Its constant for me Yes...
I didn't figure it out what scenarios are causing this but its the shadows that are affected ( even on sunny days ).

It almost look like light metering decides when to switch ''desaturation'' on or off

I think still considering this issue that MA is a great quad and quality is far better than Spark or sometimes even MP

Crio Posted at 2018-6-21 06:08
Its constant for me Yes...
I didn't figure it out what scenarios are causing this but its the shadows that are affected ( even on sunny days ).

Have you tried using ND / PL filters? Do they affect the color-eating problem?

Very interesting reading here.  I have a MP and never use even the built in WB profiles but always use custom.  I find for me in this bright sun of Nevada that anywhere between 6300 to 6700 works best.  Usually at 6500.  Too bad the MA does not have D-Log and really was not aware of this till reading this here.  

They dont have an impact on this issue

Im working with images as a photographer/videographer and printer for many years now and this is my assumption.
The issue is probably tide to image noise reduction ( color noise ).
Because color noise reduction has ( usually ) a certain set color space its affecting only certain parts and colors.
This is an example of what might going on.

So the image still contains color, but some parts are lost.

I know this is only my conjecture but looks exactly as whats going on with my MA footage.
Image processing is so aggressive that it strips the footage from certain colors.

If that's true, this is just how it is and there is no setting that I can use ... a lesser noise reduction would be welcome but you cant have everything I guess ;)
Im wondering if anybody has a different explanation.

Crio Posted at 2018-6-21 07:56
Im working with images as a photographer/videographer and printer for many years now and this is my assumption.
The issue is probably tide to image noise reduction ( color noise ).
Because color noise reduction has ( usually ) a certain set color space its affecting only certain parts and colors.

Is Noise Reduction setting tuneable on Mavic Air? Or can you at least turn it on/off?

Crio Posted at 2018-6-21 07:56
Im working with images as a photographer/videographer and printer for many years now and this is my assumption.
The issue is probably tide to image noise reduction ( color noise ).
Because color noise reduction has ( usually ) a certain set color space its affecting only certain parts and colors.

Oops, sorry, double post

No you cant

Crio Posted at 2018-6-21 06:08
Its constant for me Yes...
I didn't figure it out what scenarios are causing this but its the shadows that are affected ( even on sunny days ).

Greetings from Greece! I have the same issues with the Mavic Air, and im posting a link here for everyone to be able to clearly see the problem.



I would describe it as a local color desaturation, and i would say that this issue is irrelevant with the exposure metering, because the above video was set to 100iso, 1/50th  shutter, plus 25 frames/sec and i used an ND filter to get the proper settings.

Also in my humble opinion is not a problem caused by the noise reduction (neither luma or color), i think its a combination of muted colors in shadows and/also in specific color range plus the interaction of the auto white balance. Also note that this happens only on video footage and not on the photos (RAW).

I am looking forward for a response from a specialist from DJI herself, and for sure, for a solution because beside that, its a nice drone.

Thanks

Monkey.ThePilot Posted at 1-15 15:29
Greetings from Greece! I have the same issues with the Mavic Air, and im posting a link here for everyone to be able to clearly see the problem.

https://youtu.be/nB5T07h0Sg8

Two more samples, directly from timeline with some extreme saturation in order to be able to distinguish the highly desaturated areas. This time the color profile was set to normal.

Monkey.ThePilot Posted at 1-16 03:50
[view_image][view_image]

Two more samples, directly from timeline with some extreme saturation in order to be able to distinguish the highly desaturated areas. This time the color profile was set to normal.

Greetings to everyone from Athens, Greece

First of all i have to say that i feel sorry that DJI hasn't address the problem or at list give an official response/ solution.

Let me summarize the  problem one more time.

There is a saturation issue with the Mavic Air drone (i have post a few samples on this thread) which is caused from different factors in my humble opinion.

1)The flat D-cinelike profile (the normal on the other hand isnt usable for any serious work, too contrast)

2)Auto exposure Metering

3)The auto WB

4)8bit codec. That thing alone isn't that bad,  and its a problem on a true log profile.

5)A combination of Noise reduction/ Muted Colors on shadows and on specific almost monochromatic areas (like greens, blues etc) its interesting that happens on very bright and well lit subjects also which suggests that its not a noise reduction issue only.

6)The Color settings. Here we have three different options: Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation.
The problem is even more pronounced if we dial down the contrast and saturation to -3, in an attempt to get the most dynamic range and flat color.

Now the good news  

My humble suggestion and workaround is:

1)First of all use ND filters and set the right shutter speed for your
preferred frame rate and set  the ISO to 100.

