I'm having an issue that a lot of other Mavic Air 2 users seem to be having where when recording in 4K at any fps, dark to well lit area produces a ton of noise in the footage. I am previewing the footage off of the external SD card (Sandisk Extreme Pro) in Premiere Pro, so I don't think this issue has to do with using the video feed footage.

I'll leave a link to the videos I've done that have a lot of grain. It could be due to low light, but this much grain in the lit areas doesn't make sense.

This footage is a little under exposed but after color correction and grading, it shouldn't produce THIS musch noise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH7HRG8OSgU
Is this a camera mulfuntion or is there a fix to this?

The footage is ok.Have you tried to record at 800 ISO and above?
There you will see an "automatic" denoise that makes your footage almost useless.
You see I prefer to apply denoise through better plugins and have complete control over it.

Zakkorn Posted at 8-15 13:21
The footage is ok.Have you tried to record at 800 ISO and above?
There you will see an "automatic" denoise that makes your footage almost useless.
You see I prefer to apply denoise through better plugins and have complete control over it.

Typically going up in ISO introduces more noise into the footage. I was shooting with a ND16 filter at 100ISO and 1/50 shutter speed I think. Either way, it shouldn't be this grainy in the darker areas (see image below)

Just out of curiosity, why were you using that filter in dimly lit areas?

Aquarian_Vid Posted at 8-15 17:34
Typically going up in ISO introduces more noise into the footage. I was shooting with a ND16 filter at 100ISO and 1/50 shutter speed I think. Either way, it shouldn't be this grainy in the darker areas (see image below)

[view_image]

I did not see any appreciable noise in the dark areas, but I will comment that the early part of your footage was shot in very dull conditions, and that will not be ideal, as the sensor likes a lot of light. It is certainly NOT a low light sensor. And as GaryDoug says, why the ND filter? You should not have needed it given that light.

GaryDoug Posted at 8-15 17:55
Just out of curiosity, why were you using that filter in dimly lit areas?

Honestly, it was to keep my shutter speed double the framerate. I know people say you can adjust it, but I really didn't want to as this was my first time flying that day. I wanted to see how it performs with correct video settings.

Geebax Posted at 8-15 19:20
I did not see any appreciable noise in the dark areas, but I will comment that the early part of your footage was shot in very dull conditions, and that will not be ideal, as the sensor likes a lot of light. It is certainly NOT a low light sensor. And as GaryDoug says, why the ND filter? You should not have needed it given that light.

I admit the lighting condition wasn't the best especially with an ND filter, but I also get noise in well lit conditions as well. I have more footage of that in this dropbox link here

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oryq25idzo0e2y5/AAAzbCII4lvJvR8ajQ1UiNi0a?dl=0

It was partly cloudy but the sun was out and you can see noise in lit areas. Shot with the same settings.

Aquarian_Vid Posted at 8-15 21:30
I admit the lighting condition wasn't the best especially with an ND filter, but I also get noise in well lit conditions as well. I have more footage of that in this dropbox link here

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oryq25idzo0e2y5/AAAzbCII4lvJvR8ajQ1UiNi0a?dl=0

Hi,

the MA2 cam is not really made for low illuminations. When you take a ND filter, the camera is  potentially getting not enough light and will increase the ISO (Amplification) to compensate while keeping the shutter speed at a fixed level (one which fits the frame rate). Increasing ISO  amplification includes amplification of noise! Better would be if the cam has enough light and can adjust using the shutter speed because the sensor-internal noise stays the same then. Just do not shoot with ND in not so bright situations. NDs are mainly used to avoid flickering which occurs for high shutter speed or low frame rates  (FPS) respectively .

Most important is what the cam needs is light.....

Greetings

Hi did you find a solution to your grain/noise problem? Mine is also very grainy

I too found my footage overly grainy, and yet the details were actually blurry. Leaves on the trees looked like a Van Gogh painting, with a nice dusting of talcum powder. Not what I was expecting. See below.

So far I have been scouring the forums looking for a good guideline. The best advice I have heard so far amounts to this:
Turn off the Zebra Stripes - it's too aggressive in protecting the highlights.
Pay more attention to your ISO and less to your framerate. (That's sacrilege to us video-types, but it would seem preferable for results.)
Pay more attention to your Histogram.
Don't use an ND Filter unless absolutely necessary.

