Mavic 3 image softness issues?

[Bussty]

I absolutely think you have a case especially as shown in this crop the left is way blurrier than the right and this does not meet the logo "Imaging Above Everything" are you working directly with DJI or your supplier? If a local supplier I'm not sure what your Consumer Laws are but you didn't buy a drone to have burry edges on one side. Either that or you accept you have a sensor between 4/3 and 1" and have about a 28mm lens and never use your edges!

Good luck. I'm looking to buy a M3 and I think I will send this to my local supplier and ask if I presented this to them would they consider it a flaw and back me up?

 

[GadgetGuy]

DJI engineering said the images were fine....they are not. I added some DNG files in for them to review as originals so we'll see what they say. Really leery of sending this back and getting something back that's worse.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I would be leery, too!
If it ain't truly "broke" don't let 'em go "fixin'" it!
They don't understand the issue, assuming there is one.

 

[ddublu]

Question…if I do decide to send it in do I need to unbind my RC Pro before sending it in? If they replaced it, would I be able to bind to the new aircraft with another aircraft already bound to it?

 

[Merrillie]

Here are some of my sample images - Mavic 3 sample images

Curious what you all think.

Thanks.

The photos are lovely.
I have had the Air2 and now have the Air 2S and the Mavic 3, the image quality is excellent in the Mavic 3 compared to the Air2S, and the Air2S was a big improvement over the Air2 due to the 1 inch sensor. I think we need to keep in mind that it is a moving object and not a camera on a tripod. I do notice some softness in some of mine especially in the right bottom corner, in fact I have cropped a few in to get rid of it or cropped to 4:3 dimension. I shoot in low light the vast majority of the time doing sunrises. I also shoot with a Nikon D850 but enjoying the drone doing all the leg work and using that more at the moment. Plenty of examples on Flickr at Merrillie Redden or on my website under 2022 Coastal Landscapes

 

[Bussty]

I think you are right, from some files I have seen in some cases the edges of the main camera can suffer but I guess it's a big sensor so you probably have a little wiggle room if you need it, just crop the shot a little loosely.

You have some amazing photos by the way.

This shot here is the reason I will probably buy the M3. I get this a lot where the drone is just too wide for something awesome going on in the background and now with the 7x lens you can capture that or even take a wall of images to cover the area you can then stitch. It would be SO helpful if DJI could have a function that just takes a wall of images with the 7x that covers say a central area of say a third of the entire sensor ( a roughly 2-3x crop) then you can just stitch the lot and crop in relatively high quality the bit that you want. If they automated it and it was as fast as the pano shots are taken it would be so useful. So in a case like this you 1. Align the camera on the sunburst 2. switch to 7x tele 3. push a "mosaic" button 4. Done! You may get way more of the image than you need but you can always crop....


I think we should all canvas DJI for this function which would be so much better with Manual exposure and RAW and could do something no other drone make has done before, potentially high resolution mosaics in the 2x-5x space.

Thanks for posting!

Cheers

 

[ddublu]

The photos are lovely.
I have had the Air2 and now have the Air 2S and the Mavic 3, the image quality is excellent in the Mavic 3 compared to the Air2S, and the Air2S was a big improvement over the Air2 due to the 1 inch sensor. I think we need to keep in mind that it is a moving object and not a camera on a tripod. I do notice some softness in some of mine especially in the right bottom corner, in fact I have cropped a few in to get rid of it or cropped to 4:3 dimension. I shoot in low light the vast majority of the time doing sunrises. I also shoot with a Nikon D850 but enjoying the drone doing all the leg work and using that more at the moment. Plenty of examples on Flickr at Merrillie Redden or on my website under 2022 Coastal Landscapes

I disagree to an extent. Most photographers I know are not flying and shooting still images while moving. I’ve successfully shot 2-8 second long exposures with many types of aircraft so I’m 100% convinced that images shouldn’t have such softness outside of center. These are landscape shots not portraits so depth of field really isn’t a variable. I could shoot f/2.8 with my M2P and never even think to check the outer edges. My M3 at f/7.1 still has them.

For me, it’s not a question if I’ve got a defective unit….my concern is what will I get back from DJI as a replacement. The bulk of my revenues are from licensing photos so this is important to me.

 

[Blizzardfoto]

I’ve had the M3 since launch. Worked through the firmware updates and generally patient as the product improves. I’ve owned DJI aircraft for many years, most recently the M2P and Inspire 2.

My primary source of revenue is image licensing to ad agencies, tourism/travel, etc. so my focus is on still imagery. In good lighting, I try to shoot f/5.6 but the images from the M3 appear to be very soft around the edges and I can’t believe this is normal. Some of these are f/4.0 and I believe there is one that is f/6.3.

