Does Mavic Shoot Video or Watercolor Paintings? Don’t settle. Get Involved!

[AyeYo]

Do you have some comparison so we know for sure what is the "right sharpness"?
Also you have no more water paint at all? Clearly some example would be much appreciated!

I sent back my unit minutes ago.

Personally I'm like you. I prefer some wait and get the best version of the Mavic V1 as I plan to use it for many videos. Also, I see already people in the future whining, trying hard to sell their faulty units when they want to get the Mavic 2... Many people will take that into account for a second hand purchase.

Will we ever know your camera settings or get to see an uncropped shot?

 

[WheelzWorld]

Will we ever know your camera settings or get to see an uncropped shot?

Sorry the pictures I took had quite a few houses in bigger scale and I don't really feel comfortable sharing on forums... Anyway a crop is the same... (not re-scaled)

I first started like everybody advised, Lower ISO possible etc. but then DJI asked me to share pictures with reset camera settings. It basically put it in AUTO. I cannot check anymore as I've sent the unit back but it is the same on your mavic.

I'll test the new unit in comparison with same conditions and report back

 

[AyeYo]

Then you were likely shooting in jpeg and that's the source of the watercolor. jpeg is worthless on the Mavic.

Cropped vs uncropped matters because then we can better tell whether the trees are 20ft away (in which case they should look better) or 1000ft away (in which case they look pretty **** good).

 

[JPMavic]

I have tests of same subject for my previous and current mavic in post#683 and #421 and #742
I'm an engineer by schooling, but am pragmatic in my approach here.
I'm not trying to re-engineer DJI's drones (which or top of the line), or bankrupt DJI with a suit. Been flying DJI drones since the P1, so I know what to expect from them. Just want to enjoy flying, taking pictures, and doing this with ease. Frankly, I'm just glad technology in this area has taken off!
As such, I've come up with a pretty good approach to avoid watercolor. I can produce it if I want, but could also do this on the P3P (though much harder).
I've been using the following with no issues with watercolor and adequate motion blur.
* Color = Art, D-Cinelike (for ease of shot matching and grading only)
* Contrast = 0 (You won't get more DR on this drone. in fact, lower contrast only exaserbates potential for watercolor due to codec)
* Saturation = 0 (color profiles are suitable for me to grade)
* Shutter between 120-240
* EV 0 to +2 stops (higher if less light or difficult to get 120 shutter)
* ND8 filter during mid day sunny flights
* sharpness 0 (mainly), but occasionally -1 or +1. Depends on lighting and closeness to subject. If low light, use 0 or +1. If high altitude and far from subjects, use -1/0 (depending on lighting). If close to subjects use +1/0 (depending on lighting).
* I don't shoot at night, so no perspective on settings for that use case

Thanks for posting .. that's good stuff. I agree with the higher shutter speed. I'm not into motion blur as I'm surveying buildings so let mine rise up to 1k. I don't have any issues with sharpness at -1 close up but that's possibly as I'm shooting man made structures rather than foliage. I'll try your O/+1 sharpness for low light. See what results I get.

 

[WheelzWorld]

Both pics from Mavic and Honor 8 were shot from pretty much same distance.
They are both in JPG

I don't recall reading here that watercolor is normal on jpg... Anyway if DJI told me I can send the unit back, it means they agree there is a problem no...?

If the jpg compression gives bad image and it can be fixed, i'll take it.

In fact I'll take anything that can be solved to enhance results & that starts with the unit itself.

 

[JPMavic]

Both pics from Mavic and Honor 8 were shot from pretty much same distance.
They are both in JPG

I don't recall reading here that watercolor is normal on jpg... Anyway if DJI told me I can send the unit back, it means they agree there is a problem no...?

If the jpg compression gives bad image and it can be fixed, i'll take it.

In fact I'll take anything that can be solved to enhance results & that starts with the unit itself.

It's really interesting that DJI are replacing Mavics so often. It's almost a product recall on request.

 

[AyeYo]

Both pics from Mavic and Honor 8 were shot from pretty much same distance.
They are both in JPG

I don't recall reading here that watercolor is normal on jpg... Anyway if DJI told me I can send the unit back, it means they agree there is a problem no...?

If the jpg compression gives bad image and it can be fixed, i'll take it.

In fact I'll take anything that can be solved to enhance results & that starts with the unit itself.

