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pr4photos wrote:
It seems the rumour mill is saying that DJI are going to be coming out with a new drone - maybe an Air 3s, or a Mini 5 Pro
I have an Air 2s, and a Mini 3 Pro. And they good drones. I'd like to upgrade my Air 2s to an Air 3s when it comes out.
Someone did a review of a Mini 3 vs Mini 4 vs Canon vs iphone 15
https://neukamp.de/en/dji-mini-4-pro-photo-quality-in-comparison/
Now my question is, if the iPhone 15 can get such good quality images (yes I know its computational), from a sensor that is very similar in size to what DJI use in their drones, why can't DJI provide that from their drones. Maybe it would add a bit of weight, maybe it would affect the battery life. But, even the heavier Mavic 3 Pro doesn't come close in image quality to what the iPhone 15 puts out. It would be a game changer for a drone to provide that quality. Maybe Apple should think about releasing a drone...Show more →
Processed 10bit D-LOG video footage from DJI drones is a lot better than anything the iPhone 15 can put out, especially from the 4/3 sensor in the Mavic 3 series or the 1" sensor models (Air 2S, etc.) There is quite a large difference there.
The iPhone 14/15 use a 1/1.3" 12/48 MP Quad Bayer sensor that is very similar to what is used in the DJI Mini 3/4 Pro. They are *technically* 48MP, but the reason you see barely any image quality change when using 48MP mode is because a 48MP Quad Bayer sensor is not the same as an increase of 12 to 48MP on a traditional Bayer sensor.
Same story for the stills, as long as you process the RAWs, the photos from the 1" or 4/3 sensors in the DJI drones is well beyond what you can get out of an iPhone 15. The reason why smartphones have still photos that are so immediately pleasing is because in most cases they take 6-9 photos in rapid succession whenever you press the shutter button (at different exposures), and use those to make an instant tone-mapped HDR image as well as reduce noise via image stacking.
You can shoot RAW with your iPhone, but you will get a single (non blended) image that will require editing and look nowhere near as pleasing as the JPEG version the phone would normally produce. So far Samsung is the only manufacturer that has managed to offer full computational HDR image stacking along with RAW format for smartphone photos and it is really quite impressive.
As for why drones don't have computational photography for stills, it's probably for a variety of reasons including processing power, maximizing flight time, and most users serious about photography would want the RAW image rather than a pre-processed JPEG anyway. I spend a lot of time on drone forums and while I don't disagree it would still be nice to have the option, its not really something you see people ask for. Drones are definitely a more video-centric product, even though they can of course shoot stills.
Probably the biggest reason though, is because in order to get those pleasing automatic HDRs every modern smartphone produces these days, the sensor needs to read out extremely fast in order to take multiple images at different exposure, and it's much easier to get small sensors to read out really fast than it is large sensors (and much cheaper). This is for sure one of the reasons why you don't see it on the larger sensor drones or even professional full frame mirrorless cameras costing thousands of dollars.
Would it be possible, at least for the Mini 3/4 drones using 1/1.3" sensors to produce computational JPEGs? Yes, but it doesn't seem to be a priority for DJI and using sensors with readout speeds fast enough for something like along with the extra processing power would likely increase costs beyond what they want for that product line. It's also very possible it isn't something a lot of customers are asking for because you would still be better off processing a RAW image (or multiple RAW images) for maximum image quality, albeit with more effort. The Mini drones in particular are also extremely weight conscious to stay under the 250g limit.
One trick the DJI Mini 3/4 Pro drones do have up their sleeve though is that they can shoot pseudo-automatic HDR video (not to be confused with 10bit HLG), because the Quad Bayer sensors used can shoot 2 different exposures simultaneously up to certain frame rates (4K30P for the 3 Pro and 4K60P for the 4 Pro).
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