M4E mapping wide lens

[JohnLongson]

Kia ora,

We’ve recently got the DJI M4E for aerial mapping, and so far, I’m not impressed with the results.

When flight planning, the only option available is Wide Mode. Using the normal camera functions, I can zoom and select 4K or 8K quality, but for mapping, I’m limited to Wide only. Once the flight is underway, I can use zoom—but my concern is that this messes up the overlap. I feel like I should be able to choose whichever lens I want.

Has anyone else noticed a quality difference when using other drones? We’ve used the Phantom 4 Pro and the DJI M300, and both produce noticeably better results when processed through our software.

I’ve flown missions at 60 m and 50 m, but the image quality just isn’t there with Wide.

Looking forward to hearing your experiences.

Ngā mihi,

John

 

[jaja6009]

You do not want to use the zoom camera for mapping. The Wide is the 4/3 sensor with the mechanical shutter.
If you change your zoom you will have a different focal length and this will introduce errors into your outputs.

I have an opposite experience.

My outputs in Pix4D, Agisoft and Drone Deploy are noticeably better than my Phantom 4 RTK and are about the same as the Mavic 3E I use at work.

Your Matrice 300 with a P1 should produce a better output since it is a full frame sensor.

What settings are you using? I use Aperture Priority set at 4. It should automatically set focus just before the first image and then set focus to manual. In good lighting this always has produced very sharp, well focussed images.

 

[JohnLongson]

You do not want to use the zoom camera for mapping. The Wide is the 4/3 sensor with the mechanical shutter.
If you change your zoom you will have a different focal length and this will introduce errors into your outputs.

I have an opposite experience.

My outputs in Pix4D, Agisoft and Drone Deploy are noticeably better than my Phantom 4 RTK and are about the same as the Mavic 3E I use at work.

Your Matrice 300 with a P1 should produce a better output since it is a full frame sensor.

What settings are you using? I use Aperture Priority set at 4. It should automatically set focus just before the first image and then set focus to manual. In good lighting this always has produced very sharp, well focussed images.

That’s a really good point actually — I didn’t think about the mechanical shutter. I’ve tested in iTwin Capture Modeler and RealityScan, and I’m starting to wonder if the images are too compressed — they’re less than 5 MB. I've shot in RAW and theyre about 45mb

I’m using auto mode, and when the mapping starts, it switches to autofocus, then locks into manual. I’m beginning to suspect there might be an issue with the drone itself. The focus isn’t the problem — the images look almost pixelated.

It’s almost impossible to extract linework from the results.

I’m currently processing four differently configured flights and will share the results once they’re done.

Below are some side-by-side shots for comparison, Both JPEG:

• Left image: wide, 50 m altitude
• Right image: zoom ×3 – 8 K at 120 m
  
  
  

  Screenshot 2025 10 18 143840

  Image Screenshot 2025 10 18 143840 hosted in Freeimage.host

  freeimage.host
  

  Screenshot 2025 10 18 143721

  Image Screenshot 2025 10 18 143721 hosted in Freeimage.host

  freeimage.host

 

[jaja6009]

The images do seem more compressed than the Mavic 3E.
Are you on the newest firmware?
I just went back and looked at a lot of my images.
They range from 5MB to 11MB with the 5 being streets and roads and the higher numbers being forested areas.

Someone else in the forum also had a problem with the images and their compression. I think DJI did this to help with the write speed to speed up the flight. I would rather them to just make it more similar to the Mavic 3E.

I am going to look at more of my images.

 

[JohnLongson]

It’s frustrating! Yes — latest firmware installed, and software updated in the field today too.

The results below are very different when looking at the actual images close up close (not screenshots like these). Flying at 50 m is far from ideal — it’s pretty low. I was shooting JPEG + RAW and noticed no lag between photos, which was my first concern, so that's a plus.

I’m flying RTK, but without GCPs or survey data to verify accuracy. My next test will be:

JPEG wide

JPEG + RAW (convert to JPEG for mapping

Then zoom, to see how it looks from a geospatial point of view.

It’d be great if we could choose JPEG compression levels under advanced settings. Even when filming with the video camera, the settings are very basic — limited to 30 fps — compared with the Phantom 4 Pro, where you have full control over all settings.

Wide lens 50m Jpeg






Wide 50m RAW