Hello everyone !
Happy New Year!

I just got my Mavic 3 as as a successor to my good Mavic 2.
Done few test flights after firmware updates etc.


As far as main camera goes everything is working fine but the zoom camera is imho unusable because of softness
I dont know if this is a bad unit or there is some tricks that I could do to make it more in focus.
All images shot in AF mode ( it doest matter if I tap to focus or the bird is trying to focus itself )


Can anyone take a look and please let me know if I can do anything to improve this or I have to contact DJI ?


Thans in advance my old friends !


I can upload DNGs but there is no editing done on those jpegs.

Also, all images with points of light have those vertical streaks.

It's hard to tell by looking at your JPGs. But they seem to be quite smooth/lacking focus.
I did some daylight shots on a clear day with the tele lens and the images are very crispy.
I stitched 4 pics together here but it'll give you an idea:

I was surprised about those vertical streaks myself, don't like it very much.
This image was underexposed by 3 stops at ISO 100 and shot at 1/10sec. Still looks (relatively) sharp.

The problem here is that upon upload images are being downsized.
To take a good look providing a link like dropbox etc. would be best.
JPG at original size will do it, no DNG necessary.

Might be a silly question, but did you remove the protective film from the lens?

Hi, Crio. Thank you for reaching out, and apologies for any inconvenience caused. Here are some recommendations that you may try to rectify the issue:
1. Check whether the lens is dirty. We recommend wiping the lens with a wet tissue.
2. Update or refresh the firmware of the drone through the DJI Assistant 2 (Consumer Drones Series).
3. Please keep the shooting target within the focus point. We recommend you fly your aircraft to a place where the shooting target is within the focus range (Focus: 1 m to ∞ (with autofocus)).
4. Reset the camera parameters in the app. Go to the DJI Fly app>Settings>Camera>Reset Camera Parameter Settings.
5. If the issue remains, kindly test if the same issue appears when Manual Focus is used instead of Auto Focus.
We will be waiting for your update. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Eric13 Posted at 1-2 19:05
It's hard to tell by looking at your JPGs. But they seem to be quite smooth/lacking focus.
I did some daylight shots on a clear day with the tele lens and the images are very crispy.
I stitched 4 pics together here but it'll give you an idea:

I will upload DNGs tonight. It looks like AF thinks it nailed it but its off.

Eric13 Posted at 1-2 19:11
The problem here is that upon upload images are being downsized.
To take a good look providing a link like dropbox etc. would be best.
JPG at original size will do it, no DNG necessary.

I will upload full res. images tonight.

Mobilehomer Posted at 1-2 19:16
Might be a silly question, but did you remove the protective film from the lens?

There was no film on my lenses ( I've just checked that again now just to be sure )

DJI Tony Posted at 1-2 22:28
Hi, Crio. Thank you for reaching out, and apologies for any inconvenience caused. Here are some recommendations that you may try to rectify the issue:
1. Check whether the lens is dirty. We recommend wiping the lens with a wet tissue.
2. Update or refresh the firmware of the drone through the DJI Assistant 2 (Consumer Drones Series).

Thank you for helpful tips.
I will try them all and update the post when I have a chance ( very bad weather atm where I am )
Cheers

With this camera and shooting trees like you are in low light with obvious low shutter speed I’m not sure you can get better shots . Light is very important for the sensor on this lens, and again nighttime is a nightmare with this sensor.

As Eric said stacking more images might help but I think perfect conditions is what you need.
Ones below are heavily edited.

Hallmark007 Posted at 1-3 04:21
With this camera and shooting trees like you are in low light with obvious low shutter speed I’m not sure you can get better shots . Light is very important for the sensor on this lens, and again nighttime is a nightmare with this sensor.

As Eric said stacking more images might help but I think perfect conditions is what you need.

This is not a low light scenario as the sun was shining directly on the area.
Images taken at 1/400, 1/160 or even 1/20 look the same in regards of softness.

