Could someone with an Air 3 possibly help me?

I'm looking to compare the result of taking a 4x4 grid of tele images and comparing a stitch of those images (I can stitch using PTGUI or PanoramaStudio3) to a single image taken with the wide angle lens.

So I would need you to do the following...

• Find a scene (non moving)
• Take a normal single photo using the 12MP mode of the 24mm wide camera (using manual exposure)
• Switch to the Tele lens
• Frame the viewfinder as best you can to the top left corner of where you took the 24mm shot.
• Take a shot and move the camera right 2/3 of a frame (you can use the grid lines as guides)
• Take a shot and move again 2/3 of a frame
• Repeat 2 more times until you have taken a row of 4 images moving the drone 2/3 each time.
• At the end of the row move the camera down 2/3 of a frame (again use the grid lines as a guide)
• Take a shot
• Now move the camera left 2/3 of a frame and take a shot.
• Repeat 2 more times.
• At the end of the row repeat the above until you have taken a grid of 4x4 images "painting" an area similiar to the 24mm single shot but each shot overlapping the previous by 1/3 of  frame.
  

If you could then load a Onedrive or Google Drive link of the 24mm single image and 16 tele images I would love to try stitching the tele images then comparing those to the single 24mm image.

The goal is produce a super high resolution (but not super wideangle) effective 24mm image. In theory the resolution should exceed that of a Fullframe DSLR camera.

I currently have a Mini 3 Pro but if the above works I would upgrade to the Air 3. I'm also hoping DJI would see this as an awesome feature and implement this as an automated function which would happen in less than 30secs and would involve no hardware changes just software update.

Thanks so much in advance.

Thats quite a detailed procedure, hope someone with air 3 can do this so we can test stitching the images for comparison.

Ranjan Posted at 10-3 19:29
Thats quite a detailed procedure, hope someone with air 3 can do this so we can test stitching the images for comparison.

Lol probably more detailed than it sounds. In essence you start in the top left corner then take a 4 x 4 grid of images moving the drone 2/3 a viewfinder each time.

Yes hopefully someone will be able to supply the DNG files so we can have a test stitch...

I´m interestet in this comparison too! This would be the only reason to upgrade vom my Air 2s, to reach highres photo for clean and detailed large prints

struller Posted at 10-4 01:14
I´m interestet in this comparison too! This would be the only reason to upgrade vom my Air 2s, to reach highres photo for clean and detailed large prints

Let's hope someone can supply some test images

Still haven't found a donor in the forum to take my test images but have proof of concept...

So looking at the attached I have taken a couple of DNG's provided by Henrik from Drone Tech Media. The one on the left is the 12MP 24mm and the one on the right is the 12MP 70mm taken from the same spot. I have zoomed in 200% on the 70mm image and to match have had to zoom in approximately 600% on the 24mm image.

Naturally the difference is night and day but effectively shows you if you capture a 24mm view with 16x 70mm shots then stitched them it would be like being able to take a single 24mm frame and zoom in 600% and still get the quality on the right!  Incredible!

This is currently theory as it's not a 100% given if stitching 16x 70mm tele shots (as above) is going to provide a "natural" looking final result and that's what I would really like to test. So if anybody can spare some time and make the test and post the DNG's would be so much appreciated.

But if it works and looks natural, DJI could automate so easily and would really make the Air 3 a phenomenal photographer's drone.

Many thanks

Hello there, sorry it took half a day to shoot/upload the files (my micro SD card did something funny). Hopefully I've taken the pictures correctly and the clouds didn't move too much, or some parts aren't too underexposed.
https://drive.google.com/drive/f ... Se9dUWv?usp=sharing

fans9b6da7a2 Posted at 10-5 03:58
Hello there, sorry it took half a day to shoot/upload the files (my micro SD card did something funny). Hopefully I've taken the pictures correctly and the clouds didn't move too much, or some parts aren't too underexposed.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LJqGLworJJQTcqanQO3AyRQd7Se9dUWv?usp=sharing

Thanks a lot for the work.
Do you also have the DNGs of the panorama?

fans9b6da7a2 Posted at 10-5 03:58
Hello there, sorry it took half a day to shoot/upload the files (my micro SD card did something funny). Hopefully I've taken the pictures correctly and the clouds didn't move too much, or some parts aren't too underexposed.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LJqGLworJJQTcqanQO3AyRQd7Se9dUWv?usp=sharing

Wow!! Thank you so much that is exactly what we are looking for. The results are incredible


Here is the single 24mm shot on the left resized at about 265% to match a 100% resize of the stitched telephoto images on the right covering roughly the same area as a single 24mm shot. It is night and day.

