Poor quality and out of focus on 3x camera

TheGroove · Dec 22, 2023

I'm just now using it and realizing how bad it really is, here is a comparison between the 3x and the 7x, which is far better. I'm guessing I'll need to send it in but want to make sure I'm not missing something. Has anyone else experienced this?

3x

7x

zeusfl · Dec 22, 2023

That was the exact same problem with the one of the first firmware of the Mavic 3. After few firmware they improved the issue. Not fix but improved.

AlanL · Dec 22, 2023

That looks pretty bad. Nothing in common with what I am getting out of my 3x.

Meta4 · Dec 23, 2023

TheGroove said:
I'm just now using it and realizing how bad it really is, here is a comparison between the 3x and the 7x, which is far better. I'm guessing I'll need to send it in but want to make sure I'm not missing something. Has anyone else experienced this?

That first shot is overexposed.
Do you have any other examples to show that the camera is consistently giving poor results?

Filmarik · Dec 23, 2023

TheGroove said:
I'm just now using it and realizing how bad it really is, here is a comparison between the 3x and the 7x, which is far better. I'm guessing I'll need to send it in but want to make sure I'm not missing something. Has anyone else experienced this?

3x
View attachment 171290

7x
View attachment 171291

Is it AF or MF?

waynorth · Dec 23, 2023

Are all your photos with the medium tele like that?
If yes, and you use autofocus, it seems like a faulty camera.

Vic Moss · Dec 23, 2023

I'm sure you have, but have you simply tried tapping on the screen to focus. I notice that when I switch back and forth between the the lenses, I have to refocus at times. I fly with focus peaking on and manual focus at all times.

If I switch lenses and I don't see the peaking, I refocus in autofocus and reset it to manual focus.

TheGroove · Dec 23, 2023

Vic Moss said:
I'm sure you have, but have you simply tried tapping on the screen to focus. I notice that when I switch back and forth between the the lenses, I have to refocus at times. I fly with focus peaking on and manual focus at all times.

If I switch lenses and I don't see the peaking, I refocus in autofocus and reset it to manual focus.

Yeah I think I need to really test this, I just figured even a little out of focus that the quality is still pretty terrible. I just updated the firmware as well and not sure it that may help.

Filmarik · Dec 23, 2023

TheGroove said:
Yeah I think I need to really test this, I just figured even a little out of focus that the quality is still pretty terrible. I just updated the firmware as well and not sure it that may help.

It is either an operator error or lens issue. The picture you posted is terribly soft and clearly not in focus. The 3x camera on this drone is sharp accross the frame.
I would suggest to first set the camera to 12MP if you have not done that already. Then if you want to use MF, set peeking to Low to be able to judge focus more accurately. (AF works pretty well for most subjects though) For shooting distant subjects simply set the MF to infinity mark ( top last bar) and that should give you good results. If the pictures still come back soft send the drone to DJI or if it is a brand new ask for a replacement

DivineMayhem · May 20, 2024

I'm experiencing the same issue with mine. My 1X and 7X cameras are quite sharp and the 3x (which is my favorite and most used) is very soft, even at high shutter speeds. I first thought that it was slower shutter speeds that may have caused them to no be sharp or that the f/2.8 didn't have enough depth of focus, but I've used focus peaking and manual focus to lock it in and they're still looking quite blurred. Image had to be scaled down to fit site requirements. Original shot in 48mp mode. Exported without any corrections from Lightroom at 4000px long edge, 72dpi I could post the RAW if needed.

AlanL · May 20, 2024

DivineMayhem said:
I'm experiencing the same issue with mine. My 1X and 7X cameras are quite sharp and the 3x (which is my favorite and most used) is very soft, even at high shutter speeds. I first thought that it was slower shutter speeds that may have caused them to no be sharp or that the f/2.8 didn't have enough depth of focus, but I've used focus peaking and manual focus to lock it in and they're still looking quite blurred. Image had to be scaled down to fit site requirements. Original shot in 48mp mode. Exported without any corrections from Lightroom at 4000px long edge, 72dpi I could post the RAW if needed.
View attachment 175167

I would not be happy with this output from my 3x lens. This image has some serious softness to it. If the issue were focus alone I would expect at least the front of the scene or the back of it to be more out of focus than the other and that is not true here. The image is uniformly soft throughout.

How long have you had this drone? Is it still covered under warranty?

