Recommended settings p4p+

VINITA · May 25, 2019

I was hoping someone could suggest better settings than the auto. I am an insurance adjuster and use the phantom for roof inspections and it seems like the settings need tweaking. I usually take the photos about ten feet away from the roofs and the photos just don’t look as good as you would think a 24 megapixel would look. I have attached a photo for an example. Most of the time they just don’t look crisp. Any help would be appreciated.

WV. Rootman · May 25, 2019

Yeah, a little too bright. You can bring down the light level. On the bottom when you have the auto/ manual settings up there is a line with ev + or - adjustments. If that doesn't work, put it in manual and make the necessary adjustments. If that doesn't work for you, put a ND filter on the lens. Raw would fix it also.

VINITA · May 25, 2019

Thanks. I’ll give that a try, I’m not much of a photographer.

WV. Rootman · May 25, 2019

VINITA said:
Thanks. I’ll give that a try, I’m not much of a photographer.

You do have photo editing program? Just shoot in raw and you'll have a lot of latitude to do your photo's. You can take a bright picture and make it look great so easily. Ev adjustment should do it. Read a little in a beginners book on photography. Good luck.

Meta4 · May 25, 2019

VINITA said:
I was hoping someone could suggest better settings than the auto. I am an insurance adjuster and use the phantom for roof inspections and it seems like the settings need tweaking. I usually take the photos about ten feet away from the roofs and the photos just don’t look as good as you would think a 24 megapixel would look. I have attached a photo for an example. Most of the time they just don’t look crisp. Any help would be appreciated.

The only problem with the image you included is that it is seriously over-exposed.
The cause is most likely that you have accidentally set the exposure compensation to overexpose beyond what the meter calculates.

Look at the line of camera data on the screen.
It should look something like this:

The number under EV is what you need to check.
I suspect yours shows something high like +2.0 or +3.0 and that's overcooking your images.
It needs to be dialed back close to zero.
I find the metering on my Phantom generally gives proper exposure when I dial it back to EV -0.3 most of the time.

As for recommended settings, if you aren't familiar with camera adjustments,
I'd suggest using Aperture Priority (A), setting the ISO to 100 and the aperture to 5.6 and the camera will choose an appropriate shutter speed.
Leave White Balance of auto or manually select sunny or cloudy as appropriate.
That will get you good looking images almost all the time.
Don't bother with shooting raw images.
For what you want , that's not necessary and involves more photographic manipulation that you'd want to get involved with.
Jpg files will be just fine for your needs.

ps .. Don't try using an ND filter - that won't do anything at all to improve image quality.
In fact it would do just the opposite because it would cut the light getting to the sensor significantly and the metering would just allow a longer shutter speed to get proper exposure anyway..

VINITA · May 26, 2019

Thank you. Exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. Truly appreciate the help.

CR125Honda · May 26, 2019

Just checking.. Are you uploading the pictures directly off the SD card to your computer?

MrMagus · Jun 1, 2019

Actually the AUTO function works well along with the AP function. Looking at the photo you attached I see a lot of glare. When taking photos we need to make sure the sun is behind the camera at an angle and not directly behind the camera so as to approach the object at an angle that will not pick up the glare. Getting a little closer in might help.

dkeberhardt · Jun 1, 2019

here's a crazy idea: hire a professional drone pilot (who has a Part 107 license) and some experience to take good photos. I would think that a simple roof/house inspection wouldn't cost very much and you would save yourself (and company) valuable time.

REStewart · Jun 1, 2019

Shooting roofs often have very high exposure. Would recommend getting some ND filters and using any time you go up with sun on the roof. The other advice given also applies by manually underexposing. Hope this helps.

Meta4 · Jun 1, 2019

REStewart said:
Shooting roofs often have very high exposure. Would recommend getting some ND filters and using any time you go up with sun on the roof. The other advice given also applies by manually underexposing. Hope this helps.

ND filters are never the answer to overexposure problems.
The correct answer was given in post #5.

REStewart · Jun 2, 2019

Meta4; you are correct IF the camera/lens combo can compensate for the level of brightness. If in fact it is a setting issue I agree 100% with everything you said. However, when you are getting close to the edge of what a camera/lens can handle light-wise then nd filters are helpful. The ultimate illustration of this was when we photographed the 2017 eclipse in Southern Illinois. Did not mean to be argumentative but there are situations where nd helps. Eclipse 2017 Southern Illinois - Captured Memories Photography

Meta4 · Jun 2, 2019

REStewart said:
Meta4; you are correct IF the camera/lens combo can compensate for the level of brightness. If in fact it is a setting issue I agree 100% with everything you said. However, when you are getting close to the edge of what a camera/lens can handle light-wise then nd filters are helpful. The ultimate illustration of this was when we photographed the 2017 eclipse in Southern Illinois.

I was talking about drone photography.
The camera's fastest shutter speed is 1/8000th which will handle anything you are shooting with the drone.
Shooting straight at the sun with a telephoto lens is a completely different ball game .. nice pix btw.

bsartist · Jun 3, 2019

I second the comment someone made about making sure you are getting the full res images off the SD card in the aircraft and not the lower res cached ones from within DJI GO.