2)Use the D-cinelike profile

3)Use the highest resolution. 4K means more sampling and higher bit rate.
Because with lower resolutions some fine details and textures are lost and pronounce the problem.

4)Play with the Color Settings.
The most important in my humble opinion is to set the saturation all the way up to +3.
The Contrast to -2 (even-3) gives some more dynamic range.
The Sharpness is a matter of personal taste but i would suggest 0.

The following link is with those settings plus some color correction.



One final word the issue is very pronounced on D-cinelike with all the settings down to -3.
So avoid that.
I hope for a firmware update from DJI that will address to those issues.


All the best,
Nikolas

Monkey.ThePilot Posted at 1-18 10:23
Greetings to everyone from Athens, Greece

First of all i have to say that i feel sorry that DJI hasn't address the problem or at list give an official response/ solution.

Also set the WB to Cloud to get warmer colors and bypass the auto cooling to grey phenomenon.

the information is there with D-Cinelike but it is flattened so you can post process videos and not blow anything out.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 1-18 11:22
the information is there with D-Cinelike but it is flattened so you can post process videos and not blow anything out.

No its not.
When I had that bird it had no impact on this issue whatever mode I was shooting with.

Crio Posted at 1-18 17:04
No its not.
When I had that bird it had no impact on this issue whatever mode I was shooting with.

weird, i never had issues using custom luts fixing the mavic air's footage.  

HereForTheBeer Posted at 1-18 18:13
weird, i never had issues using custom luts fixing the mavic air's footage.

It wasn't like the colours were muted or flat, they are gone. There was no colour to grade in some parts of the image so no LUT or correction would help.  Dont have the Air any more to show more examples ( there is some posts with those already ). but I was hoping it will be addressed and fix found already.

Crio Posted at 1-18 18:18
It wasn't like the colours were muted or flat, they are gone. There was no colour to grade in some parts of the image so no LUT or correction would help.  Dont have the Air any more to show more examples ( there is some posts with those already ). but I was hoping it will be addressed and fix found already.

interesting... dji probably wont fix it though, dji i think has tied it up and left it out to die.  ;/

I've been having the same problem while editing my first video I realised the same thing.. and in a way I'm glad I'm not alone.

Has anyone tried this fix?



I've yet to give it a go myself as I've just found it and wondered if this software bug is a real fix?

Solution (What actually worked for me)

1)First of all use ND filters and set the right shutter speed for your
preferred frame rate and set  the ISO to 100.

2)Use the D-cinelike profile

3)Also set the WB to Cloud to get warmer colors and bypass the auto cooling to grey phenomenon.

4)Use the highest resolution. 4K means more sampling and higher bit rate.
Because with lower resolutions some fine details and textures are lost and pronounce the problem.

5)Play with the Color Settings.
The most important in my humble opinion is to set the saturation all the way up to +3.
The Contrast to -2 (even-3) gives some more dynamic range.
The Sharpness is a matter of personal taste but i would suggest 0.


And Big Thanks to DJI who doesn't give a dime (but hey dont blame them!
Internal Corruption Scandal at DJI Leads to $150m)!! After-sales support is an unknown word for them

Same problem. Dji, please do it something. Its terrible. I spend my money for this drone. It was a big mistake. Whats now?

Raisto007 Posted at 3-16 17:43
Same problem. Dji, please do it something. Its terrible. I spend my money for this drone. It was a big mistake. Whats now?

Same problem. Please DJI, do it something. Its terrible. Im spend my money for this drone. It was a big mistake.

Any official word on this somewhere on the interwebs? I’m going to be filming a lot of green and blue. And I do need the colors to be where they’re supposed to be.

Hello, the problem is still there. I bought my MA 4 days ago and I have this desaturation in the background elements. Could you, DJI, please have a look on it ? It would be awesome.

Crio Posted at 2018-5-23 00:17
I didn't want this post to be a rant about overall video quality in MA.
It is what it is and I can accept that, I got my other quads for better quality jobs, just noticed missing information about the color and was wondering if this is normal and if so how can this be corrected ( avoided ).

I personally think that the camera sensor don,t capture detail, or colour in the darker areas, because it is not capable to capture in higher dynamic range.
It is what it is. Many more expensive cameras, also don,t get proper detail in blacks, in some conditions.

That is mostly why people stared doing HDR type images. Detail and colour could be had, with a different set of settings.
Not as simple as that though.

Charissa Posted at 4-16 05:24
I personally think that the camera sensor don,t capture detail, or colour in the darker areas, because it is not capable to capture in higher dynamic range.
It is what it is. Many more expensive cameras, also don,t get proper detail in blacks, in some conditions.

