DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Mini 3 Pro - not happy with camera

DJ_Mini

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2023
Messages
5
Reactions
0
Age
65
Location
New Zealand
I have been worried about the focus on my Mini 3 Pro camera. The left side is constantly slightly out of focus while the right side is sharp. It is not a depth of field issue because it happens when things are at the same distace left and right. On one shot here you can see along a coastline, houses at the far right of frame are sharp, but on the left not sharp. On the other shot is sand from above. As well as pretty much the whole extreme left of frame, each corner is slightly out of focus. More so on the left.

Am I expecting too much from this little camera? Or is something wrong?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... view?usp=drive_link
 
Those look pretty normal. Yes - the lenses have some falloff and the corners aren't as sharp as the center. I can't really tell from your pictures here how bad it is - perhaps you can take a picture of a billboard with lots of writing on it - making sure you are square to it. It would be easier to judge.
If the left side is really worse than the right, then you have a decentered element and a return to DJI is in order.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joethedrone
Suggest you try a little better lighting as that is key.
What I would do is set up optmal lighitng conditions and snap a picture in your house, this will determine quickly if there is an issue.

Next do a fly by close to some items to check your focus on the camera
something like this works well.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ZergSolo
Those look pretty normal. Yes - the lenses have some falloff and the corners aren't as sharp as the center. I can't really tell from your pictures here how bad it is - perhaps you can take a picture of a billboard with lots of writing on it - making sure you are square to it. It would be easier to judge.
If the left side is really worse than the right, then you have a decentered element and a return to DJI is in order.
It is definitely worse with video for some reason. This is a screenshot from video taken the same day, but the issue is consistent with all video. I have no idea why video would be different to camera.

 
I have been worried about the focus on my Mini 3 Pro camera. The left side is constantly slightly out of focus while the right side is sharp. It is not a depth of field issue because it happens when things are at the same distace left and right. On one shot here you can see along a coastline, houses at the far right of frame are sharp, but on the left not sharp. On the other shot is sand from above. As well as pretty much the whole extreme left of frame, each corner is slightly out of focus. More so on the left.

Am I expecting too much from this little camera? Or is something wrong?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... view?usp=drive_link
Sad to say: you are expecting too much. Generally speaking dronephoto suck, even with the much cherished Mavic 3 HB. It is just baloney compared to a mirrorless costing 600$.. I still use my M3P a lot, even for photo. But do not expect DSLR or mirrorless quality with regards to photo. They are better suited for video.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ksnax and waynorth
My first Mini 3 Pro had quite a bit of fuzziness at the sides of the images. In fact, only the centre part was 'in focus'. I accepted this as normal. But then I had issues with condensation in the camera unit when autumn came last year. I ended up with a replacement with the same issues and then a replacement for that one. The images are, in my opinion, less affected by the fuzziness.

So, in conclusion, there seems to be some variation in performance between units and you may be able to improve it with a replacement.
 
Sad to say: you are expecting too much. Generally speaking dronephoto suck, even with the much cherished Mavic 3 HB. It is just baloney compared to a mirrorless costing 600$.. I still use my M3P a lot, even for photo. But do not expect DSLR or mirrorless quality with regards to photo. They are better suited for video.
Well said and totally true. People generally expect too much from drone photos. Mostly those who do not know much about photography and lenses.
 

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
134,495
Messages
1,595,629
Members
163,019
Latest member
Mr. Jeff
Want to Remove this Ad? Simply login or create a free account