Hi there!

I just got a new Mini 2 and took some footage. I tried with different settings and different lighting conditions but videos always look very grainy.
I was wondering if this is normal for a mini2.

This clip was taken with auto settings this afternoon in 1080p 30fps

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H_X4xSnvQgG-UJsB9vaLaCIKCdTk3cCG/view?usp=sharing

Let me know what you think

No-one can view your video as the sharing permissions are set up so only people with authorisation can access it.  You need to change the sharing setting in Google Drive to "anyone with the link" or upload it to a video sharing site such as Youtube.

gothi Posted at 9-20 13:48
No-one can view your video as the sharing permissions are set up so only people with authorisation can access it.  You need to change the sharing setting in Google Drive to "anyone with the link" or upload it to a video sharing site such as Youtube.

Sorry I forgot, should work now

Hi Preside, I just saw your video, the images are very slightly grainy in the dark parts of the video but I think it is not that bad given that it is 1080p

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. We already checked the video that you had provided and it seems that there is no issue with it. You may try to shoot with a high resolution to see if the issue persists. In addition, kindly please use a recommended SD card as this will help you to avoid issues with your saved videos. Thank you for your valued support.

I do have the same issue with my Mini2. All of my footage (especially visible on vegetation) is very grainy. I searched for this issue and tried different recording options such as lowering the ISO manually and different resolution. There are already a couple of threads with the same issue on different forums but no one seem to have a solution. I think it is just the downside of such a small sensor?! On the other hand there is amazing Mini2 footage on Youtube with no grainy image what so ever. I was wondering if this is the result of editing or if there is a quality issue with some sensors?

Unfortunately, yes. Mini 2 has a combination of a small sensor and a weak encoder that produce this grainy / noisy footage. There is no way to fix it other than in post processing. Just uploading this video to YouTube will remove most of this noise.

Looking into post processing, Neat Video seems to be a very sophisticated plugin to remove noise from videos. I did not try this myself and I am still looking for a free alternative.

Why only FHD?

Montfrooij Posted at 9-21 09:24
Why only FHD?

maybe no pc for 4k processing?

Ph3onix Posted at 9-21 09:36
maybe no pc for 4k processing?

Could be. But that does make things worse on the M2 footage.
I find 2.7K giving better results.

I tried all kinds of resolutions and camera settings, the noise was always present. I even tried different SD cards, devices and playback software, same result!

Montfrooij Posted at 9-21 10:24
Could be. But that does make things worse on the M2 footage.
I find 2.7K giving better results.

Do you mean that the 2.7K would give better result compared to the 4k?

Ecos Posted at 9-21 10:37
I tried all kinds of resolutions and camera settings, the noise was always present. I even tried different SD cards, devices and playback software, same result!

the video that you put on the drive is it output directly from the sd card or did you use an encoding software ?

Ph3onix Posted at 9-21 11:59
the video that you put on the drive is it output directly from the sd card or did you use an encoding software ?

I did not start this thread but I have the same issue.

Ecos Posted at 9-21 13:10
I did not start this thread but I have the same issue.

yes sorry I answer two messages at the same time I got a can get tangled up, you say that this also happens to you, even in 4k or only in FHD?

Ecos Posted at 9-21 08:08
Looking into post processing, Neat Video seems to be a very sophisticated plugin to remove noise from videos. I did not try this myself and I am still looking for a free alternative.

I'm going to test this Neat Video plugin you just talked about to see if it actually produces what they promise on their site.

Ecos Posted at 9-21 10:37
I tried all kinds of resolutions and camera settings, the noise was always present. I even tried different SD cards, devices and playback software, same result!

The added contrast in the picture profile of the M2 does not help.
I really wish they would give us the option to modify that.

Ph3onix Posted at 9-21 11:55
Do you mean that the 2.7K would give better result compared to the 4k?

It is the optimum for me.
Works better than 4K in my situation.

Ph3onix Posted at 9-21 13:30
I'm going to test this Neat Video plugin you just talked about to see if it actually produces what they promise on their site.

They have a very expensive plugin that works well on noise (I don't have it, way too costly for me).
But I doubt weather it will improve the kind of artifacts (it is not really noise you are getting on the M2, but more like artifacts) will benefit from it.

Montfrooij Posted at 9-21 21:41
It is the optimum for me.
Works better than 4K in my situation.

Ok I'm going to do an outing today and do the comparison. For the 2.7K you film in 30 OR 60 fps?