Looking at the actual stitch there is no weird distortion either so this is amazing and bodes very well for this ultra high true resolution image capability

I have a link here to the 24mm vs 70mm image, the original scene from one 24mm image and the combined stitch of all the 70mm images...

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yeUrj_HCQaBi5J6xgme7BaiIehCbGGjA?usp=sharing

Thank you so much for doing this. We now have to keep on DJI to incorporate this as an automated feature I believe the best implementation is...

• Frame the scene using the 24mm
• Push a "True High Res" button
• The drone then automtically covers that area with 16 shots from the 70mm lens matching the overall framing and either allowing you to stitch or do it in camera (best if you do it)
  

This really does give you a flying DSLR in the sky with the result being better than a single frame from a Mavic 3 Pro 4/3 wide angle lens!!  DJI really should be embracing this ability...

Bussty Posted at 10-5 15:37
Wow!! Thank you so much that is exactly what we are looking for. The results are incredible
[view_image]

Great result! As I'm thinking about printing some pano photo in poster size I really like the idea of high res image capability on Air 3!

virtual Posted at 10-6 00:41
Great result! As I'm thinking about printing some pano photo in poster size I really like the idea of high res image capability on Air 3!

Thanks Virtual lets hope DJI can automate it. I really like the approach to cover the framing of whatever the 24mm is seeing as it gives you that accuracy to frame whatever scene precisely and know you can produce a True High Res image in the shortest space of time. If DJI just gave us 180 pano's or a 3x3 stitch with the 70mm it misses that opportunity.

struller Posted at 10-5 04:32
Thanks a lot for the work.
Do you also have the DNGs of the panorama?

Sorry, I'm not too sure what you mean by DNGs. If you meant the raw images, I unfortunately captured them in JPEG format as I typically don't do image/video editing.

noob1957 Posted at 10-6 04:03
Sorry, I'm not too sure what you mean by DNGs. If you meant the raw images, I unfortunately captured them in JPEG format as I typically don't do image/video editing.

Yes, I meant the RAWs. Never mind. Although you´ve taken it in JPG, you can really imagine how impressive such panoramas are. And if you ever compared RAWs with the JPG of the Air 3, you know there is still a big step in quality towards RAW

struller Posted at 10-6 04:29
Yes, I meant the RAWs. Never mind. Although you´ve taken it in JPG, you can really imagine how impressive such panoramas are. And if you ever compared RAWs with the JPG of the Air 3, you know there is still a big step in quality towards RAW

This is so true I usually use Photolab 6.0 to use it's deepprime XD noise reduction to convert my DNG's to Tiff files then stitch those. Photolab will create a really clean noise free image, more so than the jpegs the drone produces but I do believe they are an improvement on the Air 3 compared to the Mini 3 Pro.

Photolab is saying it will have developed a profile for the Air 3 by November.

But as Struller says even using jpegs out of the drone the quality is undeniable and would only be even better running the DNG's through a more professional image processing model than DJI provides in th Drone.   Happy days :-)

Here full test:

- 12/48 Mp
- 24/70 mm
- AEB 3 and 5
- AutoFocus / Manual Focus infinite

https://pool370.seedbox.fr/files/index.php/s/A3PFk2Tgoqdb2Bj

Next repeat multiple times to reduce noise and/or get a clean plate with no people or cars in the shot

flying-coyotus Posted at 10-8 00:00
Here full test:

- 12/48 Mp

Thanks a lot for the detailed test. It helps me a lot. You can clearly see the improvement of the new stacked sensordesign compared to the Mini 3. In my opinion it is better to shot in 48mpix than upscale a 12mpix file via Adobe super-resolution

chrisb123 Posted at 10-8 19:38
Next repeat multiple times to reduce noise and/or get a clean plate with no people or cars in the shot

It would not be a test anymore.Car and peaople can be easily removed with Photoshop or stamp tool as they are tiny.

struller Posted at 10-9 06:05
Thanks a lot for the detailed test. It helps me a lot. You can clearly see the improvement of the new stacked sensordesign compared to the Mini 3. In my opinion it is better to shot in 48mpix than upscale a 12mpix file via Adobe super-resolution

I experienced that 48 Mpx in low light is not so good, software with improved denoise function cannot do anything (LR & Topaz AI Photo, I still wait for DXO to handle Air 3).
In bright daylight 48 Mpx is great, in low light, I have the feeling that 12 Mpx is better.

48 Mpx is not really 48 mpx, but an extrapolation of the 12 Mps