best time exposure settings? "gimbal locked when shooting" + RC "Tripod" setting? Or?

[ribjig]

First time night shooting NYE (fireworks on beach)
in takeoff-landing place with few people;
went 100m straight up & 100m towards fireworks
~18 min flight & drone lights always in view;
First time trying long exposures;
(58) images, all f4 ISO 400;
quick look at few, all 0.5 sec exposure, all had no camera shake at 100%;
Wind ground speed ~8 mph, gusts maybe 12 mph;

I activated "gimbal locked when shooting"
& changed RC "Normal" icon to "Tripod" icon;
Did I use best long exposure settings? If not, what instead?
If I had used ISO 100, then exposure might have been ~2 sec each?
Would my results still have had no camera shake?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ribjig]

Sound of crickets.
Maybe shorter:

Are "gimbal locked when shooting"*
& RC "Tripod" icon**
the best settings for dusk-night longer exposures?
Do they work together, or just one?
Say, f4, 0.5 sec, ISO 400?
If not these two functions *+**, then what?

 

[With The Birds]

What’s important with fireworks is the ISO aperture combination (similar approach to lightning). F8 at ISO 100 is a good starting point with shutter set to a long enough opening to catch one or several firework bursts.

Why do you ask? Images well and truly blown out?

 

[ribjig]

F8 not good choice for 1" sensor.
F8 good choice for FF sensor.

But what I'd like to know from those
shooting dusk-dark successfully,
have they used

"gimbal locked when shooting"
& RC "Tripod" icon

Both? One? Which? Other settings?

 

[With The Birds]

Is your issue with F8 and 1” sensor diffraction? Seems likely. You have a choice, 3 actually. Overexposure, nice image with slight loss of detail or use wider aperture with ND filters.

Btw- F8 is not good for lot of FF sensor
now either, diffraction detail loss is an related to pixel density. Higher MP FF sensors have issues also.

You need to understand enough about the whole process to know which compromises have the least impact on the outcome.

 

[ribjig]

what I "need" is experienced advice
related to these settings:
"gimbal locked when shooting"
RC "Tripod" icon

 

[With The Birds]

Tripod mode is well documented in the manual, it won’t help with stills- simply slows down and smooths your stuck inputs.

The giimbke lock will improve longer exposures. In typical DJI fashion the name isnt intuitive. It locks the gimble to the subject you are shooting rather than the aircraft.

 

[JeffreyS]

Tripod Mode is only for actual flying. When you are shooting a still image, you hover the drone, so that setting is not applicable. Gimbal lock is a good idea. For night imaging, ISO 100 is a must. What's this nonsense with f8 being bad? And, we're not talking about a full frame sensor. I don't know why people say things like that.

 

[ribjig]

Is there any reason, if one only shoots photos, NOT to leave
"gimble locked (on subject) when shooting" on all the time?
What unintended consequences...?

PS. f4-4.5 best IQ for P4P+ which is 1", not FF.
Several owners tested all f-stops, same
flight, same composition, including me. f4-4.5 best.
One-off exceptions require greater depth of field, etc.,
well, OF COURSE...

 

[With The Birds]

Is there any reason, if one only shoots photos, NOT to leave
"gimble locked (on subject) when shooting" on all the time?
What unintended consequences...?

PS. f4-4.5 best IQ for P4P+ which is 1", not FF.
Several owners tested all f-stops, same
flight, same composition, including me. f4-4.5 best.
One-off exceptions require greater depth of field, etc.,
well, OF COURSE...

Depth of field is almost never going to be a factor given the typical lens subject distances.

If you do your own testing you might find f8 is nowhere near as bad as you might believe from reading about it. If for example you needed it to reduce your shutter speed shooting video don’t be afraid. What you see in the final images and what keeps pixel peepers awake at night are two different things.

 

[Meta4]

PS. f4-4.5 best IQ for P4P+ which is 1", not FF.
Several owners tested all f-stops, same flight, same composition, including me. f4-4.5 best.

Best Shmest.
Forums are full of people asking for the "best" this or declaring the "best" that.
And very often they completely miss the point that often there is no one best anything.
If there was one "best" camera setting, you wouldn't have a whole range to choose from.
Here's an image shot at f8.
It's just horrible and I should throw it away. I wish I'd used the "best" aperture.

I'm still waiting to see a good photo that was spoiled by all the diffraction I hear so much about.
I don't think any of the images in this gallery were shot at the "best" aperture: Shipping Photography Examples - Above & Beyond Photography
Imagine how much better those photos could have been?

The difference between "best" and other settings is usually too subtle to make any difference in real use situations.
Pixel peeping is a joyless pursuit that contributes little to creating memorable images.

 

[With The Birds]

Best Shmest.
Forums are full of people asking for the "best" this or declaring the "best" that.
And very often they completely miss the point that often there is no one best anything.
If there was one "best" camera setting, you wouldn't have a whole range to choose from.
Here's an image shot at f8.
It's just horrible and I should throw it away. I wish I'd used the "best" aperture.

I'm still waiting to see a good photo that was spoiled by all the diffraction I hear so much about.
I don't think any of the images in this gallery were shot at the "best" aperture: Shipping Photography Examples - Above & Beyond Photography
Imagine how much better those photos could have been?

The difference between "best" and other settings is usually too subtle to make any difference in real use situations.
Pixel peeping is a joyless pursuit that contributes little to creating memorable images.

A picture says 1000 words.

 

[JeffreyS]

Best Shmest.
Forums are full of people asking for the "best" this or declaring the "best" that.
And very often they completely miss the point that often there is no one best anything.
If there was one "best" camera setting, you wouldn't have a whole range to choose from.
I'm still waiting to see a good photo that was spoiled by all the diffraction I hear so much about.
I don't think any of the images in this gallery were shot at the "best" aperture: Shipping Photography Examples - Above & Beyond Photography
Imagine how much better those photos could have been?

The difference between "best" and other settings is usually too subtle to make any difference in real use situations.
Pixel peeping is a joyless pursuit that contributes little to creating memorable images.

Yeah! Some solid sense finally. All this is correct.

 

[bsartist]

Tripod mode is well documented in the manual, it won’t help with stills- simply slows down and smooths your stuck inputs.

The giimbke lock will improve longer exposures. In typical DJI fashion the name isnt intuitive. It locks the gimble to the subject you are shooting rather than the aircraft.

Wow. I never knew that. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[With The Birds]

Wow. I never knew that. Thanks for the clarification.

It works a treat Mate- give it a crack.