I have seen some pretty amazing Mavic Pro photos on the SkyPixel web site and elsewhere. But I have to admit, I'm pretty unimpressed by the still photos I'm getting from my Mavic Pro.

• I shoot stills in 16:9 format (landscape mode, for one off images, and portrait mode for panoramas).
• My camera settings are RAW, 1,0,0 (not sure that does anythng for stills?).
• I use a fast shutter speed to avoid blurring caused by the vibration of the propellors and movement caused by wind on the Mavic Pro.
• I'm take photos while hovering, not while moving.
• I've tried shooting with Polar Pro ND filters, and without, just to see if that extra layer of glass has any effect on image quality (Doesn't seem to).
  

My images are not crisp and clear, and do not seem to handle post-processing very well. Diagonal lines suffer from bad stair-stepping artifacts.

For those who post great Mavic Pro photos on line, can you tell me what setting you use in-camera, and the application you use for post processing. I've recently been trying Lightroom Classic. It seems to be really heavy-handed in doing what it does -- or rather, I seem to be really havy-handed with it.  I can't attach full-size images, unfortunately, but here are before and after post-processing shots:

Keep experimenting! Watch lots of YouTube tutorials and you will get there. It takes a lot of work to get to the level you see on SkyPixel. You can't just fly your drone up in the air snap a few pictures off an expect to make the front page
Shoot in 4:3, it uses the whole image sensor and you can crop in later.
Use the grid, it's really helpful for setting up a shot using the "rule of thirds"
ND filters definitely help reduce glare, cut lens flare and can help with colour saturation.
Lighting plays a massive part in getting that perfect shot, try shooting in the "golden hour" (sun up and sun down)
I shoot in +1,-1,-1 I have spent a lot of time testing every combination of settings to see which works best for me.
Make sure you camera is focused (tap focus is pretty good but doesn't get it right every time)Lightroom takes a bit to master, you can easily destroy a good photo by over editing it. Again, experiment to see what works and watch some youtube tutorials, there is a wealth of information out there, just remember you aren't going to become a pro overnight.
Hope that helps a bit

I'm no Lightroom expert but you can achieve some pretty good results if you know what you are doing.

Shoot It WA Posted at 2017-11-11 19:09
Keep experimenting! Watch lots of YouTube tutorials and you will get there. It takes a lot of work to get to the level you see on SkyPixel. You can't just fly your drone up in the air snap a few pictures off an expect to make the front page  
Shoot in 4:3, it uses the whole image sensor and you can crop in later.
Use the grid, it's really helpful for setting up a shot using the "rule of thirds"

I'm a decent photographer, been shooting photos since I was a kid, and video for about 15 years... But getting good results from the camera on the Mavic has proved elusive! I think your point about shooting 4:3 might be the most important... By shooting in 16:9, I'm not getting the full quality of the tiny Mavic Pro sensor, LOL.

Agreed. MP camera isn't the best but you'd be surprised to know that a lot of those Skypixel photos have been edited big time.  

M.C. Pilot Posted at 2017-11-11 19:43
Agreed. MP camera isn't the best but you'd be surprised to know that a lot of those Skypixel photos have been edited big time.

Oh, I'm not at all surprised that they're edited! I'm just not getting great source images... Without a good source image, even great post processing will produce less than great results. For example, the images I have seen, look clean and sharp, but not overly sharp. I'm guessing they've been run through NeatImage, or other nose reduction. The sharpening done is really good... I can't get my images that sharp without introducing nasty artifacts.
Here's a nice image -- heavily processed, but really pretty.

Mauro Pagali (Looks much better on SkyPixel... And not really fair, as it's a P4P image!)

i been flying about 6 months now and also still not happy with my quality - although i did get a small improvement lately, still got a long way to go and struggling tremendously to get it right.

i am dialed in with the 'blue filter' - thats made things look a bit better for me and i use  +2 -2 +0. Only the first digit i will change sometimes to +1. Most seem to agree that double shutter set to double the frame rate works best. i have tried numerous editing software, last night tried another and failed again. Till now i edit video in skypixel as my only useable option and edit pictures with Windows photo which offers some slight improvements but nothing near what i can be proud of - dissapointed at my slow progress but i keep trying - hoping one day i can get better internet connection as this seems to be a factor counting against me.

