine Hasselblad camera with a Zeiss lens, which itself costs and weights as much if not more than this entire drone, is unreasonable and quite frankly foolish.

 

[Felix le Chat]

DJI acquired Hasselblad and by the look of it with that comes their right to use its name on their drone cameras. The details of the deal are obviously not in a public domain but as far as it was disclosed, Hasselblad is only behind the color science of this DJI camera. Hasselblad does not do optics and their cameras always used Zeiss lenses made in Germany.
This little drone is remarkable in many ways but to expect IQ on a par with any genuine Hasselblad camera with a Zeiss lens, which itself costs and weights as much if not more than this entire drone, is unreasonable and quite frankly foolish.

Frank Wang could have the name Hasselblad printed on crisp packets if he wanted to, I am not naive enough to expect Hasselblad quality in a DJI drone, but the point is that if you sell a product to brand-buyers, you are selling the name first and foremost, not the quality.
Anyone who knows a thing about cameras knows that the 'H' name is iconic and up until 2018: synonymous with top level imaging devices. But using it to sell drones with variable quality cameras smacks of misrepresentation.

 

[Filmarik]

Frank Wang could have the name Hasselblad printed on crisp packets if he wanted to, I am not naive enough to expect Hasselblad quality in a DJI drone, but the point is that if you sell a product to brand-buyers, you are selling the name first and foremost, not the quality.
Anyone who knows a thing about cameras knows that the 'H' name is iconic and up until 2018: synonymous with top level imaging devices. But using it to sell drones with variable quality cameras smacks of misrepresentation.

That is the unfortunate consequence of being in financial trouble. They obviously badly needed cash injection/investment which came with conditions. Sad reality of takeover which is what effectively happened to the iconic "H" in 2017 when DJI became their majority shareholder.
H is no more what it used to be. I still have the C503 with 3 lenses in my closet as a sentimental reminder of the by gone years. It proudly wears the batch of the iconic brand and it is stil a marvel.

 

[Felix le Chat]

That is the unfortunate consequence of being in financial trouble. They obviously badly needed cash injection/investment which came with conditions. Sad reality of takeover which is what effectively happened to the iconic "H" in 2017 when DJI became their majority shareholder.
H is no more what it used to be. I still have the C503 with 3 lenses in my closet as a sentimental reminder of the gone by years. It proudly wears the batch of the iconic brand and it is stil a marvel.

I don't doubt it for a moment, I'm the same with my Sigma Sd1 Merrill (the one with the gen #1foveon X3 sensor). Terrible for the fast stuff, but point it at a landscape and you know what comes off the card is going to blow your eyeballs out.

 

[chong67]

Hello. I look at your DNG and one of the photo so far. I took this screenshot. I have sharpen the photo. Look at the pattern of bricks, from the edge all the way inwards. I see uniform sharpness and looks alright to me. I have look at the corners and outer edges & I do not see any blur. Any particular area you want to me to see?

 

[adeon]

Hello. I look at your DNG and one of the photo so far. I took this screenshot. I have sharpen the photo. Look at the pattern of bricks, from the edge all the way inwards. I see uniform sharpness and looks alright to me. I have look at the corners and outer edges & I do not see any blur. Any particular area you want to me to see?

As I have noted in the original post, it was the right side of the image that had sharpness issues.

 

[adeon]

Just to say how my story finished: I contacted DJI support via chat. They were quite friendly. After a series of standard procedures (firmware upgrades, test photos) they confirmed the issue and agreed to replace the drone. I got totally new copy.
The new copy is better. I can still spot a little bit more blurry area in the 1/3 of the frame, but it's at a level which I can accept. I decided to stay with it seeing the warnings in this forum about the randomness of the quality. The image degradation in the corners is similar.

But in general I need to say that overall I'm disappointed with the image quality from this drone. Large 4/3 sensor, 20mpix, Hasselblad camera and what not - I expected much more from equipment manufactured in 2023/2024. Some of my photos made 10 years ago with a compact camera have better quality than this.

 

[Filmarik]

Just to say how my story finished: I contacted DJI support via chat. They were quite friendly. After a series or standard procedures (firmware upgrades, test photos) they confirmed the issue and agreed to replace the drone. I got totally new copy.
The new copy is better. I can still spot a little bit more blurry area in the 1/3 of the frame, but it's at an level which I can accept. I decided to stay with it seeing the warnings in this forum about the randomness of the quality. The image degradation in the corners is similar.

But in general I need to say that overall I'm disappointed with the image quality from this drone. Large 4/3 sensor, 20mpix, Hasselblad camera and what not - I expected much more from equipment manufactured in 2023/2024. Some of my photos made 10 years ago with a compact camera have better quality than this.

I have become a big fan of DxO PureRaw plug in for LR. It has transformed my DNG files from barely acceptable to very usable. Download a free trial version of this software, put your DNG files through it, apply some sharpening in LR and you might change your mind about the IQ this Hassy camera is capable of producing..
Disclaimer: I have no association with DxO whatsoever, just a happy user.

