I have a Phantom 3 Advanced I am using to take arial photos of forest plots.  I have been noticing the images seem blurry and out of focus.  See attached. My Phantom has been like this since I got it, but wasn't noticing it much till I started wanting to use it for aerial photogrammetry.  I understood this is supposed to be the same 12.4 Mpx as the Pro, but my images definately aren't as sharp as I've seen other P3 Pro photos.  First two images are mine.  The last image is from a DNG on a P3 Pro review. I could not paste a clip of them here without going over size.

Link to mine: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8X0wTCRnR6pNFFMWi1ERUJOZk0/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8X0wTCRnR6pTFk5cURFTU5mZUU/view?usp=sharing

Link to review image: https://s3.amazonaws.com/photoshopcafe/p3testfiles-PhotoshopCAFE.zip

I'm wondering if something is wrong with my camera, or this is just how the quality is on an Advanced versus a Pro.  It would be nice to actualy use the 12.4 Mpx, not waste it on blur.

Thanks.

I took a look at the movie clip you posted and it looks just fine. On the other hand, the stills look awful, but I am wondering why? It makes no sense for a focus problem to manifest itself in still mode but not movie mode.

Geebax Posted at 2016-12-20 10:25
I took a look at the movie clip you posted and it looks just fine. On the other hand, the stills look awful, but I am wondering why? It makes no sense for a focus problem to manifest itself in still mode but not movie mode.

The last link (zip file) is from a review site I used to compare my images with.  You do have to have the Adobe DNG codec for windows installed or a viewer to see the DNGs in their true resolution.  The review DNG (the swimming pool shot) is pretty crisp, with any blur stretching maybe across two or three pixels at worst.  The video in that zip file is not mine.  Mine are the forest shots.  The blur in mine looks like it is stretching across several if not a couple dozen pixels.  It looks completely out of focus.

I've looked at other P3 Pro review photos and there have been some varying degrees of focus sharpness.  I could not find any specific P3 Adv photos.  I am wondering if mine is just way out of focus.  I see the hex screws in the back of the sensor housing, and I am hoping this is one of the sensors with the screw on lenses that you can adjust focus.  But before I mess with that risking unnecessary damage, I want to check if the Adv is only capable of the quality in my photos compared to the P3 Pro review images I've seen, such as the one in the zip file.

I'm going run a couple tests today to see if it is vibration.  My blades have been mowing lawns in grassy forest fields and have a few dings that I lightly sanded.  Likely they are out of balance.  I don't have a propeller balancer though.  Still, the type of blur in my images do not look like a vibration blur, which is more an ellipsoidal or linear streaking.  The blur in mine is a very out-of-focus blur.  This blur has also been present since my first shots when the blades were new.

Geebax Posted at 2016-12-20 10:25
I took a look at the movie clip you posted and it looks just fine. On the other hand, the stills look awful, but I am wondering why? It makes no sense for a focus problem to manifest itself in still mode but not movie mode.

Here's a test sitting on a porch, blades off, 1/2500 shutter, 100 iso.

Blur is the same.

jlschmugge Posted at 2016-12-20 12:46
Here's a test sitting on a porch, blades off, 1/2500 shutter, 100 iso.

Blur is the same.

It all depends on how you have your camera setup and what you can do with the image. You need to bring the exposure or white balance way up in that picture.

See:

jlschmugge Posted at 2016-12-21 04:00
The last link (zip file) is from a review site I used to compare my images with.  You do have to have the Adobe DNG codec for windows installed or a viewer to see the DNGs in their true resolution.  The review DNG (the swimming pool shot) is pretty crisp, with any blur stretching maybe across two or three pixels at worst.  The video in that zip file is not mine.  Mine are the forest shots.  The blur in mine looks like it is stretching across several if not a couple dozen pixels.  It looks completely out of focus.

I've looked at other P3 Pro review photos and there have been some varying degrees of focus sharpness.  I could not find any specific P3 Adv photos.  I am wondering if mine is just way out of focus.  I see the hex screws in the back of the sensor housing, and I am hoping this is one of the sensors with the screw on lenses that you can adjust focus.  But before I mess with that risking unnecessary damage, I want to check if the Adv is only capable of the quality in my photos compared to the P3 Pro review images I've seen, such as the one in the zip file.

The P3 Advanced produces pictures just as good as the P3 Pro, the issue is something else, but I can't seem to put a finger on it.

Adam Flurk Posted at 2016-12-20 12:00
It all depends on how you have your camera setup and what you can do with the image. You need to bring the exposure or white balance way up in that picture.

See:

It's not the white balance that was the issue.  I did end up sending it in, and it came back with a new camera without the out-of-focus blur.