Mavic 3 - Legendary Hopeful , Zoom Question ? by Phantomrain

Phantomrain.org · Nov 29, 2021

My question is about the 28 X zoom and if the Software update could give me that little extra , is it possible ?

There is the feeling of Satisfaction to complete your goals and I feel like every time you fly the Mavic 3 the reward is in your Grasp but the drone cannot hold on to the Grail .
This makes the overall flying Experience frustrating. If I could disable just the 28 zoom I surely wood to take the temptation out of the equation but on the SC you have the wheel with the option to zoom to fail , so perhaps that experience Is the one i want to work with,

Zeus has said some great things about the SC and done some tests and he is in Favor of the SC with the Mavic 3
If you dont know @zeusfl he posted an amazing video that really showcased the Features that the drone has right now currently working.

Here is my question of the video and how I feel flying it.

As of now : The Air 2S is the much better drone for zoom , if its not software related it makes no sense to me.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the Rain.

View attachment 139308

zeusfl · Nov 29, 2021

Very nice !!!! Can you upload to my google drive that raw video? I can try to see if I am able to clear the numbers.

akdrone · Nov 29, 2021

Phantomrain.org said:
My question is about the 28 X zoom and if the Software update could give me that little extra , is it possible ?

There is the feeling of Satisfaction to complete your goals and I feel like every time you fly the Mavic 3 the reward is in your Grasp but the drone cannot hold on to the Grail .
This makes the overall flying Experience frustrating. If I could disable just the 28 zoom I surely wood to take the temptation out of the equation but on the SC you have the wheel with the option to zoom to fail , so perhaps that experience Is the one i want to work with,

Zeus has said some great things about the SC and done some tests and he is in Favor of the SC with the Mavic 3
If you dont know @zeusfl he posted an amazing video that really showcased the Features that the drone has right now currently working.

Here is my question of the video and how I feel flying it.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the Rain.

View attachment 139308

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Keep in mind you don't really have any zoom in terms of optical zoom. They could probably make it 100x zoom if they wanted because it is just cropping the image and blowing up that cropped area to fit the view of the screen. Recording with the tele zoomed in is the same as not zooming in at all and then opening the video in a video editor and enlarging the image in post. The tele does let you zoom in terms of seeing further...blowing up the visible image but for videography or photo purposes you can just video the scene as is and deal with it later. I will admit that it is not impossible that DJI could find a better algorithm to sharpen the image better when zoomed in. There are programs out there dedicated to enhancing a photo in that manner but I don't imagine DJI is going to do that. It is my assumption that DJI is simply showing you a cropped image. Maybe they are actually enhancing it. I have not received mine yet (three more days before delivery

) and one of the first things I will do will be to take a photo with the tele lens, then take a photo zoomed in and compare them after bringing the normal tele into Photoshop and blowing it up. My expectation is they will be very very similar. I will be pleased if DJI's enhancement is better than I can do in Photoshop since it is, after all, a fixed focal lens. DJI says the lens "bring distant objects visually closer" but as far as I can tell it does not mean that photos taken with the tele zoomed in are any different than a non-zoomed tele shot blown up in post. I'd love to be corrected on that count.

Phantomrain.org · Nov 29, 2021

akdrone said:
Keep in mind you don't really have any zoom in terms of optical zoom. They could probably make it 100x zoom if they

I am aware , im just looking for results thru any means ! So possible algo change in the new software.

My list so Far
# 1 Sharpening is on the List.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 In the Rain

Phantomrain.org · Nov 29, 2021

Well I am not getting hired by the FBI crime unit any time soon however I think we got something ,

So here is what I think it says Fish symbol June X 15

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.,

Saladshooter · Nov 30, 2021

akdrone said:
Keep in mind you don't really have any zoom in terms of optical zoom. They could probably make it 100x zoom if they wanted because it is just cropping the image and blowing up that cropped area to fit the view of the screen.

As far as I can understand it.... 1x to 4x are crops of the 4/3 camera, then it switches to the Tele camera which is a fixed 7x lens which then allows up to a 4 times 7X digital crop for your 28x image. As you say DJI probably could let you zoom in 100x but the resolution doesn't seem to be there even at 28x to do what Coal is asking.

