When I tested the Mini 3 for photography, I was impressed with the low-light capabilities. In this department, it even managed to beat the mighty Air 2S, a benchmark for photography
The Mini 3 Pro delivers excellent results in night photography, thanks to the extremely wide aperture of f1.7 and a relatively large sensor at 1/1.3”, able to gather plenty of light. in low light, there is astonishing detail in the shadows, nice colors, a very good structure of the sky, and hardly any noise
Here you will find more about the exposure settings for photography with the Mini 3 Pro. After the release of the basic, more affordable Mini 3, I have made a specific comparison of the Mini 3 and 3 Pro for photography
Other relevant articles you might want to watch:
- Photography with the Mini 3 Pro
- 9 tips for amazing photos with the Mini 3 and Mini 3 Pro
- Camera settings for video with the Mini 3 Pro
- How to make long-exposure photos with the Mini 3 for unusual creative effects
If you prefer to watch this as a video, you will find my YouTube version at the end
Tips and Tricks for Night Photos
- Make sure that you know the area where you will be shooting, as in low light the obstacle sensors will not work and the visibility is extremely low
- In case of an unknown location, it is better to get there earlier for some recognition flights
- Always use RAW files, as low-light photos require serious post-processing to recover the shadows, and RAW files contain more information
- Using Automatic exposure bracketing to take 5 photos with different exposure values at least one of the images will be perfectly exposed. It is also possible to merge the 5 photos to HDR which often gives better results, especially in high-dynamic range situations
- Controlling the values for ISO and SS is critical in low light, so always use manual exposure
Low Light Photo Quality
The Mini 3 Pro has a relatively large sensor at 1/1.3”, and an extremely wide aperture of f1.7, so it can gather plenty of light
The low-light photo quality is excellent with plenty of detail in the shadows, nice colors, a very good structure of the sky, and very low noise
Let’s start with some images taken 30 minutes after sunset. It was very dark, although it might not look like it. Here at the moment, they are saving as much as possible on energy, so they only turn on the street lights when it is seriously dark
These are the perfect scenes to test the ability of a camera in low light: there is still a tiny bit of twilight, or some moonlight, just a touch of artificial lights and ample areas of vegetation, the sea, and the sky, to appreciate how the shadows are reproduced
Very often I see low light tests in some big cities with plenty of electric lights
This is not the best test for low light capabilities as the challenge is rather to avoid overexposing the highlights and the shadow will be extremely dark
In these night city scenes, the Mini 3 once again performs well, as it manages to keep the highlights under control while maintaining some detail in the shadows
I have done some editing, especially to lift the shadows, but I have not used local adjustments or masks, which is a very effective way to further improve the shadows without affecting the highlights
I have not applied any denoising in any of the images
For color grading all the images I have used the excellent Luminar Neo, the tool I use for editing and managing all my photos. Click on this link for a 10% discount on the price
Mini 3 Pro Photo Quality at Different Exposure Values
The image quality is very similar at ISO 100, 200, and 400. At ISO 800 we notice just the first hint of noise in the sky, otherwise, the quality of the image at this value is still close to perfection. At ISO 3200, after denoising, the result is still acceptable
The performance of the Mini 3 at different ISO values is simply astonishing. It is hard to believe how much the technology has improved compared to previous models of the DJI lineup
In drone photography, we rarely need ISO values higher than 800, as we can use long shutter speed values
With the Mini 3 Pro good images can often be obtained with a Shutter Speed value up to 1”, but in the range from ¼ to 1 second the results are inconsistent and we can often get a loss of sharpness due to camera shake
Consistent results are obtained using ⅕ of a second as the slowest shutter speed
More details in this article How to expose video and photos with the Mavic Mini 3 and 3 Pro
Automatic Exposure Bracketing in Low Light
I took all the shots in automatic exposure bracketing and merged each of them to HDR, and then I compared the resulting image to the single photo of the same scene
In most cases, for night photography with the Mini 3 Pro, I got better results with AEB photos merged
But at times merged images show some artifacts, In which case, it is possible to use one of the single shots, which will always be properly exposed, as five photos with different exposure values were taken
More detail in my specific article about Automatic Exposure Bracketing with the Mini 3 Pro
Vertical Night Photos with the Mini 3 Pro
The Mini 3 can shoot video and photos in the vertical format without loss in resolution. It is a feature meant mostly for videos to be posted on social media platforms, but I like it for photos, as it opens up new creative possibilities
As you can see the results are excellent even in low-light conditions, with plenty of detail in the shadows
48MP Night Photography with the Mini 3 Pro
The Mini 3 is not a detail beast, especially in the elements towards the background. It is not necessarily a negative point, more of a matter of personal taste, some users might even find the image more natural. I would prefer a touch of extra detail
The Mini 3 Pro has a QuadBayer sensor of 12 MP of real resolution, allowing it to split each pixel into 4 smaller ones, creating a sort of 48 MP mode
This mode has some small benefits in easy light conditions, but the performance in low light is still subpar: there is less info in the shadows, and often some chromatic noise
More detail here about the 48 MP mode in the Mini 3 Pro