My gut check says I'm expecting too much. We're talking about pixels, not images. But at the same time, the grain in the video (same time, location, etc.) is unbearable.

I'm going to try it out again today and see if I can get improved results.

I found this on a different DJI Forum post (Mavic Mini), but I'm going to try it out:

"...you can enable Video Subtitles under Camera Settings-- Advanced Camera Settings, then you are able to see Aperture, shutter, iSO, EV, GPS coordinates, the distance between current aircraft position and home point, the altitude, horizontal speed, vertical speed."

It would definitely help with diagnosing problems later.

In my opinion, not using a ND filter wouldn't have made a big difference in a cinematic point of view.

Shooting in LOG, manual settings, lowest ISO, double shutter and perfect histogram there ia too much grain. Even Shutterstock does not want to accept it. Did you find the solution or the drone is simply crappy for video?

djiuser_z96jceuDKOmr Posted at 4-18 03:33
Shooting in LOG, manual settings, lowest ISO, double shutter and perfect histogram there ia too much grain. Even Shutterstock does not want to accept it. Did you find the solution or the drone is simply crappy for video?

I have same problem :/
ISO 100, shutter 1/100 and grain everywhere.
Tried Normal/D-cine and same problem.

Same problem here, it may not be that I have a drone for this price and with these results.

I found a solution. I sold my Air 2 and got a Mavic Pro 2 even though its old. I had at least 4 or 5 friends that got the Air 2 and all of us had the same issue even when strictly shooting with ISO of 100. We all have pretty much sold it at this point. The drone is the issue.

this is very frustrating, I was not expecting this footage quality for something at this cost, these are my tests.

Maybe footage so noisy because Air 2S and its family members are much more "sumer" than "pro". My vote on why footage is so noisy among other things is the very crappy 1 inch sensor and a very, very average camera. H.264 and H.265 codes were made for heavy compression not for image fidelity. I have noticed much noise in HLG (HDR) as well as D LOG. Maybe "Normal" profile is less noisy but the color detail and latitude to correct is so minimal. Profoundly little detail in shadows and blown out whites and blacks in normal mode. Never shoot in automatic unless you want crazily exposed footage. Who knows what the problem and what creates the noise. I am tired of being a scientist. It is not the ISO setting as I always leave it on 100 - the lowest. Because aperature is fixed you will never really be able to expose properly on the fly. Drone only costs 1K so you get what you pay for. Don't expect to shoot a Hollywood feature with this drone. Be happy if you can make some footage for a small documentary or rock video. It is an expensive wonderful toy which will wow your friends. Honestly most people are using Mavic Air and below for tik tok, Youtube and instagram (maybe real estate) so it really doesn't matter if images are very noisy. It is a very low bar. Look at the the new drones from DJI which can shoot portrait mode and landscape. What you will own is the ultimate social media machine designed to make cool video for smart phones. You will not be making "cinema" with these machines. At best you might make something "cinematic" to quote youtube. Does this happen on Skydio or Autel drones. My local drone school has some for test flights I will try one. Anyone us any noise compression software? Sadly if find this tends to make the footage mushy, even with the paid resolve plug in isn't that good. Be thankful the average person doesn't give a hoot what footage looks like these days. I find the less I worry about the sub par images I get my Air 2S the better I sleep. This is as good as this remarkable drone gets. I will not be seduced next time by DJI promo footage of a beautiful young couple flying their DJI drone in exotic locations. I am sure after their romance making is over the first thing they talk about is how noisy their footage is. Also some of the technical responses to posts from DJI reps are incomprehensible. Can they be proof read? Oh BTW I typically shoot the following settings.  DJI Air 2S ND filter of 16 to 64 depending on clouds and sun. 4K or 5.4K , 29.97 MOV HLG or D-LOG 30 fps 60 shutter, ISO 100( always) maybe 200 in a pinch. Pro mode never Auto. White Balance 5600. EV around 0.  Tag line: A remarkable fun drone. More of a toy than a professional tool that can give you good results some of the time. A tiny flying wonder made for funseekers and the most intrepid professionals who sell to quality control with a very low bar. Hours of fun seriously. I love it. I just don't think it can give you "pro" or "cinematic" images. Be happy with what you get. It's a marvel for $1000. Totally igonore the Youtube screamers and DJI propaganda films. Cheers