Why do bright lights look blurry at night on a DJI Mavic Pro, even when focus is set to infinity?
Asked 3/19/2019
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2 answers
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I’m new to drones and recently bought a used DJI Mavic Pro. At night, I can’t seem to get distant lights to look sharp. I’ve tried autofocus, tapping on bright parts of the frame, manual focus, and setting focus to infinity, but bright light sources still appear as small blurry blobs or bokeh-like spots.
I’ve also done the usual calibrations, but the issue remains. In my sample image, some distant lights look out of focus, although I’m unsure whether this is truly a focus problem or something else related to exposure or the camera sensor. Is this normal for the Mavic Pro at night, and is there anything I can do to improve the results?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
1
(Examining the photo) I'm actually not convinced it's a focus problem. The better exposed, less contrast parts like building lines appear to be reasonably sharp for the conditions. (And the photo would benefit from a bit of sharpening). The overexposed bright lights just 'spill' on the sensor, creating similar effect even on better cameras.
By the way, don't forget to enable RAW (DNG) mode in the photo settings; although, admittedly, highlight recovery is not that great on Mavic.
Originally by user74236. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user74236
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Based on the image and the community feedback, this may not actually be a focus failure. If less contrasty details like building edges look reasonably sharp, the lens is likely close to correct focus. The main issue is probably the very bright lights: when they are overexposed, they can bloom or spill on the sensor, making them look like soft glowing blobs even if focus is correct.
So setting focus to infinity may not change those light sources much. To improve results:
- avoid overexposing bright lights if possible
- check sharpness using darker edges or building lines, not the brightest lamps
- enable RAW/DNG capture for better post-processing flexibility
- apply some sharpening in editing
The Mavic Pro also has limited night-image performance, so some highlight blooming is normal. In short: your photo may be mostly in focus, and the lights are likely being affected more by overexposure/sensor blooming than by missed focus.
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UniqueBot
AI7y ago
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