DJI GO - Exposure Tools Question for Pro Photographer

[smoke23]

Hi Everyone. I've been using the DJI Go app for the past couple of years. I mainly shoot video with the Phantom 4 Pro and on occasion, I'll shoot photos, always RAW. What's the best tool to use to judge exposure on the DJI Go App, the histogram or Zebras, if you're shooting RAW on a Phantom 4 Pro to get maximum dynamic range?

Is it better to expose these DJI cameras until you see a zebra stripe, then back down until you don't see any, so more Exposing to the Right, ETTR? If any one who is a professional photographer want to weigh in. Thanks so much!

 

[gingerbloke]

I'm semi-pro and use a P3A (less range than your P4Pro camera) - my experience is that the P3A is often OE, so I start with -0.3 (you can set it on the thumbwheel on the P3A controller) and work down until the zebra has gone, then one click back up. I shoot mostly good daylight.

Lr6 does a pretty good job with P3A raws in my experience.

I'd be interested in this thread because P4Pro is on my shopping list.

 

[African wildlife]

Smoke23: I'm likely from an older generation, now aged 61, pre-digital, when we exclusively used Kodachrome 64 or 25 and then later Fujichrome Velvia 50 - slide film with little tolerance, so you had to get the exposure right. Pro development labs in London were always surprised by my unusually high percentage of results out of a single roll of film. Fast forward to DSLRs. Histograms? I never use them. Zebra patterns on the P4P+ screen? An unnecessary distraction.

I never have problems with exposure. It's partly down to the camera or drone's basic exposure controls and partly down to a self-disciplined brain.

I'm not saying that histograms aren't useful to other people. The technology nowadays exists, and detail is a great thing with regards to anything - but I occasionally find myself positioned near photography workshops (especially in the US) and despair when I hear/see how the "leaders" are "teaching" others about photography. Mental self-discipline is everything - whether it concerns exposure, composition, or knowing exactly when to click.

With video on the P4P+, I usually underexpose by -0.3 or -0.7.

 

[smoke23]

Smoke23: I'm likely from an older generation, now aged 61, pre-digital, when we exclusively used Kodachrome 64 or 25 and then later Fujichrome Velvia 50 - slide film with little tolerance, so you had to get the exposure right. Pro development labs in London were always surprised by my unusually high percentage of results out of a single roll of film. Fast forward to DSLRs. Histograms? I never use them. Zebra patterns on the P4P+ screen? An unnecessary distraction.

I never have problems with exposure. It's partly down to the camera or drone's basic exposure controls and partly down to a self-disciplined brain.

I'm not saying that histograms aren't useful to other people. The technology nowadays exists, and detail is a great thing with regards to anything - but I occasionally find myself positioned near photography workshops (especially in the US) and despair when I hear/see how the "leaders" are "teaching" others about photography. Mental self-discipline is everything - whether it concerns exposure, composition, or knowing exactly when to click.

With video on the P4P+, I usually underexpose by -0.3 or -0.7.

Thanks for the reply. I'm 32 and I've grown and learned digital since I started doing video production 10 years. With video, I've always had exposure tools (ex. waveforms, zebras, false color, peaking) however I love talking to people who actually shot on film back in the day, because you're correct, you had to exposure right in the beginning.

 

[African wildlife]

Smoke23: i would really suggest that you give what I've said above a go for a reasonable period of time. It's a bit like walking, which most of us do after our early childhood without thinking. It frees you up for the important things in photography, such as composition and working out the exact moment to release your shutter - or, even earlier, deciding what to capture.

I'm a wildlife and wild landscapes photographer. I also never use autofocus - which is unusual when you consider how fast animals can be. For example, I've successfully captured a daylight leopard kill - after a two hour wait for it to strike - which my five colleagues who were with me didn't "see" to the extent that they could process the detail of what had occurred because it all happened incredibly quickly. Yet I was able to work exactly and at lightning speed, capturing it all for inclusion in a book.

Technology is great. But the human brain, once you've mastered how to use it, is much better.

A related issue is colour correction. The film we've just finished, shot over three months, has required no colour correction or added saturation. Again, it's all about getting it right to begin with - especially making use of the amazing light immediately after sunrise and just before sunset.

 

[matti]

Outdoors it is difficult to set the exposure via the tablet screen. I always have the histogram and zebras visible. It is difficult to see when the histogram is really overexposed so I judge it with zebras so the whitest important objects do not have any or maybe even 1 "click" underexposure. I wish also Litchi had zebras.

 

[screwston]

on my p3s i use AEB 5 shot for photos, and have them save in RAW... download photomatrix pro and merge all 5 shots to an HDR shot the AEB takes 5 shots at diff exposures... amazing photos... TRUE HDR. HDR setting on camera is junk