I’ve talked briefly with DJI and their response (of course) is to send it in for them to assess. I don’t believe for one second that they're going to do any testing but will likely just replace it. Has anyone had this issue and if so, did you get it replaced, and more importantly did it get resolved?

Here are some of my sample images - Mavic 3 sample images

Curious what you all think.

Thanks.

I have the same problem. Center of the image is perfect and clear but edges are not great at all. So I did sent it to my dealer and they sent to DJI and they said "no fault found". So some weeks the argued but no result and DJI sent it back to my dealer. They did test shots and sent those to DJI - same result. So eventually my dealer was agreed to send to me a new drone and keep arguing with DJI. So I did get the new Mavic 3 today, images are a bit better but still not good. My daily drone is Phantom 4 Pro and it's image is the same from one edge to and other. It is not and upgrade if only the center of the image is sharp - more like downgrade!

 

[Bussty]

I have the same problem. Center of the image is perfect and clear but edges are not great at all. So I did sent it to my dealer and they sent to DJI and they said "no fault found". So some weeks the argued but no result and DJI sent it back to my dealer. They did test shots and sent those to DJI - same result. So eventually my dealer was agreed to send to me a new drone and keep arguing with DJI. So I did get the new Mavic 3 today, images are a bit better but still not good. My daily drone is Phantom 4 Pro and it's image is the same from one edge to and other. It is not and upgrade if only the center of the image is sharp - more like downgrade!

I don't like hearing stories like this having seen several soft results from the Mavic 3 on this forum. Can I ask what f/stop you are getting this issue? Is it happening at f/5.6

I don't like hearing these stories as I'm very close to buying a Mavic 3 and it doesn't instill confidence. Preempting what you are saying I asked our local dealer what would be their response if my drone had similar issues to the ones shown here? I actually sent them the images to see for themselves. I was misguidedly thinking they would say, "No that's definitely an issue we would take this up with DJI and get it sorted" but they didn't they actually said "Look we would send the images to DJI and send the drone back to DJI and if they sent it back saying there was nothing wrong there would be nothing we could do!" They actually went on having seen those images and said I should maybe wait for a later production unit if these types of results were going to be an issue for me!

I suspect video users aren't as impacted but for stills photographers any edge blurring is a real issue if making big prints. You have a Phantom 4 Pro and I have a Mavic Mini and sounds like on both they are sharp edge to edge. Have you got an example of what you are seeing at f/5.6?

Many thanks

 

[ddublu]

UPDATE: Heard back from DJI today after a persistent 4 days of chat with them ensuring that they truly understand the issue. After speaking with Zero and Honey (real name/not real name? you be the judge) they initially were going to replace the gimbal/camera unit but they told me today they are replacing the entire unit. I've asked for a replacement with a new aircraft and one from recent production. Where that ask lands, I have no idea.

 

[Bussty]

Congratulations! That is really good to hear. Please let us know how you find the quality of both lenses plus also if a recent production unit how you find the GPS lock time? Go you!

Interesting too they are replacing the whole unit, wonder if that has anything to do with recent GPS lock issues? Total speculation but more will play out on that in the coming weeks I guess? So good to see if you keep at it you can generate a successful outcome (fingers crossed!)

 

[ddublu]

Update. I got my replacement M3 and it appears to be brand new. Was in brand new packaging and sealed. It came with the oval version of the smaller camera, came with the new foam for the gimbal and I was able to get my first home point in 2:35 (12 satellites). I will update once I have a chance to shoot some comparison imagery.

 

[Bussty]

Update. I got my replacement M3 and it appears to be brand new. Was in brand new packaging and sealed. It came with the oval version of the smaller camera, came with the new foam for the gimbal and I was able to get my first home point in 2:35 (12 satellites). I will update once I have a chance to shoot some comparison imagery.

This is really great news! Quality should mean quality. Really looking forward to your results. For many the quality coming out of the optics of this expensive drone is the most important feature and will be really interesting to see that DJI has corrected this restoring confidence you can expect a high level of optical clarity from the M3 across the sensor/lens.

Does the box have a date of manufacture on it?

Good on you though for pushing the point and hopefully getting DJI to fix.

What's your next move if the replacement is no better?

 

[gianlucaballoni]

Update. I got my replacement M3 and it appears to be brand new. Was in brand new packaging and sealed. It came with the oval version of the smaller camera, came with the new foam for the gimbal and I was able to get my first home point in 2:35 (12 satellites). I will update once I have a chance to shoot some comparison imagery.

Hi, did you do any tests to see if you solved the problem? Unfortunately, I too am not convinced of the photos my drone takes ... look for yourself here ... It seems there are always focusing problems. It scares me the idea of sending the drone back to maybe get one even worse.