GadgetGuy · May 20, 2024

DivineMayhem said:
I'm experiencing the same issue with mine. My 1X and 7X cameras are quite sharp and the 3x (which is my favorite and most used) is very soft, even at high shutter speeds. I first thought that it was slower shutter speeds that may have caused them to no be sharp or that the f/2.8 didn't have enough depth of focus, but I've used focus peaking and manual focus to lock it in and they're still looking quite blurred. Image had to be scaled down to fit site requirements. Original shot in 48mp mode. Exported without any corrections from Lightroom at 4000px long edge, 72dpi I could post the RAW if needed.
View attachment 175167

What was your point of focus in the image? The deer? What f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO?

Filmarik · May 21, 2024

DivineMayhem said:
I'm experiencing the same issue with mine. My 1X and 7X cameras are quite sharp and the 3x (which is my favorite and most used) is very soft, even at high shutter speeds. I first thought that it was slower shutter speeds that may have caused them to no be sharp or that the f/2.8 didn't have enough depth of focus, but I've used focus peaking and manual focus to lock it in and they're still looking quite blurred. Image had to be scaled down to fit site requirements. Original shot in 48mp mode. Exported without any corrections from Lightroom at 4000px long edge, 72dpi I could post the RAW if needed.
View attachment 175167

I only shoot DNG and process in LR applying my dedicated custom profiles addressing the colour shift (WB) between the 3 cameras and the sharpness. Each camera requires different USM values to achieve best outcome. The DNG files in general are quite soft straight out of the camera but take sharpening very well. From my experience all raw files are quite soft when looked at without processing even those from my Canon 5D4 taken with the best and sharpest lenses available.
Now for the 70mm camera, there could be several factors at play. First is the focusing method. MF can be tricky sometimes even if you use focus peeking. For well defined subject I would recommend sticking with AF which works very well in most situations. I am not a big fan of the 48MP setting. I can see lots of artifacts, CA in the middle of the frame etc. There is not much to be gained shooting 48MP, IMHO. The 12MP are cleaner and more "natural" for lack of a better word.
Finally the photo you posted looks pretty good to me and if you are after crisp look apply more USM. But first look at your focusing and make shure that your photo is not out of focus for your future tests.

Filmarik · May 21, 2024

GadgetGuy said:
What was your point of focus in the image? The deer? What f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO?

70mm does not have variable aperture. It is fixed to f2.8. The photo looks clean without noise I guess it was shot at base ISO setting of 100. The focus accuracy could be part of the softness but more than anything else without decent amount of USM applied to photos from all 3 cameras they actually look quite soft. The photos from 166mm camera require intriguingly the least amount of USM to look decent. Go figure..

GadgetGuy · May 22, 2024

Filmarik said:
70mm does not have variable aperture. It is fixed to f2.8. The photo looks clean without noise I guess it was shot at base ISO setting of 100. The focus accuracy could be part of the softness but more than anything else without decent amount of USM applied to photos from all 3 cameras they actually look quite soft. The photos from 166mm camera require intriguingly the least amount of USM to look decent. Go figure..

Good point about the fixed aperture. However, with a deer in the very center of the photo, if that was the intended point of focus, the foreground would tend to be soft. Probably just needs some more sharpening during the conversion from DNG.

Filmarik · May 22, 2024

GadgetGuy said:
Good point about the fixed aperture. However, with a deer in the very center of the photo, if that was the intended point of focus, the foreground would tend to be soft. Probably just needs some more sharpening during the conversion from DNG.

I agree. More USM should improve the perceived sharpness. About the foreground softness, it is impossible to tell from the shot how far it was from the drone. The photo looks almost uniformly sharp (or soft if you like). If anything it could be slightly out of focus due to incorrect MF setting or it simply needs more USM. I personally do not think that the "default" LR sharpening setting is optimal for these 3 cameras. I have done lots of testing and tried many combinations of sharpening parameters and now I simply apply one of the 3 presets I created to achieve the best (to my eye anyway) sharpness from each camera.

Littenberg · Jul 3, 2024

TheGroove said:
I'm just now using it and realizing how bad it really is, here is a comparison between the 3x and the 7x, which is far better. I'm guessing I'll need to send it in but want to make sure I'm not missing something. Has anyone else experienced this?

3x
View attachment 171290

7x
View attachment 171291

Here’s a complete video on focusing. Includes troubleshooting:
Focusing Your DJI Drone Camera

Littenberg · Jul 3, 2024

Vic Moss said:
I'm sure you have, but have you simply tried tapping on the screen to focus. I notice that when I switch back and forth between the the lenses, I have to refocus at times. I fly with focus peaking on and manual focus at all times.

If I switch lenses and I don't see the peaking, I refocus in autofocus and reset it to manual focus.

Agreed. That drone only has the continuous type AF. Your workaround is a good one. Also, try turning on peaking in MF mode. Good video here:
Focusing Your DJI Drone Camera