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Max Zoom level for Photos

Kyklopes

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What is the maximum zoom when taking photos using the latest firmware? I know the optical zoom is 2x, but do you get another 2x digital for a 4x zoom?
 
What is the maximum zoom when taking photos using the latest firmware? I know the optical zoom is 2x, but do you get another 2x digital for a 4x zoom?
Last I knew 48mm is max. I doubt I am latest firmware, maybe one behind I believe.
 
The manual says 2x Optical Zoom (24-48mm) is for the camera (still photos) and then it says 2x Digital Zoom when recording in 1080p24/25/30. Does this mean 4x total in video?
 
The manual says 2x Optical Zoom (24-48mm) is for the camera (still photos) and then it says 2x Digital Zoom when recording in 1080p24/25/30. Does this mean 4x total in video?
Video in 1080, yes under 60fps which isn't supported...which really sucks as that is what I normally film in. but I was aware of the limitation when I bought it.
 
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I'm disappointed that DJI didn't include a 2x digital zoom for the 2x optical lens. Because I rarely take video, the 4x or 6x video zoom isn't of much use for the wildlife I enjoy watching and taking pictures of. The one inch sensor on the Pro is looking better and better with the limitations of the M2Z.
 
What is the maximum zoom when taking photos using the latest firmware? I know the optical zoom is 2x, but do you get another 2x digital for a 4x zoom?
Did anyone know a definitive answer on this?
I am thinking of upgrading from a MM2 to a M2Z, to mainly use for building surveys. The MM2 was a bit of a test to see how useful it would be (very), but i need a decent zoom for taking still photos. The MM2 does 4x digital which is good, but i have heard that the M2Z only does 2x optical (no digital for photos). Its going to be a bit of a step down if it can only do 2x zoom.
I don't have time to mess around in post and just need to take the shot, upload it and put it in a report. I'm not trying to win any photo awards, just show a client what the issues are.
I am also thinking about looking at 3D modelling of buildings to offer as a service to clients.
 
Why bother with the zoom, I learnt long ago with photography on the ground that the best zoom is usually your legs, better quality with primes etc, with a drone I don't see the need for zoom as you have endless movement in 3d space.
 
Why bother with the zoom, I learnt long ago with photography on the ground that the best zoom is usually your legs, better quality with primes etc, with a drone I don't see the need for zoom as you have endless movement in 3d space.
I concur, I used a Phantom 3 Pro to do crop inspections and roofs and such. On crops I would shoot full res pictures at about 10 foot above 1" seedlings. I would then zoom in for client on a laptop, no issues, the simple zoom in done on computer side, would easily count ants if one was so inclined. A 2X zoom from 10 foot away would have one counting grains of sand IMHO. :)
 
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Did anyone know a definitive answer on this?
I am thinking of upgrading from a MM2 to a M2Z, to mainly use for building surveys. The MM2 was a bit of a test to see how useful it would be (very), but i need a decent zoom for taking still photos. The MM2 does 4x digital which is good, but i have heard that the M2Z only does 2x optical (no digital for photos). Its going to be a bit of a step down if it can only do 2x zoom.
I don't have time to mess around in post and just need to take the shot, upload it and put it in a report. I'm not trying to win any photo awards, just show a client what the issues are.
I am also thinking about looking at 3D modelling of buildings to offer as a service to clients.

Does your MM2 offer the 4x digital zoom when taking photos? I thought 4x only worked in video mode?
 
IMO a 4x-8x digital zoom for photos is a missing feature for operators that need realtime zoom while flying and want to save the zoomed image without spending more time in post to zoom the image. For many use cases it doesn't matter that the that digital zoom loses resolution or that a zoom created in post may be better than the zoom saved directly from the drone. I've been looking at the Autel platform as a substitute for DJI drones.


 
From what I've read, and my experience:
  • 2x (48mm) zoom is the maximum available in photo mode
  • Video mode, the zoom available is dependent on your video mode
    • 4K and 2K - maximum is 2x (48mm)
    • 1080p > 30 fps - maximum is 2x (48mm)
    • 1080p 30 fps or less - maximum 4x (96mm)
The 4x zoom is a 1080 crop of the image, not an upsampling. Some argue that this is a digital zoom, some say a lossless digital zoom. Regardless of what you call it, it works and I see no degradation in the image quality at 96mm.
 
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