I have both drones and have done various tests in various lighting conditions to determine the best solution for exactly what you’re asking: which camera gives you the better image at the end of day.
The winner is clearly and without a doubt: the M2Pro.
The smaller sensor, optics and poor low-light sensitivity on the Zoom just pale in comparison to a properly exposed RAW file from the Pro and yes, this includes the SuperRes stitched JPGs which left me extremely unimpressed.
The Zoom simply takes x-images and stitches them together in a JPG for the end result. It’s decent, sure, but the Zoom camera (for stills) is not impressive.
Most of my testing was done in optimal light with a ton of depth of field and image data in the frame (wide city scape, 700-800 feet up, clear skies, unlimited visibility). In these images I’m looking for sharpness throughout the frame, edge distortion and loss of detail, color, highlights and shadows and then some.
I pushed the sensors to the max here and simply found the Pro won out every single time. Now, when we move to low-light and even night shots, the Zoom is just utter garbage as it simply cannot process the nuances of highlights / shadows even at a high ISO. With the Pro, I’m getting remarkable shots at ISO100 with a wide open aperture of f/2.8 at 3-4 seconds. Tripod mode might work but unsure.
I’ve taken some fantastic photos with the zoom but only in perfect mid-day lighting conditions with perfect exposure, ISO100 and great conditions. And the subject is important. If you’re shooting a relatively large object (building, crane, bus) you’ll get pretty solid results. However, the Pro lets you PUSH certain compositions so if you’re interested in pushing that sensor to the max, it’s the one to get. You’re simply getting more sensor data = better image.
You might also be interested in printing your images which is something I do. At a professional lab, I’m not really able to print larger than 11x18 without starting to see pixelation, general blurriness and sharpness / loss of detail issues. The reason is simple: the DPI of the photos and the resolution (4500x3200 off the top of my head) of the PRO isn’t large enough for large(r)prints.
But there’s a trick that works and I’m blown away by it. A program called Gigapixel. Truly remarkable. With Gigapixel I’m able to bump up 4x to an almost 300MP image (20,000 x 14,000) which gives it a whopping 950MB file size. But the results are grand. I just printed a 20x30 print on Fuji Pearl at the lab and the results are just spectacular compared to a standard TIFF exported from a RAW file (45MB). An up-res like this is most likely unnecessary for digital viewing but if you’re printing, it is a no-brainer for me.
And it’s fun to open these images side by side to simply compare Gigapixel’s AI and interpretation of the scene and how efficient this software is at actually making images sharper, crisper, carving out details and more.
Summary:
- Zoom has good versatility for moving closer to objects but requires near-perfect exposure and the right subject. Low-light is very poor and the special modes are marketing.
- PRO has fantastic low-light sensitivity and enables you to shoot more complex photos not to mention, have better finite control over optics.
- Use Topaz Gigapixel if you’re printing it want to just play around. 30-day free trial gives you unlimited exports.