The photography image quality differences between the Air 2s and Air 3s have been talked about quite a bit. Since I have both I figured I would share my somewhat unscientific results.

For reference, the drones were not flying. I sat them on a table in as close to the same spot as I could. I shot them both in full auto single exposure. I imported the DNG files into photshop and did a full auto adjustment (auto exposure and auto WB). So I think some of what we are seeing could be from how photoshop deals with the lens profiles and results could vary based on the weather while actually flying (the Air 3s is definatly more stable in strong winds than the 2s which would make slower shutter shots potentially sharper but the exposure would have to be pretty long for that to really be a factor).

The 2s shot 1/4,000SS and 100 ISO. The 3s shot 1/8,000SS and 190 ISO. Given the aperture differences (2.8 vs 1.8), I expected to see the difference in shutter speed but I don't know why the 3s shot at 190 ISO. I may redo this experiment later and lock the ISO at 100 for both.

My take: In these very bright conditions the 2s easily beats the 3s in 12 megapixel mode. It is a larger image, has better detail and fewer chromatic aberrations. The 3s in 50 megapixel mode produces a larger image than the 2s and has more details in the grass but the trees look worse, I think. I suspect the 3s will do better than the 2s in low light because of the newer sensor tech but I will verify that myself at some point.

The full size images are here if you want to look at them in detail.

updated the link to the images

3S looks better. It's not blowing the highlights quite as much.

3S is focused slightly different to the 2, but nothing that would make a huge difference to the trees in the background. It affects the bulb thing to the right most.

Hi there,
thank you for reaching out.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and rest assured, it will be forwarded to the relevant team for their attention.

Feel free to contact us if you have any other questions.

Cine_Dude Posted at 12-21 19:27
3S looks better. It's not blowing the highlights quite as much.

3S is focused slightly different to the 2, but nothing that would make a huge difference to the trees in the background. It affects the bulb thing to the right most.

The noise in the shadows looks worse to my eye on the 3s than the 2s.