Photo quality?

[Meta4]

but if I was a photographer like you I would definitely have to get the cinema version and spend five grand plus taxes,Probably in another three or four days you’ll start seeing pictures of what she can do

There is no reason for anyone but professional video makers to get the cine version.
It's won't do a thing for still photographers, that the basic model doesn't do.

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

95% of my work is in still photography as well.

The main focus from what I've read was on "video" upgrades. This camera still has 20 MP. The images might be a little better due to the 4/3 lens, but I wouldn't invest that kind of money in it.

It really depends on how you define "better". If most of your images are shot in day light, I doubt you would notice any major difference between the two, and you are better off with M2P or Air 2s, since there are better investment.

If you shot images in low light conditions (dawn/dusk/night), the 4/3 sensor should give you at least one stop advantage, when it comes to high ISO performance. This is what I found out, when comparing the low-light image quality between Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II (4/3 sensor) and Sony DSC-RX100 V (1" inch sensor).

Some other things to consider:

1) The 50% increased flight time (46 min vs. 31 min) gives you more freedom to scout the terrain, compose and shoot, especially during sunrise/sunset. The sky still looks fantastic, even 20 minutes after sun goes down the horizon. You might miss a golden opportunity, if you have to land your drone, change the battery, and fly back to the same spot to continue the shooting.

2) The extra wind resistance of M3 means more stable shoot in windy condition, also helps in long exposure during night shoot.

3) The 7x telephone camera. If you are creative, you can still come back with some interesting and unique images.

4) The 15.5mm add-on wide angle lens. Personally I think this accessary is a killer feature for photographers, since it opens a whole new door to more dramatic aerial images.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

I was looking forward to it with 99 % photography in mind coming from the M2P.
Sure thing, the mFT sensor has better specs and will most likely perform better concerning DNR in low light. But it is not a major take, it doubt it's one stop at the end.

Besides its hefty price tag, the upgrade from the M2P is not worth it in terms of photography for me. The published samples are not impressive so far. Likely more comparisons to come ...

Given that, the non-working SC v1 is another major disadvantage so far, with maybe an update in the next months (as the M3 will get anyway with other functions are place holders so far), to resolve, I somehow second the opinion of a rushed release. You cannot even buy the new Pro Controller separately but with the expensive Cine package.

It's unbalanced from a hobbyist, mostly photography related point of view, but maybe that's not what DJI is aiming for anyway. For video it is a worthy upgrade I guess, but how much from the Air 2S?

The only thing that I had high hopes was the C certification/marking for EU countries. But that is still not in place and only 1,5 months left until 2022 the new regulatory will be mandatory. The M2P unluckily is too heavy with its 1 kg and will require more tests (online and personally) where as the < 900 g world has some ease.

As for me, as with the M2P, I will most certainly wait some time, probably until the next year to see, what it is really all about.

There's nothing wrong with older drones but the miserable EU regulatory constrain their use to some extent.

 

[GFields]

1) The 50% increased flight time (46 min vs. 31 min) gives you more freedom to scout the terrain, compose and shoot, especially during sunrise/sunset. The sky still looks fantastic, even 20 minutes after sun goes down the horizon. You might miss a golden opportunity, if you have to land your drone, change the battery, and fly back to the same spot to continue the shooting.

2) The extra wind resistance of M3 means more stable shoot in windy condition, also helps in long exposure during night shoot.

3) The 7x telephone camera. If you are creative, you can still come back with some interesting and unique images.

4) The 15.5mm add-on wide angle lens. Personally I think this accessary is a killer feature for photographers, since it opens a whole new door to more dramatic aerial images.

Thank you for the information. Yeah, most if not all, my work is done during daylight hours. and although the slight improvements you pointed out are great, I just can't see the feasibility to upgrade - at least at this point. Who knows what Black Friday will bring - maybe discounted prices enough to grab the standard model. Thanks again for sharing these improvements.

 

[GFields]

Why? It's a drone. It isn't a camera.

