Here’s a sample aerial 360 photo from the Mavic Air 2. What resolution can you get? Can you get higher resolution than 32 megapixels? UPDATE: it is possible to get 688 mp.
Mavic Air 2 was recently released and as with other DJI drones in the past two years, the Mavic Air 2 can take 360 photos by taking several photos and stitching them. However, the Mavic Air 2 is different in that by default, the photos are stitched immediately and you will not get the individual photos. The stitched resolution is 32 megapixels (8000 x 4000).
However, Jeff AASDrone, a drone pilot and French air force veteran, shared with me a 360 photo from the Mavic Air that was as high as 19650 x 9825 (193 megapixels). Here is the photo. Not only does it have exceptional detail but it also has amazing dynamic range.
Note: it appears Teliport cannot show the full resolution. However, the crop shown at the beginning of this post shows the full detail. You can also compare full resolution auto-stitched (32mp) vs. manual stitched (193mp) photos here.
HOW TO GET THE FULL RESOLUTION
In order to get the full resolution, you will need to get the individual photos and stitch them with 3rd party software. To get the individual photos, you need to enter the photosphere menu while the Mavic Air 2 is in flight. Look in the options where you will find ” none / jpg / dng ”. JPG photos will have a resolution of 4000 x 3000 each. DNG photos may initially appear to have only a resolution of 960 x 720, but if you convert them to JPG in Lightroom, they will each have a resolution of 4000 x 3000 (12 megapixels).
You can stitch the photos using the free software Hugin (but it will take a while to stitch). If you want to know how, let me know in the comments.
WHERE TO BUY MAVIC AIR 2
If you want to get the Mavic Air 2, it is available for $799 from B&H Photo, Amazon or direct from DJI, or $988 for the Fly More Combo with three batteries and other accessories (B&H Photo, Amazon, direct from DJI). Thank you for using these links to support 360 Rumors at no additional cost to you so I can do more tests and reviews.
Hi Mic,
Here you can see what the “true” automated 360 mode of Mavic Air 2 looks:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMbYBarx3rwlmiMZDpGBXKduUZJwK1EGUOaIweKKtiMxzNSjM1opis3vBahc8j1Yw?key=WExrSE01UkxQSUwyY1h0STZKUHNfODlSSVRKRVd3
Credits: Jeff AASDrone
Thanks Michel!
I did not like stich errors and low resolution of 360 panoramas made with my DJI mavic pro so I was stitching them manually in external software. Final panorama was close to 200MPix. Which had to be downscaled to 128MPix for Facebook. I would guess he did the same but if the mavic air 2 does not save individual photos that should not be possible.
Thanks Piotr. Yes with the other DJI drones, we got individual photos. With Mavic Air 2, you don’t get the individual photos, unless you change the settings (see the update).
Thanks. I was worried I won’t be able to stich my own panoramas after reading the article. That would be a deal breaker for me. If we can still get individual photos in dng then it’s still good.
Do you know if there is something like 360 HDR option? On my old mavic pro I often have dynamic range problems. Either sky overexposed or ground underexposed, really hard to get both in one photo.
Hi Piotr. For what it’s worth, it seems that the dynamic range of this sample panorama is much greater than what we could get on Mavic Air 1, so I think they are actually HDR photos.
Apparently the Mavic Air 2 does save the photos individually if you know where to look and when you’re in the air. I haven’t tried it yet as only just received it but here is a link with instructions I just found.
https://mavicpilots.com/threads/saving-original-panorama-photos.88525/post-999234
Thanks Richard! you rock!
Thanks Richard
I try to shoot a 360 aerial photo with Mavic Pro. When I stitched photos in Hugin, ICE or PTGui, the stitching Was not perfect! In Air 2 is not there this problem? I see your sample photo and it is percfectly stitched.
How far were you from the subject? Also it depends how much detail there is. The more detail, the easier it is to stitch.
I shot about 30 meters from the ground.
ok are there details everywhere, or is it a repetitive background like the ocean?
This is my pano: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1kmp3ac1yvdldeb/PANO0001.jpg?dl=0
I try to stitch photos with different softwares (in this case with PTGui), but are many stitching errors (red circles).
ok thanks let me take a look
Hi Davide. I think maybe you were too close to the building. At that distance, wind could have caused the mavic to move (despite GPS), which could cause these errors. Ditto for the powerline.
Buit if I go up, should there be more wind?
I have a doubt: Is the Mavic air 2 more stable than the Mavic Pro (1st generation)?
No Mavic Pro should be more stable because it is more powerful. Yes there could be more wind.
Davide D’Anna, that sphere of yours is pretty good and fixing those stitch errors is easy. Shifting of a drone in the air is absolutely normal. f you contact me I can help you with PTGUI, which is the best tool for stitching.
