I have finally received my Mini 5 Pro. I know, it took much longer than usual. Here you find the updated prices for the different configuration of the Mini 5 Pro. It is an affiliate link, so I get a small commission in case of purchase
Many of you are fond of photography, and this is a topic that gets little coverage on other channels, as they tend to focus on tracking and vlogging
In this video, I will analyse the image quality and the new features. Several interesting functionalities are mostly useful for filming. I will cover them in other specific videos, but here I will concentrate on the ones regarding photography
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Major New Functionalities
The most important spec affecting photo quality is sensor size, and DJI has finally managed to squeeze a true 1” CMOS sensor on a model under 250 grams, something unthinkable until a few years ago
Compared to the 1/1.3” sensor of the Mini 4 Pro and Mini 3 Pro, the new one can capture richer details and gather more light, which is particularly useful in low-light and high dynamic range situations
Like in the Mini 4 Pro, the field of view is equivalent to 24mm, while the aperture is slightly smaller at f1.8 vs f1.7. This should not cause issues, as the previous model already has sensational low-light performance, and the larger sensor of the Mini 5 Pro should gather enough light to compensate for the slightly smaller aperture
The photo resolution is announced as 50MP, but this has to be taken with a good amount of salt, as it is mainly a marketing gimmick. Such a high resolution is obtained by splitting each pixel into four smaller ones, as it is the standard these days for drones and mobile phones. I will analyse the quality of this 50 MP mode later on in this video
The other major feature for photography is the presence of a 48mm Med Tele mode, offering a 2x zoom with higher quality compared to the digital zoom of previous models. I will do a specific video about this tele mode, so I will not get into confusing technical explanations
To cut a long story short, a 1” sensor should be able to produce photos of a real resolution of around 20MP, as was the case with the camera of the legendary DJI Air 2S
By cropping the image from a field of view of 24mm to 48 mm, the resolution should be approximately divided by two. Therefore, with the Mini 5 Pro, we should obtain a 2x zoom with a resolution of around 10MP, close to the one of an optical zoom
This med-tele mode should allow getting closer to targets that cannot otherwise be reached, increasing the parallax effect when different layers are present in an image, and obtaining better separation between a target and the background
Other Functionalities for Photos
Several other features are a welcome addition for photography, although not as important as the two mentioned above
Like in the Mini 4 Pro, the gimbal can rotate to a vertical orientation to take photos in Portrait mode. The Mini 5 Pro also introduces continuous 225-degree gimbal rotation, which is more interesting while filming, but can be occasionally used for still images
Surprisingly, the Mini 4 Pro had an internal storage of only 2GB, which was very annoying as it made it impossible to do any serious shooting if we forgot to bring an SD card or if the card got damaged. The issue is now resolved by the 42 GB internal memory of the Mini 5 Pro, capable of recording a full day of photo shooting
The announced flight time is slightly longer at 36 minutes, compared to the 34 minutes of the previous model. This should help when shooting hyperlapses
There is a new Free mode for Panorama photography that sounds interesting. I will analyse it in a specific video about Panorama
RAW vs JPEG
Images taken with the Mini 5 Pro can be saved in RAW or JPEG format, or both
The advantage of JPEG files is that they are smaller and pre-processed, suitable for users who don’t rely on heavy post-processing or need to share their photos immediately.
Until a few years ago, the difference in quality between RAW and JPEG files was massive. However, JPEG have improved constantly since
As you can see from these examples, the rendition of the JPEG is almost as good as the RAW; we just notice a touch of extra detail in the shadows and a slightly better rendition of the sky for the RAW.
I generally shoot in both formats and use the RAW files on most occasions, as they respond better to post-processing and can be adapted to the color scheme of a specific project. However, the JPEGs are an excellent alternative when time saving is the priority
I am already very impressed with the quality of the new sensor of the Mini 5 Pro. I shot these photos on a very cloudy day with a flat sky and relatively low visibility
I kept the color grading to a minimum, just an adjustment of the overall luminosity and a touch of extra contrast. The amount of information in the shadow and the structure of the sky are outstanding
Med Tele
And now my favorite new feature, the 48mm med tele mode
The lack of a second or a third lens was the major limitation of the Mini 4 Pro and the main reason to purchase an Air 3S or a Mavic 4 Pro. The ability to deliver images at a focal length of 48 mm with a quality similar to a dedicated lens would open new horizons for a lightweight drone
From these images, we can see that in the 2x zoom mode, there is hardly any loss of resolution and detail compared to the wide-angle images
Here we can compare them with a photo taken with the Mini 4 Pro at 2x digital zoom. As you can see, the difference is massive
But is the Mini 5 Pro as good for photos as the Air 3s? Not quite, as the longer 70mm lens of the bigger model offers an even closer point of view; however, this feature adds plenty of versatility to the new flagship lightweight model
50MP Mode
This mode was in previous models called 48MP. It was introduced several years ago with the Air 2
It works by splitting each pixel into four smaller ones to artificially achieve a sort of higher resolution. I will analyse it in depth in a dedicated video, so I will not go into details here. After a jumpy start with plenty of chromatic noise in the shadows, this mode has constantly improved over the years
As you can see from these images, the quality is very close to the ones taken at normal resolution, but the 50MP ones should deliver better results for large prints. The downside is that the files produced are very big and require a powerful computer for editing
Difficult Light Conditions
Photos containing the sun inside the frame and low-light situations are a stress test for a camera. In these situations, the Mini 5 Pro shows the full power of its 1” sensor
I have slightly overexposed this image to check the area around the sun; as you can see, there are no flares and hardly any chromatic aberrations or loss of detail, excellent result considering the situation
The same scene taken in med tele mode shows an excellent structure of the sky and plenty of information in the shadows, even though it was very dark
In JPEG format, the algorithm does an excellent job, as the area around the sun and the shadows are rendered flawlessly, despite the brutal dynamic range
Against the sun, it is probably possible to achieve even better results by merging several images to HDR. I will do a specific video about it, but I am very happy with the results obtained with a single photo
The rendition in low light is amazing, even better than the Mini 4 Pro. The sensor can gather so much light that I was able to keep the minimum ISO value of 100 for all the images
For users serious about drone photography, the upgrade to the new model must be seriously considered, due to the quality of the new sensor and the med tele mode, plus a few other minor useful functionalities