TEST PHOTO MAVIC3 2 - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[gianlucaballoni]

TEST PHOTO MAVIC3 2 - Google Drive

drive.google.com

Do you think my m3 could have problems with focusing? If you look at some of the images there are anomalous blurring even outside the edges.

 

[SFC117]

Any update on this? Just curious about this. I am on the verge of returning the Mavic 3 back and not bother trying to get a new one.

 

[chong67]

DJI engineering said the images were fine....they are not. I added some DNG files in for them to review as originals so we'll see what they say. Really leery of sending this back and getting something back that's worse.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I look at your photos. They are OK to me. I have a full sensor camera and depends on the lens, I get soft corner vs others.

But a lens correction profile usually cures it. ACR does apply the correct profile on the M3 DNG.

Here is one of my DNG taken with my M3. Corners are OK to me : PANO0011.DNG

 

[KS-6]

I’ve had the M3 since launch. Worked through the firmware updates and generally patient as the product improves. I’ve owned DJI aircraft for many years, most recently the M2P and Inspire 2.

My primary source of revenue is image licensing to ad agencies, tourism/travel, etc. so my focus is on still imagery. In good lighting, I try to shoot f/5.6 but the images from the M3 appear to be very soft around the edges and I can’t believe this is normal. Some of these are f/4.0 and I believe there is one that is f/6.3.

I’ve talked briefly with DJI and their response (of course) is to send it in for them to assess. I don’t believe for one second that they're going to do any testing but will likely just replace it. Has anyone had this issue and if so, did you get it replaced, and more importantly did it get resolved?

Here are some of my sample images - Mavic 3 sample images

Curious what you all think.

Thanks.

Thanks for posting this but sorry for your troubles, having a tool that falls short is no tool at all...

I have had an M3 kit in my B&H basket for a week now but I can not find a single image to download that speaks to my minimum requirements for image quality. At best out of the three different sample sets of DNG's I have played with, one would have to crop roughly square or to about 75% of the original frame to get the edges in check.

But your samples show the image circle badly right of center with the right still not great, I hope you got a much better example as a replacement.

 

[Merrillie]

I’ve had the M3 since launch. Worked through the firmware updates and generally patient as the product improves. I’ve owned DJI aircraft for many years, most recently the M2P and Inspire 2.

My primary source of revenue is image licensing to ad agencies, tourism/travel, etc. so my focus is on still imagery. In good lighting, I try to shoot f/5.6 but the images from the M3 appear to be very soft around the edges and I can’t believe this is normal. Some of these are f/4.0 and I believe there is one that is f/6.3.

I’ve talked briefly with DJI and their response (of course) is to send it in for them to assess. I don’t believe for one second that they're going to do any testing but will likely just replace it. Has anyone had this issue and if so, did you get it replaced, and more importantly did it get resolved?

Here are some of my sample images - Mavic 3 sample images

Curious what you all think.

Thanks.

The photos look pretty good to me and I am viewing them on a very large screen. I have heard that some people get different photo quality with softness from their Mavic 3 after comparing them to another Mavic 3.

I use my Mavic 3 for photos multiple times a week mostly in low light like sunrise and I am pretty happy with the quality.
I start with the aperture at f/2.8 if I need to but move right up to f/11 as soon as I can or at least f/8.0.
If I have birds or movement I might quickly switch to Auto so they don't come out blurry then back to Pro mode. I also try and get on ISO 100 as fast as I can depending on the light.
I also use Lightroom and I have Topaz DeNoise which I have used a lot with sunrise photos. A few days ago I just added Topaz Sharpen AI, Gigapixel, and Photo AI (not impressed with Photo AI and haven't really tested Gigapixel yet but Topaz Sharpen AI is pretty good with drone images.
Mavic 3 is my third drone, I previously had Air 2 (1/2 inch sensor) and Air 2S (1 inch sensor) so I can only judge the quality compared to those but the Mavic 3 and its 4/3 micro sensor is better than my Air 2S which did an ok job with photos and was half the price. I love being able to change the aperture with the M3.
I sometimes use AEB bracketing for HDR when the scene is suitable and my panoramas are multiple images merged in Lightroom. I always take way too many photos and both of those slow the daily processing down lol.
Daytime shots are pretty excellent and don't really need anything done to them other than slight processing and minimal noise reduction.

My better photos with the drones (mostly coastal ones) are on my website merrillie.com under Coast
Occasionally I get my camera gear out as well

The majority of my photos are also on Flickr Merrillie Redden and you can see the settings I have used there.
I do like playing with the x7 optical zoom and yes they are soft but I can live with it. I have worked out they turn out better with more light so try not to do them now until the sun is nearly up.