Camera resolution

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Since buying my Phantom 3 Pro some months ago, I am often disappointed with the apparent decrease in resolution of still photographs compared to the video. What settings should I use to gain the highest possible resolution for still photography? All contributions gratefully received!
 
Are you using an ND filter for the photos?
 
I've had and still have that problem. Tried nd and tried different settings but still out of focus. So I'm sending it back to dji again. First time I had a out of focus soft spot to the right and I sent it to dji for repairs. When it came back the soft spot was in the middle. It's something wrong with the sensor. Defective camera.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
People, please don't use ND filters for still photos, then complain the camera is bad. You should not use ND filters for still photography unless you have very, very bright light ... meaning that even after putting an ND filter on, your shutter speed is quite high and the ISO is still relatively low.

Remember, your camera is up in the air on a vibrating machine, being buffeted around by the wind.

A general rule: ND filters are mostly only useful for video, not still photography.

Edit: added first occurrence of "not".
 
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People, please don't use ND filters for still photos, then complain the camera is bad. You should not use ND filters for still photography unless you have very, very bright light ... meaning that even after putting an ND filter on, your shutter speed is quite high and the ISO is still relatively low.

Remember, your camera is up in the air on a vibrating machine, being buffeted around by the wind.

A general rule: ND filters are mostly only useful for video, not still photography.

Edit: added first occurrence of "not".

100% agree. And just to add to that, I've seen some ND and polarizing filters (particularly cheaper ones) that have bad glass in some spots that can actually cause softness on top of the fact that you don't want to reduce light (making longer shutter speeds) in the air when taking stills. So if you're using an ND, polarizing, or any other filter, take it off and "shoot naked" before blaming the camera. If you still get soft spots with no filter then yeah, the camera/lens could be bad.

Mike
 
Since buying my Phantom 3 Pro some months ago, I am often disappointed with the apparent decrease in resolution of still photographs compared to the video. What settings should I use to gain the highest possible resolution for still photography? All contributions gratefully received!

If you're not well versed in still photography, try setting it to auto and only use the UV filter. This will give you a frame of reference for making changes to your camera. Then you can use advice on this forum from some of the many experts on this forum. Also, there are some beginner to advanced photography courses on line that are very inexpensive. Good luck.
 
Since buying my Phantom 3 Pro some months ago, I am often disappointed with the apparent decrease in resolution of still photographs compared to the video. What settings should I use to gain the highest possible resolution for still photography? All contributions gratefully received!
To go back to the original question ... you probably don't mean resolution.
Either your resolution has decreased or it hasn't.
The max resolution of the Advanced for stills is 4000 x 3000 pixels
Max resolution for video is 2704 x1520
 
I've had and still have that problem. Tried nd and tried different settings but still out of focus. So I'm sending it back to dji again. First time I had a out of focus soft spot to the right and I sent it to dji for repairs. When it came back the soft spot was in the middle. It's something wrong with the sensor. Defective camera.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
The centre is always a little soft anyway, I think it's a 'feature' of the wide angle lens without fisheye.
That shows in video too but it's less obvious.
 
People, please don't use ND filters for still photos, then complain the camera is bad. You should not use ND filters for still photography unless you have very, very bright light ... meaning that even after putting an ND filter on, your shutter speed is quite high and the ISO is still relatively low.

Remember, your camera is up in the air on a vibrating machine, being buffeted around by the wind.

A general rule: ND filters are mostly only useful for video, not still photography.

Edit: added first occurrence of "not".

Is that also true for the CP filters?
Thanks
 
Is that also true for the CP filters?
Thanks

By CP you mean Polariser? It's not an ND filter. It will reduce the light getting into the lens by roughly 1-2 stops but is mainly for removing glare. Polarisers only work at best when it's 90 degrees to the sun. You will have minimal to no impact on the photo when the lens is in a different position from 90 degrees to the sun. Using a polariser would therefore be a case of either using it or not based on if it's actually going to do anything other than just dulling the exposure by a couple of stops.
 
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1. The P3 camera is generally considered to be fair to poor, especially compared to modern cell phone cameras or, gasp, real DSLRs (you want to fly a DSLR, you want an Inspire or better).

