Missed the Meteor

[DroneTurismo]

So i went for my first night flight, wide open on our property just for the record. Intended to catch a shooting star. Well i parked it 400 feet up and facing Perseids with the camera rolling. Had a few breaks where i quit recording just because we werent seeing anything. Brought the P4 down, as soon as i picked it up, looked up and bam, super bright shooting star streaks by. Looking at my ton of basically worthless video, i shoud have been caught on camera had I still been in flight well im setting the alarm to get up early when it should be action packed.

 

[wa5tef]

Interesting! Just wondering what were your camera settings and how you compensated for the bright moonlight? Also, did you point your camera up the 30 degrees or keep it level?
Thanks!
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[DroneTurismo]

I took some sample video with the aperture open to the max, it allowed me to see the stars, made the sky a bit gray though. The supposed point of most activity was right above a tree line so i just had the P4 parked in the sky recording that spot straight ahead. The moon wasnt really affecting the picture too much, although had i actually caught the meteor on camera maybe i would have a different opinions on that but the meteor was pretty low and bright. Ah well maybe next summer.

 

[Erised]

That' the norm when shooting celestial objects, they look good to the naked eye but not much to show on videos' same goes when shooting the moon, you can hardly see it, same with a regular camera without a telephoto lens. High iso and long shots helps but then it's still small and blurry.

 

[SoundByte]

That' the norm when shooting celestial objects, they look good to the naked eye but not much to show on videos' same goes when shooting the moon, you can hardly see it, same with a regular camera without a telephoto lens. High iso and long shots helps but then it's still small and blurry.

The moon is a sunlit object and should be treated no different than a terrestrial shot at midday in bright sun. ISO 100, f16, 1/125sec. Any reciprocal will work, but the lower the ISO and the smaller the aperture, the sharper the image.

 

[Erised]

The moon is a sunlit object and should be treated no different than a terrestrial shot at midday in bright sun. ISO 100, f16, 1/125sec. Any reciprocal will work, but the lower the ISO and the smaller the aperture, the sharper the image.

I will try lower iso next time. The last shot I took the moon was coming up on the horizon and looked big I video and shot it but in the image it looked tiny, almost like a street light.

 

[SoundByte]

I will try lower iso next time. The last shot I took the moon was coming up on the horizon and looked big I video and shot it but in the image it looked tiny, almost like a street light.

You're definitely correct about needing a longer lens. The wide angle lens on the phantom really isn't ideal for celestial work.

 

[DroneTurismo]

Glad to hear id probably just have been disappointed had i gotten the meteor on video lol. I see what you mean, i remember the first time the moon was so big anf itook a cell phone pic and it was extremely small.