Stacking wont help when images are like this ( attached )

Crio Posted at 1-3 04:39
This is not a low light scenario as the sun was shining directly on the area.
Images taken at 1/400, 1/160 or even 1/20 look the same in regards of softness.

Yes but it’s not enough light or sensor to zoom in as far as photo above. I can show you many failures like above . Slight movements or vibrations on the tele camera will also result in similar. I also have many misses and have come to expect this. Maybe there is a problem you need to get checked out.

Hallmark007 Posted at 1-3 05:16
Yes but it’s not enough light or sensor to zoom in as far as photo above. I can show you many failures like above . Slight movements or vibrations on the tele camera will also result in similar. I also have many misses and have come to expect this. Maybe there is a problem you need to get checked out.

Having misses is one thing. Having every image like this is another ;)
If the sunny weather is not perfect conditions idk what is then
I would be happy if I had at least one photo that is less out of focus, it would give me some idea on what to expects.

Thanks for your help. I will also try manual focus as I didnt tried that yet.
I'll also try few ground shots just to be sure its not vibrations etc.

Crio Posted at 1-3 05:27
Having misses is one thing. Having every image like this is another ;)
If the sunny weather is not perfect conditions idk what is then
I would be happy if I had at least one photo that is less out of focus, it would give me some idea on what to expects.

It’s like a camera you have to work hard at including editing to get fair results. I have found its use for photos only where I cannot get close enough and so I don’t lose the shot. Some of the parallax images are really great because they really show what’s possible. I would love to have the 7 times zoom on the main camera.

Hallmark007 Posted at 1-3 06:56
It’s like a camera you have to work hard at including editing to get fair results. I have found its use for photos only where I cannot get close enough and so I don’t lose the shot. Some of the parallax images are really great because they really show what’s possible. I would love to have the 7 times zoom on the main camera.

It would be nice to have yes...
I imagine this zoom is not as sharp as main camera but at this stage its unusable.
Im perfectly fine with poor lens light transmition as this is a tiny setup but I would expect it will be at least in focus.
It almost look like mirror lens now

Crio Posted at 1-3 07:06
It would be nice to have yes...
I imagine this zoom is not as sharp as main camera but at this stage its unusable.
Im perfectly fine with poor lens light transmition as this is a tiny setup but I would expect it will be at least in focus.

Well maybe a warranty issue if you’re getting nothing from it. I like but am aware its not perfect.

Hallmark007 Posted at 1-3 07:11
Well maybe a warranty issue if you’re getting nothing from it. I like but am aware its not perfect.

Can you upload high res. of what you think is the best you captureded from this zoom lens ? ( Unedited )

Crio Posted at 1-3 07:14
Can you upload high res. of what you think is the best you captureded from this zoom lens ? ( Unedited )

I’m away travelling will have to wait until the weekend . I will dig some out.

Here are the high res. files
https://drive.google.com/drive/f ... 8wlg?usp=share_link

This is before I've done any resets, manual focus etc.
I will do them tomorrow.

Crio Posted at 1-3 11:40
Here are the high res. files
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xeAGBjiC0dVLFn-5azTFBiTfJfw08wlg?usp=share_link

I must say, I have seen many samples here that are as good as the main camera after a little post work. Yours are definitely out of focus. I would recommend a replacement.

Crio Posted at 1-3 11:40
Here are the high res. files
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xeAGBjiC0dVLFn-5azTFBiTfJfw08wlg?usp=share_link

I agree to Mobilehomer, these are out of focus.
Did you generate those JPGs from the the DNG files or are these outputs from the camera?
I always shoot RAW+JPG and my original JPGs have a slightly different resolution. Not that this would make the difference but I'm wondering.

Your resolution:


My resolution:

Crio Posted at 1-3 03:15
Thank you for helpful tips.
I will try them all and update the post when I have a chance ( very bad weather atm where I am )
Cheers

You are most welcome. We will be waiting for your update. Keep safe!

Mobilehomer Posted at 1-3 11:52
I must say, I have seen many samples here that are as good as the main camera after a little post work. Yours are definitely out of focus. I would recommend a replacement.

I was afraid of that.