2. You can take pretty good web sized pics on a P3. Blowing them up for printing or pixel peeping, not so much.

3. We have seen a number of P3s with misaligned lens elements (on side sharper than another). That potentially can be fixed by taking the camera apart and reshimming or, more practically, sending it back to DJI. Who will send you another camera / gimbal and you have crap shoot as to whether or not it's better.

4. There is a generic DJI lens correction file for Adobe Camera raw. It sort of works but mostly seems to fix some center of lens mustache distortion that is only apparent if you are shooting gigantic straight lines. One of my many 'projects' is to go back and make a set of correction files to see if can be improved. But that's an entire day project.

5. As has been mentioned, DON'T use ND filters on stills unless you really understand what you are doing (actually trying to blur an image). NDs are useful in video to keep the shutter speed DOWN so the video looks 'film like" (look it up). In general, you want the fastest shutter speed you can get away with to minimize vibration. Polarizers are a bit more complex. They can help over water but, again as has been noted, they only work well in one direction. So if you yaw too much, you just change the exposure which can be annoying in post. I've used them on occasion. It can help. It usually doesn't. Try it.

6. Shoot in DNG ('raw') and post process. At the very, very least turn sharpness off and add it back in post since sharpness settings depend critically on how big the final image is and where it will be displayed.

7. The Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) doesn't work very well at all. Ignore it. Just work on getting the exposure correct. Turn the histogram on....

8. It's a better video camera than a still camera. Much like a GoPro. Deal with it.

9. If you are worried that something has changed / isn't right, take some pictures of a brick wall with the P3 on a sturdy platform to rule out a vibration issue.

10. There is also some reasonably good evidence on this forum that the P3 camera does much worse in the cold. Possibly due to some differential expansion / contraction of the very light, flimsy bits on the camera. Weight reduction hath it's disadvantages. But it's summer now (at least in the Northern Hemisphere).
 
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1. The P3 camera is generally considered to be fair to poor, especially compared to modern cell phone cameras or, gasp, real DSLRs (you want to fly a DSLR, you want an Inspire or better).

2. You can take pretty good web sized pics on a P3. Blowing them up for printing or pixel peeping, not so much.

3. We have seen a number of P3s with misaligned lens elements (on side sharper than another). That potentially can be fixed by taking the camera apart and reshimming or, more practically, sending it back to DJI. Who will send you another camera / gimbal and you have crap shoot as to whether or not it's better.

4. There is a generic DJI lens correction file for Adobe Camera raw. It sort of works but mostly seems to fix some center of lens mustache distortion that is only apparent if you are shooting gigantic straight lines. One of my many 'projects' is to go back and make a set of correction files to see if can be improved. But that's an entire day project.

5. As has been mentioned, DON'T use ND filters on stills unless you really understand what you are doing (actually trying to blur an image). NDs are useful in video to keep the shutter speed DOWN so the video looks 'film like" (look it up). In general, you want the fastest shutter speed you can get away with to minimize vibration. Polarizers are a bit more complex. They can help over water but, again as has been noted, they only work well in one direction. So if you yaw too much, you just change the exposure which can be annoying in post. I've used them on occasion. It can help. It usually doesn't. Try it.

6. Shoot in DNG ('raw') and post process. At the very, very least turn sharpness off and add it back in post since sharpness settings depend critically on how big the final image is and where it will be displayed.

7. The Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) doesn't work very well at all. Ignore it. Just work on getting the exposure correct. Turn the histogram on....

8. It's a better video camera than a still camera. Much like a GoPro. Deal with it.

9. If you are worried that something has changed / isn't right, take some pictures of a brick wall with the P3 on a sturdy platform to rule out a vibration issue.

10. There is also some reasonably good evidence on this forum that the P3 camera does much worse in the cold. Possibly due to some differential expansion / contraction of the very light, flimsy bits on the camera. Weight reduction hath it's disadvantages. But it's summer now (at least in the Northern Hemisphere).

A very well put-together response to my original request - many thanks!
 
To go back to the original question ... you probably don't mean resolution.
Either your resolution has decreased or it hasn't.
The max resolution of the Advanced for stills is 4000 x 3000 pixels
Max resolution for video is 2704 x1520
I actually said "apparent"
 

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