Mavic Mini vs Mavic Air: Photo quality

[Medley]

I have an Air and have been more than satisfied with its imaging capabilities. I love its size and portability too.

Downsides? Just be prepared for a short(ish) battery life. I can generally get 17-18 minutes per battery so I'd suggest getting a couple of batteries right with it if you decide to get one. If you can swing it, the other "important" accessories would be some sort of landing pad for snow, wet grass, or dusty conditions and set of neutral density filters.

No need for ND filters if his only interest is stills photography, I believe. ND filters are really beneficial for video use however, to allow for slow shutter speeds in bright light.

 

[FLPilotshark]

No need for ND filters if his only interest is stills photography, I believe. ND filters are really beneficial for video use however, to allow for slow shutter speeds in bright light.

I will have to disagree with you on that, I use my PolarPro Polarized Cinema series ND/PL filters during sunsets, and sunrises when I am doing any Aerial Photograph on the beaches!

 

[Dakarenduro]

I will have to disagree with you on that, I use my PolarPro Polarized Cinema series ND/PL filters during sunsets, and sunrises when I am doing any Aerial Photograph on the beaches!

same here. i rarely fly w/o a filter. even if not needed it still serves as a way to protect the camera lens.

but i use mine as well for still photography, both polarized and non.
I also use a 'clear sky' night time filter to filter out the yellow tint during night flights. that difference is hugely noticeable.

 

[Medley]

I will have to disagree with you on that, I use my PolarPro Polarized Cinema series ND/PL filters during sunsets, and sunrises when I am doing any Aerial Photograph on the beaches!

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t fly without a polarizer and mine are the ND/CPLs by Polarpro. However I’m talking about ND filters in particular. The only reason for an ND filter is to effectively block the amount of light hitting the sensor; they do absolutely nothing to the colour. Polarizers, on the other hand, have a dramatic effective on color rendition. I was calling out the recommendation to get ND filters when the OP said specifically that he wasn’t interested in video. For video, you want to be able to keep your shutter speed down to framerate for the motion effect, but for stills photography, shutter speed is irrelevant unless you want a specific f-stop, which is not adjustable on any but the highest end Mavic.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

The OP doesn't ask about nd filters, but they are the only way to get any sort of shutter control when taking video or photos, and either the mini or Air.

You can certainly use and ND on any drone camera for photos, many like the blur the long shutter gives for water, ocean, and night lights (vehicle movement etc).
As long as it's not too windy.
Using them on an M2P etc is great, as you also have some camera setting control there too.

I always use at least the NC-UV on my M1Pfor photos, not that I take many pics.

For clean sharp photos, use a UV filter, or if shooting water with reflection, a C-PL is fine (most of these will have about 1-stop effect of shutter also).
Remember PL filters need to be set up for reflection reduction depending on direction of filming, can be a PITA on drones.
UV filters help colours to pop, blue sky and rich colours on the ground.

I just leave my ISO on 100, sunny for exposure, for both video and photos.

Use ND filters for video 9 times out of 10, with exception for very early / late blue hour.
Anything from ND4 to ND64 between sunrise and sunset.

I find my ND64 gives a little motion blur to ocean waves etc, but not as much as you see with the usual motion photos, probably half way.
With an M2P camera, you could easily achieve a highly smooth water effect combining manual settings and high grade nd64 +.

 

[Deleted member 96190]

I had a Mavic Air that I got rid of and bought a Mini. Regrettably. Now I no longer have the Mini and once again have an Air. I also have a M2P. I do like the size of the Air & the fact it has many more features. Full manual control for both photo and video. Style settings. DNGs & JPG. Gesture control. 4k and don’t forget 100mbs compared to the low write speed of the Mini. I can also connect my Air to my laptop DJI Assistant with Devtools and modify my parameters to my liking as well. DJI locked down the Mini. I also no longer have to wonder if today is the day my drone will fly away never to be seen again or be damaged to say the least. That alone is BIG plus! Food for thought. Hope it helps.

 

[tritongr]

This guy has original photo and video files to download (File 2,3,4 not 1).
Mavic Mini
Mavic Air

 

[G Randy Brown]

This guy has original photo and video files to download (File 2,3,4 not 1).
Mavic Mini
Mavic Air

The video looks great but what makes it jerky (ie gimbal movement, dropped frames, etc)?

 

[tritongr]

The video looks great but what makes it jerky (ie gimbal movement, dropped frames, etc)?

No idea. I don't own MM. My Mavic Air's videos play smoothly on PC and TV. Only issue I have - while I am getting off topic - is that the colors are not as saturated/warm as in my P3A. I don't know if a - and what - filter could correct it.

 

[G Randy Brown]

No idea. I don't own MM. My Mavic Air's videos play smoothly on PC and TV. Only issue I have - while I am getting off topic - is that the colors are not as saturated/warm as in my P3A. I don't know if a - and what - filter could correct it.

OK thanks, I ask because I occasionally see drone footage and wonder if it's due to pan/tilting to quickly for frame rate or if the gimbal is jerky.
Thanks again,
Randy

 

[tritongr]

No idea. I don't own MM. My Mavic Air's videos play smoothly on PC and TV. Only issue I have - while I am getting off topic - is that the colors are not as saturated/warm as in my P3A. I don't know if a - and what - filter could correct it.

I can confirm that in quick pan/tilting, the image gets a bit blurring temporarily in my LG55C8

 

[G Randy Brown]

I can confirm that in quick pan/tilting, the image gets a bit blurring temporarily in my LG55C8

I'm okay with a little blurring it's the jerking movement that I would have issue with.

 

[Allynne]

I am new to the drone world but not to photography, and the reason I went for the Mavic Pro 2 was because of the Hassleblad Camera and 20MP 1inch Sensor, I enjoy taking and editing photographs but never flown a drone before, at 68 years old I now own my first drone and taking some good images that I can edit in Raw which allows you to do more pulling and pushing of over or under exposed images and colours than in JPEG, here is an image edited in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop cut down from 20MP to a size for instagram or Facebook to 2048 on the longest side it’s what I use myself for all my images on social media, I also use Nikon gear for my stills photography which you can see here www.instagram.com/allynneclark but here is the image from the Mavic Pro 2, and Happy Flying whatever you get.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

here is an image edited in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop cut down from 20MP to a size for instagram or Facebook

Nice shot Allynne, those terraces alone from a lower altitude looking along them would be sweet to shoot.

 

[Hayds]

Hello, im new to the forums and haven't bought a dji drone before. I'm not that interested in taking videos, mainly photos. Ignoring all the extra features the air has over the mini, which one is better for taking photos? I would imagine they are the same since they have the same lens/mp/focal length. I know that the mini doesn't support raw and you cant adjust color settings like the air. Are there any air owners who have also tried a mini out? Is the air worth the extra money if all i want out of it are photos?

Hello, im new to the forums and haven't bought a dji drone before. I'm not that interested in taking videos, mainly photos. Ignoring all the extra features the air has over the mini, which one is better for taking photos? I would imagine they are the same since they have the same lens/mp/focal length. I know that the mini doesn't support raw and you cant adjust color settings like the air. Are there any air owners who have also tried a mini out? Is the air worth the extra money if all i want out of it are photos?

I have an air and a set of ND/PL hybrid filters absolutely stunning!
My mate has a mini and no filters no comparison in my opinion, just saying ? good luck

 

[Allynne]

Nice shot Allynne, those terraces alone from a lower altitude looking along them would be sweet to shoot.

Thanks for the kind words and I will give that a try next time.

 

[gajman]

Hello, im new to the forums and haven't bought a dji drone before. I'm not that interested in taking videos, mainly photos. Ignoring all the extra features the air has over the mini, which one is better for taking photos? I would imagine they are the same since they have the same lens/mp/focal length. I know that the mini doesn't support raw and you cant adjust color settings like the air. Are there any air owners who have also tried a mini out? Is the air worth the extra money if all i want out of it are photos?

Welcome to Mavic Pilots. I suppose you are talking the differeence between the Mini and the air, not the Air 2, right?

You will find a lot of answers here. I have a Pro 2, had a Mini, now an Air 2. Found they were all good for snapshots, it depends on how serious you are about video and photography.. Lots of control in the pro 2, almost none in the mini, and the Air. The Air 2 is limited but has a quad Bayer imager so pretty robust with HDR.