Yes, indeed it's a camera.

 

[sar104]

I was looking forward to it with 99 % photography in mind coming from the M2P.
Sure thing, the mFT sensor has better specs and will most likely perform better concerning DNR in low light. But it is not a major take, it doubt it's one stop at the end.

Besides its hefty price tag, the upgrade from the M2P is not worth it in terms of photography for me. The published samples are not impressive so far. Likely more comparisons to come ...

Given that, the non-working SC v1 is another major disadvantage so far, with maybe an update in the next months (as the M3 will get anyway with other functions are place holders so far), to resolve, I somehow second the opinion of a rushed release. You cannot even buy the new Pro Controller separately but with the expensive Cine package.

It's unbalanced from a hobbyist, mostly photography related point of view, but maybe that's not what DJI is aiming for anyway. For video it is a worthy upgrade I guess, but how much from the Air 2S?

The only thing that I had high hopes was the C certification/marking for EU countries. But that is still not in place and only 1,5 months left until 2022 the new regulatory will be mandatory. The M2P unluckily is too heavy with its 1 kg and will require more tests (online and personally) where as the < 900 g world has some ease.

As for me, as with the M2P, I will most certainly wait some time, probably until the next year to see, what it is really all about.

There's nothing wrong with older drones but the miserable EU regulatory constrain their use to some extent.

DJI RC Pro - DJI

DJI RC Pro is a professional-level remote controller that features a powerful next-generation processor, O3+ video transmission technology, and 4G network communication. It also uses the same control sticks as the DJI FPV drone to provide a smoother control experience, bringing aerial...

www.dji.com

 

[GFields]

DJI RC Pro - DJI

DJI RC Pro is a professional-level remote controller that features a powerful next-generation processor, O3+ video transmission technology, and 4G network communication. It also uses the same control sticks as the DJI FPV drone to provide a smoother control experience, bringing aerial...

www.dji.com

Hi there, sar104 have you had a chance to use the DJI RC Pro yet? It looks impressive! The only negative thing I can say about the specs is it is still only a 1000 nits in brightness. Anyway, if you have used it tell me what you think. Thanks

 

[globetrotterdrone]

DJI RC Pro - DJI

DJI RC Pro is a professional-level remote controller that features a powerful next-generation processor, O3+ video transmission technology, and 4G network communication. It also uses the same control sticks as the DJI FPV drone to provide a smoother control experience, bringing aerial...

www.dji.com

You're right, you can order it but only at DJI, what I will certainly not do (especially for this price and no real advantage against the v1). Unfortunately no where else ...

 

[sar104]

Hi there, sar104 have you had a chance to use the DJI RC Pro yet? It looks impressive! The only negative thing I can say about the specs is it is still only a 1000 nits in brightness. Anyway, if you have used it tell me what you think. Thanks

I don't have the new version - mine is the old version that comes with the M2EA. I've had no problems with the brightness, although I guess that brighter is always better, at least up to a point.

You're right, you can order it but only at DJI, what I will certainly not do (especially for this price and no real advantage against the v1). Unfortunately no where else ...

Sorry - the goalposts are moving too fast - I'm not playing this game.

 

[Scotdrone]

I've had a look at some sample DNG files from various sources and false colour fringing (moire) on fine details on the M3 is absolutely horrendous. The camera produced jpeg doesn't show the issue so there must be some form of correcting filtering being done in camera but if you work with raw files then the moire issue is a real problem that I can't find a solution too (without manually having to 'brush out' the offending bold colour patterns).

 

[Bussty]

I've had a look at some sample DNG files from various sources and false colour fringing (moire) on fine details on the M3 is absolutely horrendous. The camera produced jpeg doesn't show the issue so there must be some form of correcting filtering being done in camera but if you work with raw files then the moire issue is a real problem that I can't find a solution too (without manually having to 'brush out' the offending bold colour patterns).

