Mini photo quality

[Misscarolina]

So as a quite new drone user but a long time photographer im actually disappointed in the quality of photos. Of course it's not a full frame camera or a pro drone but still the quality resembles phone photo quality back in the days. Maybe its me and im doing something wrong but here are some examples as well. No editing straight from camera.

 

[Simon Bradford]

Seems good for a 12meg camera.

 

[Lightisol]

Contrast isn't the greatest out of camera, but you can get quite good images when the lighting is better. I got this with the Mavic Mini 2 days ago and I am satisfied for what it is. Also coming from a full frame camera it just takes some time getting used to it.

Keep in mind that the contrast is already bumped up in Lightroom for this one.

 

[Simon Bradford]

Now that is GOOD! Great photo!

 

[chriscuk]

For a $400 drone the pictures are incredible and it's harsh to compare it to an old smartphone. It's still better than lots of mid range current phones at the moment.

The video is better than average and the stabilisation too.

It's not going to mp2 quality because it's 1/4 of the price.

I think you've been expecting too much.

I'm upset that my BMW won't do 200mph and I lose in drag races to lambos.

 

[old man mavic]

it might not be up to the standard of a professional DSLR, but then again you cant take pics at 300 ft with a DSLR ,unless you spend £10,000 plus for a drone capable of carrying one

 

[chriscuk]

Looking at the photos they don't compare to the zoom from my £1500 telephoto lens on my £1000 camera nor do they compare to the night time abilities of my flagship mobile phone but again it's 1/3 of the price of my phone and this thing can fly!!!

 

[TDZHDTV]

I’m no photographer but I’m really pleased with the results, video looks good at sunset with a little playing around with Lumafusion. Photo has not been corrected.

 

[chriscuk]

I’m no photographer but I’m really pleased with the results, video looks good at sunset with a little playing around with Lumafusion. Photo has not been corrected.

Nah it's crap. Just bin the drone and grab an old nokia and throw the phone in the air on a timer
.............
...................
.........................
...................................

Nice shot though. Sure it's no pro-level shot. The noise is there obviously but its crazy what a £350 flying camera can do!

 

[old man mavic]

its not being marketed as professional quality flying camera ,but its still way ahead of the competition in terms of flight time ease of use and it is a good way to get into the pastime of drone flying and videoing

 

[chriscuk]

Perfect. I've spent money in the past on drones and got into it with modding them but other stuff came up so I fell out of love with it. This simple to use "toy" has got me back into it and I fear in 6months I'll have a MP2 or similar eating up my time

 

[Deleted member 109934]

So as a quite new drone user but a long time photographer im actually disappointed in the quality of photos. Of course it's not a full frame camera or a pro drone but still the quality resembles phone photo quality back in the days. Maybe its me and im doing something wrong but here are some examples as well. No editing straight from camera.

Imagine painter saying: my paintings are not so good because of my brushes and pain is not that great...
it's not the camera, it is a photographer and his/her understanding of light and composition, the camera has a bit aggressive sharpening algorithm, but it is just a tool. The camera doesn't take good photos, good photographers take great photos. Look at Lightisol photo, it is a great example.

 

[Luca Brazzi]

I just got mine today. I like it so far.

 

[Vurtle the turtle]

I would agree the camera isn’t anything amazing but for the price I have no complaints. Just like any new piece of gear it takes a little while to get use to its quirks and how to manipulate the inputs to good a good result.

This is my first drone so there’s been a bit of a learning curve and requires a different approach from traditional photography. So far I feel like it struggles a little to capture a clear image when there are lots of organic shapes(trees, bushes, tall grass, etc) and does it’s best when there are more geometric shapes. It probably has something to do with the censor not being able to clearly capture all the leaves and small detail.

It’s also worth noting that this isn’t the most flattering time of year for forest/nature photos. All the grays and browns tend to make photos look dingy and washed out.

I’ve managed to get a few images I’m pleased with though. These have been edited in Lightroom.

 

[mcoulter]

Wow, what I'm seeing here looks pretty good! On average a tad over-sharpened, but given the price, I'd say they are more than acceptable.

 

[Dave Maine]

From a tiny sensor, and few pixels it looks good. No match for bigger sensors and more pixels as you would expect.

12 mp is going to give you slightly more than 50% of the resolution if a 20 mp image.

the smaller image sensor area will be 10 - 20 % noise in marginal lighting conditions on dark areas

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

 

[Adammathers679]

I think the camera quality is great I’m good lighting but it does lack in bad lighting

 

[macfawlty]

So as a quite new drone user but a long time photographer im actually disappointed in the quality of photos. Of course it's not a full frame camera or a pro drone but still the quality resembles phone photo quality back in the days. Maybe its me and im doing something wrong but here are some examples as well. No editing straight from camera.

I would agree Miss Carolina, it's not great. The camera/processor is trying to make up for its low quality/high compression by adding in-camera sharpening. It looks ok until you zoom in and see it's basically colored splotches of mud. It's doing ok with the detail areas, but loses a lot of detail in larger color blocks where the in-camera sharpening can't distinguish. With that high level compression and post-processing, it can't really be enhanced in Lightroom beyond saturation and contrast. One factor you'll notice in the 3rd image is that the trees/landscape in the distance is a bit muddier. It's like hand-holding a camera at a slower shutter speed... less detail, which is why higher shutter speeds are preferred for landscape shots. Keep in mind that it's always going to look better with quality light and exposure. That said, considering it's a tiny camera on a flying object, for the money it's a miracle.

FWIW, the M2P isn't that great either, even with 'RAW' version, which isn't RAW by any professional measure.

 

[aneal321]

So as a quite new drone user but a long time photographer im actually disappointed in the quality of photos. Of course it's not a full frame camera or a pro drone but still the quality resembles phone photo quality back in the days. Maybe its me and im doing something wrong but here are some examples as well. No editing straight from camera.

The first one looks very good to me, all things considered type of drone, lens and sensor. The others aren't terrible, could use a bit more contrast, the scene photographed is probably not a real vibrant one to begin with. I'm not on the calibrated monitor that I normally use for photo editing at the moment. What would you like to see improved ?

 

[The Suburban Man]

So as a quite new drone user but a long time photographer im actually disappointed in the quality of photos. Of course it's not a full frame camera or a pro drone but still the quality resembles phone photo quality back in the days. Maybe its me and im doing something wrong but here are some examples as well. No editing straight from camera.

How DARE you say anything bad about a DJI product.... You have to realize that MOST people here have never seen a camera before getting a drone. They aren't photographers, so they know nothing about photo quality.

So, I believe in good light, the camera looks better. Cameras ALWAYS look better in good lighting. Good lighting is everything as you know.

Your critique is fair. The problem I have with the drone is that it steps up the image in bright spots and blows the highlights. I Understand that it was worse before the firmware update. I took the following pictures( the one with in the ones with the the bridge, I took with the 12 megpixel DJi Spark. Check out markdanielimaging 's profile

As far as the Spark, I knew the video would suffer from the digital 3rd axis stabilization, but the pictures were pretty great! As far as the Mavic Mini Vs the Spark, the video IS better than the DJI Spark, which I didn't like for Video. However, for pictures the Spark was better, but the Phantom 3, Standard was better than both for videos and pictures.

I do like the Mavic Mini, but it does have problems.