Mavic 3 DNGs are Problematical

Dale D · Jan 5, 2023

mavicbopper said:
I've been shooting DJI DNGs for three years with the Mavic 2 Pro. Now I've started with the Mavic 3 Classic. I experienced very satisfying results processing the M2P DxO, first to convert the image to tiff, then into Lightroom or Photoshop. Always great results.

I will add that LR is LR6 (very old) and PS is CS5 (also very old). DxO is Lab2, all older versions (without subscriptions).

Now with the Mavic 3 DNG, I can only use Adobe Camera Raw to start the DNG process and get the image into PhotoShop. For some reason, ACR6 will open the DNG, but unsurprisingly, PS CS5, will not . Neither will DxO for the Mavic 3 DNGs. The M2P DNGs will open in DxO. But, with all this the eventual movement of the Mavic 3 DNGs though ACR and into PS CS5, then to LR6 (laborious), ends up producing very poor results. I find the sliders in LR6 producing very little affect.

DJI did something and it's not good. Something changed with the DNGs between M2P and M3C. I'm going to try the DxO Pure Raw 30 Day trial to see if this will address the situation.

As others have commented, the jpg images are FAR Superior to what I can produce from the M3C DNGs. The Mavic 3 Classic is a great FLYER, but the still photos using DNG are very disappointing.

I would suggest that you download the FREE trial version of Photoshop CC with Lightroom . I think they give you 30 days free. It handles DNG files with ease. Unlike most of the members of Mavic Pilots, I actually do pay for and subscribe to the entire. Adobe Creative Cloud suite and have full access to every update, which is actually almost weekly. I have been using the latest versions of Photoshop for years, and the advantages of its great new masking tools for editing any single part of my image such as sky, foreground, people, faces, eyes, or a dark clump of trees in the image. If you like it, you can get just the Photo suite for about $10.00 a month. I know I will get the usual blow back on Adobe for this post. I will ignore it.

If you give it a try, you will then have your answer and you can then decide if it is worth it to you.

Dale
Miami

Eagle Eye 62 · Jan 5, 2023

JeffreyS said:
If you are at all serious about photography, you need to subscribe to the Photographers Package from Adobe. It's a great deal, and you'll always have the most updated version. Get over the stand-alone ownership thing. It's history, and simply not necessary.

Exactly, I have a full Adobe subscription and have never had any issues with DNG files in Light room or Photoshop. You can't expect old software to work forever. If you don't want to subsceto Adobe, you might consider purchasing Luminar NEO. It is a very capable tool that is easy to use.

MavicAir2Marc · Jan 5, 2023

Luckily for me, work pays for my Creative Cloud subscription. I have been using Photoshop since before they had layers (the old "floating selection" days). The new versions of Camera Raw that come out frequently are to add new sensor and lens profiles that come out. That is the most frequently updated app for a reason...keeping up with the newest photo technology. Photoshop (and I suppose LR but I don't use it) deals mostly with some cosmetic changes, fixing bugs (sometimes it can be really unstable until they fix it) and add "features" which are normally geared toward new users. We used to be Beta testers for Adobe but we asked for too many things they couldn't accomplish without rewriting the core software (like an extended gamut colorspace). Unfortunately, tech marches on and we have to deal with it or end up with issues in the future.

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

waynorth said:
I tried opening some M3 Classic DNG-files in Photoshop CS5, with Camera Raw 6.7 installed. No problems, the files opened perfectly fine.

Yes, they do. I understand that. They do not open in DxO v.2. Have to have v.5 for them to open. I have found as of yesterday (1/4/22), inexplicably, LR6 opened them as well. I prefer working in LR rather than ACR. When you try to open them in PS CS5, the file opens in ACR, then you can get it into PS.

The preferred option for me is open directly as an imported LR file. As I indicated in an earlier forum reply, the earlier and and confounding trouble I was having with two images captured using my M3C did not reproduce with the images I captured yesterday. The only thing that persists is DxO v.2 being useful for my M2P but not for my M3C.

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

Eagle Eye 62 said:
Exactly, I have a full Adobe subscription and have never had any issues with DNG files in Light room or Photoshop. You can't expect old software to work forever. If you don't want to subsceto Adobe, you might consider purchasing Luminar NEO. It is a very capable tool that is easy to use.

I have thought about that. My camera club in Naples, FL has a Luminar User Group. Should some of my software,LR6 and PS CS5, stop supporting my images, I would consider upgrading DxO or going to Luminar. I eschew new leaning curves and will not subscribe to Adobe.

JimSteadman · Jan 5, 2023

I have had no problems with either PS or DXO processing the DNG files. But I am using the latest versions and subscribe to Adobe to keep it that way. I find PS easier to use (as I am more familiar with it). I got DXO recently and it seems cliunky to me, but I am sure it is just my difficulty in getting used to it and the need to learn a new process.

