[Solved] Lack of sharpness in distance with Air compared with Pro?

[JeeHaa]

Found another video comparison Air/Pro:

The Air looks very soft for distant objects, the difference with the Pro is extremely noticable IMO. Just compare the upper half of the image after 30s! I really like what the Air has to offer but this lack of sharpness is really an issue for me. I was hoping it might be just some faulty units out there but more videos pop up with similar issues. And this cannot be fixes in post or by shooting RAW. But has anyone else had more consistent sharpness under similar conditions (buildings in distance)? I would really like to know if there are units with good sharpness, or if it is just a lens design issue. Please share!

More examples:

[UPDATE] After having returned 2 Air units producing soft photos a while ago, I'm happy to report that a new one (production date March 2018) produces much sharper results.
See post #13: [Solved] Lack of sharpness in distance with Air compared with Pro?

 

[LivinLarge]

The lens on the Air is fixed focus so it will not as sharp at the extremes as the Pro when actually focused at some distance. The lens is also more wide angle so distant objects will be rendered slightly smaller meaning less detail. The lens also has a narrower aperture and combined with the shorter focal length means more depth of field than the Pro.

 

[djiboi]

Let's put it this way, the air is not an upgrade to the Pro.

 

[JeeHaa]

The lens on the Air is fixed focus so it will not as sharp at the extremes as the Pro when actually focused at some distance. The lens is also more wide angle so distant objects will be rendered slightly smaller meaning less detail. The lens also has a narrower aperture and combined with the shorter focal length means more depth of field than the Pro.

Not sure if that explains the rather huge difference. I also compared it with Spark which also has fixed focus and a comparable aperture, and those photos are also sharp in the distance. To be honest I actually like the photos of my Spark better!
I'm just looking for evidence that there are sharper unites out there as well, because I really like everything else about the Air!

 

[swoermck]

I once "dared" to link a video of comparison of the Air vs. the Pro, where the verdict was that the pro has a sharper video than the air:

Is Mavic Air camera as bad as Mavic Pro?

Immediately I was "corrected" that the Air camera is much better, the guy comparing both in the video was a "dummy" etc. Interesting, the video in this thread comes to the same conclusion as the "dummy" in my link..

Meanwhile I had the chance to get my hands on a Mavic Air as well, did some flights with it, and after watching the resulting videos I came to the same conclusion like JeeHaa: "The Air looks very soft for distant objects, the difference with the Pro is extremely noticable IMO". I love my Pro with sharp footage from near to far!!!

 

[djiboi]

The air uses infinity focus, it just depends where they set the actual focal point. Some units are better than others.

 

[swoermck]

The air uses infinity focus, it just depends where they set the actual focal point. Some units are better than others.

Hi Djiboi, flying with the Pro, first I always tap on a point in the far distance for focussing, then start my video - I thought this approach is equivalent to setting the focus manually to Infinity? Isn't the Air calculating a focus point somewhere in the middle?

In the Litchi App I recently discovered that I can set one of the RC buttons (C1 or C2) to "infinity focus", and I thought I could replace my "focus procedure" (tap to focus on a far far away object on the screen) with a "one button" approach? Not sure if I understood infinity focus correct here..?

 

[djiboi]

I'm not going to claim to really understand infinity focus now I have done a little research on how it works. I think it does just focus on the object that is furthest way. Only trouble is, that in low light, it will not always get the focus correct and you'll get a shallow focus image. Might be worth comparing bright day shots vs dusk shots to see if my conclusion is correct....

 

[JeeHaa]

I am glad to report that I received another unit (production date March 2018) and the lens is sharp, also for distant objects.
Maybe there is a problem with individual units, maybe a Q/C issue but at least I know images can be as sharp as with Spark/MP!

Get production date from serial:
DJI SERIAL DECODER

 

[swoermck]

Hi JeeHaa,

that's good news!! Let's hope that we now see more examples with Air Videos sharp from near to far!!!

Maybe you can post some screenshots/pics?

And this is my favorite picture which serves me as a reference when I talk about sharpness from near to far:



Shot with Mavic Pro. No color grading, no lens used, just resized the photo (originally 6MB). I really like the fine details of the mountains in the background!

 

[Kevjones777]

Hi JeeHaa,

that's good news!! Let's hope that we now see more examples with Air Videos sharp from near to far!!!

Maybe you can post some screenshots/pics?

And this is my favorite picture which serves me as a reference when I talk about sharpness from near to far:

View attachment 35942

Shot with Mavic Pro. No color grading, no lens used, just resized the photo (originally 6MB). I really like the fine details of the mountains in the background!

