Learning to fly a drone: Still image quality on the Mavic Pro

My second video on getting used to the DJI Mavic Pro. A couple of people asked about the still image quality in the comments for my last video, so here's a look at the RAW files on the Mavic.

I'm still learning how to fly a drone, and still trying to work out the best settings. There are halos around rocks on some of the clips which are present on the ungraded files out of the camera, so I'm thinking that I need to reduce the default sharpening and contrast settings still further.

Gear:

Music: Michael Ayers - Sunset in Apartment D (from Audiosocket licensing)

[terryandteresa]

I ordered my mavic a few days ago. I cannot wait!! Bye bye phantom!!
I'm glad I found your channel today! Great work with your editing and piloting!!

[DFDuck]

The prop shadow you mentioned is just kind of the nature of the beast with taking drone video. With experience you learn to plan your flights to minimize that. And they sell 3rd party gimbal hoods / shades, which are basically the same as the gimbal protection bubble painted black with the front cut out. ND filters won't help with the prop shadow, but they will help getting better dynamic range when aimed toward the sun, allowing for longer exposure times without getting blown out.

[mattlewis]

The lower than expected resolution appears to be caused by the format you are shooting in. I believe you are shooting 16 by 9 but the image sensor is 4 by 3 so the mavic is cropping off the top and bottom of the image in order to fit the format you asked for.

[mahamza]

I was looking for this type of review. Thanks for sharing your experience. Helped me a lot in making the decision.

[philipprideaux]

Hi Andy. Just ordered my Mavic and much like yourself I'll be using it mainly for video while using my DSLR for still images. Really enjoying your videos - thank you - and can't wait to start my DJI journey. Subscribed 😊

[cjones]

Great video Andy, very informative. I've been sitting on the edge to purchase a Mavic for a month now and this was a very informative video on the sensors capability. I think Mavic Gen 2 with a better camera upgrade and this machine will be a perfect drone.

[woodrownathan]

Yes, very useful. It was great to see you using Lightroom. Enjoy your upcoming adventures,

[rafacq]

Enjoyed watching your video and how the images look in Lightroom. No spectacular views here in the Dallas Fort Worth area! Hope someday to buy a drone. As a first time user, was leaning towards a Spark, but it seems the Mavic is so much better!

[sicilian]

Very helpful videos. Thank you, Andy.

[paulwoodhouse]

I am on the verge of buying a Mavic Pro and an Osmo+ and I am a virtual novice to videos like you were a few months ago. As such, I have found your videos extremely useful and really like your relaxed and honest presentation. PLEASE keeping producing them because I am really learning the easy way from what you are learning the hard way! I am British but mainly live in Croatia and am just finishing a 'stint' of 6 months in the UK. I intend to start a Vlog of my experiences and you have helped me in building my confidence to do it.

[TyKix]

Hi Andy, I have had my Mavic for a month now and I am totally new to photography and videography. I have colour graded photos in the past but listened to your channel is helping but, what do you use to colour grade video?
Keep up the good work.
Ty in old blighty

[Swagelok]

Hi Andy, I enjoyed your video, well done! With my Mavic Pro, I'm shooting in Raw and my dimensions are 960 x 720 for 4.3 and 960 x 540 for 16.9. I cant figure out why the dimensions are so low. Do you know of any way to increase the image size? The video is set to shoot 4k @ 24 fps so it can't be that.

[terryandteresa]

I've learned for a year now and NO CRASHES YET!

[andreschade]

Hey Andy :) why did you not mention the Auto Exposure Bracketing tool on the DJI app, to get a well exposed image overall? i feel like it would be necessary

[bagsfull]

Another informative video with great scenes too
Keep it up

[StreetsWideOpen]

Nice video, the mavic is a great piece of kit. I've not been flying long but it's not to bad to get to grips with. I've not taken any stills yet but did a short video on my channel where I fly it over part of the North Norfolk coast.
Anyway I've subbed & I look forward to seeing some footage from your future trips.

[findthewild]

I know the feeling! I have one also and it's amazing!

[sowhatsupeirik]

Loving this Andy! What settings did you use during the sunset? 06:39? Thanks and keep it up :)

[EarthwithTom]

Thanks for the video Andy! in you opinion do you think you can do prints with Mavic photos?
Thanks Tom

[RobCollins]

Nice videos. Very useful. For stills have you tried shooting 5 shot AEB (exposure bracketing). How have you found it?