Crashdummytest · Jan 5, 2023

mavicbopper said:
I've been shooting DJI DNGs for three years with the Mavic 2 Pro. Now I've started with the Mavic 3 Classic. I experienced very satisfying results processing the M2P DxO, first to convert the image to tiff, then into Lightroom or Photoshop. Always great results.

I will add that LR is LR6 (very old) and PS is CS5 (also very old). DxO is Lab2, all older versions (without subscriptions).

Now with the Mavic 3 DNG, I can only use Adobe Camera Raw to start the DNG process and get the image into PhotoShop. For some reason, ACR6 will open the DNG, but unsurprisingly, PS CS5, will not . Neither will DxO for the Mavic 3 DNGs. The M2P DNGs will open in DxO. But, with all this the eventual movement of the Mavic 3 DNGs though ACR and into PS CS5, then to LR6 (laborious), ends up producing very poor results. I find the sliders in LR6 producing very little affect.

DJI did something and it's not good. Something changed with the DNGs between M2P and M3C. I'm going to try the DxO Pure Raw 30 Day trial to see if this will address the situation.

As others have commented, the jpg images are FAR Superior to what I can produce from the M3C DNGs. The Mavic 3 Classic is a great FLYER, but the still photos using DNG are very disappointing.

I got used to the Darktable + Gimp combo, has never looked back. Those are open source and handle the M3 DNG without user intervention. The DNG is opened in Darktable and transported to Gimp when you close Darktable - it just works. And completely free of charge.

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

Crashdummytest said:
I got used to the Darktable + Gimp combo, has never looked back. Those are open source and handle the M3 DNG without user intervention. The DNG is opened in Darktable and transported to Gimp when you close Darktable - it just works. And completely free of charge.

What is GIMP?

rhberg · Jan 5, 2023

One company that doesn't force you to subscribe i Capture One. It combines image cataloging with a decent array of processing features.

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

JimSteadman said:
I have had no problems with either PS or DXO processing the DNG files. But I am using the latest versions and subscribe to Adobe to keep it that way. I find PS easier to use (as I am more familiar with it). I got DXO recently and it seems cliunky to me, but I am sure it is just my difficulty in getting used to it and the need to learn a new process.

I expect that with latest versions (aka subscriptions), support for the M3 would be right there. With old software, support for new hardware can wane on both sides of the coin. Neither the software developers or the hardware designers are particularly interested in sustaining old or including new hardware in the software once they have receded support or "encourage" upgrading to provide the utility required for newly released hardware - like the M3 as it relates to DxO v.2

AlanL · Jan 5, 2023

mavicbopper said:
I expect that with latest versions (aka subscriptions), support for the M3 would be right there. With old software, support for new hardware can wane on both sides of the coin. Neither the software developers or the hardware designers are particularly interested in sustaining old or including new hardware in the software once they have receded support or "encourage" upgrading to provide the utility required for newly released hardware - like the M3 as it relates to DxO v.2

LR Classic (as it's now called) does a very nice job with the M3 outputs but DxO has a RAW file processing application that works as a plugin for LR. I import my files into LR and can then call up DxO PureRAW using the DeepRAW model. DxO processes the RAW file using their very extensive library on just about every lens and camera on the market and then creates a new DNG file with the output and drops it right back into LR for further processing. DxOs output is a huge step beyond what Topaz Denoise AI can do (yes I have that as well). Well worth considering IMHO.

Vic Moss · Jan 5, 2023

mavicbopper said:
I will add that LR is LR6 (very old) and PS is CS5 (also very old). DxO is Lab2, all older versions (without subscriptions).

Now with the Mavic 3 DNG, I can only use Adobe Camera Raw to start the DNG process and get the image into PhotoShop. For some reason, ACR6 will open the DNG, but unsurprisingly, PS CS5, will not . Neither will DxO for the Mavic 3 DNGs. The M2P DNGs will open in DxO. But, with all this the eventual movement of the Mavic 3 DNGs though ACR and into PS CS5, then to LR6 (laborious), ends up producing very poor results. I find the sliders in LR6 producing very little affect.

DJI did something and it's not good. Something changed with the DNGs between M2P and M3C. I'm going to try the DxO Pure Raw 30 Day trial to see if this will address the situation.

As others have commented, the jpg images are FAR Superior to what I can produce from the M3C DNGs. The Mavic 3 Classic is a great FLYER, but the still photos using DNG are very disappointing.

It's 100% your software. New cameras (drone or not) are always different than older ones. Every time a new camera is rolled out, the software has to be updated to make the most of the firmware.

