P4P Night Camera Settings

[Hendricks]

Hi,

I'm looking fort some assistance with a flight I have planned.
Usually, for my real estate work, I'm flying in the day time......

This time, I'll be flying well after sunset(about 45 minutes).
My take off point is outside the city and in an area where there is NO artificial light.
Total blackness.
My plan is to fly straight up over a tree line and reach an altitude of 400 feet and turn to face the skyline of the city in the distance(about 12 miles away).

The only light in the photography will be the distant lights of the city AND the residual light on the horizon(amazing how much sunlight there is on the horizon well after sunset).
My take off spot is excellent because(once I reach altitude), I will have a shot taking in the complete panorama of the distant city including a flashing lighthouse(5 miles away).
I'm looking for suggestions on complete camera settings for this shot.

ISO, Shutter Speed, etc.........

This flight is intended to do still shots only with no video.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks...........

 

[Meta4]

This time, I'll be flying well after sunset(about 45 minutes).
My take off point is outside the city and in an area where there is NO artificial light.
Total blackness.
My plan is to fly straight up over a tree line and reach an altitude of 400 feet and turn to face the skyline of the city in the distance(about 12 miles away).

The only light in the photography will be the distant lights of the city AND the residual light on the horizon(amazing how much sunlight there is on the horizon well after sunset).

Is the image you are planning, one that's all dark below the horizon, dim above and with a small area of light on the horizon?
If the image is mostly dark/black, the camera doesn't do black well.
Low light photography is usually better with low light rather than no light.

 

[Cellblock776]

Wouldn't your anti-collision strobes mess up the photos? How are you going to compensate for them?

 

[Earlham]

I shot this last night. Different conditions but the bridge in the back is about a mile away.

ISO 1600
A 3.5
Shutter speed 30 fps

 

[Shaun Roster]

Wouldn't your anti-collision strobes mess up the photos? How are you going to compensate for them?

You can have the LEDs turn off automatically each time it takes an image .. as per the attached screenshot

 

[Earlham]

I actually forgot to turn mine off in that photo. Its a screen shot from the video we took..

 

[Shaun Roster]

Hi,

I'm looking fort some assistance with a flight I have planned.
Usually, for my real estate work, I'm flying in the day time......

This time, I'll be flying well after sunset(about 45 minutes).
My take off point is outside the city and in an area where there is NO artificial light.
Total blackness.
My plan is to fly straight up over a tree line and reach an altitude of 400 feet and turn to face the skyline of the city in the distance(about 12 miles away).

The only light in the photography will be the distant lights of the city AND the residual light on the horizon(amazing how much sunlight there is on the horizon well after sunset).
My take off spot is excellent because(once I reach altitude), I will have a shot taking in the complete panorama of the distant city including a flashing lighthouse(5 miles away).
I'm looking for suggestions on complete camera settings for this shot.

ISO, Shutter Speed, etc.........

This flight is intended to do still shots only with no video.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks...........

The P4P handles the dark pretty well, all things considered. To get a sharp image you'll need to limit the shutter speed by going to 'S' Shutter Priority, have the Aperture wide open and then adjust he ISO to get your exposure correct using the front right controller thumb wheel.

1. Get the drone into poition
2. Select Tripod Mode for enhanced stability (although with no light the vision sensors will not be of any use and it may even be worth considering turning the (downward) vision sensors OFF so they don't provide false information if they pick up some spurious light source).
3. Select 'S' Shutter Priority in Camera Setting
4. Select desired Shutter Speed. For a Sharp image you'll need to be sub 1sec in Tripod Mode and hopefully there will be little or no wind causing the drone to move even the slightest bit. I
5. Set the Aperture to wide open 2.8
6. Adjust the ISO for exposure, likely around 1600 which is OK, anything more than 1600 will start to show noise on the image.
7. Take lots of images and chances are you'll get 1 in the pack that has better sharpness because the drone happened to be more stable at that time.
8. If you're getting super sharp pictures then you could afford to take shutter speed slower >1sec and bring the ISO down below 1600 so you get less noise.
9. If the images are soft then you need a faster shutter speed and you'll need to take a higher ISO to get the exposure and live with the noise.
10. You can smooth the noise quiet effectively using Lightroom or other editing software.
11. You MUST take the images in RAW so you get far greater quality and enhanced editing ability.

This is a fireworks image i took last week, although I had better light levels than you're suggesting you'll have, so I was able to keep the ISO lower so as not to over expose the light bloom, it was windy as hell.. Gusty 15-20kts which really limited me to keeping the shutter speed low.

Phantom 4Pro Obsidian
Shutter 1sec
Ape f2.8
ISO 600

 

[Earlham]

Would that be the same if your taking videos? Or for stills.

 

[Shaun Roster]

Would that be the same if your taking videos? Or for stills.

Everything i wrote was specifically for Still Images based on the original question. If you are taking video then its a little different because you're shutter speed is based on your frame rate and you don't suffer from camera blur as its a moving film image. The basic theory s the same though. My recommendations are:
1. Tripod Mode for nice smooth panning movements
2. 4K 30fps which means you want the shutter speed to 1/60th sec for cinematic smoothness
3. Select 'S' Shutter Priority 1/60th sec
4. Select Ape f2.8
5. Rotate front right Thumb Wheel to alter ISO to required exposure

Check out the video of the same fireworks at the following link ..

Gunwharf Quays Fireworks

 

[Earlham]

That is great information thank you very much. I have been writing down different settings as I try them. Most times I try one new setting this flight and another the next time. I will watch your video.

 

[Cellblock776]

You can have the LEDs turn off automatically each time it takes an image .. as per the attached screenshot

Yeah, I know about the menu setting to turn off the red leds on the front rotor arms.
I was talking about the 3 mile visible anti-collision strobes needed for night flights.
Do they ever mess up the exposure of your shots? What brand/model of lights are you using for your Phantom and how are you controlling them? How/where do you have them mounted? Just on the top or do you have multiple lights mounted on different arms or sides of the UAV? Just curious as we are drafting our Night Waiver requirements and are investigating different options.

 

[Shaun Roster]

Yeah, I know about the menu setting to turn off the red leds on the front rotor arms.
I was talking about the 3 mile visible anti-collision strobes needed for night flights.
Do they ever mess up the exposure of your shots? What brand/model of lights are you using for your Phantom and how are you controlling them? How/where do you have them mounted? Just on the top or do you have multiple lights mounted on different arms or sides of the UAV? Just curious as we are drafting our Night Waiver requirements and are investigating different options.

Ahhh ok, the strobes are not a requirement in UK
night regulations, just standard anti-cols!!

 

[Melvoid]

I shot this last night. Different conditions but the bridge in the back is about a mile away.View attachment 105607
ISO 1600
A 3.5
Shutter speed 30 fps

Nice shot. Is that Duluth?

 

[Earlham]

Your correct that is Duluth Bayfront Park.