Mavic 3 - main camera - low light image quality analysis

[SkywalkerFeng]

I just received my Mavic 3 yesterday, and took the time to shot a series identical images with its main camera last night, in different ISO settings.

My goal is to find out how that 4/3" sensor performs in low light condition, especially in high ISO settings, from a photographer's perspective.

Some key take way:

1) The overall image quality is very good, virtually noise free between ISO 100-800.

2) At ISO 1600, some noises, but not very noticeable.

3) At ISO 3200, more visible noises, can be cleaned up easily in post-processing.

4) At ISO 6400, even more visible noises, especially in shadow area. Cannot be completely removed in post-processing.

5) Compared to M2P/M2As, there are noticeable improvement in high ISO performance.

6) Dynamic range is also better, especially in highlight area.

7) The biggest weakness is in the shadow recovery. You don't get too much exposure latitude there. Once you start to increase the exposure, you can notice a dramatic lose of details in shadow area.

Overall, I am very pleased with the new sensor. It performs admirably between ISO 100-3200. Even ISO 6400 is still quite usable with some post-processing.

FYI - the images in the comparison chart below are already zoomed in at 100%.

 

[adcimagery]

Interesting test. I'm curious to see in combination with the stabilization what sort of exposures you can get away with. I also wonder what's the current best option in NR - I've not really had the need for supplemental NR in years.

 

[arasmus]

Thanks for providing this test. I was curious how well the Mavic 3 would do in low light.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

What software are you using for the noise reduction?

 

[Dale D]

Interesting test. I'm curious to see in combination with the stabilization what sort of exposures you can get away with. I also wonder what's the current best option in NR - I've not really had the need for supplemental NR in years.

Thanks for doing this test!!! I am seeing tons of noise in the roof area at 1600 ISO and above. What noise reduction software are you using, or is it just the one that comes with Photoshop 2022?

Dale
Miami

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

What software are you using for the noise reduction?

I use Adobe Lightroom Classic v11.0, which uses Adobe Camera Raw v14.0 under the hood to do the actual image post-processing and noise reduction.

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

Thanks for doing this test!!! I am seeing tons of noise in the roof area at 1600 ISO and above. What noise reduction software are you using, or is it just the one that comes with Photoshop 2022?

Dale
Miami

I use Adobe Lightroom Classic v11.0, which uses Adobe Camera Raw v14.0 under the hood to do the actual image post-processing and noise reduction.

If you uses Photoshop then it also uses Camera Raw, there is no difference in this case.

 

[Deleted member 77603]

Denoise AI does a good job with noise

 

[Dale D]

Denoise AI does a good job with noise

does it do better than Photoshop or Lightroom noise reduction? I already own a de-noise program that was a waste. But I find that my NIK Define works well in addition to my Photoshop.

 

[brett8883]

does it do better than Photoshop or Lightroom noise reduction? I already own a de-noise program that was a waste. But I find that my NIK Define works well in addition to my Photoshop.

I prefer NiK define if you know how to use it.

 

[CanadaDrone]

does it do better than Photoshop or Lightroom noise reduction? I already own a de-noise program that was a waste. But I find that my NIK Define works well in addition to my Photoshop.

Noise will always be much higher in the shadows because those photosites are exposed to far less light than the ones covering the actual lights in the image, for example. The parts of the image that are properly exposed will have the least amount of noise, regardless of the ISO setting.

Another reminder to everyone that 100% crops of a 20MP image are the rough equivalent of carefully examining a 5 foot print, and noise in particular is something that prints have a very high tolerance for.

Topaz DeNoise and Nik Dfine are both much better than anything currently built into Photoshop/LR. I would consider them the "go to" programs for a lot of photographers. I have all 3 and I probably use DeNoise the most as it's the best at automatically identifying the part(s) of the image that you do not want to apply NR to, or as aggressively.

A big thanks to Mr. Feng for confirming that the 4/3 sensor is performing as expected with a well done test.

 

[Dale D]

Yes I’ve been using NIK software for many years including Define Viveza
Etc it is my go to software for black and white

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Another reminder to everyone that 100% crops of a 20MP image are the rough equivalent of carefully examining a 5 foot print, and noise in particular is something that prints have a very high tolerance for.

Certainly those magnifications are a friendly reminder, but if you are on UHD/4K or even higher, 20 MP is not that much of a reserve tbh. Printing is one thing but more and more displays are high resolution and will use those pixels fast with fine pitch.

