Mini 2 DNG Mystery ?!?

[Brojon]

This defect is NOT visible in the built-in Preview app on the Mac.
The defect is also NOT visible using Luminar 4 app.

It may be they are using the JPG preview image which is embedded in every DNG.
I know one editor used the preview for making adjustments since it's small and fast and then applied to the raw image inside when changes were committed.
Really dumb which may be why they're not in business anymore.

 

[Mfpullen]

Good thought Brojon...of the jpg previewer. Could someone process the image with a defect with basic LR adjustments and export it. Then let’s see if there is a magenta line.

 

[Mfpullen]

Oh well...gave it a try. Using the DNG embedded in this thread I ran it through LR. Tried basic edits and exporting to JPM, TIFF, BMP and it still retained the magenta line. I tried cleaning it up with the content aware tool grabbing a wide swath and using a light tint with the gradient tool. Looked pretty good as long as you don't intend to blow this up past 8x10.

 

[Brojon]

There is definitely a problem with Adobe. I downloaded your DNG and processed it both in Photoshop 2021 and On1 Raw 2020. The split only appears with Adobe. FWIW, I rarely process raw images in Photoshop, never in Lightroom. My number 1 and number 2 raw processors are Capture 1 Pro and On1Raw 2020. As a side note, I think there is more shadow detail clarity in the On1 image though it may have processed the image a bit brighter lending itself to that.

View attachment 118117

I like On1 - I own several of their products but I do have beefs with how they process RAW. The 2020 version also has issues with importing lens metadata which they dispute but I have proven the issue doesn't exist in 2021 version.
To my eye the sky has far too much cyan in the On1 rendering. You can see the blue cast in the cloud dark areas. The Adobe version is a more neutral grey (but has a slight cast as well).

 

[vindibona1]

I like On1 - I own several of their products but I do have beefs with how they process RAW. The 2020 version also has issues with importing lens metadata which they dispute but I have proven the issue doesn't exist in 2021 version.
To my eye the sky has far too much cyan in the On1 rendering. You can see the blue cast in the cloud dark areas. The Adobe version is a more neutral grey (but has a slight cast as well).

I know it's more expensive, but if you do a lot of RAW processing you should look into Phase One's Capture One Pro. I've used it since around 2001 and currently have version C1p v12. Perhaps that explains part of my aversion to learning Lightroom. Back the Lightroom wasn't even an idea in Adobe's mind. In the very early versions of C1P when it wasn't as sophisticated I could color correct 1000 images/hr and then process them unattended. As their program got more sophisticated I found it slower, but I no longer have the massive image dumps like when I was still shooting weddings. I think somewhere I still have V 3.7 on a different license that I suppose I could install anytime should I need to speed process large quantities of images.

 

[karlblessing]

If you go full zoom on it you can see a distinct line across the image. It is a real issue.
Usually folks with a color calibrated image workflow will see these much more readily than someone who does not.

View attachment 118524

Such as myself being a professional photographer. But it may also be why DJI's own support staff sending me screenshots from Photoshop, claiming it was fine, didn't even see the square in their own screenshots but I did.

 

[Thomas B]

If you go full zoom on it you can see a distinct line across the image. It is a real issue.
Usually folks with a color calibrated image workflow will see these much more readily than someone who does not.

View attachment 118524

Great investigating!

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

Such as myself being a professional photographer. But it may also be why DJI's own support staff sending me screenshots from Photoshop, claiming it was fine, didn't even see the square in their own screenshots but I did.

We had to get our color vision tested since I do color corrections for a living. Definitely not everyone sees color the same way. We deal with this from clients all the time, they will ask for a move that is in the complete opposite direction of what is needed. I doubt many of DJI's employees are tested for colorblindness much less how well they can see it. It doesn't surprise me that they can't see it...

 

[Bobell69]

I'm having a weird problem processing Mini 2 DNG raw files in Lightroom or Photoshop (Adobe Camera Raw - ACR) on a Mac.

When viewed in Lightroom or Photoshop there is a subtle, but distinct, magenta cast in the top-left quarter of the image.

This defect is NOT visible in the built-in Preview app on the Mac.

The defect is also NOT visible using Luminar 4 app.

There is no problem with JPEG photos, or video I shoot. Just DNG.

It seems to be something specific to Adobe raw processing.

You can notice it in the image I have attached (exported as JPG from the original DNG). Top-left quarter of the image.

Has anyone else noticed this weird feature?

There is a definite problem with the DNG Raw files, especially ones created in Pano mode. See the sample I just uploaded with this note. I just did two panos this morning and they are definitely corrupted. Someone wrote that DJI is aware, I sure hope they are and that they can fi it in firmware. Just wondering if I should open a ticket regardless and include this image.