No its not the sensor, it has nothing to do with dark or bright areas...or exposure whatsoever...its a glitch in the camera or processing chip and resetting the camera helps in most cases.

Crio Posted at 4-16 17:37
No its not the sensor, it has nothing to do with dark or bright areas...or exposure whatsoever...its a glitch in the camera or processing chip and resetting the camera helps in most cases.

Oh, resetting the camera settings is a solution to this issue?

ThePhenix33 Posted at 4-17 02:22
Oh, resetting the camera settings is a solution to this issue?

Its a solution in some cases.
There is a YT video about this and it helped a guy... it didn't fixed mine though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Tn5m6qPIY this youtuber seems to have been able to fix it by resetting the drone.  i keep having the same issue so I will try this next time

Same here! Two days of filming was a waste of time and money! I will be testing possible solutions tomorrow.

Mavic Air is not a toy and it's not cheap - DJI is ignoring this problem, but I see some pattern here in customer care. My Ronin S did broke and I was waiting for repair 3 weeks. The shop i bought it finally gave up not being able to get an update and they gave me a new one. I guess all it takes is couple lines of coding.

Hi! Any news or new workaround for issue with lose of colors in MA? No word from DJI?

the same problem here, only in raw it manages to capture all the colors. I think it happens only in some copies, I had the opportunity to record with another air and the problem is not so exaggerated or simply is not.

Crio Posted at 2019-4-18 17:11
Its a solution in some cases.
There is a YT video about this and it helped a guy... it didn't fixed mine though.

One thing I notice in the first two photos you posted, and also with at least one subsequent shot, is that your shots are under-exposed quite significantly. However, given you are in the UK, this is not uncommon, as the light there is often quite dull and dreary. I would recommend you use the histogram and try to become conversant with the technique of ETTR, or exposing to the right.

Geebax Posted at 4-6 22:04
One thing I notice in the first two photos you posted, and also with at least one subsequent shot, is that your shots are under-exposed quite significantly. However, given you are in the UK, this is not uncommon, as the light there is often quite dull and dreary. I would recommend you use the histogram and try to become conversant with the technique of ETTR, or exposing to the right.

What you wrote has nothing to do with the problem that occurred in my unit. As I said, there is a solution to this problem already.
Exposure had absolutely no effect on this issue

Crio Posted at 4-7 02:19
What you wrote has nothing to do with the problem that occurred in my unit. As I said, there is a solution to this problem already.
Exposure had absolutely no effect on this issue

Yes it does. By under-exposing your shots you crush the information down into the bottom of the photo, making it much more difficult for any program to extract detail, or colour from the image. Why do you think exposure is so important?

Geebax Posted at 4-7 14:08
Yes it does. By under-exposing your shots you crush the information down into the bottom of the photo, making it much more difficult for any program to extract detail, or colour from the image. Why do you think exposure is so important?

You clearly didn't read the thread...
Anyway, exposure doesn't matter with this issue as it was tested already...

There's already a solution which has nothing to do with how you're capturing the footage.

Wireframe Posted at 2018-6-21 06:01
Oh come on. I just decided that I want Mavic Air for the better quality of the videoshots and prolongated flight time (compared to Spark). I almost decided to go to the shop tomorrow!
And here I find this thread!
Is this problem constantly reproducible? Even on sunny days?

Looks like you already have a Mavic air !!!!!!!

no one has found a solution? this thing would justify a class-action as big as a house, the shooting with these drones are all to be thrown away, practically at the sunsets it seems that I have applied a filter so that half the image (sun and clouds) I left saturating, the other half of the image (under the sunset) instead decided to put them in black and white. Scandalous.

brixpax Posted at 4-13 04:27
no one has found a solution? this thing would justify a class-action as big as a house, the shooting with these drones are all to be thrown away, practically at the sunsets it seems that I have applied a filter so that half the image (sun and clouds) I left saturating, the other half of the image (under the sunset) instead decided to put them in black and white. Scandalous.

The majority of users found that resetting camera settings fix the problem for them.
It didn't on mine but my friend's unit was perfect again after this.

Crio Posted at 4-13 05:11
The majority of users found that resetting camera settings fix the problem for them.
It didn't on mine but my friend's unit was perfect again after this.

have you tried to reset the drone's entire firmware to default values via dji assistant 2?

brixpax Posted at 4-13 11:27
have you tried to reset the drone's entire firmware to default values via dji assistant 2?

I've done literally everything you could do
I don't have that unit anymore but I exhausted all possibilities back then.

I even did some WB and Exposure testing and found a workaround but not ideal for everything.

As I said, resetting the cam. settings is an only working option as for now.