Mavic 3 telephoto lens image quality comparison - Oval v.s. Round

[GadgetGuy]

That's considerably more detail and probably an even more pronounced difference in strong daylight. Thanks for showing me that. I only do stills so this almost gives you DSLR quality in the sky for certain subjects.

Indeed! it was the logical progression to successively improve the cameras on the drones. Once DJI bought a controlling interest in Hasselblad a few years back, the handwriting was on the wall for even better cameras to come! MFT sensors are taking over terrestrial still photography, and are also the perfect drone sensor because of their moderate size and weight savings over Full Frame sensors, allowing much lighter lenses in the air, too! Paired with a 1/2” sensor camera with a 162mm focal equivalent, the M3 is nothing short of extraordinary! Drones can now really spy on people at up to 28x digital zoom! Almost as good as the Good Year blimp following a golf ball from 1500 feet above!

 

[FL Mike]

Still happy that I didn’t involve myself in the M3/Fly app debacle.
Probably all will get resolved at some point. Time will tell.

That app held me off. A toy app for a pro level drone. No thanks. I’ll stick with my M2P

 

[Norval]

That app held me off. A toy app for a pro level drone. No thanks. I’ll stick with my M2P

Fully agree, but, it’s too late for me, sold my M2 to buy a M3……big mistake …….

 

[Bussty]

Fully agree, but, it’s too late for me, sold my M2 to buy a M3……big mistake …….

Oh dear. Hi Norval I'm tossing up (still!) between the Lite+ and M3. Would you mind listing all the things right now that you don't and do like about the M3? Thanks heaps

 

[Norval]

Oh dear. Hi Norval I'm tossing up (still!) between the Lite+ and M3. Would you mind listing all the things right now that you don't and do like about the M3? Thanks heaps

Like:
-built quality (good)
-battery (flight) time (+7/8 minutes of M2)
-all sensors work all the time in normal mode.
-image quality seems to be much better than M2

Dislike:
-Dji Fly app, really don’t like it, Djigo4 much better.
-does not record sound (for narration purposes)
-need to press and hold the function button to zoom in/out.
-the bag: it’s ok, but have seen better for less $.
- no Litchi app capability.

 

[Bussty]

Like:
-built quality (good)
-battery (flight) time (+7/8 minutes of M2)
-all sensors work all the time in normal mode.
-image quality seems to be much better than M2

Dislike:
-Dji Fly app, really don’t like it, Djigo4 much better.
-does not record sound (for narration purposes)
-need to press and hold the function button to zoom in/out.
-the bag: it’s ok, but have seen better for less $.
- no Litchi app capability.

Thanks for that I'm liking your "Like" list.

Do you know if you purchased the drone without the bag but 2 extra batteries and charger whether it's cheaper than the combo price?

I'm hoping eventually they will make an SDK and Litchi will adopt (they seem to pretty quickly) as really enjoy Litchi on the Mini 1.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Norval]

Thanks for that I'm liking your "Like" list.

Do you know if you purchased the drone without the bag but 2 extra batteries and charger whether it's cheaper than the combo price?

I'm hoping eventually they will make an SDK and Litchi will adopt (they seem to pretty quickly) as really enjoy Litchi on the Mini 1.

Thanks for your reply.

For what I read from someone in other post in this site, it’s cheaper to get the Drone, charger and batteries individually. Of course I am leaving out the filters that come with the combo (good bu expensive $).
The bag: I really wanted to like it, but somehow I like other bags on Amazon much more, easier to get in and out the drone, and at a better price.

 

[Bussty]

For what I read from someone in other post in this site, it’s cheaper to get the Drone, charger and batteries individually. Of course I am leaving out the filters that come with the combo (good bu expensive $).
The bag: I really wanted to like it, but somehow I like other bags on Amazon much more, easier to get in and out the drone, and at a better price.

Cheers for that. I would probably buy a Pelican type case anyway and "throw" it in the back of the car and if hiking put in my camera backpack. That's been very helpful thanks!

 

[TigersFan]

You know, guys, I just shot my first pano with it and I was very happy with the results. It's plainly too much trouble for me to pack it up, send it back to Amazon, and go through the new box opening, pairing, changing the serial number, DJI Refresh, etc. I spent the better part of a day getting the new one ready. I will just live with it!

