I tried all sorts of different setting and got the same result, for me I think it was a case bad luck (dud drone). If all Mavic's had the same image quality as mine then I think people would be returning their drones on mass. The picture quality was pretty good in perfect light but still had the watercolour effect but not so pronounced on a dull day the quality was really bad, regardless. The sensor is just too small to cope with low level light in my opinion but you can't have everything, I just wish it had been better for me. The aliasing was pretty bad too.
Does Mavic Shoot Video or Watercolor Paintings? Don’t settle. Get Involved!
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As someone that owns both, I can tell you that if you're an active person, you're going to regret that. Literally 80% of the shooting I do is with the Mavic because it's more portable, quieter, and flies better. Unless you're doing paid, professional work, the pictures and videos end up looking exactly the same on social media, Youtube, etc.
One other thing I can't wrap my mind around is people shooting at -1 and -2 sharpness and then complaining about smudgy video. I've been shooting at 0,0,0, or 1,0,0 since I got the thing. I
This was one of my issues and I think in your case but I could be wrong, is that you are trying to get more out of the Mavic than is in there. The problem is the amount of information the Mavic is trying to record at 60 Mbps. This is especially noticeable when you have fine branches and leaves. I've come across a few video's on the net suggesting sharpening at -1 any more and the image is mushy. It makes sense to me that -2 sharpening get rid of moire but also detail.
I hear ya but I need pro quality as i do get paid, the quality isn't good enough for me from what I've seen. Believe me it was a disappointing decision to have to come to, this was meant to be THE drone.
Smudgy video isn't my issue. Yes at -2 sharpening I can notice it getting blurry but the higher the sharpening the more of that "shimmer" effect I get and that is the problem I've been dealing with since day 1.
I am really looking forward to seeing your videos and doing some comparisons when you get a chance to upload them.
I prefer to sharpen in post, a flat unsharpened profile is always best colour grading.
I have been having image & video quality with mine as well. I have been biting my tongue though because I don't know how much is me vs the mavic.
One thing I have learned, as a few others here have stated, is that for stills, shooting in RAW is a must... otherwise, it is just complete crap. Even in RAW, I can't say that I'm impressed with the quality... but at least it is now tolerable for the most part.
Video for me has been really hit & miss. I often see strange artifacts and the watercolor effect too. It seems like some things that factor into this have been...
- Moving too fast while flying too close to the ground. It seems like the mavic (or maybe my settings) simply can't keep up with faster motion.
- As others have said, it seems like it doesn't do well in low light.
- I still struggle with the **** focusing. Yes, tap to focus... it's hard to explain... but it is really hit & miss for me.
All-in-all, I sometimes have beautiful video and sometimes it's *horrible* and I'm not always able to figure out why such a large quality gap. As for some of the artifacts and jerkiness I have witnessed, I'm hoping that ND filter will be the solution. I have those on order from DJI.... but it looks like they're not going to ship for a while.
One thing I have learned, as a few others here have stated, is that for stills, shooting in RAW is a must... otherwise, it is just complete crap. Even in RAW, I can't say that I'm impressed with the quality... but at least it is now tolerable for the most part.
Video for me has been really hit & miss. I often see strange artifacts and the watercolor effect too. It seems like some things that factor into this have been...
- Moving too fast while flying too close to the ground. It seems like the mavic (or maybe my settings) simply can't keep up with faster motion.
- As others have said, it seems like it doesn't do well in low light.
- I still struggle with the **** focusing. Yes, tap to focus... it's hard to explain... but it is really hit & miss for me.
All-in-all, I sometimes have beautiful video and sometimes it's *horrible* and I'm not always able to figure out why such a large quality gap. As for some of the artifacts and jerkiness I have witnessed, I'm hoping that ND filter will be the solution. I have those on order from DJI.... but it looks like they're not going to ship for a while.
Wh should an ND filter help to get better image? I get the idea and use nd filters too, but how can it help the oil painting effect?
I don't know about the painting effect. I specifically said I hope the filter helps with some of the jerkiness and strange artifacts I have seen in bright light.
I've got a full set of polar pro ND filters up for grabs if your interested - the really good ones that don't fowl the gimbal start-up dance. Plus a car charger - I'm in Canada but can ship anywhere.
In my case, it seems like the watercolor effects were caused by lack of focus. That's my impression anyway. But, it doesn't really resolve the issue for me because in most cases I *did* focus. But who knows, maybe I didn't do it in the spot that the Mavic preferred. I don't know. All I can say is that 50% of the time, I'm having a hell of a time with the focus. It's a major pain point for me.
(in other words, I wasn't relating ND filters to the watercolor effect)
Roamer105
Well-Known Member
I am sure that with the Mavic it is not all that different from the P4 or P3P. I found that reducing sharpness to less than -1 turns the details into water colored muddy garbage. There is no way to recover this during post production since the detail info never gets encoded. I found it is better to stay at 0 or no less than -1. Then potentially soften the footage in post production which will nicely get rid of many of the mpeg artifacts.
Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots
Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots
I'd agree with you judging by a lot of the footage I have so far, there are a lot of leafless trees and other details for the Mavic to record, however, the few videos I posted closer to the ground seem like they would be easier on the drone and I am still noticing issues. For now I don't have the option of filming in like a wide open field or over the ocean so this is what I'm stuck with. I'd be very curious to see my results when I get a chance to, though. I'm just hoping that when I am able to film some beautiful places overseas in less than a month I don't find out I never solved the problem and end up with a ton of crappy footage.
Just to be clear, those of you with terribly "watercolor-esque" video, you are not recording with a higher frame rate than 30fps are you? I tested 1080p and 720p with fps over 30, and they are definitely garbage. My 2.7k and 4k video looks pretty good though.
Mind sharing some footage with us? And I believe most of us, at least me are recording in either 2.7k or 4k @30.
Agreed, can all the people who are saying they are getting good quality stills and video please actually post some download links to the unedited footage and unedited raw files so that those of us with issues (or at least think we have issues) can actually compare against those that think their Mavics are producing good quality output.
And also post your capture settings.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I can post a short vid. I hope I am uploading this correctly.
Settings are: UHD, 30fps, Cloudy, Cinelike, -1,-1,-1.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/85571036/vids/Unedited.mov
Sorry for the clip selection. Initial movement is radical but only my fourth or fifth flight with the Mavic. Horizon correction made since.
Settings are: UHD, 30fps, Cloudy, Cinelike, -1,-1,-1.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/85571036/vids/Unedited.mov
Sorry for the clip selection. Initial movement is radical but only my fourth or fifth flight with the Mavic. Horizon correction made since.
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