Shutter priority is the best...

One last q. Do you thing aperture is irrelevant of the accuracy of the map? Is it proper for aperture to change throughout the mission?

Speaking from great experience, if you're going to change anything DURING a mapping mission, aperture is the thing to change. On partly cloudy days it's not unusual for the aperture to open and close quite often. This hasn't had any negative effect on orthophotography, photogrammetry, or mosaics.




In my last mission the best photos were taken at ISO100 f1/2.8 and shutter 1/2000 on a fully sunny day.

Yep. If I were shooting in static lighting conditions, that's probably where I would shoot. But remember, you're not just dealing with light, you're also dealing with REFLECTIVE light. As I'm sure you're aware, some surfaces reflect light better than others. My goal is to not blow out the whites or crush the blacks. The P4P has enough dynamic range that an EV value of 0.0 facilitates that objective.



Map Pilot 4.1.8 kept the initial settings of the mission.

Worth noting here, different versions of MP behave VASTLY differently. After enduring the erroneous behavior of the 3.x.x versions, I simply went back to v2.9.2. I BUILD my missions in v4.1.8, but a FLY my missions in v2.9.2. Last gig I DID fly a test mission with v4.1.8 and it APPEARS that the developers at MP MAY have finally fixed all the camera bugs. They have relinquished full camera control to the user. I believe one can even change ISO on the fly. THAT SAID, when I tried to change camera settings in the middle of a mission, I got error messages more than half the time. So...back to v2.9.2 it is.



Previous versions had problem keeping the camera settings as set initially. The app was doing its thing and changed ISO,aperture,shutter speed **** it was very annoying.

Yep...beyond annoying. It flat out pissed me off.





Also the camera settings can change while in flight with the right clickwheel of the controller. See here but it is not optimal (see comments).

When I map, my controller is usually about 9' in the air. So using the app is the best way for me.

DSC03133.JPG


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@Harleydude, That’s a sweet setup! May I ask about your setup for charging? I’ve got a 12V battery with a DJI car charger adapter, which will bring a flight battery to about 80%, and a li-po car battery jumper (“Trekpow” brand) which can charge one battery. It they take about 2 hours to charge (usually longer). This can make it difficult for keeping up with the demand.
 
@Harleydude, That’s a sweet setup! May I ask about your setup for charging? I’ve got a 12V battery with a DJI car charger adapter, which will bring a flight battery to about 80%, and a li-po car battery jumper (“Trekpow” brand) which can charge one battery. It they take about 2 hours to charge (usually longer). This can make it difficult for keeping up with the demand.

Well...in the above photo we were using my business partner's truck. He has a 3,000 watt DC/AC converter. So we just plug normal high-speed chargers into it. When I'm flying on my own, I use a charger I built.

1589685871117.png


Each one of those step-up converters is rated @ 900 watts. To put this into perspective, I normally charge the batteries at 100 watts if I have all the time in the world. If I'm in a hurry (and I usually am), I charge them @ 180 watts. Because I can change out the pigtails and adjust the output voltage, I can charge Mavic batteries, Phantom batteries or Inspire 1 batteries in any combination. If you look in the upper-right corner of the charger base, you can see voltage settings for the different batteries I use. I can usually charge 2 or 3 batteries before I have to start my Civic so the car battery doesn't die.

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Nice! That is impressive! I like the cleanliness, flexibility and efficiency of the design. Looks very easy to implement and save time in the field. Well done.
 
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I just remembered that mechanical shutter works with speeds up to 1/2000 DJI Phantom 4 Pro – Specs, Tutorials & Guides – DJI
So is it a good thing to go more than 1/2000 if the shutter works as rolling instead of mechanical? I guess no.
Just a thought..

Interesting. I can only guess that past 1/2000 shutter, "rolling shutter" is no longer an issue. That said, if it's a very consistently sunny day, I WILL use ISO 100. At that ISO, 1/2000 should work extremely well. The aperture should compensate for exposure.

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