Dale

Good for you. I bought early too and have the same version. I don’t use the telephoto lens to make panoramas or any thing else for that matter. I also am very happy with the main lens for panoramas, HDR shots (from bracketed shots), movies, and preprogrammed shots. The telephoto is interesting, but with It’s smaller sensor size, of limited use to me for photography.

 

[UAVquadman]

Indeed! it was the logical progression to successively improve the cameras on the drones. Once DJI bought a controlling interest in Hasselblad a few years back, the handwriting was on the wall for even better cameras to come! MFT sensors are taking over terrestrial still photography, and are also the perfect drone sensor because of their moderate size and weight savings over Full Frame sensors, allowing much lighter lenses in the air, too! Paired with a 1/2” sensor camera with a 162mm focal equivalent, the M3 is nothing short of extraordinary! Drones can now really spy on people at up to 28x digital zoom! Almost as good as the Good Year blimp following a golf ball from 1500 feet above!

yes but the paired 1/2" sensor is nothing to write home about let alone make a big deal about it to deceive others! LOL... Well maybe the Oval version like you said may be a game changer so in this case... I feel sorry for those who have the inferior round version.

 

[UAVquadman]

Good for you. I bought early too and have the same version. I don’t use the telephoto lens to make panoramas or any thing else for that matter. I also am very happy with the main lens for panoramas, HDR shots (from bracketed shots), movies, and preprogrammed shots. The telephoto is interesting, but with It’s smaller sensor size, of limited use to me for photography.

sensor size is not why it sucks so much... they use plastic for the tele lens is why! (not 100% sure about the plastic though)

 

[Bussty]

It's so hard to know. DJI Susan says it's glass?

 

[Bussty]

I just checked my recently purchased M3 (02/10/2022) and it has the oval lens. I suspect DJI will has a serious cleanup on isle 3 . . .

Just checked with local supplier here in New Zealand and they advised had plenty of stock all dated 11/2021 so I'll be waiting for the next batch I think.

 

[GadgetGuy]

yes but the paired 1/2" sensor is nothing to write home about let alone make a big deal about it to deceive others! LOL... Well maybe the Oval version like you said may be a game changer so in this case... I feel sorry for those who have the inferior round version.

Not sure why you find it deceptive. Except for the 1” sensor on the P4P and the M2P, up until the Mavic Air 2, all previous DJI sensors in the consumer line were only 1/2.3" and no one deemed them deceptive junk!

 

[Bussty]

Yes I can Andrew. I'm going out this Saturday morning so I can capture these for you.

Hi James did you have any luck? This is my last point I need to prove to myself before I push the button on the Mavic 3 (once we can get fresh stock in New Zealand)
Many thanks

Andrew

 

[Skywatcher2001]

No. . . the location I fly (Lytle Creek here in Southern California) has gotten pretty popular. It's a mountainous area with a creek flowing thru it and there were just too many people for me to fly. I went both Saturday and Sunday (I didn't have a secondary target). I'll definitely get airborne (even if its just at my office) this week .

 

[Bussty]

No. . . the location I fly (Lytle Creek here in Southern California) has gotten pretty popular. It's a mountainous area with a creek flowing thru it and there were just too many people for me to fly. I went both Saturday and Sunday (I didn't have a secondary target). I'll definitely get airborne (even if its just at my office) this week .

Thanks James I feel bad now chasing you up! Really appreciated

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Thanks James I feel bad now chasing you up! Really appreciated

no worries mate. I'm interested in what you come up with . . .

 

[Bussty]

no worries mate. I'm interested in what you come up with . . .

Thank you James

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Hi James

I was wondering (and please don't feel you have any obligation at all) if with the new oval design 7x in optical mode when next out if you could capture a 4x3 or 5x4 grid of images of a detailed subject then post the images on drop box or similar so I could stitch and see what sort of quality we are looking at? Potentially you could end up with better quality than the Main lens.

Thanks in advance

Andrew

Hey Andrew I finally got airborne and got the shots for you. I shot jpeg and raw. No filters and I used the overlay as a grid pattern so I may have gotten 33% overlap. I hope you can do your thing with them. I have dropbox so I can send them to you . . .