I’ve been reading about the virtues of the new “stacked sensor” technology - in which the photodiode layer is stacked on top of the circuitry. The effect of this is better dynamic range, better resolution, reduced artifacts, and faster processing.

So I assume that, for a given sensor size, the camera with a stacked sensor would have certain advantages over the camera without. The Air 3 has it. I understand that the Mavic 3 series lacks the stacked sensor.

Since the Air 3 and Mavic 3 Pro have the same 1/1.3 sensor size in their 3X telephoto cameras, is it reasonable to assume (despite the fixed aperture) that the Air 3 camera may be superior?

You know I never thought about that,great point.The 3x camera on the Mavic 3 pro probably does have older technology.

Could you please point where in the DJI website it mentions the Air 3 as "stacked" please...

Other than one admin here, I have not yet to see that word in the DJI Official website...

This is the only mention of the sensor in the DJI website:

"Air 3’s two 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensors support dual native ISO for direct output of 4K/60fps HDR video without cropping. This means footage from either camera can be packed with rich coloring and natural lighting transitions for breathtaking and highly-accurate results."

It only mentions the Dual Native ISO... I'm sure that if the CMOS was the stacked one, somewhere on the DJI website it would be advertised as a great new feature for the drones...

Or is this the best kept secret in town???

Burt37 Posted at 10-19 19:25
Could you please point where in the DJI website it mentions the Air 3 as "stacked" please...

Other than one admin here, I have not yet to see that word in the DJI Official website...

Earlier reviewers of the Air 3 have mentioned they are indeed using a stacked sensor technology.
I doubt very much it was just made up.

You’re right there’s not a lot to go on from official DJI literature. This is a good piece on the distinction between stacked / non-stacked sensor.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/whats-the-difference-between-cmos-bsi-cmos-and-stacked-cmos

A number of DJI-sponsored reviewers have discussed the innovation of stacked sensors in the Air 3 and, as was mentioned, the DJI Administrator in this forum confirmed it for the Air 3.

I suppose it’s possible that the sensor is present for the Mavic 3 series – we don’t get the schematics - but given that it’s understood to be an evolution of the technology odd that it wouldn’t have been mentioned.

As to why it’s not "officially" advertised for the Air 3 – I can only speculate that the DJI marketing team was disinclined to advertise that their lower-priced bargain drone had any kind of optical advantage over its premier consumer brand. Especially given the Air 3 already has superior transmission with O4. Just my two-bits.

djiuser_9wJy8gAG5SGh Posted at 10-19 21:27
You’re right there’s not a lot to go on from official DJI literature. This is a good piece on the distinction between stacked / non-stacked sensor.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/whats-the-difference-between-cmos-bsi-cmos-and-stacked-cmos

Stacked CMOS are not new to the world of camera but they are more expensive than standard CMOS

To me the fact that DJI has not put it in writing on their website, it simply means that both Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro are simply not stacked CMOS... It is not up to us or a personal opinion...

Either they are and DJI would mention it on their website, or they are not and DJI cannot mention it on their website...

Burt37 Posted at 10-20 01:23
Stacked CMOS are not new to the world of camera but they are more expensive than standard CMOS

To me the fact that DJI has not put it in writing on their website, it simply means that both Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro are simply not stacked CMOS... It is not up to us or a personal opinion...

Lots of camera manufacturers use stacked sensors and not all of them use this in their specs , it doesn’t mean they are not using a stacked sensor. Mods have confirmed that air 3 uses stacked sensor. There are also different types of stacked sensors.
However using both Mavic pro and air 3 there seems to be none or very little difference I see, but not done any real pix peeping , my guess is stacked sensors are faster but I don’t know enough about them.

djiuser_9wJy8gAG5SGh Posted at 10-19 21:27
You’re right there’s not a lot to go on from official DJI literature. This is a good piece on the distinction between stacked / non-stacked sensor.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/whats-the-difference-between-cmos-bsi-cmos-and-stacked-cmos

DJI did not want to broadcast it for fear of possibly hurting mavic 3 pro sales.As you had mentioned
in the last part of your post #5.