The watercolor issue this thread is about is referring to video only. The jpeg watercolor issue is well known, which is why almost everyone shoots stills in RAW. DJI is well aware that the Mavic is loaded with issues and is taking them back to appease people and avoid a real recall. There's an extremely slim chance that your replacement behaves any differently, as the jpeg watercolor is a software issue.

 

[WheelzWorld]

Well now I feel awkward... They never told me to send a RAW file... and shooting in reset camera setting definitely shoots only JPG so I just assumed if they say "send it back" it means it's not normal...

But I must say some vids definitely looked strange as well. I'll try to find if I still have some.

If the replace can avoid switching from PAL to NTSC every time it's still a good thing.

 

[WheelzWorld]

Ok here you go!

Check #2
2.7K, ISO lowest, shutter = double the FPS (i think), color none (or cinelike), balance "sunny"

Not sure about the style... Info that comes with the file says "color profile : HD (1-1-1)"

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It's maybe not the best tree but it is pretty obvious no?

 

[AyeYo]

I see no issues. I can make out needles on the branches, I can see tiny twigs on other trees, the texture of the bark is apparent even in shaded areas, I can count rungs on the balcony railings of the far away apartment building.

Where exactly are you seeing issues in that video?

 

[WheelzWorld]

I see no issues. I can make out needles on the branches, I can see tiny twigs on other trees, the texture of the bark is apparent even in shaded areas, I can count rungs on the balcony railings of the far away apartment building.

Where exactly are you seeing issues in that video?

In the shaded parts of the tree no? The trunk looks in focus but the rest is mostly not...

I'm on an Imac 27" and it seems to me there is a problem. Am I tripping...?

 

[RitterRunkel]

In the shaded parts of the tree no?

You're not crazy. Yes, there is a problem. All over the image where a region does not have high local contrast. Yes, this is though you even exposed more than just ETTR. Yes, my cellphone with same sensor size also does better (at even lower bitrate for 4K video). And yes, since RAW photos are taken well, DJI should finally adress this watercolor issue.

I'm afraid for not having time to do more tests and write the results here. But in the meantime I tried style "none" and manual focus, and guess what: the issue is still there.

Pretty interesting, how some people think this is what to expect from the Mavic.

 

[AyeYo]

You're not crazy. Yes, there is a problem. All over the image where a region does not have high local contrast.

LOL What do you think compression is? It bands together areas of low/no contrast to save data. That's exactly the areas you'd expect to see it...and it's there. How shocking.

When are we going to see the flawless video from an RMA'd Mavic on which you can count pine needles at 200 yards or see ants crawling in the bark of a shaded tree? If someone has an RMA'd Mavic that shoots to these standards, PLEASE share video so we can all get a baseline of what a "good" Mavic is supposed to look like.

 

[cardplayer71]

Then you were likely shooting in jpeg and that's the source of the watercolor. jpeg is worthless on the Mavic.

Cropped vs uncropped matters because then we can better tell whether the trees are 20ft away (in which case they should look better) or 1000ft away (in which case they look pretty **** good).

I have not gotten any good jpeg, either. I had to process them all from DNG.

 

[AyeYo]

I have not gotten any good jpeg, either. I had to process them all from DNG.

I've never seen any Mavic produce a good jpeg. In fact, the prior posted ones are actually pretty good from what I've seen. My jpegs look like cartoons.

As far as I know it's an issue DJI acknowledges (at least the reps on RCgroups do), but you'll likely never see a fix... because who shoots in jpeg anyway?

 

[AyeYo]

Let me know how this looks.

 

[AyeYo]

Or this

 

[AyeYo]

How about this one?

 

[WheelzWorld]

Without zooming i would say:

First two seems to have problem of focus on the right...

First one have very out of focus trees compared to rocks

 

[AyeYo]

Well let me learn you something...

The first two pictures were taken with a Note 4, which by all accounts has an outstanding camera for a cell phone. There's nothing wrong with the focus. The first picture looks like a muddy mess because it's a low contrast scene shot on an overcast day with a tiny sensor mobile camera - EXACTLY like all the complaints in this thread.

The second picture looks a bit better because the scene is very bright, but guess what? Pine trees at 1000ft still lack detail because it's A TINY SENSOR.

Now the third picture looks **** good even for a cloudy day and I still count twigs on bare trees 200 yards away. This picture was taken with a P4 Pro and is exactly why that drone costs $500 more than a mavic.