Thanks for offering help Barney.
I’m very late to the game on seeing this comment….. After stitching over 500 aerial 360s in the last 30 months, I’ve not had one ‘perfect’ outcome even when using PTGui.
Drone tech is super clever with the GPS positioning and ability to hover in place, but there is always an element of movement, even on calm days.
If using PTGui, I consider a good stitching result to have a max control point error of around 18. The best I’ve achieved is about 9 or 10.
I think people need to accept that unless you have a high degree of skill with the stitching and editing software (whatever your choices may be), that perfection is unrealistic.
I’m going to be buying the Mavic Air 2 soon, but wasn’t 100% sure if it did 360 photos. DJI make a bigger deal of all the other features, and even a few reviews on youtube that I have watched don’t mention it. But it would be a great addition to an already amazing drone. So, I’m sold!
That’s awesome Luke! Fyi, not sure if you’re interested, I just got the Insta360 Aerial Edition for Mavic Pro. I’m mentioning that in case you might want to get a Mavic Pro or Mavic 2 Pro instead of MA2.
Best regards,
Mic
Ok, thanks! Looks pretty good, but I think the additional cost of the pro is a bit too much at the moment. This is basically my first drone – love the idea of aerial shots, and the Air 2 seems like a good price point. It is a shame they don’t do something similar for the Air 2, but I guess it gives me an upgrade path 😉 Thanks again for the tip though!
No problem Luke!
I tested this “hidden” feature on the day you published the article, and had great results. I put “hidden” between quotes because it’s a great feature which is not presented or marketed at all, while other features are overmarketed (like the “Waypoints” feature which is a disaster, the real Waypoints feature being absent).
While testing it, I thought that 12MP (4000×3000) is not the maximum you can get from this drone’s camera. The maximum resolution, even if a greyzone between reality and fiction (not a software oversampling but still not a physical resolution), is 48MP. Therefore…I gave it a try. And got a great 688MP pano, available here: https://trip.go360.lu/688mp
Looks great Michael. What software did you use to stitch it together?
Ptgui 12 Pro. Even if beta, it does a great job. Btw, forgot to mention: There are some stitching errors in the pano, but they’re due to heavy wind (trees moved) and I allocated only 3 minutes of my life stitching it, as the target was not a perfect stitch but a resolution test.
This looks amazing! I’ve noticed though, with the 360’s i shoot with my spark, that they’re best viewed in vr. Do you have this hosted anywhere that i can view with goggles?
This is looking very good indeed, Is it easy to do the manual stitching of the images ?
And how many images did you use to create this image ?
Thinking of buying this drone this image and feature has really convinced me.
Mavic Air 2 doesn’t save individual files in Pano mode. Also in Pano Sphere mode a third of the image at the top is a blur. Do you know why?
Hi Ilya actually if you enable the option, it will save the individual images. See the heading “how to get the full resolution.”
Best regards,
Mic
I am very disappointed in Mavic Air 2 because no individual images are saved in all Pano modes making these mode useless. Also the results in Pano are less then satisfactory. I hoe they will fix it in softare.
Hi Ilya actually if you enable the option, it will save the individual images. See the heading “how to get the full resolution.”
Best regards,
Mic
Mic Ty. You are right. I didn’t read the article carefully enough. I just tested it and it works like described. I was misled by some reviewers on the youtube that claimed that individual images are not created. Thank you
Good morning, yesterday I took a 360-degree picture with Mavic Air 2.
Although in the settings I selected JPG + RAW, in the Micro SD I find only the overview already joined in JPG, not the various shots in DNG. Why?
I have found the following for the Mavic Air 2. Click the top right menu and swipe over to camera settings. From there, you can turn on ‘save RAW/jpeg’ under panorama for saving said panorama photos individually (unstitched). There is no ‘photosphere menu’ that I have found. DJI support couldn’t even tell me this, so for what it’s worth I have found the correct way to save those 360 photos for post stitching!
What focal length and crop should I use in the hugin setting for the DJI Mavic Air 2?
Thanx for answer
Can Photoshop create 360 Sphere photos from all original DNG files ? Can you show me some video guides e.g. Youtube cos I find errors when doing so
No it can’t. Here is a complete tutorial on how to shoot and stitch 360 photos with DSLRs (or most non-360 cameras): https://360rumors.com/dslr-virtual-tour-faq-camera-lens-guide-virtual-tour-edge/
Please share the method how to make the mavic air 2 360photo change to 19650 x 9825 (193 megapixels). Thank
For the Air2S, with Hugin as the stitching software, what dcraw setting, or RawTherapee processing file do you use? For processing the raw DNG files.