 

[BobbyLashley]

Just to say how my story finished: I contacted DJI support via chat. They were quite friendly. After a series of standard procedures (firmware upgrades, test photos) they confirmed the issue and agreed to replace the drone. I got totally new copy.
The new copy is better. I can still spot a little bit more blurry area in the 1/3 of the frame, but it's at a level which I can accept. I decided to stay with it seeing the warnings in this forum about the randomness of the quality. The image degradation in the corners is similar.

But in general I need to say that overall I'm disappointed with the image quality from this drone. Large 4/3 sensor, 20mpix, Hasselblad camera and what not - I expected much more from equipment manufactured in 2023/2024. Some of my photos made 10 years ago with a compact camera have better quality than this.

I tested mine today for sharpness and it looks like I have a good copy? If you're using f2.8, you're going to get some softness in the corners. It's completely normal.

 

[Filmarik]

I tested mine today for sharpness and it looks like I have a good copy? If you're using f2.8, you're going to get some softness in the corners. It's completely normal.

View attachment 176721

This looks fine to me.

 

[BobbyLashley]

This looks fine to me.

Thanks. Im very relieved that I was fortunate to get a good copy the first go. I wasn't wanting to make multiple trips back to the store exchange it for another. It's a major pain and time consuming.

 

[TestPilot]

Just to bump this thread, I've been considering buying a Mavic 3 Classic to upgrade from my old Mavic, but I have been pixel peeping many Mavic "3" series and cannot say I am impressed with the image quality.

You know what stands out (more) to me? The Mavic 2 Pro. There are only very few RAW images left on the internet, but those I saw were better than its successor (at least a bit more consistent). How come?

All the Mavic 3 series, be it the Classic, or Pro or some other 3rd series suffer from blurry zones within the frame. And the only sharp area is the center.

If you guys don't believe me, download the RAW samples from DP Review who has done reviews on these Mavic "3" series, and play with the files in your preferred image software.

I'm noticing a lot of blurry zones in Mavic 3, basically over much of the photo. This is making me hesitant to buy one, even though it is supposed to be "better" than the Mavic 2. I see the same issue in Mavic 3 Pro samples. Colors and dynamic range are improved, but sharpness is decreased....very inconsistent.

I don't think this kind of quality is acceptable for the price point of the Mavic 3 series. I understand these are not "real" cameras with a more consistent sharpness throughout the frame, but if the sharpness is just going to be limited to the small center of the frame for 20 mp photos, why are they pricing things so expensively? Looks like drone photography technology still has a long ways to go....

 

[Filmarik]

Just to bump this thread, I've been considering buying a Mavic 3 Classic to upgrade from my old Mavic, but I have been pixel peeping many Mavic "3" series and cannot say I am impressed with the image quality.

You know what stands out to me? The Mavic 2 Pro.

All the Mavic 3 series, be it the Classic, or Pro or some other 3rd series suffer from blurry zones within the frame. And the only sharp area is the center.

If you guys don't believe me, download the RAW samples from DP Review who has done reviews on these Mavic "3" series, and play with the files in your preferred image software.

I'm noticing a lot of blurry zones in Mavic 3, basically over much of the photo. This is making me hesitant to buy one, even though it is supposed to be "better" than the Mavic 2. I see the same issue in Mavic 3 Pro samples.

I don't think this kind of quality is acceptable for the price point of the Mavic 3 series.

You are 100% correct about the DPR samples. I have first hand experience with blurry zones in Mavic 3 images. In fact I returned 4 Mavic 3 (not Classic) units before finding one which was reasonably decent and had acceptable IQ, to my standards anyway. I have always believed that the lens is simply too small for M43 size sensor. But despite of that there are decent Mavic 3 out there. For a descerning pixel peeper it might be long and hard road finding a good unit. Contrary to a popular believe that bad units are rare I would dare to argue that complete opposite is true. The M3P I have now is not without IQ issues but when stopping down to f5 or f5.6 the photos are uniformly sharp across the frame and only the absolute corners suffer from a bit of softness. Off course the DNG files require careful processing and decent amount of sharpening to get the best outcome but I am convinced that the photos this drone can produce can be pretty decent even when pixel peeping at 100% magnification. I also use DxO PureRaw as my default starting point software then I run them through Lr and finish them in Ps.
I agree with you that buing M3 can be a bit of a gamble. Is it worth persevering until finding a decent one? Only you can decide.

