Quad Bayer (mini 3) with large prints

[joebee]

Hi all,

I'm relatively new to the drone scene with a mini 2 and looking to upgrade. The main thing I am looking to use it for moving forward is for wall posters and prints of mostly coastal images.

I've been keen to try get my hands on the mini 3 pro but the more I read about quad Bayer sensors the more I am unsure. My worry is the mini 3 quad Bayer sensor will give similar results to the mini 2 12mp which didn't have the resolution I was after for larger wall prints.

Is this the case and should I perhaps get the air 2s instead?

 

[bmwbob]

Somehow I find it hard to believe the tiny lens on a any drone, no matter the megapixels will have the resolution needed for a wall poster.

 

[UAV Ernst]

Unfortunately, describing that the Mini 3 has a 48 effective MP sensor is just a marketing ploy. The 12MP sensor of most drones will make a pretty nice A3 print. Consider taking six or eight overlapping shots, then stitch them in Photoshop for a file that you can take to A2 or larger.

 

[joebee]

Unfortunately, describing that the Mini 3 has a 48 effective MP sensor is just a marketing ploy. The 12MP sensor of most drones will make a pretty nice A3 print. Consider taking six or eight overlapping shots, then stitch them in Photoshop for a file that you can take to A2 or larger.

I thought of this but the vast majority of my shots are of Australian coastline which generally includes large long moving waves. Stitching together tends to show splits in the waves. I've done a few test prints at A3 and although not too bad they were not mega impressive.

 

[joebee]

For printing purposes would the '48 megapixels' have no real gain over the 12? Understand it is unlikely to get me 4x the resolution but if it gets me 2x improvement I'd be happy

 

[test2000Anafi]

For printing purposes would the '48 megapixels' have no real gain over the 12? Understand it is unlikely to get me 4x the resolution but if it gets me 2x improvement I'd be happy

I am not saying the other people are lying, at least not on purpose I believe. There is clear difference, as demonstrated a few years ago by the Air2 which has a similar sensor configuration as the mini 3 pro (quad bayer with 48MP mode)

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[test2000Anafi]

Again, I am not saying the experts on this board are lying, I just believe that the actual facts are not in line with what they claim. No offence to anyone claiming it’s just marketing.

as for the mini 3 pro, it will certainly be the best DJI option under 2500 dollar

 

[jackalope]

I downloaded Air 2 raw files when i was trying to decide between 2 and 2S. The quad bayer is a real 48 megapixel sensor. The bayer grid overlaid on it is the same as would be on a 12 megapixel sensor. That allows the drone to pixel bin groups of 4 pixels that are under a color square.... Or record them separately. The problem is that Sony's chip also includes a process to convert the raw data to a conventional bayer grid like you'd get from a normal 48MP sensor. I believe the reason is so all photo editing programs can read the data. They call it array conversion or rebayering. But it surely also reduces image quality as it's a type of interpolation

I do all kinds of photography and print my own photos with an Epson P900 at sizes up to 17x22

Resolution does matter, even for smaller prints like 8.5x11. Most of my shots are 24MP from a Sony DSLR, 16MP from a Panasonic MFT, or 20MP from Air2S or Parrot Anafi. With all cameras I can see sharpness difference between a print at 8.5x11 and a small 4x6. 48 real pixels would be great, but even more would be noticeably better I bet