If the software can be refined so the zoom can read numbers at a distance, this will be an incredibly effective and inexpensive tool for law enforcement. Its already good enough for safer building inspection.

Even though its fuzzy at distance the Mavic 3 is really the first inexpensive drone to be good enough to be a real privacy concern to others. It will be able to hang back in the sky and video folks that probably would prefer not to be on film.

Saladshooter · Nov 30, 2021

Phantomrain.org said:
So here is what I think it says Fish symbol June X 15

I can't see it. To me it looks like "Hey DJI fanboy buy a real camera"......

Hopefully they can improve this with software updates. What I would really like to see is access to the pro settings while using zoom so the footage will blend seamlessly with the rest of my video in post. It also needs the ability to lock the range of the zoom so we can do dolly style shots without accidentally jumping from the larger camera to the tele camera while using the scroll wheel. That jump from 4x to 7x ruins any continuity while filming.

Dave Maine · Nov 30, 2021

Lots of clever engineers have been working on digital zoom capability long before drones came along. It never worked well then, and it still doesn’t. A 2x zoom will always deliver 1/2 the image resolution. It may not be glaringly obvious, but that is what is happening. Sharpening software tricks can fool the eye into an apparently sharper image, but the base resolution is unchanged at 1/2 the original.

dmcgrew · Nov 30, 2021

Fly closer. Problem solved.

akdrone · Nov 30, 2021

Saladshooter said:
I can't see it. To me it looks like "Hey DJI fanboy buy a real camera"......

Hopefully they can improve this with software updates. What I would really like to see is access to the pro settings while using zoom so the footage will blend seamlessly with the rest of my video in post. It also needs the ability to lock the range of the zoom so we can do dolly style shots without accidentally jumping from the larger camera to the tele camera while using the scroll wheel. That jump from 4x to 7x ruins any continuity while filming.

The lack of ability to use the Tele lens with log almost made me choose to not get the drone. I bought it in spite of that issue. I consider the M3 a horribly crippled video camera with regard to the tele lens and I didn't know about a jump from 4x to 7x LOL. I do a lot of video work and you can't shoot some footage log and some not log. Well...you can...but you can't do a good job making non-log look like the grading you do for the log footage so you might as well not shoot log at all if you want to use the tele lens as part of a video. Just a horrible omission but the M3 is quiet which is important to me in terms of not disturbing wildlife and has good battery life - nice at -20F and I would have probably bought it without the tele lens so I went ahead and got it in spite of that huge frustration. Happily I don't care about waypoints which I know many pros do. I was using waypoint 10 years ago with some of the early DJI drones and can't believe they don't make that available. I have no plans to use the tele for filming. Horrible.

Phantomrain.org · Nov 30, 2021

Dave Maine said:
Lots of clever engineers have been working on digital zoom capability long before drones came along. It never worked well then, and it still doesn’t. A 2x zoom will always deliver 1/2 the image resolution. It may not be glaringly obvious, but that is what is happening. Sharpening software tricks can fool the eye into an apparently sharper image, but the base resolution is unchanged at 1/2 the original.

That is the award winning answer , I did not want to hear. lol

I have herd of software that can make a picture larger than what it is, I wonder if that would bring any detail into scope of things.

Now i wonder if I would have taken a 20 Mpx picture if that would have made the difference in editing.
I need to go back in time ,

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the rain.

akdrone · Nov 30, 2021

Phantomrain.org said:
That is the award winning answer , I did not want to hear. lol

I have herd of software that can make a picture larger than what it is, I wonder if that would bring any detail into scope of things.

Now i wonder if I would have taken a 20 Mpx picture if that would have made the difference in editing.
I need to go back in time ,

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the rain.

There is some pretty significant "zoom" built into the image in that most folks ... most youtube..facebook...vimeo folks just output HD and IF HD is good enough for you, you can Zoom in a fair bit in post without a problem. Of course if you want to publish in 4K you don't have much room to zoom.