Okay now I’m wondering if I’ve actually fallen prey to DJI marketing jiujitsu? It seems stacked sensors all the way down. I believe Mini 4 Pro, Mini 3 pro, even the Mini 3 use the same Omnivision OV48C stacked sensor as the Air3. Quality differences are down to improved computational processing. Purely as a matter of intellectual curiosity I’d love to know. Maybe DJI can clarify?

Hallmark007 Posted at 10-20 03:22
Lots of camera manufacturers use stacked sensors and not all of them use this in their specs , it doesn’t mean they are not using a stacked sensor. Mods have confirmed that air 3 uses stacked sensor. There are also different types of stacked sensors.
However using both Mavic pro and air 3 there seems to be none or very little difference I see, but not done any real pix peeping , my guess is stacked sensors are faster but I don’t know enough about them.

Two questions:

1) Which manufacturer use stacked sensor in their camera without listing this feature in their specs?

2) If it is not listed in their specs, how do you know that it is a stacked CMOS?

Thank you

djiuser_9wJy8gAG5SGh Posted at 10-20 12:15
Okay now I’m wondering if I’ve actually fallen prey to DJI marketing jiujitsu? It seems stacked sensors all the way down. I believe Mini 4 Pro, Mini 3 pro, even the Mini 3 use the same Omnivision OV48C stacked sensor as the Air3. Quality differences are down to improved computational processing. Purely as a matter of intellectual curiosity I’d love to know. Maybe DJI can clarify?

Now that's a very good question..

If you do search the forum, you will find that I did previously asked the same question and all I got after a while was one of the mods here telling me that yes, they are stacked sensor... When asked why then DJI does not listed this feature in their Official website, well, there was the end of the story...

I'm still waiting for an Update on the Official DJI website, in the same way as I waited for SDK for the Mavic 3 and proper firmware changelogs where you can actually read what has changed and what has been removed, so to be able to make an informed decision if to update or not...

Marketing jiujitsu, it is as good name for it... I like it...

Burt37 Posted at 10-20 12:55
Two questions:

1) Which manufacturer use stacked sensor in their camera without listing this feature in their specs?

Leica, and you would know if you stripped one down. With dji drones you have a sealed unit so it would be difficult. DJI have said on this forum it is a stacked sensor. Im not sure why it bothers you so much you don’t own one .
Easiest way to find out buy one strip it down if it doesn’t have one “sue” if it does you get what you deserve for being a doubting Thomas ….

djiuser_9wJy8gAG5SGh Posted at 10-20 12:15
Okay now I’m wondering if I’ve actually fallen prey to DJI marketing jiujitsu? It seems stacked sensors all the way down. I believe Mini 4 Pro, Mini 3 pro, even the Mini 3 use the same Omnivision OV48C stacked sensor as the Air3. Quality differences are down to improved computational processing. Purely as a matter of intellectual curiosity I’d love to know. Maybe DJI can clarify?

Why? If it shoots video you are happy with and photos then does it matter what the sensor is . Surely end result is paramount and what are your other options.

No matter what camera you buy you will get the usual blurb of marketing designed to put an extra shine on what you’re buying, but if the end results are better than the competition you’re on the pigs back.

I don’t think dji would purposefully lie but I’m certain marketing will be better than all their competition. You could write to their engineers and ask them.

Hallmark007 Posted at 10-21 12:34
Leica, and you would know if you stripped one down. With dji drones you have a sealed unit so it would be difficult. DJI have said on this forum it is a stacked sensor. Im not sure why it bothers you so much you don’t own one .
Easiest way to find out buy one strip it down if it doesn’t have one “sue” if it does you get what you deserve for being a doubting Thomas ….

Thanks for confirming my point...

