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Photo comparison Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom

michalip

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Hi
As I'm interested more in photography (landscapes) - I havent been able to find photo comparisons between these two , people seem to focus on video more (yes I understand that video is a set of images)

Can anyone share links/examples of side by side image comparisons that would show a difference , if any

Thanks in advance
 
For stills, the Mavic 2 Pro is enormously better and the stills are not affected by all the M2P's video disadvantages. You're talking about a 1" 20MP sensor vs a 1/2.3" 12MP sensor so the differences are very apparent.

If you want a similar comparison, take any modern smartphone or 1/2.3" point & shoot and compare it to a Sony RX100. You can download full sized samples from DPreview or Imaging Resource easily. Ignoring the lenses, which do not seem to be major factors in either case, that is the approximate quality difference you can expect for stills.

Especially for stills, it is a lot easier to recommend the M2P over the Zoom or other tiny-sensor, low resolution drones. I haven't seen any well done, properly controlled comparisons between the two yet either but those same sensors exist in other products that you can get a good idea from.

If the link works, you can start here:

Image comparison: Digital Photography Review
 
I have m2pro & m1pro.
The difference in dynamic range and high iso ability is huge. I 'd say at least 1.5 stops in both aspects.
I have fun making video out of raw photos, imported in LR, tweaked with Lrtimelapse, exported in 16bit tiffs, stabilized in Premiere, and exported in h265 10bit video. Marvelous hdr results
 
Hi,
Everything you mentioned makes sense and I agree.
Yet since there were extensive comparisons between zoom and pro, I would expect a stills comparison also.
Maybe unnecessary for some but I d like to see it :)

For stills, the Mavic 2 Pro is enormously better and the stills are not affected by all the M2P's video disadvantages. You're talking about a 1" 20MP sensor vs a 1/2.3" 12MP sensor so the differences are very apparent.

If you want a similar comparison, take any modern smartphone or 1/2.3" point & shoot and compare it to a Sony RX100. You can download full sized samples from DPreview or Imaging Resource easily. Ignoring the lenses, which do not seem to be major factors in either case, that is the approximate quality difference you can expect for stills.

Especially for stills, it is a lot easier to recommend the M2P over the Zoom or other tiny-sensor, low resolution drones. I haven't seen any well done, properly controlled comparisons between the two yet either but those same sensors exist in other products that you can get a good idea from.

If the link works, you can start here:

Image comparison: Digital Photography Review
 
I have m2pro & m1pro.
The difference in dynamic range and high iso ability is huge. I 'd say at least 1.5 stops in both aspects.
I have fun making video out of raw photos, imported in LR, tweaked with Lrtimelapse, exported in 16bit tiffs, stabilized in Premiere, and exported in h265 10bit video. Marvelous hdr results

We can see it ???
 
Hi,
Everything you mentioned makes sense and I agree.
Yet since there were extensive comparisons between zoom and pro, I would expect a stills comparison also.
Maybe unnecessary for some but I d like to see it :)

I'd like to see it too, I just don't think anyone has done a proper controlled test yet. All the really good websites with the resources and equipment to do the best tests don't seem to test drones unfortunately.
 
I have m2pro & m1pro.
The difference in dynamic range and high iso ability is huge. I 'd say at least 1.5 stops in both aspects.
I have fun making video out of raw photos, imported in LR, tweaked with Lrtimelapse, exported in 16bit tiffs, stabilized in Premiere, and exported in h265 10bit video. Marvelous hdr results
Yeah those videos are quite phenomenal! Seems they are a lot better than the regular video quality. I just checked in Adobe Premiere and you can really zoom in a lot more than a video without much loss in quality.
 
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Reactions: ge0kas
That's the first time I've seen hyperlapse. Thanks, ge0kas !
 

Nice, but it's a shame Dropbox only had them at 720p. What I was impressed with is the stability of your Hyperlapses. I've found it very difficult getting my M2P to take the images without moving all over the place? Most of my Hyperlapses have the wobbles that even strong stabilisation in FCPX and Mercalli won't resolve. What were your conditions like? Wind etc?
 