 

[karlblessing]

There is a definite problem with the DNG Raw files, especially ones created in Pano mode. See the sample I just uploaded with this note. I just did two panos this morning and they are definitely corrupted. Someone wrote that DJI is aware, I sure hope they are and that they can fi it in firmware. Just wondering if I should open a ticket regardless and include this image.

Just a note, it *ONLY* shows up when you shoot in Pano mode, haven't seen that upper-left-25% shift on any other modes. And yes they're aware after I kept escalating it on them and calling them out on their cookie-cutter-responses claiming I needed to do manual white balance.

 

[Bobell69]

Thank you Karlblessing for the quick response to my note. I'm pleased that you escalated this issue at DJI and perhaps this will be corrected in the next firmware update. I think the Lightroom import issues are related to this as well.

 

[karlblessing]

Thank you Karlblessing for the quick response to my note. I'm pleased that you escalated this issue at DJI and perhaps this will be corrected in the next firmware update. I think the Lightroom import issues are related to this as well.

Course that wouldn't be surprising seeing as the issue shows up in Adobe Camera Raw (ie: in bridge and photoshop), so they're handling the raw decoding thru the same means. It is interesting though at least visually that the problem only occurs within Adobe products, but DJI stated it's a problem on their end (they'll probably be working with Adobe behind the scene if they wish to correct it without having to re-write the way they create raw files in panoramic mode).

The only real difference between DNG files in Panorama and the rest, is that the Jpeg files are 3 megapixels instead of full size (And you can only do Jpeg+Raw or Jpeg, there's no Raw-only option). And that 3 megapixel size fits perfectly in the affected area. I bet if they simply allowed raw-only capture in the drone, that would quickly be a work-around, while removing the import ability via phone.

There's other things they have to fix in firmware as well so I don't think we'll see a firmware update until after Christmas maybe.

 

[silenec]

Here is how I process the corrupted photos:

1) import DNGs to darktable - the photo workflow software
2) export as 16bit TIFFs
3) import TIFFs to Lightroom or Photoshop

 

[Bobell69]

Here is how I process the corrupted photos:

1) import DNGs to darktable - the photo workflow software
2) export as 16bit TIFFs
3) import TIFFs to Lightroom or Photoshop

I will give Dark Table a try. Thanks for this

 

[UAV Ernst]

Here is how I process the corrupted photos:

1) import DNGs to darktable - the photo workflow software
2) export as 16bit TIFFs
3) import TIFFs to Lightroom or Photoshop

I have just tried one of Bob's .dng files from his spherical pano series and opened it in Affinity Photo and there is no difference between the top-left quadrant and the rest of the image. Hooray!

Export it as a 16 bit tiff, open that in Lightroom or Photoshopand it shows no artifacts.

Now to get Photoshop and Lightroom producing the same goodness via Adobe Camera Raw directly...

 

[karlblessing]

I have just tried one of Bob's .dng files from his spherical pano series and opened it in Affinity Photo and there is no difference between the top-left quadrant and the rest of the image. Hooray!

Export it as a 16 bit tiff, open that in Lightroom or Photoshopand it shows no artifacts.

Now to get Photoshop and Lightroom producing the same goodness via Adobe Camera Raw directly...

hopefully they'll fix that soon, because I prefer being able to stitch a panoramic into a DNG destination so that it's still a raw adjustable image stitched before finally getting into PS.

But at least that's a decent work around that can put out a 16-bit image.

PS: The firmware update that came out today, doesn't address that, nor the orange line on 4K/30p.

 

[JoostGT3]

hopefully they'll fix that soon, because I prefer being able to stitch a panoramic into a DNG destination so that it's still a raw adjustable image stitched before finally getting into PS.

But at least that's a decent work around that can put out a 16-bit image.

PS: The firmware update that came out today, doesn't address that, nor the orange line on 4K/30p.

Ha Karl,
Is that possible? What I normally do is open all DNGs in camera raw simultaneously, select a representative one and apply all changes. Then synchronize those and open them in Photoshop and stitch them. Is the resulting stitched image still editable in Camera Raw?

 

[UAV Ernst]

Ha Karl,
Is that possible? What I normally do is open all DNGs in camera raw simultaneously, select a representative one and apply all changes. Then synchronize those and open them in Photoshop and stitch them. Is the resulting stitched image still editable in Camera Raw?

I have a similar workflow. Open up the DNG files simultaneously in Adobe Camera Raw, and save the 16 bit tiff's. Drag those into PTGui, stitch and save the pano file as a tiff. I then take that resultant file back into Photoshop, stretch the sky upwards and save as a 16,000x 8,000 pixel rectilinear JPEG for Kuula.co.