Why are my pics suddenly grainy

[Made2Phly]

Too much sharpness can look like graininess . Maybe check if your style settings are all at zero,

 

[Meta4]

These were taken today. Sun behind me. Same horrible quality.

This one is not the same at all.
The image has none of the graininess that was clearly seen in the dark foreground in your original images.

Perhaps the nature of the subject matter isn't making it easy for you to see the difference?
It's all distant and made of too much fine detail.
That results in an image that appears too soft.
It would be easier to see the quality (or lack of) easier if you shot some test images of hard detail that's not so far away.
Something like the wall of your house, well lit from 20 feet away would be ideal.
And to test, it won't matter if you shoot jpg, that way you'll immediately be able to see if there is a problem or not.

 

[Ptevee]

Appreciate that! I shot some other photos in different settings today. I haven't yet looked at them.

 

[Bob001]

Your biggest problem is the issue of the difference in brightness of the two areas. Exposing for the sunset will record the shadows using fewer "bits" and not capture as much information. Expanding this shadow range in post won't help, and in fact will lead to your issue. You would be advised to shoot two shots (perhaps even three), one exposed for the sunset and one for the shadows, boosting the latter ISO some to get a reasonable aperture & shutter speed (though you might want to underexpose it a bit to make it look natural), and combine these in post processing. That's a difficult shot even for a top notch camera but if you have more bit space (which RAW affords you), it can be done. This is a great application for HDR shooting.

 

[Mitbox]

Might I also suggest you give the trial version of Topaz denoise AI a go, and see if it improves your photos more to your liking ? . Not sure if it would help or not, but have you tried doing a hard reset on your drone as well ? .

 

[sar104]

Might I also suggest you give the trial version of Topaz denoise AI a go, and see if it improves your photos more to your liking ? . Not sure if it would help or not, but have you tried doing a hard reset on your drone as well ? .

There's nothing wrong with the photos - they are exactly what you would expect given the scenes being photographed, as demonstrated in post #53.

 

[Mitbox]

There's nothing wrong with the photos - they are exactly what you would expect given the scenes being photographed, as demonstrated in post #53.

Which is why i suggested he try topaz denoise just to see if it helps enhance them more to his liking regardless. The factory reset was just a suggestion he could try to satisfy him his drone is probably okay.

 

[sar104]

Which is why i suggested he try topaz denoise just to see if it helps enhance them more to his liking regardless.

Agreed - it's a fine program.

The factory reset was just a suggestion he could try to satisfy him his drone is probably okay.

Futile - he's clearly not looking to be satisfied.

 

[Rubicon]

Ptevee - I had something very similar happen with my Mavic Pro a year or so ago - a sudden change in the quality of the pictures introducing much more graininess. At first I thought I was perhaps imagining things but was then able to recreate a shot I already had in identical daylight conditions, and the difference in quality was very clear.
I searched the forums then to see if it was a settings issue and/or a problem anyone else had had . Unfortunately I can't remember exactly what I ended up doing to fix it and whether I had found any useful advice (sorry!) but seem to remember that recalibrating/resetting the compass and other sensors was involved. (and please everyone don't shout at me that that cannot possibly have been it, its just what I think I remember doing).The good thing was that (whatever I did) did fix the problem, so it is soluble !

 

[Ptevee]

Ptevee - I had something very similar happen with my Mavic Pro a year or so ago - a sudden change in the quality of the pictures introducing much more graininess. At first I thought I was perhaps imagining things but was then able to recreate a shot I already had in identical daylight conditions, and the difference in quality was very clear.
I searched the forums then to see if it was a settings issue and/or a problem anyone else had had . Unfortunately I can't remember exactly what I ended up doing to fix it and whether I had found any useful advice (sorry!) but seem to remember that recalibrating/resetting the compass and other sensors was involved. (and please everyone don't shout at me that that cannot possibly have been it, its just what I think I remember doing).The good thing was that (whatever I did) did fix the problem, so it is soluble !

Thank you for that! It seems nobody else will recognize that this was a "change" in quality... I have contacted DJI and looks like I will be sending it in.

 

[Rubicon]

As I said, I was able to fix it myself, so you may want to try all the resets you can think of before you send it back, but I apologise for not being more help.

 

[Ptevee]

As I said, I was able to fix it myself, so you may want to try all the resets you can think of before you send it back, but I apologise for not being more help.

No probs! I appreciate it!

 

[Meta4]

Unfortunately I can't remember exactly what I ended up doing to fix it and whether I had found any useful advice
(sorry!) but seem to remember that recalibrating/resetting the compass and other sensors was involved.
(and please everyone don't shout at me that that cannot possibly have been it, its just what I think I remember doing).

He has an (imaginary) problem with his camera.
Your response shows a profound misunderstanding of compasses and cameras.
Your suggestion is like recommending he work on his car's airconditioning to solve a problem with the brakes.

Thank you for that! It seems nobody else will recognize that this was a "change" in quality... I have contacted DJI and looks like I will be sending it in.

Post #41 showed that there was no sudden change in quality, just a sudden change in lighting.

 

[Ptevee]

The change in quality was not reflected in the pics I posted.

 

[Meta4]

The change in quality was not reflected in the pics I posted.

It was.
It didn't show the issues you complained about in post #1.
If the image in post #41 wasn't a little over exposed, it would have looked fine.
What was the outcome of the additional testing I suggested in post #62?

 

[Pablo]

Yep I've downloaded and edited your DNG. It's fine, if a little soft, but I think that's caused by your aperture being wide open at f/2.8.