The Mini 4 Pro delivers outstanding photographic performance, posing a serious challenge for lightweight drones aiming to improve on its image quality. But the Mini 5 Pro introduces two major new features, alongside a few other handy functionalities
In this article, I will put the two models face-to-face in terms of photo quality and functionalities to help you decide if it is worth purchasing the new model
Other related articles you may find interesting:
- Mini 5 Pro vs 4 Pro Video Quality comparison
- Mini 5 Pro Hyperlapse
- Mini 5 Pro Panorama mode
- Mini 5 Pro Settings for Photography
- Mini 5 Pro Photo Quality
Specs and Functionalities
The Mini 4 Pro has a 1/1.3” sensor, with a field of view equivalent to 24mm and an aperture of f1.7
The Mini 5 Pro is the first DJI lightweight model equipped with a 1” sensor, something unthinkable until a few years ago. It should be able to capture richer details and gather more light
The field of view is equivalent to 24mm, and the aperture is slightly smaller, at f1.8. 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
| Mini 4 Pro | Mini 5 Pro | |
| Sensor size | 1/1.3″ | 1″ |
| Field of view | 24mm | 24mm |
| Aperture | f1.7 | f1.8 |
In both models, the gimbal can rotate to a vertical orientation to take photos in portrait mode without loss of resolution. The Mini 5 Pro also introduces continuous 225-degree gimbal rotation, which is mainly used for filming, but can be occasionally useful for still images
The Mini 4 Pro has an internal storage of only 2GB, which is very annoying as it makes it impossible to shoot if we forget to bring an SD card or if the card gets damaged. The issue is now resolved by the generous 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. In my tests, I found that the new model has a battery life at least five minutes longer. This helps when shooting hyperlapses
There is an excellent Free Panorama mode that I have analyzed in my specific article about Panorama photography with the Mini 5 Pro.
Med Tele Mode
The Mini 5 Pro has a second crucial feature besides the 1” CMOS sensor, the 48mm Med Tele mode
One of the main reasons many users opt to purchase the Air 3s is the presence of a second telephoto lens, which allows for punching in a scene that cannot otherwise be reached, compressing different layers in a scene, or separating a target from the background
A 1” sensor could produce photos with a resolution of 20MP, as was the case in the legendary Air 2s, but with the Mini 5 Pro, DJI has chosen a different direction
The photo resolution is 4096 x 3072 pixels, approximately 12.5 MP, but each pixel is much bigger than the ones obtained with the 1/1.3” sensor of the Mini 4 Pro
Thanks to the larger pixels, the Med Tele mode produces images with a 2x zoom factor with very little loss of detail and resolution, very close to a true optical zoom
As you can see from these images, the quality of the Med Tele photos is outstanding, while the ones obtained with the optical 2x zoom of the Mini 4 Pro are not up to professional standards
50MP Mode
Both models have a Quad Bayer sensor capable of dividing each pixel by four to achieve a higher resolution
The photo resolution of the Mini 4 Pro is 4032×3024, just above 12MP. When splitting the pixels by four, the resolution becomes 48MP, which is useful for large prints and deep crops
The issue with this mode is that the small pixels collect less light. This 48MP mode was introduced with the Air 2, and in the first iterations, it was a work in progress with noticeable chromatic noise in the shadows
This method has constantly improved, and with the Mini 4 Pro, the results are quite good in easy light conditions, but in high dynamic range scenes, the photos still have some issues in the shadows
As mentioned earlier, the photos produced by the Mini 5 Pro have a real resolution of 12.5MP. After splitting them by four, the resulting resolution is 50MP, hence the new name for this mode
After spending a good amount of time comparing them to the regular photos, the 50 MP mode often delivers the best results; however, the difference is hardly noticeable
The larger files produced by this mode require extra computing resources, and in high-dynamic-range situations, there is occasionally a touch of chromatic noise
However, it is very easy to eliminate the noise with Luminar Neo, the program I use to edit all my images. Here you find info about Luminar Neo, together with a 10% discount coupon (code: Vicvideopic)
JPEG
Until a couple of years ago, I did not take JPEG images seriously and would only use RAW files
However, the quality of JPEG images has greatly improved in recent DJI models. Many users are interested in posting their photos on social media with little or no editing; therefore, analyzing the quality of JPEG files is important
Here, you can see images of the same scenes taken with the two models in JPEG format, under similar lighting conditions, although not one after the other, as my Mini 4 Pro is being repaired
I was expecting it to be difficult to improve over the excellent quality of the Mini 4 Pro; however, on most occasions, I prefer the results obtained with the new model, with richer color and extra details in the shadow, thanks to the bigger pixels of the larger sensor, especially in high dynamic range and low light conditions
RAW
When using RAW files, the Mini 5 Pro’s 1” sensor, with its larger pixels, captures more shadow detail and richer colors, providing greater flexibility in post-processing to match a desired color scheme
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