I fly the Mavic 3s almost exclusively for any creative gig. Update your Photoshop RAW. I promise you'll see the full potential of the Mavic 3 DNG files. It's phenomenal.

peterc4 · Jan 5, 2023

Love mine from my mavic 3 no issues, cs5 is 12 years old may be the issue

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

Vic Moss said:
It's 100% your software. New cameras (drone or not) are always different than older ones. Every time a new camera is rolled out, the software has to be updated to make the most of the firmware.

I fly the Mavic 3s almost exclusively for any creative gig. Update your Photoshop RAW. I promise you'll see the full potential of the Mavic 3 DNG files. It's phenomenal.

Yes, I recognized the age of my apps played a role in the difficulties. These peculiarities were also associated with inability to open Nikon NEFs produced by my D500. This suggests there is something changing in the RAW files (Nikon NEFs and DJI DNGs). If these files were stable in design, they would be openable in a succession of image processing products, unless of course, the developers at DxO and Adobe specifically intended to make their new releases incompatible. In fact, when I couldn't open the D500 NEFs is when I bought DxO Lab 2 to do so. Like many who have abandoned Adobe's great products, I abhor the notion of subscription.

I'll work through it.

Thanks

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

AlanL said:
If you are shooting RAW with a current generation camera it will require current software in order to correctly process the file. That's true for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, etc. as well as DJI. I want the best possible output from my camera gear and old versions of the software don't know how to correctly deal with new cameras and sensors. I fully expect my cameras to take advantage of newer tech that is continuously changing. That's why Adobe and DxO are constantly updating their RAW conversion software with updated corrections for each new camera that comes out.

If the companies that make cameras froze their development to match some outdated software then I honestly have no use for their new cameras. I don't know of any camera manufacturer who will subscribe to that model.

Your points are well taken.

The development from 2000 to 2020 has been remarkable. How much more can be done that will produce a better print for framing that will have a measurable impact on sales. Many of the new imaging/processing features/improvements speed up work flow by automating some of the editing steps. While impressive and WOWing, many (not all) pros don't realize the benefits via perceptibly better work products.

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

peterc4 said:
Love mine from my mavic 3 no issues, cs5 is 12 years old may be the issue

Yep, getting into CS5 was this transient issue. ACR6 is getting it there now. And, better yet, yesterday's images from the M3 were being recognized by my stone age LR6. Hope it sticks.

AlanL · Jan 5, 2023

mavicbopper said:
Your points are well taken.

The development from 2000 to 2020 has been remarkable. How much more can be done that will produce a better print for framing that will have a measurable impact on sales. Many of the new imaging/processing features/improvements speed up work flow by automating some of the editing steps. While impressive and WOWing, many (not all) pros don't realize the benefits via perceptibly better work products.

I am not really trying to sell my work but I have always enjoyed seeing how well I can replicate the experience of being where I took the shot. DxO's PureRAW is available for a free 30 day trial if you want to see what can really be done. PureRAW can put life into 15+ year old RAW captures you never thought could be presentable.

mavicbopper · Jan 5, 2023

AlanL said:
I am not really trying to sell my work but I have always enjoyed seeing how well I can replicate the experience of being where I took the shot. DxO's PureRAW is available for a free 30 day trial if you want to see what can really be done. PureRAW can put life into 15+ year old RAW captures you never thought could be presentable.

Yes, when I was in the height of frustration and concluding that I needed (yet) another application to handle the M3 DNGs, I looked into the Pure RAW 2 as a way to go. Then, LR6 mysteriously decided to open the DNGs. So, you think that Pure RAW is noticeably better than LR or DxO or PS or ACR of the versions you own? What is the processed output (file format) from Pure RAW? I thinks it is a LR plug-in. The question would be can it plug into LR6? A 30 day trial would provide answers.

Thanks

AlanL · Jan 5, 2023

mavicbopper said:
Yes, when I was in the height of frustration and concluding that I needed (yet) another application to handle the M3 DNGs, I looked into the Pure RAW 2 as a way to go. Then, LR6 mysteriously decided to open the DNGs. So, you think that Pure RAW is noticeably better than LR or DxO or PS or ACR of the versions you own? What is the processed output (file format) from Pure RAW? I thinks it is a LR plug-in. The question would be can it plug into LR6? A 30 day trial would provide answers.

Thanks

DxO's PureRAW output is a new DNG version of the DNG you called up with the LR plugin. That is how I use it myself. It might well work fine with LR6 since LR doesn't need to know anything about the lens/sensor combination and DxO handles the corrections. DxO has a much more extensive lens/camera/sensor than Adobe.

Let us know if you can run the plug-in with your older LR. That would be a nice twist on the tale.

Crashdummytest · Jan 6, 2023

mavicbopper said:
What is GIMP?

Sorry, let me explain. Gimp is a free photo editor similar to Photoshop, but free.
Darktable is an darkroom application, similar to Lightroom, but free.
This combo supports loading DNG's directly from your Mavic3, and process/edit your pix.