Hello all, I am a real dummy when it comes to photography lol. Can anyone give me advice on what would be the best camera settings to set for taking real estate pictures of houses and surrounding areas
Camera settings help!
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Meta4
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There's no "best" because every shoot is different with different lighting, different subject matter etc.
Generally, ISO 100, an aperture from 5.6 to 8, and adjust that to maintain a shutter speed of at least 1/200. Don't forget to bracket the exposure comp (set it to auto comp +1, -1 for starts). These are general purpose suggestions.
Yeah, you just can't go wrong with a detailed step by step like Meta provided.
Ok, one of the most important things is the exposure triangle. Shutter speed, iso, and aperature.
Usually you want a aperature of around 6.3 if you want everything in focus. The shutter speed should be around twice the fps, and atleast above 60s. And iso should be as low as possible ussually. Because you want the footage to be smooth. If your editing computer can handle it, then shoot in 4k. I found the footage looks a little to sharp, so like to lower the sharpness by -1. Also look up parker walbecks tutorial.
Hey everyone, Thanks for all the info, even though my head is swimming a little from overload LOL Its all good info to help me with both so thanks to all that helped.
Meta4
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If you are starting out and want something simple that will help you to get good exposure most of the time without being too complicated, try this:
Set your exposure mode to A for aperture priority
Set ISO to 100
Set aperture to 5.6
The camera metering will choose an appropriate shutter speed to match the brightness of the scene.
I think the one of the most important things is to shoot RAW and not JPG.
Of course, then using Lightroom or whatever software you want to make the image look better.
You can take good photos to extraordinary photos with less than a minute of effort.
Of course, then using Lightroom or whatever software you want to make the image look better.
You can take good photos to extraordinary photos with less than a minute of effort.
Meta4
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So how much better would these shots look if I'd used raw instead of shooting jpg?
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Always use RAW to capture, even if you are new to color grading as it has the best latitude for color grading. It will look "flatter" on screen, but in your editing software give you much more information to be able to adjust. You can set your drone for JPG&RAW for both, it just uses more storage. If you are just getting started, YouTube has hundreds of beginner videos on understanding exposure principles. Watch as many as you can and you will be able to glean a lot of information. Solid basics are generally universal, even if the way the information is presented is different. F/Stop, shutter speed and ISO are the 3 pillars of the proper exposure. If you can grasp those 3 principles the rest will be much more simple to understand. ND filters are also a must if you're going to get serious and produce acceptable results in imperfect lighting situation. Don't skimp on filter quality. I've seen people spend $2400.00 the best glass lenses for their cameras, only to put a $3.00 piece of junk in front of it. Doesn't make much sense to me.
Here is my take on everything I read above. All good useful info, but here is what I do. I’ve been flying RC over 30 years and flying drones is super easy, but still challenging when I’m literally in the trees trimming leaves to get my shots of rear decks etc.
Being a paid photographer with DSLR cameras, I at first started using my P4P in aperture priority, shutter priority or just plane manual. I found that unless it’s unusually windy, I just now shoot in full auto but set my white balance (never auto on WB). I shoot in raw and watch my histogram. Raw captures more shadows and highlights then jpeg (which is compressed).
Being high up, I found depth of field isn’t an issue so I don’t worry about aperture except on extremely windy days where I want a fast shutter so I set shutter to at least 1/500 which usually sets aperture wide open especially if I have ND filters on.
I do occasionally use AEB (bracketed exposure) on very bright days and use ND filters too when required (if histogram too far to the right). Adobe has a merge HDR which combines your exposures... if you don’t want to do it yourself.
Inside pictures are a different category of course but outside I just set WB and monitor histogram, and shoot in raw and use photoshop to tone in adobe camera raw. There’s even camera corrections for DJI drones in there to correct distortion and chromatic aberration.
I usually tone down highlights, raise shadows, and go from there.
Being a paid photographer with DSLR cameras, I at first started using my P4P in aperture priority, shutter priority or just plane manual. I found that unless it’s unusually windy, I just now shoot in full auto but set my white balance (never auto on WB). I shoot in raw and watch my histogram. Raw captures more shadows and highlights then jpeg (which is compressed).
Being high up, I found depth of field isn’t an issue so I don’t worry about aperture except on extremely windy days where I want a fast shutter so I set shutter to at least 1/500 which usually sets aperture wide open especially if I have ND filters on.
I do occasionally use AEB (bracketed exposure) on very bright days and use ND filters too when required (if histogram too far to the right). Adobe has a merge HDR which combines your exposures... if you don’t want to do it yourself.
Inside pictures are a different category of course but outside I just set WB and monitor histogram, and shoot in raw and use photoshop to tone in adobe camera raw. There’s even camera corrections for DJI drones in there to correct distortion and chromatic aberration.
I usually tone down highlights, raise shadows, and go from there.
