What would be the point of getting an Inspire 1 if the camera has the same megapixels as the Mavic?

[RickMC]

This question is strictly from a photo quality standpoint. I am a Mavic owner looking to get another DJI drone for photography purposes. I can't afford an Inspire 2 at the moment, so I was thinking about getting the first edition of the Inspire. However, looking at the specs I see the camera is 12 MP...isn't that the same as the Mavic? So why exactly is the DJI Inspire 1 supposedly better when the cameras have the same megapixels? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

 

[kbanes]

Because megapixels aren't everything.

A Nikon D5 is 21 mega pixels, and a Nikon D3400 is 24 mega pixels. But the D5 is a professional camera that exceeds the output of the entry level D3400 in every facet, by a wide margin. (and you pay about 10 times more for the D5.)

Its like wondering if the base 3 liter Chevy engine is the same as a 3 liter Porsche engine. No, it is not. For a lot of reasons, that you pay a lot of money for.

I have no idea of the performance of the Inspire camera, and how it compares to the Mavic camera. But I do know that the differences have nothing to do with mega pixels. It is a fairly complicated discussion of the reasons why this is so, so I won't get into it.

 

[dvarapala]

The Mavic camera has horrible compression/sharpening artifacts. AFAIK the Inspire camera doesn't suffer from this flaw.

 

[swooshdave]

Pixel count is just that, the number of pixels. It doesn't reflect in any way the quality of the image. Lens, image sensor and image processor have more to do with the quality of the image. The problem is the marketing people don't have a way to sell the sexiness of an image processor. "Oooh, look how it processes the images!" Instead they just focus on a number that they can tout to the uninformed. "Ooooh, 24 is bigger than 21!"

 

[tcope]

This question is strictly from a photo quality standpoint. I am a Mavic owner looking to get another DJI drone for photography purposes. I can't afford an Inspire 2 at the moment, so I was thinking about getting the first edition of the Inspire. However, looking at the specs I see the camera is 12 MP...isn't that the same as the Mavic? So why exactly is the DJI Inspire 1 supposedly better when the cameras have the same megapixels? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

My phone camera has more megapixels then my $2,700 DSL camera. My DSL camera takes WAY better photos and videos.

 

[ChipDjipro]

Me being an owner of the MP and the inspire 1v2. Give me the inspire any Day. Not to mention you can buy different cameras depending on what you R using it for.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Have you looked at a Phantom 4? The image quality is really nice and there's a lot of models/price points.

 

[RickMC]

Sorry again for the dumb question. I’m not super knowledgeable in the inner workings of digitial cameras and what makes one better than the others. I just see the megapixel number and think that’s what is important. Thanks for the info!

 

[EasyV]

Sorry again for the dumb question. I’m not super knowledgeable in the inner workings of digitial cameras and what makes one better than the others. I just see the megapixel number and think that’s what is important. Thanks for the info!

Some of these facets have been mentioned in this thread already:
-Artifacts from compression and oversharpening

Representation of dynamic range, color reproduction, performance in different lighting scenarios, lack of low light performance....I'm sure I've just scratched the surface...

 

[gnirtS]

Megapixels are the least important part of a camera.
The old "megapixels wars" for marketing hype aimed at people that didnt understand cameras were laughable.

The mavic has a tiny sensor. Its also a low quality sensor exhibiting noise even at base ISO, has awful dynamic range and other things. It also only provides an 8 bit image data file. Add that to the heavy compression and low 60mbps bit rate its nothing.

Most cellphones advertise stupid high megapixels because it sells with people who understand nothing about cameras. Most DSLRs provide a lower resolution but substantially better quality images.

 

[macoman]

Me being an owner of the MP and the inspire 1v2. Give me the inspire any Day. Not to mention you can buy different cameras depending on what you R using it for.

I have been thinking in getting the inspire 1 V2, because the price is actually affordable for the refurbished version. The camera is obviously one of the selling point, but the look and exceeding craftsmanship is to me the luxury consumer drone you can get.

 

[RiKToR]

Sorry again for the dumb question. I’m not super knowledgeable in the inner workings of digitial cameras and what makes one better than the others. I just see the megapixel number and think that’s what is important. Thanks for the info!

The number of pixels is important when comparing similar physical sized cameras. Sensor size is bigger factor when it comes to those pixels. The sensor determines how big those pixels are. There comes a point where they are too small... the smaller they get the less samples of light they get which can lead to more noise. The larger they are, the more light they get and the easier it is to ignore things like noise. Canon actually was testing a near 300 megapixel sensor at one point but they scrapped it... photons just weren't big enough to stimulate the sensor. There is a point of diminishing returns with megapixels which is why its not used as a basis for buying a camera.

The Inspire 1 itself will have a slightly bigger (better) sensor, better software to deal with imaging, and better image quality. Don't get me wrong the Mavic shoots some good stuff; but it has some limitations. I like to look at footage from each and make my determination. Usually, you can tell the difference between the two.

I would also check out some Youtube videos on how CCD or CMOS sensors work so you can get and idea of what the sensor is doing.