Ph3onix Posted at 9-21 22:14
Ok I'm going to do an outing today and do the comparison. For the 2.7K you film in 30 OR 60 fps?

I only film in 50fps (or 25)
EU (PAL) works best in 25 or 50.

During daylight conditions you don't really get downsides from 30 or 60, but with artificial lighting, you can get flickering results because of the frequency of our grid.

Also, if you use other camera's and combine the footage, they should be either 30-60 OR 25-50 to prevent dropped frames (stuttering footage)

Finally, make sure you edit in the same framerate. (again, to prevent stuttering).

Too bad DJI and Apple seem to think that NTFS is the only way......
So a lot of their apps / devices is stuck in NTFS area (30-60 fps)
Lately DJI has added PAL framerates too, but still they start in NTFS framerates.

One benefit of using 50fps over 60 (with DJI products) is that the overall bitrate can be lower and there is a tad less compression going on.   

Montfrooij Posted at 9-21 22:34
I only film in 50fps (or 25)
EU (PAL) works best in 25 or 50.

Super thank you for the advice
(look at your PM)

Ph3onix Posted at 9-21 22:46
Super thank you for the advice
(look at your PM)

You're welcome and thanks!

You will get a better result with a ND filter.

Montfrooij Posted at 9-21 10:24
Could be. But that does make things worse on the M2 footage.
I find 2.7K giving better results.

I did several flights this afternoon and alternated between 4k and 2.7k which I had never tested with the Mini2 only 1080 and 4k, and for me too the 2.7k is of much better quality than the 4k, so this confirms well what you say.
So thank you for this good advice

The video you posted is 720P.  Any I see what you mean it looks grainy.  Try running 4k.  If it still looks grainy post all the camera settings you used.  I am sure someone here will be happy to help you get it straightened out.  I film all the time and get very good results.  

Well low light is not very good, but fixing that would require I get an upgrade 8P

Thank you really for all the answers! I used fhd just to make a post on social.
I'm still trying different settings but until i get ND filters I'll keep using auto settings, unless light is optimal.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sQPg3ZLoFtHco8xr3J27KFMtzH2i5EaU/view?usp=sharing

This one is 4k 30fps but I see the same problem, not only in the darkest areas.

Preside Posted at 9-22 13:48
Thank you really for all the answers! I used fhd just to make a post on social.
I'm still trying different settings but until i get ND filters I'll keep using auto settings, unless light is optimal.

The link plays in 720p unless you change it to 1080p using the settings.  Then it looks much better. But the playback is NOT 4K.

Mobilehomer Posted at 9-22 13:57
The link plays in 720p unless you change it to 1080p using the settings.  Then it looks much better. But the playback is NOT 4K.

Yeah cause drive doesn't reproduce 4k, you have to download the file to see 4k

Preside Posted at 9-22 13:59
Yeah cause drive doesn't reproduce 4k, you have to download the file to see 4k

Post it to Youtube in 4K.

Ph3onix Posted at 9-22 10:16
I did several flights this afternoon and alternated between 4k and 2.7k which I had never tested with the Mini2 only 1080 and 4k, and for me too the 2.7k is of much better quality than the 4k, so this confirms well what you say.
So thank you for this good advice

Good to hear.
I also like 2.7K the best!

Preside Posted at 9-22 13:48
Thank you really for all the answers! I used fhd just to make a post on social.
I'm still trying different settings but until i get ND filters I'll keep using auto settings, unless light is optimal.

Try 2.7K for a change!

What I have noticed is that vegetation produces the most noise! I compared a couple of different scenarios and landscapes with slightly moving vegetation (e.g. grass, corn etc.) can look very grainy. I was filming a wilted sunflower field the other day and noticed a slight improvement in the 2.7k image. Double the shutter speed to fps did not make a difference for me.

The video editing software Shotcut has a built in noise reduction named "HQDN3D" which helps with the noise but makes the video blurry. Did someone try Neat Video?

Ecos Posted at 9-27 05:48
What I have noticed is that vegetation produces the most noise! I compared a couple of different scenarios and landscapes with slightly moving vegetation (e.g. grass, corn etc.) can look very grainy. I was filming a wilted sunflower field the other day and noticed a slight improvement in the 2.7k image. Double the shutter speed to fps did not make a difference for me.

The video editing software Shotcut has a built in noise reduction named "HQDN3D" which helps with the noise but makes the video blurry. Did someone try Neat Video?

NeatVideo works. If you want noise reduction for free, just uploading your video to YouTube removes most of the noise.