Hello everybody,

I own a Mavic Air for a while now. I determined that this model has unbelievably much noise when using D-Cinelike color mode. This makes this 'pro' color mode almost unusable, although it is promoted as an advanced model of the Mavic lineup.

I'm a professional videographer and I did a test and I include it here: https://youtu.be/Vo_9ZjoH8e0 (Chinese with English subtitle).

If you own this model, could you share your experience? I'm eager to know if it's a single case or I did something wrong.

Much appreciated!
Thanks!

Your title says Mavic Air 2, but your post says Mavic Air. Which model are you discussing here?

Sorry, it's Air 2.

I noticed the Mavic Air 2 in general is loud when turned on.  I have never noticed increased noise when using D-Cinelike color mode.  D-Cinelike color mode is more than likely processor in tensive and therefore causes the internal fan to increase speed which may account for the extra noise.  

I equate the fan speeds and for video editing processes which are CPU & GPU taxing on a computer to what should be happening on the drone.  The fan should increase RPMs when the onboard processor is in higher usage in order to cool the hardware.  

The fan speed, i.e. noise, definitely seems disproportionate when the drone is at idle to what the hardware processing needs should be.  It makes a god awful amount of noise when I have had to plug turn on the Mavic Air 2 and plug it in to my computer.  The fan consumed battery very fast because of the fan speed at idle.  It consumed 30% of the battery in around 20 minutes.

Hopefully, the new firmware update today, (11/11/2020), v01.00.0460 "Optimized logic of rotational speed of fan after powering on in order to reduce noise and power consumption." will help with this.

JohnLietzke Posted at 11-11 08:54
I noticed the Mavic Air 2 in general is loud when turned on.  I have never noticed increased noise when using D-Cinelike color mode.  D-Cinelike color mode is more than likely processor in tensive and therefore causes the internal fan to increase speed which may account for the extra noise.  

I equate the fan speeds and for video editing processes which are CPU & GPU taxing on a computer to what should be happening on the drone.  The fan should increase RPMs when the onboard processor is in higher usage in order to cool the hardware.  

I don't think that the noise in the video material he is talking about, is really related to the fan noise you are talking about.

MySky Posted at 11-11 09:16
I don't think that the noise in the video material he is talking about, is really related to the fan noise you are talking about.

I assumed that the fan speed was directly proportionate to processor use.  If the processor is over taxed then a bottleneck may occurs with the output of video files causing distortion (noise) in the video.

I was tying to physically correlate the onboard processor on the Mavic Air 2 to something which should be proportionate.  In this case the fan noise and battery consumption was the easiest to identify without having to interpret log data which can be tricky if the aircraft is not in flight mode.

I was making a round about reference to having other processes running on a computer which consume a significant amount of CPU or GPU then trying to play a large video file.  Often freezing and distortion (noise) occurs because of a lack of available processing power.

I would suspect from having written a significant amount of the code that DJI cleared up some errant or lingering processes that were consuming significant resources which may in implementation improve the D-Cinelike color mode quality (noise) while at the same time reduce fan speed and battery consumption.

JohnLietzke Posted at 11-11 09:33
I assumed that the fan speed was directly proportionate to processor use.  If the processor is over taxed then a bottleneck may occurs with the output of video files causing distortion (noise) in the video.

I was tying to physically correlate the onboard processor on the Mavic Air 2 to something which should be proportionate.  In this case the fan noise and battery consumption was the easiest to identify without having to interpret log data which can be tricky if the aircraft is not in flight mode.

If so, many pilots would have complained about it during summer time, where most of the MA2's were used at the top temperatur limit defined by DJI. But they don't.
And even during the flight the noise in a footage would change dynamically, depending on the needed for cooling of the electronics. But there has nothing been reported as far as i know.

JohnLietzke Posted at 11-11 08:54
I noticed the Mavic Air 2 in general is loud when turned on.  I have never noticed increased noise when using D-Cinelike color mode.  D-Cinelike color mode is more than likely processor in tensive and therefore causes the internal fan to increase speed which may account for the extra noise.  

I equate the fan speeds and for video editing processes which are CPU & GPU taxing on a computer to what should be happening on the drone.  The fan should increase RPMs when the onboard processor is in higher usage in order to cool the hardware.  

@JohnLietzke

I tried very very hard to associate what you replied with Edgar i wrote, but at the end, @MySky is right. It's not what you thought it is

You're not alone JumperX. I used the Mavic Air 2 extensively over the summer in multiple locations with varying weather and light conditions. The Mavic Air 2 has a REALLY Noisy sensor im afraid. I did flag this up on another thread but DJI didn't really acknowledge peoples comments.  The noise in Shadows and some Mids at ISO 100 is shocking at times. The Sensor does produce some stunning images however. I specially love the HDR mode which I thought id never use...but its been a godsend for Sunrise/Sunset shots. The zoom mode is great also...BUT.. the noise will be a LOT more notable. Sometimes even in colourful sections...specially reds for some reason.

I still hold out hope that DJI will look into this. It Could also be related to the over-sharpened image.

HitrackAP Posted at 11-12 03:13
You're not alone JumperX. I used the Mavic Air 2 extensively over the summer in multiple locations with varying weather and light conditions. The Mavic Air 2 has a REALLY Noisy sensor im afraid. I did flag this up on another thread but DJI didn't really acknowledge peoples comments.  The noise in Shadows and some Mids at ISO 100 is shocking at times. The Sensor does produce some stunning images however. I specially love the HDR mode which I thought id never use...but its been a godsend for Sunrise/Sunset shots. The zoom mode is great also...BUT.. the noise will be a LOT more notable. Sometimes even in colourful sections...specially reds for some reason.

I still hold out hope that DJI will look into this. It Could also be related to the over-sharpened image.

Thanks for confirming this!
I hope that is a problem which can be solved by a firmware update, but if it is really the sensor, then we can only wait for Pro 3, can't we