Mini 4 Pro losing video quality when zooming

[Beckham1121]

Please forgive me if I am posting this in the wrong section or, if this has been discussed already (I wasn't able to find any previous threads). I've noticed, while in flight as I am recording video, when I zoom in to the maximum 3X everything on the ground starts to look like mine craft. Visibly pixeled. It's especially noticeable in trees. I'm hoping it's just a minor issue in the camera settings but, I am nowhere near being a professional photographer and always set my camera to auto because of this. This is shooting 4K at 48fps. It also doesn't seem to make a difference what filter I am using.

Has anyone else had this issue and if so, how did you fix it? Thank you for any suggestions you can provide.

 

[GFields]

Please forgive me if I am posting this in the wrong section or, if this has been discussed already (I wasn't able to find any previous threads). I've noticed, while in flight as I am recording video, when I zoom in to the maximum 3X everything on the ground starts to look like mine craft. Visibly pixeled. It's especially noticeable in trees. I'm hoping it's just a minor issue in the camera settings but, I am nowhere near being a professional photographer and always set my camera to auto because of this. This is shooting 4K at 48fps. It also doesn't seem to make a difference what filter I am using.

Has anyone else had this issue and if so, how did you fix it? Thank you for any suggestions you can provide.

I am not having that issue. Do you have it set for AF or MF?

 

[davidarmenb]

When you zoom like that, which is a digital zoom, the video is just being cropped in, so the more you zoom, the less resolution you have. The physical lens on the drone isn’t zooming, it’s just a crop. It is totally normal and not an issue.

Here is a quick explanation on YouTube.

 

[Beckham1121]

I am not having that issue. Do you have it set for AF or MF?

It is set for AF. I try not to do anything manual so I don't screw up the image. The majority of the time I record video. I rarely do still shots. I figure if I see something in the video I want to make a still shot out of, I just capture a screen shot of it.

 

[Beckham1121]

When you zoom like that, which is a digital zoom, the video is just being cropped in, so the more you zoom, the less resolution you have. The physical lens on the drone isn’t zooming, it’s just a crop. It is totally normal and not an issue.

Here is a quick explanation on YouTube.

That video is an excellent explanation of optical zoom. I'm from the old school where with 35mm when you zoomed the lens physically moved. This digital stuff is still foreign to me but, I do understand some of it. Thank you.

 

[Droning on and on...]

When you zoom like that, which is a digital zoom, the video is just being cropped in, so the more you zoom, the less resolution you have. The physical lens on the drone isn’t zooming, it’s just a crop. It is totally normal and not an issue.

Here is a quick explanation on YouTube.

Depends on output resolution.

A 4k (3840×2160) sensor can be zoomed 2× shooting 1080p, center cropped to 1/4 of the pixels without losing resolution.

The imaging pipeline does not first decimate the full 4K sensor to FHD, and then crop out the center quarter of that reduced-resolution set of pixels, then blow them up with bicubic or some other pixel duplication algorithm. That would obviously be stupid.

 

[EssenYVR]

Digital zoom cannot exceed the resolution of the lens/sensor without loosing quality.

If quality at 3X zoom is important, then you need a drone with a longer lens, like the Mavic series. It has three separate cameras with three different focal lengths.

 

[Beckham1121]

Should have clarified better... I also fly a mini 2 and 3. They don't seem to lose as much clarity when d zooming compared to the mini 4 pro. I guess my question is... Is there a way to pick up additional clarity (through settings, etc.) while d zooming the mini 4 pro, to bring it into parity with the mini 2 and 3?

 

[AeroJ]

Is there a way to pick up additional clarity (through settings, etc.) while d zooming the mini 4 pro, to bring it into parity with the mini 2 and 3?

You're not trying to do that 'zoom and enhance!' thing that always works on TV are you ? Lols.

The only control you have in the app that could help is the sharpness and denoise modifiers, and this is probably linked to the difference you are noticing - I don't believe the 2 and 3 provided these controls (?), and I think the noise and sharpness algorithms used in the M4P are different to those used previously (and supposedly better).

Trouble is, whatever good may be the case from having those controls when zoom isn't involved can be somewhat offset by the corresponding artefacts caused when using them in conjunction with it ! Zooming makes both those things worse or at least more noticeable unfortunately.

So in summary, no, not much you can do about that other than denoise / re-sharpen it in editing later.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Should have clarified better... I also fly a mini 2 and 3. They don't seem to lose as much clarity when d zooming compared to the mini 4 pro. I guess my question is... Is there a way to pick up additional clarity (through settings, etc.) while d zooming the mini 4 pro, to bring it into parity with the mini 2 and 3?

You're being fooled, a bit, from mixing different output resolutions.

For example, the 4 can shoot 4k video, while the 2 is limited to 2.7k. So, zooming in will result in more apparent loss of resolution, depending on the zoom factor.

Shoot 1080p with both drones, zoom both, then compare. You should be able to zoom 2x on the 4P in 1080p (FHD) with no loss of resolution. I've tested it.

 

[Beckham1121]

You're being fooled, a bit, from mixing different output resolutions.

For example, the 4 can shoot 4k video, while the 2 is limited to 2.7k. So, zooming in will result in more apparent loss of resolution, depending on the zoom factor.

Shoot 1080p with both drones, zoom both, then compare. You should be able to zoom 2x on the 4P in 1080p (FHD) with no loss of resolution. I've tested it.

Don't know about other Mini 2's, I think they're mostly the same, but mine shoots in 4K too.

 

[Beckham1121]

You're not trying to do that 'zoom and enhance!' thing that always works on TV are you ? Lols.

The only control you have in the app that could help is the sharpness and denoise modifiers, and this is probably linked to the difference you are noticing - I don't believe the 2 and 3 provided these controls (?), and I think the noise and sharpness algorithms used in the M4P are different to those used previously (and supposedly better).

Trouble is, whatever good may be the case from having those controls when zoom isn't involved can be somewhat offset by the corresponding artefacts caused when using them in conjunction with it ! Zooming makes both those things worse or at least more noticeable unfortunately.

So in summary, no, not much you can do about that other than denoise / re-sharpen it in editing later.

Makes a ton of sense, thank you. And, no I'm an old person who doesn't do Zoom and enhance on my TV. I know how to turn it on and make things play on it and that's about it.

 

[AeroJ]

And, no I'm an old person who doesn't do Zoom and enhance on my TV.

Worry not, this was a joke, referring to all those silly films and TV scenes where a detective instructs the video operator to 'zoom in and enhance this area' and then the operator is able to comply, which, at the time was completely impossible in the real world, yet so many shows did it it became a TV trope and a long-running joke for everyone in the industry who knew better.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Don't know about other Mini 2's, I think they're mostly the same, but mine shoots in 4K too.

Sorry, thinking of the SE, with the recent renaming of the 2 to the Mini 4K.