The DJI Mini 3 Pro (reviewed here) can now take fully spherical 360 photos automatically after the most recent firmware update, becoming the first DJI drone with such a capability.
Almost all DJI drones can capture aerial 360 photos automatically by rotating and taking multiple photos sequentially then stitching the photos together. Unfortunately, there has always been a gap in the zenith of the 360 photo (the top of the photo) because the camera’s tilt is limited by the body of the drone itself. However, the Mini 3 Pro has become the first DJI drone to be able to overcome this issue thanks to its unique design.
The Mini 3 Pro has a unique capability of rotating the camera to portrait orientation. It also has a space above the camera to enable the camera to rotate to potrait orientation without being blocked. These unique characteristics enable the camera to take a photo of the area directly above the Mini 3 Pro, as I speculated before its release. Now, DJI is finally utilizing the Mini 3 Pro’s capability by enabling it to capture a fully spherical 360 photo.
Here is a fully spherical 360 photo by Andrew Van Beek, shot with the Mini 3 Pro. See the photo on Kuula here.
Update:
Some users pointed out that if the 360 photo is stitched manually in PTGui, there is still a small gap in the zenith that looks like a slim rectangle (see crop below by Les Moyle). Fortunately, it is easy to patch it.
WHERE TO BUY
The Mini 3 Pro is available starting at $669 (without a controller) from Amazon or B&H Photo.
Can you stitch the raw photos yourself? The 8k pano my Air 2s stitches is too lo-res and contains too many stitching errors for my taste, so I stitch the raw photos myself in ptgui and photshop.
Hi Ethan. Yes the individual photos can be stitched manually in PTGui and it will yield a higher resolution.
Yes you can, I stitch mine in PTGui. You have a small black oblong which I fix in Affinity Photo
I have never tested it but couldn’t the parrot anafi create a full 360 as it could view straight up?
Yes I use the Anafi for this. I just use Microsoft ICE to stitch and get a 20k image very easily.
I think DJI has more dynamic range in the sun, but I’m still pretty happy. It takes 40 usable jpegs vs I think 25 in DJI.
Google compresses to 16k, but here is a sample. Aerial 360 View of McAlpine Park
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2zGVWwnqm4DNWkSQ6
I have Anafi too but the quality is pretty terrible compared to this. Plus the range and stability are poor.
Pretty much anyone’s pictures are terrible compared to the one in the article!
His are the best I have seen. It is also heavily processed by a professional photographer and from what I read somewhere I think he manually takes the pictures for better resolution. Not 100% sure.
Here are the main “straight out of the camera” samples I have been able to locate prior to the last firmware. https://kuula.co/post/NTh7n/collection/7vJCk
Don’t get me wrong, the Mini Pro 3 is a better drone and I am thinking long and hard about upgrading, but even the other samples on the Kuula site that he posted are nothing like this! An amazing shot for sure.
I didn’t photoshop my Anafi sample, it is pretty much straight out of the camera and stitched in ICE. Takes 5 minutes and faster than the drone. Still obviously not a worthy comparison, just was trying to be helpful.
Your reviews are great BTW, appreciate all the work you put into them!
Yes, the Anafi has been able to create full spherical panoramas since day one.
What are the pixel dimensions of the stitched 360 image?
It is an awesome update. I loved it as it reduces the effort in post. Here have a look at this video
https://youtu.be/GoV1EiaqnzE
It sometimes has problems stitching the photos together but majority are good
I wish for Mavic 4 to do this!
Does it saves individual RAWS? Thanks
Yes it does
Can the more recent mini 3 (non-pro) also capture such fully spherical panoramas?
Yes! I have the Mini 3 (not Pro) and it does take full 360 photos.