G'day,

I'm new to drone photography and have just purchases a M3P.  My main area of interest is in railroad/railway photography which normally includes a train moving at speed of anywhere from say 20-60MPH.  I have been used DSLR cameras for the past 20 years.  

On a few test flights yesterday, I was shooting in 48MP and found that the front of the train was being chopped off in my photos due to shuttler lag of 1-2 seconds.  

The image that momentarily freezes on the DJI RC shows me the correct image for when I press the photo button, but the actual image taken by the drone is seconds later.  IN all cases, the drone would be less than 100m from me.  

As I use my images for publication in magazines and reports, video capture isn't acceptable.

Any thoughts on how to remove this shutter lag?

Thanks

Chris

Hi Chris

There is some magic going on with 48MP mode where the drone is having to process what hits the sensor in some way to provide that higher resolution. Unfortunately that all takes time but I am convinced the added resolution is worth it.

I think it's kind of like a faster processor would make it faster but just don't have that luxury. I wonder if it's like the Pano mode where DJI Insist to process and remove access to other functions while it stitches the pano or whether it literally needs multiple dumps of data from the sensor so couldn't process it later even if we wanted it to?

Welcome to the hobby you are going to have a blast with the Mini 3 Pro  

If that's true it's a very undesirable downside to the Mini 3.
I haven't used a Mini 3 to know if it's an inherent problem with that model, but Phantoms and the Mavic 3 are good for shooting stills of fast moving subjects.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry for the trouble. Can you please send us some samples showing the issue so we can forward them to our designated team for attention? We will keep you posted with some updates once we receive the samples. Please keep us posted. Thank you.

DJI Paladin Posted at 7-26 20:17
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry for the trouble. Can you please send us some samples showing the issue so we can forward them to our designated team for attention? We will keep you posted with some updates once we receive the samples. Please keep us posted. Thank you.

Samples won't show anything he hasn't already explained.

I have yet to use the 48mp side of it, I have not noticed any unwanted lag in any other area though.
If there is a button lag (pre-shot) for the 48mp, you're right Labroides, that would be most undesirable and certainly not acceptable for many types of moving shots, sticking with the 12mp is the only option there.

Actually, prior to sitting the reply button i decided to test mine and i get no longer than 1 second pre-shoot pause in 48mp and perhaps 0.250 to 0.500ms in normal 12mp, it is noticeable for me, but its certainly not 2 seconds, i didn't even have time to say a 1 count really.

You can see this in the video below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2kRYD_TuRs

DreamWorks Posted at 7-26 22:13
I have yet to use the 48mp side of it, I have not noticed any unwanted lag in any other area though.
If there is a button lag (pre-shot) for the 48mp, you're right Labroides, that would be most undesirable and certainly not acceptable for many types of moving shots, sticking with the 12mp is the only option there.

I think the delay after you take the photo while the drone processes and prevents you taking a 2nd shot is about 2 secs in 48mp mode (on my drone at least) 12mp is pretty much instantaneous.

are you using a fast enough card ?

Bussty Posted at 7-27 00:42
I think the delay after you take the photo while the drone processes and prevents you taking a 2nd shot is about 2 secs in 48mp mode (on my drone at least) 12mp is pretty much instantaneous.

Yes, thats right, but the OP's issue is pre-shoot

Labroides Posted at 7-26 20:42
Samples won't show anything he hasn't already explained.

Was about to say the same.

General comment: wish we had devs or technical support that can respond to the issues reported on this forum, rather than the middlemen or general mods. Just a suggestion.

DreamWorks Posted at 7-27 07:05
Yes, thats right, but the OP's issue is pre-shoot

Actually whenever I use 48MP I have just assumed the shutter is released at the start of the delay and not the end, I don't really take moving images (yet). Might have to test as important to know. Have all others on here taken moving shots and can confirm the 48MP Mode takes it at the start?  (Would seem weird if it didn't?)

hallmark007 Posted at 7-27 04:02
are you using a fast enough card ?

G'day Hallmark007

I am using a SanDisk Extreme 128GB with 90MB/s write.   Purchased through DJI.

Cheers

Chris

DreamWorks Posted at 7-26 22:13
I have yet to use the 48mp side of it, I have not noticed any unwanted lag in any other area though.
If there is a button lag (pre-shot) for the 48mp, you're right Labroides, that would be most undesirable and certainly not acceptable for many types of moving shots, sticking with the 12mp is the only option there.

G'day Dreamworks

I snuck out for a short test flight yesterday and tried a few different settings.  The 12MP burst had very quick capture results for moving cars and trucks.  I suspect that I will shoot on 12MP burst for moving trains in the future.

I'll try and do a bit more with the 48MP and capture the delay on the RC which can be compared to the final image.

Cheers

Chris

Wagonfreak Posted at 7-27 15:35
G'day Dreamworks

I snuck out for a short test flight yesterday and tried a few different settings.  The 12MP burst had very quick capture results for moving cars and trucks.  I suspect that I will shoot on 12MP burst for moving trains in the future.

Thank you for the update, it must be something to do with the Quad Bayer perhaps?

Tested the 48MP mode today. To my surprise the actual image is captured at the end of the wait not the start! I set the drone up to take photos of my phone with a timer with seconds on it. As the seconds approached 00 I released the shutter. In 12MP mode resulting image always said 00 in 48M mode images showed either 01 or 02 seconds. So there is a delay. That surprised me a little it's not about delay in writing to card but something the camera has to do to prepare for taking the image???

Bussty Posted at 7-28 21:26
Tested the 48MP mode today. To my surprise the actual image is captured at the end of the wait not the start! I set the drone up to take photos of my phone with a timer with seconds on it. As the seconds approached 00 I released the shutter. In 12MP mode resulting image always said 00 in 48M mode images showed either 01 or 02 seconds. So there is a delay. That surprised me a little it's not about delay in writing to card but something the camera has to do to prepare for taking the image???

This I also noticed, which is why I suspect it might be down to it being a Quad Bayer perhaps?

I can confirm the lag as the OP stated. It is weird and makes the 48MP mode unsuitable for action photography.

Is there the same lag on the Air2 (it also has a 48mpx mode)?

It's weird that the mini 3 pro can write 7 burst at 12 MP without any lag or freeze (or just a minor one) and can't take a 48MP shot without a 2sec freeze/lag.

Is even DJI aware of that?

yannick_c Posted at 7-29 11:55
Is there the same lag on the Air2 (it also has a 48mpx mode)?

It's weird that the mini 3 pro can write 7 burst at 12 MP without any lag or freeze (or just a minor one) and can't take a 48MP shot without a 2sec freeze/lag.

They will be as soon as they open my email.

DreamWorks Posted at 7-29 19:04
They will be as soon as they open my email.

Hi, did u get a reply from DJI?

Same issue here, have you found a solution apart from using burst mode?