 

[TestPilot]

You are 100% correct about the DPR samples. I have first hand experience with blurry zones in Mavic 3 images. In fact I returned 4 Mavic 3 unit before finding one which was reasonably decent and acceptable to my standards. I have always believed that the lens is simply too small for M43 size sensor. But despite of that there are decent Mavic 3 out there. For a descerning pixel peeper it might be long and rocky road finding a good unit. Contrary to popular believe which claims that bad units are rare I would dare to claim a complete opposite. The M3P I have now is not without issues but when stopping down to f5 or f5.6 the photos are uniformly sharp across the frame and only the absolute corners suffer from a bit of softness. Off course the DNG files require careful processing and decent amount of sharpening to get the best outcome but I am convinced that the photos this drone can produce ate pretty decent even when pixel peeping at 100% magnification. I also use DxO PureRaw as my default starting point then I run them tjrough Lr and finish in Ps.
I agree with you that finding a good unit can be a bit of a gamble. Is it worth pursuing? A resounding yes from me.

Well, in most countries, DJI stocks are limited, and thus the buyers need to pre-order them and don't have the luxury of returning them whenever they find a bad unit. Unlike the USA market which I assume would be DJI's main focus. Where I live, I don't have that luxury

We buyers assume that due to its price tag, DJI would have better Quality Control over its drone output. But instead of getting better, seems to me they are getting worse?!?

I have also looked at the Air 2 series and Air 3 series, and can't say I'm impressed. The Air 3S does take sharp 12 mp photos like the Mavic and Mini 3Pro, but the 50 mp camera is just a washout still.

 

[Filmarik]

Well, in most countries, DJI stocks are limited, and thus the buyers need to pre-order them and don't have the luxury of returning them whenever they find a bad unit. Unlike the USA market which I assume would be DJI's main focus. Where I live, I don't have that luxury

We buyers assume that due to its price tag, DJI would have better Quality Control over its drone output. But instead of getting better, seems to me they are getting worse?!?

I have also looked at the Air 2 series and Air 3 series, and can't say I'm impressed. The Air 3S does take sharp 12 mp photos like the Mavic and Mini 3Pro, but the 50 mp camera is just a washout still.

Well, in most countries, DJI stocks are limited, and thus the buyers need to pre-order them and don't have the luxury of returning them whenever they find a bad unit. Unlike the USA market which I assume would be DJI's main focus. Where I live, I don't have that luxury

We buyers assume that due to its price tag, DJI would have better Quality Control over its drone output. But instead of getting better, seems to me they are getting worse?!?

I have also looked at the Air 2 series and Air 3 series, and can't say I'm impressed. The Air 3S does take sharp 12 mp photos like the Mavic and Mini 3Pro, but the 50 mp camera is just a washout still.

In most countries is possible to return the drone if you are not satisfied with the IQ and either ask for full refund or a replacement unit. Is it worth the hassle? Only you can decide.

 

[Filmarik]

I agree that the 50mp mode on Air3S is pretty bad with lots of artifacts and detail smearing.

 

[TestPilot]

If you check this link, there are some Mavic 3 RAW files to download.

Download DJI Mavic 3 Sample Photos And Video Footage Here – DroneXL

Curious to see and download DJI Mavic 3 sample photos and video footage? Well, we have made available a number of photos (JPG and DNG) and...

dronexl.co

Even here you can see my point. The shots are only sharp in the small central zone, and the rest of the photos are out of focus/blurry. They apply to all the Mavic 3s, no matter what variant.

It's not just DP Review samples....

Ughh....

 

[Meta4]

If you check this link, there are some Mavic 3 RAW files to download.
Even here you can see my point. The shots are only sharp in the small central zone, and the rest of the photos are out of focus/blurry.

I get the impression that you'd never be happy with any drone.
Maybe you need to stay on the ground with the kind of camera that satisfies you.

They apply to all the Mavic 3s, no matter what variant.

And you've checked all Mavic 3s to know this ??

 

[Filmarik]

If you check this link, there are some Mavic 3 RAW files to download.

Download DJI Mavic 3 Sample Photos And Video Footage Here – DroneXL

Curious to see and download DJI Mavic 3 sample photos and video footage? Well, we have made available a number of photos (JPG and DNG) and...

dronexl.co

Even here you can see my point. The shots are only sharp in the small central zone, and the rest of the photos are out of focus/blurry. They apply to all the Mavic 3s, no matter what variant.

It's not just DP Review samples....

Ughh....

If you are looking for imperfections and flaws you'll find them in most camera lenses, some costing as much or even more than this entire drone. Not sure what you plan to use the photos for or who your clients are but let me tell you that my clients are very picky and I spend considerable amount of time meticulously processing DNG files from my M3P to achieve results I am comfortable to present to my clients. These results while not 100% perfect (nothing really is) are perfectly fine even for the very discerning eyes of my clients. These photos get sometimes enlarged to poster size prints and embelish walls of my clients offices next to other photos taken with my Canon 5D4 and excellent and very sharp TS-E lenses. You would be hard pressed to tell the difference.
It is of course up to you what you decide to do but if you need or want a drone, the Mavic 3 serie drones with their M43 sensor cameras are the best camera drones you can buy right now in this price range, despite their flaws and imperfections.

 

[rexster1505]

Definitely should have been f5.6 or f8