Unless you strip one down, you don't know that either...

Not sure what you mean by Leica... They do advertise what they use in the M11 on their Offical website:



You chose to trust DJI and that your choice, but don't ask me to be this gullible, please.

We did trust DJI, and it didn't ended up that well..

If I got to buy a product and it is advertised as one thing, why would I believe you, when you just told me that you really don't know, that the product is different from the advertisement?

As far as bothering me so much, well that's very simple really... If I got to buy another DJI product, this time, I want to be 100% sure of what I'm buying...

I hope it makes sense...

DJI has been asked this question and they stated it is a stacked sensor. I don’t know in which thread but it is somewhere on this DJI forum. I agree they should put it in the spec sheet but there are many drones which the spec sheets don’t show everything. If it’s that important then I’d suggest going direct to DJI with an email as I have done a few times over the past several years to get the answer. Enjoy.

Wyldwestaz10 Posted at 10-21 18:38
DJI has been asked this question and they stated it is a stacked sensor. I don’t know in which thread but it is somewhere on this DJI forum. I agree they should put it in the spec sheet but there are many drones which the spec sheets don’t show everything. If it’s that important then I’d suggest going direct to DJI with an email as I have done a few times over the past several years to get the answer. Enjoy.

That was my thread... I started but after this reply, no much has happened after that...

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... 422&pid=3141665

Some here have gone directly to DJI before (SDK) and that didn't help either...

Like Hallmark said; If you are happy with the quality of the photo, then what the sensor is it shouldn't really matter... But there is also the principle of honesty and the matter of charging a specific price for a given product...

I think that is what these threads are about...

Burt37 Posted at 10-21 14:41
Thanks for confirming my point...

Unless you strip one down, you don't know that either...

It seems you just don’t want to believe anything you’re told dji clearly told anyone that wants to know that it has a stacked sensor , you just choose not to believe, but reading your other posts here thats normal for you . So ended this conversation.

I own a Leica q3 it has a stacked sensor but it’s not in any specs I’ve read but most you tubers verify it . Im certain dji use stainless screws on the inside of their craft but its not in the specs go figure.

Hallmark007 Posted at 10-22 05:05
It seems you just don’t want to believe anything you’re told dji clearly told anyone that wants to know that it has a stacked sensor , you just choose not to believe, but reading your other posts here thats normal for you . So ended this conversation.

I own a Leica q3 it has a stacked sensor but it’s not in any specs I’ve read but most you tubers verify it . Im certain dji use stainless screws on the inside of their craft but its not in the specs go figure.

I had the feeling that this is where you were going. You guys are doing it all the time when have nothing left to back up your stories... I guess this is also why DJI gets away with murder around here...

If you are not interested to find out why DJI is not Officially advertising what just one moderator has said here on their website, just move along... No one is either forcing you to read or reply...

Like I said. I would like to be 100% aware of what I'm buying and what feature the drone really has or come with for my next purchase...

Then the next step is to get DJI to release a "PROPER CHANGELOG" for their various firmware, so to be able to see what they choose to add or remove from the current firmware.. Wouldn't you like to have a say on your own toys? I do!

Burt37 Posted at 10-22 13:04
I had the feeling that this is where you were going. You guys are doing it all the time when have nothing left to back up your stories... I guess this is also why DJI gets away with murder around here...

If you are not interested to find out why DJI is not Officially advertising what just one moderator has said here on their website, just move along... No one is either forcing you to read or reply...

Again you’re all fur coat and no knickers . What have you done if you’re so concerned there are others above the moderators to ask what it is you’re looking for. But you seem to only want to shoot off your mouth about this, if it concerns you do something you are already saying the mods here have no credibility yet you are on this forum trying to get a different answer from those who 1 you don’t trust and 2 you choose not to believe.
Almost everyone on this subject accepted that the information garnered from the mod was relayed to them in an honest manner “except you” would another mod saying the same thing convince you , I think not. And as I said before not all manufacturers note every thing about their products. Almost every sensor in every pro and prosumer camera contains a Sony sensor but almost no camera manufacturer calls it a Sony cmos sensor.