Eric13 Posted at 1-3 17:19
I agree to Mobilehomer, these are out of focus.
Did you generate those JPGs from the the DNG files or are these outputs from the camera?
I always shoot RAW+JPG and my original JPGs have a slightly different resolution. Not that this would make the difference but I'm wondering.

These are from DNGs
Yes, my DNGs are 3992px and JPGs are 4000

Crio Posted at 1-4 01:15
These are from DNGs
Yes, my DNGs are 3992px and JPGs are 4000

You are not alone. Mine is also basically useless. If it were not for converting the DNG with CaptureOne  and more importantly using Topaz, I’d never even attempt a picture anymore with that lens.

Right.
So the weather was quite bad and I couldnt fly and make any aerial tests.
Nevertheless, I did some tests while the drone was grounded.
I did some tests with AF and some with MF.
During the AF test, I focused using the shutter button and the screen. AF was confirmed in both cases. (I did some tests in various conditions, including a day in full sun to give the AF a chance to use contrast detection in full  (I doubt this camera uses Phase Detection, but I could be wrong) Unfortunately, even when the AF confirmed the focus (photo on the left), this is the best photo I managed to get after these dozens of attempts.
I also noticed that when I have confirmation of focus AF after a few seconds AF tries to focus again and hunts for focus constantly.
The photo on the right is MF, it seems to me that this is the maximum sharpness that can be obtained with this camera. The number of attempts with MF was also lower than with AF.

As soon as the weather improves, I'll do a flight test and post the result from that.
Hopefully when the Mavic is in the air I'll be able to get similar sharpness even using MF as a half measure.
The fact that I saw that it is possible to get better sharpness than what I had after the first flight gives me a spark of hope.

This answers the question why all my photos were out of focus.
Is it the norm that AF in that zoom camera is so unreliable or in my case doesnt work?

Crio Posted at 1-8 11:47
Right.
So the weather was quite bad and I couldnt fly and make any aerial tests.
Nevertheless, I did some tests while the drone was grounded.

The one on the right is much sharper and more clear. It actually looks pretty good. The left one is pretty badly out of focus.

Crio Posted at 1-3 03:15
Thank you for helpful tips.
I will try them all and update the post when I have a chance ( very bad weather atm where I am )
Cheers

Hi, Crio. In addition to the initial suggestions we posted, we would like to address the vertical streaks showing. Based on its design, we recommend that you use the tele lens for the exploration and composition of shots. If you need to capture high-quality photos/videos, the Hasselblad main camera is the best choice. With its 4/3-inch image sensor and Hasselblad Natural Colour Solution (HNCS), the final photos/videos will be more suitable for sharing and post-processing. It is recommended that you adjust the distance between the aircraft and the target light source, and use the Hasselblad main camera for recording to improve the issue. We hope that you can share more tests with us. Happy flying!

DJI Tony Posted at 1-11 01:04
Hi, Crio. In addition to the initial suggestions we posted, we would like to address the vertical streaks showing. Based on its design, we recommend that you use the tele lens for the exploration and composition of shots. If you need to capture high-quality photos/videos, the Hasselblad main camera is the best choice. With its 4/3-inch image sensor and Hasselblad Natural Colour Solution (HNCS), the final photos/videos will be more suitable for sharing and post-processing. It is recommended that you adjust the distance between the aircraft and the target light source, and use the Hasselblad main camera for recording to improve the issue. We hope that you can share more tests with us. Happy flying!

After few test with new unit I can confirm that AF is working  better that on previous one.
I know the zoom camera is not as sharp as main one but after few tweaks and postprocessing I can have usable results.
Thank you all for help and comments

Crio Posted at 1-28 12:01
After few test with new unit I can confirm that AF is working  better that on previous one.
I know the zoom camera is not as sharp as main one but after few tweaks and postprocessing I can have usable results.
Thank you all for help and comments

Thanks for the update, Crio. Have a nice day!

For the Tele camera, I'd recommend manual focus.  Some of the info in the video below is outdated because DJI did a firmware update since the video below was posted to youtube.