Saladshooter · Nov 30, 2021

Phantomrain.org said:
That is the award winning answer , I did not want to hear. lol

I have herd of software that can make a picture larger than what it is, I wonder if that would bring any detail into scope of things.

Now i wonder if I would have taken a 20 Mpx picture if that would have made the difference in editing.
I need to go back in time ,

I still think there is a shot that DJI can give us better details through some software tricks. The technology definitely exists in the desktop editing world. Some of it is done with AI so it may be beyond what we can expect from a drone. The video zoom on the Mavic Air 2 does yield better pictures than cropping in on the same spot in post so there is some trickery at play.

A 20mp picture from the 4/3 camera would have allowed you to crop in more but I don't think it would have yielded a better view of the boat because of the lack of any base magnification and the wide field of view. Please try and prove me wrong when you get a chance as I don't have Mavic 3 yet to test.

Phantomrain.org · Nov 30, 2021

As it stands now if this cannot be fixed with Software than the Air 2S has the better Zoom all the way around.
UGH , never has an update held more importance than this one in January. Its a make or break for everyone involved.

This update were waiting for will either be legendary or go to down as the biggest flop in DJI history. The more I look at the video between the two drones , the more faces i make at the Mavic 3 . I choose the Air 2S every time.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the Rain. and Protect it from throwing it , lol

canadian drone videos · Nov 30, 2021

Phantomrain.org said:
As it stands now if this cannot be fixed with Software than the Air 2S has the better Zoom all the way around.
UGH , never has an update held more importance than this one in January. Its a make or break for everyone involved.

This update were waiting for will either be legendary or go to down as the biggest flop in DJI history. The more I look at the video between the two drones , the more faces i make at the Mavic 3 . I choose the Air 2S every time.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the Rain. and Protect it from throwing it , lol

DJI probably spent $30 on the zoom camera sensor. It’s for exploring, so when you get up to 400 feet you can see what’s near by and worthy of flying to? That’s why they gave us the 40 min battery.

Wildlife, this is an excellent drone to sneak up on it. The I2 is way too noisy. Yes, the I2 gives excellent 3x optical zoom but it’s useless for wildlife unless you want video of wildlife scared and running from the drone.

What we need is a Phantom 5 with a 4/3rds camera and interchangeable prime lenses. DJI will loose a lot of business if they don’t get on this as it’s what everyone wants and no doubt companies will have it built within the next 2 years. Zoom lenses suck, give me 3-4 interchangeable Prime lenses on a drone way smaller and quieter then the I2.

thispilothere · Dec 1, 2021

There used to be law-enforcement software called TacitView that claimed to be able to take frames from low-res police dash cams and reconstruct a license plate number. The software shows up as mostly having military applications now.

Saladshooter · Dec 1, 2021

canadian drone videos said:
What we need is a Phantom 5 with a 4/3rds camera and interchangeable prime lenses. DJI will loose a lot of business if they don’t get on this as it’s what everyone wants and no doubt companies will have it built within the next 2 years. Zoom lenses suck, give me 3-4 interchangeable Prime lenses on a drone way smaller and quieter then the I2.

The XDynamics Evolve 2 is pretty much what you are looking for, but it is just coming to retail now and is still very buggy. It features a 4/3 camera that will accept standard prime lenses. Time will tell if they can make it a truly worthy machine.

canadian drone videos · Dec 1, 2021

Saladshooter said:
The XDynamics Evolve 2 is pretty much what you are looking for, but it is just coming to retail now and is still very buggy. It features a 4/3 camera that will accept standard prime lenses. Time will tell if they can make it a truly worthy machine.

View attachment 139378

Now that’s what I’m talking about. You want landing gear to protect the camera in light duty crashes. That camera looks good on a drone of this size. Trick is to keep the camera around the same weight as the battery. Keep the lens sizes small. DJI could have perfected a P5 of this magnitude 2-3 years ago, but they have a different marketing strategy. They want you to buy a bunch of different drones and never make just one that has it all.

That strategy is becoming obsolete, their competitors are going to burn them for it. My guess is DJI already has the drone we really want, or is close to having it, but they won’t finish and release it till a competitor releases thiers.