I have both M2Pro and M2Zoom, and had a M1Pro before, and I'm mostly into photography rather than videography.

The M2Pro is generally better, of course. More dynamic range, more resolution, less noise. But you know all that from the specs.

I also tried the M2Zoom for photography, and it has a few more subtle advantages as well. First, it goes to 24 mm on the wide end. So, if you're restricted in altitude, those 4 mm more might be what you need to get the picture you want because the 28 mm of the M2Pro aren't wide enough. Same goes for the telephoto end: You may be unable to descend into a crater or something because you would lose radio connectivity, so you can stay higher and zoom in with the M2Zoom, and end up with more pixels than using the M2Pro and cropping afterwards.

The lens of the M2Zoom has a weak spot, which is corner sharpness at 24 mm, but it's tolerable for most subjects I think. My M2Pro had a decentered lens first, so I sent it back to DJI for exchange, and got a good one back. (Used the M2Zoom in the meantime, and that's my use case indeed: I want to have a backup, and the M2Zoom is a much better backup because it can share all accessories (except filters) with the M2Pro, while the M1Pro couldn't, so I sold that and bought the M2Zoom in addition to the M2Pro.)

Also a major difference: the M2Zoom makes 4:3 photos, the M2Pro makes 3:2 photos. Coming from ground-based DSLR photography, the 3:2 is more my thing, and I often would crop the 4:3 photos from the M2Zoom (and M1Pro before that) to 3:2, further reducing resolution.

Regarding the spec differences: keep in mind that, depending on your style, many if not most subjects don't exceed even the M2Zoom's dynamic range. So, if you would be able to use low ISO most of the time, and 12MP is enough, the M2Zoom is also an option for photography. Still, I'm almost always choosing the M2Pro anyway.
 
Nice, but it's a shame Dropbox only had them at 720p. What I was impressed with is the stability of your Hyperlapses. I've found it very difficult getting my M2P to take the images without moving all over the place? Most of my Hyperlapses have the wobbles that even strong stabilisation in FCPX and Mercalli won't resolve. What were your conditions like? Wind etc?

You are missing out my friend. Here is a hyperlapse taken in 25mph winds last evening.

 
I have both M2Pro and M2Zoom, and had a M1Pro before, and I'm mostly into photography rather than videography.

The M2Pro is generally better, of course. More dynamic range, more resolution, less noise. But you know all that from the specs.

I also tried the M2Zoom for photography, and it has a few more subtle advantages as well. First, it goes to 24 mm on the wide end. So, if you're restricted in altitude, those 4 mm more might be what you need to get the picture you want because the 28 mm of the M2Pro aren't wide enough. Same goes for the telephoto end: You may be unable to descend into a crater or something because you would lose radio connectivity, so you can stay higher and zoom in with the M2Zoom, and end up with more pixels than using the M2Pro and cropping afterwards.

The lens of the M2Zoom has a weak spot, which is corner sharpness at 24 mm, but it's tolerable for most subjects I think. My M2Pro had a decentered lens first, so I sent it back to DJI for exchange, and got a good one back. (Used the M2Zoom in the meantime, and that's my use case indeed: I want to have a backup, and the M2Zoom is a much better backup because it can share all accessories (except filters) with the M2Pro, while the M1Pro couldn't, so I sold that and bought the M2Zoom in addition to the M2Pro.)

Also a major difference: the M2Zoom makes 4:3 photos, the M2Pro makes 3:2 photos. Coming from ground-based DSLR photography, the 3:2 is more my thing, and I often would crop the 4:3 photos from the M2Zoom (and M1Pro before that) to 3:2, further reducing resolution.

Regarding the spec differences: keep in mind that, depending on your style, many if not most subjects don't exceed even the M2Zoom's dynamic range. So, if you would be able to use low ISO most of the time, and 12MP is enough, the M2Zoom is also an option for photography. Still, I'm almost always choosing the M2Pro anyway.


thank you!
 
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