Filter and exposure recommendations ?

[BoneThrower13]

Hello, DJI P3P owner first flight. I did a screen capture of my first flight today. I did not go far need to be comfortable with the flying this with the technology. any way, I have an ND 4 filter on the camera and I am concerned about the white siding losing all markings way too bright what am i doing wrong? This is a screen capture off the video and is accurate as to what I am seeing IRL watching video. thanks

 

[Jayfdee]

Looks like a difficult shot with a white building half in shade, always better to under expose, and correct in post.
OK this is a screen capture from a video, my understanding of the ND filters is that they reduce the light entering the camera and thus allow a slower shutter speed and a more cinematic effect, they are not for exposure correction, someone will be along soon to correct me.
Good luck.

 

[umanbean]

To get more detail in the highlights, use the exposure compensation wheel (right side rear of RC)... for that shot, you'd probably need about -1.5 fstops to get detail in the siding on the left.

Of course, that will also darken the rest of the image.

One limitation of consumer-level image sensors is their compressed exposure latitude, aka "dynamic range(?)" - the ability to capture details in a wide range of bright areas vs. dark areas.

Old-timey film (Kodachrome 64 was my fav.) had a much wider exposure latitude, but also had it's limitations - it'd be hard to strap a 35mm SLR on a Phantom and control it from the ground!

 

[umanbean]

Almost forgot - you can also change exposure values by tapping the spot on the screen that you want 'correctly' exposed. That will change exposure at that area to an 18% gray though... so if you touched that over exposed siding, it would darken it a bit too much.

 

[WV. Rootman]

You will always have that problem with video. There are tricks to learn. Easier with stills shot in raw. You have done nothing wrong. Just start reading on shooting videos with your drone. I can't tell you or teach you everything in one post. Heck, I'm still learning.

 

[Scatterbrained]

Hello, DJI P3P owner first flight. I did a screen capture of my first flight today. I did not go far need to be comfortable with the flying this with the technology. any way, I have an ND 4 filter on the camera and I am concerned about the white siding losing all markings way too bright what am i doing wrong? This is a screen capture off the video and is accurate as to what I am seeing IRL watching video. thanks


View attachment 93194

There's a reason why photographers shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. The high contrast lighting of midday, aside from looking awful, makes for light that is hard to work with and very limiting.

 

[BoneThrower13]

You will always have that problem with video. There are tricks to learn. Easier with stills shot in raw. You have done nothing wrong. Just start reading on shooting videos with your drone. I can't tell you or teach you everything in one post. Heck, I'm still learning.

Thank you and yes, I am as well converting from gas and nitro to electric with major technology haha what a trip !

 

[BoneThrower13]

There's a reason why photographers shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. The high contrast lighting of midday, aside from looking awful, makes for light that is hard to work with and very limiting.

That is a very good point and on that note I now see I was over estimating all those beautiful videos as being easy peasy lol

 

[Scatterbrained]

BoneThrower, a few tips on the uncontrollable nature of sunlight and photography (or videography in your case). Golden hours are the best hours. That hour just after sunrise and again before sunset are when the light is most pleasing. The light is at a lower angle and warmer, making for more pleasant images. Just don't shoot directly into the sun, but at an angle to it. You always have to be aware of the contrast ratio of the scene you're shooting. Clouds are your friends, just so long as there aren't too many. A completely overcast sky renders the scene flat and lifeless. Boring. A partly cloudy sky will diffuse the light of the sun and soften the shadows, making for better shooting conditions. A polarizing filter will give you bluer skies and more definition in your clouds, while also helping to cut glare from water and windows, but it has to be set correctly and is dependent on the relative angle to the sun. Just some random thoughts, hope they help out.

 

[Briannolan]

Looks like a difficult shot with a white building half in shade, always better to under expose, and correct in post.
OK this is a screen capture from a video, my understanding of the ND filters is that they reduce the light entering the camera and thus allow a slower shutter speed and a more cinematic effect, they are not for exposure correction, someone will be along soon to correct me.
Good luck.

 

[Briannolan]

You're correct, a neutral density filter simply darkens everything equally, the issue is the contrast between the highlights and the shadows. All digital cameras lack the range that film has. There is a contrast filter which was invented for cinematography that helps "open" shadows but my guess it's not yet made for drones. It's a pretty cool piece of resin - it's clear with very faint white dots spread in a random pattern within the filter. Somehow, allowing light to flare it does the trick.
Your shot is interesting to me because the white walls of the house are reflecting light into the shadows. Time of day might help but then again remember shadows are what defines depth. I'm a retired architectural photographer, as the earth revolves around the sun it's light is continually moving. Scout your shots and ask yourself when will the sun be where I want it and then figure out what time of day will the sun be where you want it to be. Great shots are made not taken.

 

[African wildlife]

BoneThrower13: I would echo what Scatterbrained has said above about golden hour filming.

For the past six weeks, we’ve been up almost every morning at 4.45am to shoot at 5.30am to 6.30am - including on Christmas Day. And that’s just for the first three minutes of a film, cut from 350+ bits of footage taken. We’ve also done the same just before sunset, although only on about half of the days.

Work hard and raise expectations would be my advice.

We’re using ND/PL4 and ND/PL8 filters, and occasionally ND/PL16, shooting at 24fps.