Mavic 2 (Pro) - how do you focus?

[mikestrasser]

Hey guys! I'm new in the drone business and I'm super happy about the aircraft! One thing I'm still not quiet sure is, what the best way is to focus. I saw a lot of different reviews on YouTube about manual focus, because AFC is (Mod Removed ) but on the other hand I found videos which are telling me exactly the opposite.

I have fokus peaking/threshold on and area on the picture is marked as red (with the red indicators) but sometimes when I start edit them on the iPad, they are not that sharp what I have expected. Especially with trees and grass

How do you focus? manually or AFC? how are your results?

 

[msinger]

Here are some tips that might work for you:

• Stay on auto focus and just update it a lot by tapping the screen whenever anything changes.
  
  
• Assign the focus control to C1/C2 so the focus can easily be reset to the current location of the focus rectangle.
  
  
• Half press the shutter button to focus the camera.
  
  
• Enable AFC mode and it’ll auto focus when the object/drone stops momentarily.

Source:
Mavic 2 Pro how is everyone Focussing?

 

[eastsidedronr]

I tap on the screen where i want focus

 

[mikestrasser]

Here are some tips that might work for you:

• Stay on auto focus and just update it a lot by tapping the screen whenever anything changes.
  
  
• Assign the focus control to C1/C2 so the focus can easily be reset to the current location of the focus rectangle.
  
  
• Half press the shutter button to focus the camera.
  
  
• Enable AFC mode and it’ll auto focus when the object/drone stops momentarily.

Source:
Mavic 2 Pro how is everyone Focussing?

Thanks for the tips!
I try them all directly today!

 

[mikestrasser]

I tap on the screen where i want focus

and you have EVERYTIME sharp images?
Trees and grass as well?

 

[Dave Maine]

Sharp images are not just setting the lens focus to the desired plane. It is also a function of the combination of the velocity of the ac, and the shutter speed. Flying low and fast, the image changes very rapidly. In these conditions, a shutter speed of 1/50 or 1/60 of a sec will capture a blurred image, as the image changes appreciably during the time the shutter is open. To get acceptably sharp images under these conditions the shutter speed needs to be set to something closer to a minimum of 1/250 or faster. For sharpness, there is no downside to a shutter speed the fastest you can get.

 

[Cymruflyer]

Also bear in mind that the higher the aperture does not mean the sharper the focus of objects in the frame. The M2P is best set at around f4 or slightly lower for the sharpest images. All lenses have a sweet spot of aperture setting, for the best sharpness.

 

[Dave Maine]

Absolutely correct. However, these other factors often swamp the effect of finding the sweet spot. I my personal work, both with drones and other better cameras I generally choose the shutter speed first, and f stop 2nd. The f stop choice determines the depth of field, which is the distance between the near point of acceptable focus to the far point. This for drone imaging is rarely an issue, but is one where if you are working very close to the subject, is relevant - think flying low over grass for example. A smaller f-stop f8 or f11 will help.

In general, in making photographic images requires understanding of the fundamental tradeoffs between shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO choice. any good photography course or book will help.

 

[brettbrandon]

and you have EVERYTIME sharp images?
Trees and grass as well?

You may want to check and make sure you don't have one of the "bad" cameras.
The attached pic is from a replacement M2P DJI sent me and it had a bad camera on it.
In the pic you will notice bad soft spots where most of the upper right is in focus. DJI did send me another replacement with a camera that was a little better than my first one.
I found a nice brick wall with lots of detail to use to check for soft spots.

 

[Dave Maine]

Definitely a bad camera. I have never seen a fault quite like that,

 

[mikestrasser]

Thanks for all of your answers guys!
I totally understand the "photography game" with shutter speed, f-stop, ISO. I'm a hobby photographer since years, so this should not be the problem but for some reason, the sharpness is sometimes there and sometimes not, so probably the aircraft is a little bit different to DSLRs. I did the last flights everything in manual, so also the focusing. The focus threshold is switched on and shows me the things in focus, but the end result is telling sometimes a different story.

Maybe I change to AFC again and see what the results are

 

[Obsidian Sereniti]

Here are some tips that might work for you:

• Stay on auto focus and just update it a lot by tapping the screen whenever anything changes.
  
  
• Assign the focus control to C1/C2 so the focus can easily be reset to the current location of the focus rectangle.
  
  
• Half press the shutter button to focus the camera.
  
  
• Enable AFC mode and it’ll auto focus when the object/drone stops momentarily.

Source:
Mavic 2 Pro how is everyone Focussing?

Don’t forget manual focus at infinity... everything will be in focus always.

 

[Dave Maine]

From an optical perspective, there is no difference between a drone camera and a dlsr. It sounds like a physical camera problem from all that you report. a loose lens element could be at work, or the image sensor is slightly loose and shifting slightly. A mechanical problem

In either case, camera replacement would be the solution.

 

[zeeeegerman]

Hey Mike Strasser, you may find this video helpful:

 

[DanMan32]

If you're in AF mode but not AFC, it may focus close up to nearby grass on startup/takeoff and stay there until triggered to refocus. Once in the air, near infinity is usually sufficient.

AFC can sometimes be a problem where it may hunt during a recording and mess up the shot.

 

[mikestrasser]

Hey Mike Strasser, you may find this video helpful:

Thank you!!!! That's super helpful

 

[zeeeegerman]

Thank you!!!! That's super helpful

Glad you liked it! Super glad!

 

[Paul2660]

Thanks for all of your answers guys!
I totally understand the "photography game" with shutter speed, f-stop, ISO. I'm a hobby photographer since years, so this should not be the problem but for some reason, the sharpness is sometimes there and sometimes not, so probably the aircraft is a little bit different to DSLRs. I did the last flights everything in manual, so also the focusing. The focus threshold is switched on and shows me the things in focus, but the end result is telling sometimes a different story.

Maybe I change to AFC again and see what the results are

What I think you will find over time is that AF on the Mavic is hit and miss, at least that is what I see. Miss will not be a grossly out of focus, but instead what you may see is one side of the image may be softer than the rest.

Attempting to manually focus a Mavic drone, IMO is a waste of time unless you have a subject within 20 feet or less.

You can't zoom to 100%, and the image on any iOS device I have used is way too soft as DJI doesn't seem to respect the retina screen resolution (common issue). The image will be slightly better on a SC or Crystalsky, but you still really can't dial in critical focus like on a DSLR when zoomed to 100%, which is a huge oversight IMO. Currently on iOS devices even if you could zoom into 100%, the image would be so soft you really couldn't determine critical focus.

What I like to do is use the AF, hit in the center of the screen an area of the subject I am shooting, then once I get AF confirmation, switch to MF. You are still gambling on the fact that the camera got the focus correct, but by switching to MF you have locked that focus in.

Use peaking as you have mentioned, I have tried manual focus with peaking on distance subjects and it's just for me nothing like on a DSLR, so I only use it as a added tool.

I would stay away from AFC, as you always have the chance the camera will hit the sky and miss focus or a dark area of the image and again miss focus.

There are many ways that DJI could improve the MF experience for a stills shooter, but they still are mainly concerned about video and not stills.

I will also tend to reacquire my focus on after I have moved the drone to a different location, using the same method.

Luckily the AF system on the M2 Pro seems to be most often accurate for me, and I just have to deal with the fact at F4 usually one side of my image may be slightly softer than the rest, but it can be fixed in post.

Paul C

 

[DanMan32]

AF without AFC only focuses once in a while, many times when on the ground where grass or tree may only be a few feet away. When up in the air, almost everything is at Infinity.