FPV quality/viewability and ND filter dilemma

[rickeyfitts]

Like many savvy pilots in this forum, I have been using ND filters, (first, PhantomFilters gels and more recently, the excellent Taco-RC 4-pack), to reduce the amount of light entering the camera lense, allowing for a reduced shutter speed setting. I most often use the ND-8 filter for typical sunny days.

The resulting video looks dark and muddy straight out of the 'bird, but is perfect for post-production processing to really bring out the colors and shadows. Without the ND filters and lower shutter speed videos get too "whited-out" in the brightest areas of the video (I use Adobe Premiere Pro CC for video editing and post-production).

Here's the dilemma:
Flying with optimal video settings for post-production, (EV at around -1.2 ~ -2.0) means that the FPV during flight is also dark and muddy-looking. The best I've been able to do is to crank-up the brightness of my tablet and use a homemade glare-guard, but it can still be quite a challenge to see what's going on via FPV during flight (one more practical reason not to rely on FPV exclusively I suppose). My Galaxy Pro v8.4 does as good a job of displaying FPV video as other tablets I've tried, so I don't think a tablet upgrade would help much, although I am considering adding some glare-film to the tablet screen.

Is it really an either-or choice? That is:

Pleasant, bright and viewable FPV during flight, but washed-out, lower quality video recordings for post
... or ...
Muddy, dark and hard-to see FPV during flight, but excellent video recordings for post.

Anyway, I'd be interested if anybody else is bugged by this dilemma, and if I'm missing something.

Cheers! --RF

 

[deuter]

I am kenn to know too.

 

[rickeyfitts]

Has the world blocked me for some reason? I can't seem to get any responses from my last two important, on-topic posts. Jeez.

 

[Msvet]

You might want to check out Hoodmanusa.com. They make hoods for a lot of devices. I have a Samsung Tab S2 and it works great. Top quality but on the pricey side.

 

[Suntana]

Glad you posted that site www.hoodsmanusa.com they have some good stuff.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[rickeyfitts]

You might want to check out Hoodmanusa.com. They make hoods for a lot of devices. I have a Samsung Tab S2 and it works great. Top quality but on the pricey side.

Thanks Msvet, although I was focused on camera settings at first, I came up with an addition to my roll-'ur-own P3 hoodie that has made all the difference:

The Zappa-eyeball-portals-panel I added can be flipped up to let other people see the screen:

And it folds-down flat to fit nicely in my backpack:

I made the shield around 6 months ago (well-used), and added the Zappa-eyeball-portal-panel a week ago.Now I'm 95% glare-free in even the strongest sun! Construction board, black duct-tape and some velcro strips.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention...