Mavic Pro 2 Image Quality

[Chopstix Kid]

Good job, “Kid,” ;-) and any non-droner can quickly see that photo had to be shot from the air. (Yes, I know everyone reading this is going...DUHHhhhh...but I continue to be surprised by the lack of knowledge the average non-droner possesses. And despite enormous increase in drone sales, at least in this country, I am guessing there are still a whole bunch of realtors who haven’t “seen the light” yet. So good luck with that venture and don’t, as we say in the Navy, “Tease the animals” with the new MP2.

I have only done one freebie job after last year’s hurricane, I took photos of a friend’s damaged tile roof with my MP1. But, I have a realtor friend who recently contacted me about doing some work so we’ll see. No 107 “rating” yet but hopefully, soon. Meanwhile, one question?

Did you leave the settings at 0 for Sharpness, Contrast, and Saturation? (Defaults)

The more I look at my stills the more I think I’m going to try -1 on sharpness. From a distance (eye to computer display,) the images look fantastic but when I drill down, even in the raw images, I can see some hard edges here and there. I do love “crispy” but often times, it is not only not needed, it’s not generally desired for non-detail photography.

Fly safe and keep up the good work..

KB

Yeah everything else was at the default settings. Even have the white balance set for auto. I don’t plan on pursuing this for revenue. I use drones in my line of work for social media and of course, family. I just did this as a favor. I appreciate the kind words.

 

[kilomikebravo]

Learn something new every day, thanks, G! As daffy as I am at my old age, it wouldn’t surprise me if I was actually looking at a JPEG vice DNG. You sure do accumulate files quickly with one of these toys!) <laughing>

Youngsters...if you enjoy feeling stupid, you’ll enjoy later life.

KB

 

[Talley]

I think it does OK. Shadows are noisy so they can't be pushed crazy but for what it is I love it.

 

[kilomikebravo]

Gorgeous shot, Talley and I agree completely with what you said. I’m going to have to start perusing this forum at the main machine so I can better appreciate the uploads from other folks, even the iPhone X doesn’t hack it.

But the darn detail STILL grabs me by the cajones and I’ve looked at quite a few MP2 images already. I love the darn thing but like so many others, I’m reticent to push it...for now anyway. It isn’t even my first baby. <chuckling>

Keep ‘em coming..

KB

 

[gnirtS]

I think it does OK. Shadows are noisy so they can't be pushed crazy but for what it is I love it.

HDR is always going to increase noise - its a side effect of it. And a JPG on-board one is going to be worse.
You'll get way cleaner results taking a 7 image AEB and manually merging.

 

[Talley]

HDR is always going to increase noise - its a side effect of it. And a JPG on-board one is going to be worse.
You'll get way cleaner results taking a 7 image AEB and manually merging.

This is a manual 3 image merge with RAW and lightroom post edit. I was just messing around and didn't get the 3 shot spread out or couldn't figure it out. I selected 3 shot then I couldn't figure out if there was a sway to split the exposure out further.

It was mostly underexposed intentionally to preserve the sky too. The 3 image didn't do enough adjustment for what I was really wanting.

 

[gnirtS]

Yeah go4 3 shot is useless - its fixed at 0.7ev between shots which is nowhere near enough.
If you select AEB 5 instead it gives you more images and more range to play with.
That or just manually take 3 shots spaced 1 or 2 stops apart.

 

[Talley]

Yeah go4 3 shot is useless - its fixed at 0.7ev between shots which is nowhere near enough.
If you select AEB 5 instead it gives you more images and more range to play with.
That or just manually take 3 shots spaced 1 or 2 stops apart.

thanks for the info. I didn't see a 5 option

 

[k9x9]

View attachment 46187 Here is a photo I took today for a realtor friend of mine. I am far from a professional but I’m really happy with how the camera is working out. JPEG right off the SD card. ISO 100, f/2.8, spot auto focus. I don’t recall the shutter. No ND filter.

As a non-professional, I would be thrilled w/ that from a drone camera.

 

[Dorin]

Diffraction is nothing complex, it depends on only 2 things which are aperture and pixel pitch, the latter being defined by sensor size and pixel count. Very easy to predict, and unsurprisingly what calculations give is pretty well in line with tests.

Are you serious?! We’re talking about IQ here, as the name of the thread and concern raised by the op

 

[Prmath]

I like Manual...... RAW and I then use the histogram like a light meter. ISO..... 100
WB set to sunny if possible. Looking at the image on the iPad, I start with shutter speed 100-200. Then watching the histogram....... I adjust the f stop until the histogram get where I want it.
Nice photos

 

[CanadaDrone]

Are you serious?! We’re talking about IQ here, as the name of the thread and concern raised by the op

He is serious and he is also correct. Diffraction directly impacts image quality and it does so in a very noticeable and easily verifiable way. The OP is saying he is noticing poor image quality at F11 and this is largely due to diffraction, barring any other more obvious mistakes (I.e. motion blur). The 1” 20MP (Sony) sensor the MP2 uses begins to show objective image quality degradation at F4 and by F11 it will be extremely obvious (DOF equivalent to F30 on a full frame camera). This is not a limitation specific to the MP2 but rather simple physics based on aperture and pixel diameter. By F11 the MP2 is smearing information intended for a single pixel across an area of approximately 21 pixels which is why image quality degrades (effective resolution decreases) so much at small apertures on that sensor.

You don’t even need to own the drone to pinpoint the aperture at which diffraction will start negatively impacting the image as it is just simple physics and math.

The good news is that depth of field is almost a non-issue on a 1” sensor which has a crop factor of 2.7 relative to full frame because F2.8 is giving you an equivalent DOF of F8. On top of that, typically with drones we are shooting from a significant distance which also dramatically increases DOF. This is why your smartphone camera with a tiny 1/2.3” sensor and a fixed F1.8 aperture pretty much always has everything in focus, as with other tiny sensor drones like the Mavic Air and MP1 at wide aperture settings.

This is also why you still want ND filters even though the MP2 has a variable aperture of F2.8 - F11. It’s fine in a pinch or if you forget your filters, but if you are picky about image quality, you won’t want to go much beyond F4 with this particular sensor. Different people will notice this earlier than others as not everyone has the same criteria for acceptable image quality.

If you want to quickly and easily test this yourself, take a DSLR and take a shot around F5.6 and another at F22 or F32 if the lens allows. You will see the F22-32 image is extremely soft in comparison.

Hope that helps clear it up.

 

[gnirtS]

I like Manual...... RAW and I then use the histogram like a light meter. ISO..... 100
WB set to sunny if possible. Looking at the image on the iPad, I start with shutter speed 100-200. Then watching the histogram....... I adjust the f stop until the histogram get where I want it.
Nice photos

Thats not the ideal way. The M2P just like every other camera lens has a range of f-stops where the image is sharpest. On the M2P this is roughly f/4 or so.

So what you should be doing is, light permitting, set that F-stop, keep ISO at 100 and adjust the shutter speed to expose correctly. Provided you have enough light that'll yield better images.

The M2P has an aperture priority mode just like real cameras. So set your aperture and let the camera handle it from there. Any adjustments can be done with EV bias unless you start getting into low light levels, in which case open the aperture and repeat.

 

[Prmath]

Thats not the ideal way. The M2P just like every other camera lens has a range of f-stops where the image is sharpest. On the M2P this is roughly f/4 or so.

So what you should be doing is, light permitting, set that F-stop, keep ISO at 100 and adjust the shutter speed to expose correctly. Provided you have enough light that'll yield better images.

The M2P has an aperture priority mode just like real cameras. So set your aperture and let the camera handle it from there. Any adjustments can be done with EV bias unless you start getting into low light levels, in which case open the aperture and repeat.

Will try that in the AM sunrise...... thanks my friend for the tip

 

[Dorin]

He is serious and he is also correct. Diffraction directly impacts image quality and it does so in a very noticeable and easily verifiable way. The OP is saying he is noticing poor image quality at F11 and this is largely due to diffraction, barring any other more obvious mistakes (I.e. motion blur). The 1” 20MP (Sony) sensor the MP2 uses begins to show objective image quality degradation at F4 and by F11 it will be extremely obvious (DOF equivalent to F30 on a full frame camera). This is not a limitation specific to the MP2 but rather simple physics based on aperture and pixel diameter. By F11 the MP2 is smearing information intended for a single pixel across an area of approximately 21 pixels which is why image quality degrades (effective resolution decreases) so much at small apertures on that sensor.

You don’t even need to own the drone to pinpoint the aperture at which diffraction will start negatively impacting the image as it is just simple physics and math.

The good news is that depth of field is almost a non-issue on a 1” sensor which has a crop factor of 2.7 relative to full frame because F2.8 is giving you an equivalent DOF of F8. On top of that, typically with drones we are shooting from a significant distance which also dramatically increases DOF. This is why your smartphone camera with a tiny 1/2.3” sensor and a fixed F1.8 aperture pretty much always has everything in focus, as with other tiny sensor drones like the Mavic Air and MP1 at wide aperture settings.

This is also why you still want ND filters even though the MP2 has a variable aperture of F2.8 - F11. It’s fine in a pinch or if you forget your filters, but if you are picky about image quality, you won’t want to go much beyond F4 with this particular sensor. Different people will notice this earlier than others as not everyone has the same criteria for acceptable image quality.

If you want to quickly and easily test this yourself, take a DSLR and take a shot around F5.6 and another at F22 or F32 if the lens allows. You will see the F22-32 image is extremely soft in comparison.

Hope that helps clear it up.

I’m not debating the effects of defraction, all I’m saying each lens is different (canon 24-70 2.8 II loses IQ as of f6.3, the 85 1.2 II as of f13, 16-35 2.8 III as of f16) I own each of these lenses plus others on 5D4s so I know a thing or two abt photography. The point I made whatever formula you may want to apply you will never ever get the same iq from a tiny m2p camera as a full frame and proper lens, THAT was the main topic of complaint of this thread.
And secondly when complaining abt the iq at f11 even at the very best lens one owns dialing the max aperture will just deliver garbage even on a medium format

 

[kilomikebravo]

Sharpness will have no effect on the RAW images at all. Its a software edit applied to the JPGs.

Thanks G, and my apologies for the severe tardiness of this post but I didn't see it until this morning. (It's almost a full-time job trying to keep up with the traffic JUST in THIS forum.) <smile>

So, the custom parameters only apply to JPG's, eh? I definitely learn something new here every day (and I always use .DNG files vice JPEG's.)

KB

 

[WithTheBirds]

I’m not debating the effects of defraction, all I’m saying each lens is different (canon 24-70 2.8 II loses IQ as of f6.3, the 85 1.2 II as of f13, 16-35 2.8 III as of f16) I own each of these lenses plus others on 5D4s so I know a thing or two abt photography. The point I made whatever formula you may want to apply you will never ever get the same iq from a tiny m2p camera as a full frame and proper lens, THAT was the main topic of complaint of this thread.
And secondly when complaining abt the iq at f11 even at the very best lens one owns dialing the max aperture will just deliver garbage even on a medium format

I collect Leica and Zeiss glass and have several 1 Series and other high end Bodies with a cupboard full of L series lenses- doesn't mean I know a lot about photography. Ansel Adams could probably take a better photo than me using my iPhone if he was around.