Bekaru Tree Posted at 2017-11-11 23:45
i am dialed in with the 'blue filter' - thats made things look a bit better for me and i use  +2 -2 +0. Only the first digit i will change sometimes to +1. Most seem to agree that double shutter set to double the frame rate works best. i have tried numerous editing software, last night tried another and failed again. Till now i edit video in skypixel as my only useable option and edit pictures with Windows photo which offers some slight improvements but nothing near what i can be proud of - dissapointed at my slow progress but i keep trying - hoping one day i can get better internet connection as this seems to be a factor counting against me.

Ok... Thanks for your input, but this thread is about shooting still photos, not video. Shooting stills at a shutter speed that's double the frame rate makes no sense for photos where there is no frame rate :-)  Generally speaking, when shooting stills, if you don't want blur caused by the actual camera (Mavic) moving, you're going to need a fast shutter speed. A fast shutter speed makes capturing flowing water quite difficult, for example.

Shooting in RAW means that filters, like the blue filter you mentioned, are not added to the image, thereby allowing  you to use your favorite photo editing software to add whatever color correction and effects you like, without having the Mavic's own image processing baked into the image

As for photo editing software, there are lots to choose from, some are even free... And most/all will yield better results than Windows Photo. If you want a free video editing suitr, download BlackMagic's DaVinci Resolve 14.

Sorry - you are right that i did not read or reply to the thread properly.
Thanks for your kind reply though - u shared some pointers with me that i hope will help to improve my pictures - i've got a long way to go.

Jyunte Posted at 2017-11-11 20:59
Oh, I'm not at all surprised that they're edited! I'm just not getting great source images... Without a good source image, even great post processing will produce less than great results. For example, the images I have seen, look clean and sharp, but not overly sharp. I'm guessing they've been run through NeatImage, or other nose reduction. The sharpening done is really good... I can't get my images that sharp without introducing nasty artifacts.
Here's a nice image -- heavily processed, but really pretty.

Yeah makes sense. I also find myself in the same situation trying to continue to find ways to create that nice clean sharp image. Not as easy as it looks.

Shoot It WA Posted at 2017-11-11 19:09
Keep experimenting! Watch lots of YouTube tutorials and you will get there. It takes a lot of work to get to the level you see on SkyPixel. You can't just fly your drone up in the air snap a few pictures off an expect to make the front page  
Shoot in 4:3, it uses the whole image sensor and you can crop in later.
Use the grid, it's really helpful for setting up a shot using the "rule of thirds"

Good pointers. Even these edited images good pretty incredible.

Have you tried long exposure? It looks really crisp and sharp imo but the rest I haven't been able to find the right settings just yet.

Have you tried messing around with single/multiple and HDR shots?

Don't use +1 for sharpness , use 0,-3-3(most detail and in a perfect histogram) d-log since DJI updated the firmware  ,use a  filter with polarisation. shoot in raw, use 4:3 and manual. White balance to sunny or cloudly. ISO 100.
Focus object before taking a photo. Post process your image.
Make several pictures of the same object with diffrent style's to obtain best style settings.

travelrikk Posted at 2017-11-14 04:50
Have you tried long exposure? It looks really crisp and sharp imo but the rest I haven't been able to find the right settings just yet.

Have you tried messing around with single/multiple and HDR shots?

I don't see how using a long exposure from an aircraft that is moving (being jostled around by the wind, while trying to hover) can possibly result in a sharp image? Can you explain? It kinda goes against everything I've ever been taught about photography (unless using a heavy tripod, which even a gimbal-stabilized Mavic Pro cannot emulate).

Jos A Posted at 2017-11-14 11:05
Don't use +1 for sharpness , use 0,-3-3(most detail and in a perfect histogram) d-log since DJI updated the firmware  ,use a  filter with polarisation. shoot in raw, use 4:3 and manual. White balance to sunny or cloudly. ISO 100.
Focus object before taking a photo. Post process your image.
Make several pictures of the same object with diffrent style's to obtain best style settings.

From what I've read about the Mavic's onboard processing, using -1,0,0 puts the least amount of processing on the image. Using -3 actually increases onboard processing! I always shoot with the histogram on, just as I do with my regular DSLR and focus before taking the shot. I think shooting 4:3 is a really good suggestion, as it uses the full sensor. I used five 4:3 portrait mode images to make the panorama below. Thanks for you suggestions.

Jos A Posted at 2017-11-15 02:12
https://youtu.be/mHYtTjrDcfk

Good video.... there are a bunch of them out there, all giving different results!

yeah but notice the date, they all in the past before the firmware update 22/08/2017 when they improved image quality

Jos A Posted at 2017-11-16 03:24
yeah but notice the date, they all in the past before the firmware update 22/08/2017 when they improved image quality

Good point! I will certainly give it a try!