On my monitor, it "just" means a gain of 38 % on the horizontal and 83 % (higher as it is a 16:9 aspect) on the vertical.
On 8K is already natively displayed.

So, it's not like, those 1:1 things are something you will not encounter (that's why I often shoot panoramas).

 

[Bussty]

Yes I’ve been using NIK software for many years including Define Viveza
Etc it is my go to software for black and white

You should download the trial for SNS HDR Pro. It's an HDR program but I use it for everything even single edits. It has some magic when you slide down saturation to 0 for BW conversions it just doesn't exasperate noise like some BW converters can. I can't speak highly enough of it. Small learning curve but well worth it. Not a noise reducer though AI Denoise is my go to there and for Drone Images Gigapixel AI can have some incredible results.

 

[Dale D]

You should download the trial for SNS HDR Pro. It's an HDR program but I use it for everything even single edits. It has some magic when you slide down saturation to 0 for BW conversions it just doesn't exasperate noise like some BW converters can. I can't speak highly enough of it. Small learning curve but well worth it. Not a noise reducer though AI Denoise is my go to there and for Drone Images Gigapixel AI can have some incredible results.

My main concern when considering adding another software is, will it work within Photoshop/Lightroom? My NIK software is a plug-in that works with both and every time there is an Adobe upgrade (which is actually about once a week) the NIK is still there, as a small box superimposed on my Photoshop. I don't want to take up more real estate on my Photoshop desktop, but I could use it as a filter in the drop down filter menu.

I have a long standing relationship with NIK- Before it was sold off. I have all of the programs, including these.
They appear on the Photoshop page when I open an image from Adobe Camera RAW where I do 90% of my adjustments. They all work extremely well for me. So I am reluctant to add more software.


PLEASE tell me if you are using

 

[Bussty]

Yes I own the NIK software and used to use Define and Viveza a lot with great results but feel Denoise AI now surpasses and I can do things in SNS HDR I just couldn't manage in other editors. It's not a plug in. Have actually owned it for years but only discovered it's awesome single edit and BW ability since July. My last trip edited solely using SNS CENTRAL OTAGO | New Zealand | Andrew Busst | Landscape Photography

Cheers

Andrew

 

[Dale D]

Yes I own the NIK software and used to use Define and Viveza a lot with great results but feel Denoise AI now surpasses and I can do things in SNS HDR I just couldn't manage in other editors. It's not a plug in. Have actually owned it for years but only discovered it's awesome single edit and BW ability since July. My last trip edited solely using SNS CENTRAL OTAGO | New Zealand | Andrew Busst | Landscape Photography

Cheers

Andrew

ANDREW- I went to your site and looked at all of the Central Otago images. They display great beauty, detail, composition, editing, colors, sharpness, and other great qualities. Please tell me what SNS stands for or how to find it.

What do I do with an image that I need to de noise with Dennis AI after I edit it in Adone Camera RAW (ACR) and Photoshop?

Dale
Miami

 

[CanadaDrone]

What do I do with an image that I need to de noise with Dennis AI after I edit it in Adone Camera RAW (ACR) and Photoshop?

Dale
Miami

What you do with it is entirely up to you but the workflow order with Topaz products would be to start with a RAW image and follow this, skipping any steps with products you don't have or don't want to use.

The Ultimate Workflow for Topaz Labs AI Software

We offer a full suite of advanced photo editing tools here at Topaz Labs. Here’s the ultimate workflow to best utilize Topaz software and get the most out of your photography. Step 1: JPEG to RAW AI The first step in your photo editing workflow would be to run JPEG to RAW AI, if needed. Use […]

topazlabs.com

 

[Bussty]

Hi Dale

Thank you for those comments very kind. Here is the software site SNS-HDR I think SNS is the programmer's initials.

All the drone shots are Mini 1 so looking forward to getting into that 4/3 sensor (same as my Olympus OM-1 Camera)

I RAW convert to a Tiff file on a bulk basis then edit in SNS have found this much easier than individually RAW converting every file. The Olympus RAW converter does a great job. I always think the manufacturers RAW converter does the best job and is one area where I wish Hasselblad would invest some effort and produce one for the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 3.

Having said that the Mini files are just jpeg so amazing what you can do with that format these days with all this incredible software.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[TRogan42]

Thanks for posting , could you post comparison of the saem shoot done from M2P and M3 at ISO 800, 1600, 3200 it would be super interesting to see the differnece.?