Glad it's not just me! This is all about lens quality isn't it? Would be really good for Hasselblad to release a RAW converter that produces the Jpegs so we can tweak lighting levels etc but also have this correction done so we don't have to start from a lower quality Jpeg

 

[sar104]

Glad it's not just me! This is all about lens quality isn't it? Would be really good for Hasselblad to release a RAW converter that produces the Jpegs so we can tweak lighting levels etc but also have this correction done so we don't have to start from a lower quality Jpeg

I'm not seeing much fringing at all in the RAW images. This is a 100% crop:



Do you have any examples?

 

[aicneneb]

Just saw this review: DJI Mavic 3 | Original Footage Download and downloaded the stills. Same story: Soft corners (like any other drone, not complaining here) and not a big leap forward in terms of photo quality.

 

[BingBong]

I've had a look at some sample DNG files from various sources and false colour fringing (moire) on fine details on the M3 is absolutely horrendous. The camera produced jpeg doesn't show the issue so there must be some form of correcting filtering being done in camera but if you work with raw files then the moire issue is a real problem that I can't find a solution too (without manually having to 'brush out' the offending bold colour patterns).

Like I've said in another thread, it's not worth bothering editing Raw yet. If you are using Photoshop or Lightroom, it's not on Adobe's list of supported cameras yet, but because it is DNG format, they will open the files and do a lousy job with them as there is no profile for the M3 yet. Better judging JPGs, as they will include DJI's corrections for CA, distortion, moire etc. Adobe Camera Raw will need an update to support it.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Keep in mind that if any of you are downloading the DNG's to look at, that is a completely unprocessed file, so it is going to look soft and dull. That is intentional. On top of that, I haven't seen any RAW converters that have actually been updated with support for the M3, and the quality of the RAW conversion has a huge impact on the final result. The ability to objectively compare them to other drones will get better and better as time goes on, shouldn't be too long.

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

Just saw this review: DJI Mavic 3 | Original Footage Download and downloaded the stills. Same story: Soft corners (like any other drone, not complaining here) and not a big leap forward in terms of photo quality.

I examined his DNG files in Adobe Camera Raw 14. All of his images are captured at F2.8. The soft corners should be improved, if he stop down the aperture to F5.6.

As for overall photo quality, I don't expect any major difference between 1" v.s. 4/3" sensor, when the lighting condition is good. You need to test these sensors in low-light conditions, bump up ISO, in order to see the real difference, in terms of color rendering, dynamic range, and noise.

 

[aicneneb]

Keep in mind that if any of you are downloading the DNG's to look at, that is a completely unprocessed file, so it is going to look soft and dull. That is intentional. On top of that, I haven't seen any RAW converters that have actually been updated with support for the M3, and the quality of the RAW conversion has a huge impact on the final result. The ability to objectively compare them to other drones will get better and better as time goes on, shouldn't be too long.

Yes, I know that. I am a professional photographer and I can judge the raw file straight out of the camera. What I am trying to say is that I can see a flaw regarding optical quality than can be in part improved via software. But it is not going to be a HUGE upgrade from the air 2s (in terms of photography).

 

[Scotdrone]

I'm not seeing much fringing at all in the RAW images. This is a 100% crop:

View attachment 138074

Do you have any examples?

i can see slight colour moire on some detailed sections (the fencing). It would show up more if it was brighter.

 

[BingBong]

Does anyone remember how much the Raw editing results improved on an earlier model like the M2P or A2S before and after Adobe adding support in Camera Raw? I'm used to proprietary Raws (Olympus ORF), where you can't edit new model Raws until they are supported unless you spoof an older model. With DNG being an open format, they are obviously readable immediately, before being fully supported. It would be interesting to know what corrections Lightroom can read now from the DJI info in the DNGs. I'm guessing things like distortion, CA and vignetting.

 

[sar104]

i can see slight colour moire on some detailed sections (the fencing). It would show up more if it was brighter.

Possibly - very slight. At 100%. Not a real problem, and certainly not remotely "absolutely horrendous", which was how you described it earlier. Where are the examples of that?