I have had my Mavic Pro for about a month now and have not been happy with the video quality since I purchased it. I keep trying to like it, but I can't seem to get consistent results. My latest issue seems to be with soft edges in my footage especially during panning movement. The center of the frame seems to stay more sharp and everything sharpens up once the drone stops moving. I have read about all settings and frame rates and no matter what I try I seems to have issues. Between this and overexposure even with ND filters I am starting to wish I bought another drone. Do you think this is a faulty unit or just a crappy camera?

Mavic sample footage

A couple things: the Mavic's camera works best with lots of light, dreary days are going to give you dreary footage on any camera. The number one thing a camera needs is good light, and the Mavic's camera really doesn't shine without strong light. Negative sharpening in lower light is a recipe for grief, so avoid that setting in such conditons.

Panning as shown in your demo is the most challenging video type of content to compress, and on top of that, to pan smoothly at the speed you are attempting you really need to have a faster frame rate -- you can test this by repeating your pan speed at 30fps, 60fps, and 96fps and comparing results. Note that frame rates above 30fps will exhibit reduced video quality but improved motion capture.  Most of us prefer to shoot at 30fps to keep the highest video image quality and live with slow panning when we want that kind of shot.

Hope some of this helps.

It just looks out of focus to me. Try getting some video on a sunny day with all settings on auto and AFC for focus. Take some video and have a look and see if it is ok. If you are using settings that slow down the shutter speed, which ND filters will do, then you are going to see motion blur in movement and panning.

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-11-18 18:58
A couple things: the Mavic's camera works best with lots of light, dreary days are going to give you dreary footage on any camera. The number one thing a camera needs is good light, and the Mavic's camera really doesn't shine without strong light. Negative sharpening in lower light is a recipe for grief, so avoid that setting in such conditons.

Panning as shown in your demo is the most challenging video type of content to compress, and on top of that, to pan smoothly at the speed you are attempting you really need to have a faster frame rate -- you can test this by repeating your pan speed at 30fps, 60fps, and 96fps and comparing results. Note that frame rates above 30fps will exhibit reduced video quality but improved motion capture.  Most of us prefer to shoot at 30fps to keep the highest video image quality and live with slow panning when we want that kind of shot.

I shot this footage at 30 FPS to try and recover the severe motion blur I was getting at 24 FPS. Thanks for the added info. I know a lot about how cameras work and the settings in different situations, but this Mavic is giving me a run for my money trying to get quality footage.

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-11-18 21:58
It just looks out of focus to me. Try getting some video on a sunny day with all settings on auto and AFC for focus. Take some video and have a look and see if it is ok. If you are using settings that slow down the shutter speed, which ND filters will do, then you are going to see motion blur in movement and panning.

I have used all the focus options with varied results. The AFC is so annoying because it is constantly searching for focus. I focused to infinity in the tap to focus for this shot. I also use the focus peaking to determine focus points. My sunny footage tends to have exposure issues even in auto exposure. Just having so many issues for a device that should just work well out of the box for $1000!

mstrauss7140 Posted at 2017-11-19 10:33
I have used all the focus options with varied results. The AFC is so annoying because it is constantly searching for focus. I focused to infinity in the tap to focus for this shot. I also use the focus peaking to determine focus points. My sunny footage tends to have exposure issues even in auto exposure. Just having so many issues for a device that should just work well out of the box for $1000!

In the above video, what camera settings were you using?

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-11-19 22:09
In the above video, what camera settings were you using?

4k 30 fps +1 sharpening, cloudy white balance, AF, D-Cinelike color. shutter speed 1/60, ISO 200

mstrauss7140 Posted at 2017-11-20 07:10
4k 30 fps +1 sharpening, cloudy white balance, AF, D-Cinelike color. shutter speed 1/60, ISO 200

I like the mavic for portability but the camera and video quality is not so good.  I actually prefer the images I gather from my P4 because it does not have as many artifacts, even thoough the P4 camera is not that great either.  I have tried just about every setting and in the end, the camera is very limited.  I still like flying it and the constant challenge it presents to get a decent picture.  I want to upgrade to the P4P but just don't want to reinvest in the original phantom form factor and is hoping for a better camera in the next mavic.  

mstrauss7140 Posted at 2017-11-20 07:10
4k 30 fps +1 sharpening, cloudy white balance, AF, D-Cinelike color. shutter speed 1/60, ISO 200

Well your camera settings seem ok so it is hard to tell where the problem may be without having a look at video shot in much better light.

mstrauss7140 Posted at 2017-11-20 07:10
4k 30 fps +1 sharpening, cloudy white balance, AF, D-Cinelike color. shutter speed 1/60, ISO 200

Try sharpening 0 or -1 even.