On the FW you have a choice whether to upload or not. Most if not all tech companies introduce FW SW updates daily and 95% call it bug fixes so this is nothing we are not aware of before we buy.
There are plenty of forum threads you can add opinions suggestions as to how you think improvements can be made , but you are again depending on mods “you don’t trust” to forward these .

DJI getting away with murder! , they make the best consumer prosumer and pro drones at prices that obviously their customers are prepared to pay, and have 80% of the market . This is a DJI privately owned website they seem to have no problem with those voicing their opinions because it’s probably another way of understanding what their customers are happy or unhappy with as well as getting them to put forward their ideas suggestions etc. so if they were duping conning or abusing customers trust this would just become a platform to denigrate themselves and I’m certain marketing would put a stop to that very quickly.

I”m always worried about those who purchase for big sums of money products they tend to complain constantly about the same products, I think its called buyers remorse so no use in telling you to go fly your drone as it seems like the last thing on your mind.

Hallmark007 Posted at 10-22 15:41
Again you’re all fur coat and no knickers . What have you done if you’re so concerned there are others above the moderators to ask what it is you’re looking for. But you seem to only want to shoot off your mouth about this, if it concerns you do something you are already saying the mods here have no credibility yet you are on this forum trying to get a different answer from those who 1 you don’t trust and 2 you choose not to believe.
Almost everyone on this subject accepted that the information garnered from the mod was relayed to them in an honest manner “except you” would another mod saying the same thing convince you , I think not. And as I said before not all manufacturers note every thing about their products. Almost every sensor in every pro and prosumer camera contains a Sony sensor but almost no camera manufacturer calls it a Sony cmos sensor.

I'm sorry, could you repeat that..

Actually, if you are from Ireland, you may understand this better:

That's NIce!

Hallmark007 Posted at 10-22 05:05
It seems you just don’t want to believe anything you’re told dji clearly told anyone that wants to know that it has a stacked sensor , you just choose not to believe, but reading your other posts here thats normal for you . So ended this conversation.

I own a Leica q3 it has a stacked sensor but it’s not in any specs I’ve read but most you tubers verify it . Im certain dji use stainless screws on the inside of their craft but its not in the specs go figure.

Just for the record, there's not alot of stainless steel inside the Air 3. Just the shields around some of the chips. All the screws seem to just be those black coated ones you see from the outside (suppose they could be 304 stainless, as they're quite magnetizable).

I'm late to this thread but whether the DJI Air 3 has a stacked sensor or not is really immaterial to image quality.  Today, the main benefit of a stacked sensor is readout speed which will affect FPS and video performance options and those are known entities for the DJI drones.  In fact, the first FF camera (Sony A9) with a stacked sensor had poorer DR than older generation sensors.  Sensor size will have a much greater impact on noise levels and dynamic range than a stacked sensor will so I would use that as the primary consideration if image quality is your main priority.
For whoever stated that the Leica Q3 has a stacked sensor, that is incorrect.  If you are relying on YouTubers as a source for accurate technical information then you are in for a rude awakening.   The Q3 uses a 60MP Backside Illuminated (BSI) sensor which puts the photodiodes closer to the surface of the sensor.  This architecture improves the light gathering performance of the sensor and will enhance dynamic range and lower noise levels. i.e. better image quality.   Many YouTubers do not understand the difference between BSI and Stacked Sensors and so once one of them uses these terms incorrectly, others will follow like lemmings and repeat the misinformation.   Today there are no FF MILCs with stacked sensors greater than 50MP.   Many of the cameras with stacked sensors are sports/action oriented cameras with low MP's such as the Sony A9 or Canon R3 where high FPS and minimal rolling shutter affects are important.