Exactly what I was saying a while back......this is very very good IMHO for such a small sensor, in fact it is exceptionally good. There is no way my Mavic Air can get anything like this.

 

[Scrivlings]

I have only done a few test shots on my air, and it was a cloudy day so certainly not in anywhere near as optimal conditions as that Pro shot, but I personally thought the camera looked pretty sharp at distance. Will have to test it in a sunny day soon though.

 

[JeeHaa]

This is a sample of the new unit, default auto settings, slightly decreased jpeg quality to get <5MB:
https://tweakers.net/ext/f/A2w8OOcjmXHf0QcUejhorON8/full.jpg

And a frame from 4k video taken at the same time:
https://tweakers.net/ext/f/i5XZ7m7ZBhgpdcScXE7e6HqI/full.jpg

Even though it may not be the sharpest out there, it is way better than what I got with 2 previous Airs I tried.

 

[JoostGT3]

Hi JeeHaa,

that's good news!! Let's hope that we now see more examples with Air Videos sharp from near to far!!!

Maybe you can post some screenshots/pics?

And this is my favorite picture which serves me as a reference when I talk about sharpness from near to far:

View attachment 35942

Shot with Mavic Pro. No color grading, no lens used, just resized the photo (originally 6MB). I really like the fine details of the mountains in the background!

On a sidenote, that is a stunning picture... Interlaken?

 

[swoermck]

This is a sample of the new unit, default auto settings, slightly decreased jpeg quality to get <5MB:
https://tweakers.net/ext/f/A2w8OOcjmXHf0QcUejhorON8/full.jpg

And a frame from 4k video taken at the same time:
https://tweakers.net/ext/f/i5XZ7m7ZBhgpdcScXE7e6HqI/full.jpg

Even though it may not be the sharpest out there, it is way better than what I got with 2 previous Airs I tried.

Now that's way better than any Mavic Air Photo I've seen so far!! Maybe not as razor sharp at the horizont as the Pro (straight out of the camera), but after adding some sharpening with Affinity Photo very close!!

Only the distortion of the horizon seems a bit odd - I think that was already discussed in another thread? In a recent video somebody was comparing pro and air image quality, and he demonstrated that the raw pictures of the air shows a bit of distortion at the edges, but the JPEG was straight, which made him conclude that this is due to the physics of the Air lens, which DJI will compensate while creating the JPEGs. But as the Air is capable of shooting in raw, we should be able to correct the distortion ourself with the correct lens profile!!

Nevertheless your pictures make me think again getting the Air as a 2nd drone for travelling!

Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[swoermck]

On a sidenote, that is a stunning picture... Interlaken?

It is the Walensee near Unterterzen. Was a lucky shot on my way back from a customer visit (a few minutes walk from the rest stop)

 

[JoostGT3]

It is the Walensee near Unterterzen. Was a lucky shot on my way back from a customer visit (a few minutes walk from the rest stop)

It’s a beautiful shot, thanks for the explanation man!

 

[Coskier]

I am glad to report that I received another unit (production date March 2018) and the lens is sharp, also for distant objects.
Maybe there is a problem with individual units, maybe a Q/C issue but at least I know images can be as sharp as with Spark/MP!

Did they warranty it out?

 

[FreddiesFlights]

I suspect the problem is many people have no idea what Sharpness actually is and they mistake it for Focus. Not the same thing.

It's possibly why in the whole time that the P4Pro has been out no one seemed to have noticed that all 7 sharpness settings in 1080p video are identical and all too sharp. Well a few did - as they've told me recently - just no one believed them when they complained.

At least DJI have acknowledged it now, although are unlikely to do anything about it, because: people didn't realise it was broken, so why bother?

See the P4Pro problem here. Are your Mavic Air Videos Sharp or Blurry?

Luckily the Sharpness does apparently work properly in 1080p on the Air, you just need to turn it down when flying and only adjust it in post if required. No one want those hideous bright lines along the horizon.

 

[JeeHaa]

I suspect the lens design (wider, smaller gimbal) is pushed to the limits a bit more with the Air, but my main issue was that many JPG samples looked soft in parts of the image, often for distant object compared with Spark (also fixed focus lens) and MP (larger gimbal/camera/lens system). On several samples I found online, and 2 of my previous units (returned to shop within 14 days) this was very noticable. I would not consider it bad enough to be considered a defect, but not acceptable to me as an upgrade. I also saw a few sharp examples online emerging, and now I received the new unit which produces good sharp images I think it is safe to conclude that this was a Q/C issue with lens alignment that DJI may have tweaked recently. Note that I am not taking about the lens distortion (does not bother me too much as it is not noticable in most cases) or 1080p video processing issues mentioned in other threads, which mey be fixable in FW.