Taking photos at night, what setting is best ?

[Kirby Johnson]

Sounds like my issues with the winds. I'm about 8 miles from part of Galveston Bay and the winds are often higher than I'd like to by flying in but what can you do right? ! As you can see from my avatar pic I'm also right near the bayou so when I fly that direction I have to make sure I've got a good battery level to fly across and over the other side.
All the pics in this thread are great!
Looking forward to many new pics and adventures w/my P4P+.

Hey I had to put my drone in sport mode to get this one !

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Hey I had to put my drone in sport mode to get this one !

Just Kidding

 

[Davidnclearlaketx]

Just Kidding

Cool pic!
I like it when they have the "poker run" powerboat races in Clear Lake going to Galveston Bay and I ride with a buddy sometimes. I love those go fast boats! I used to have a tunnel hull 19' w/200 HP outboard but sold it about 10+ years ago. Way cheaper to ride along and throw in the gas $$ than to maintain your own!
I love Florida especially the keys! You guys have some great water over there!
Not like the muddy Gulf of Mexico over our way!

 

[John Locke]

i have just been out taking some photos in the dark, they are quite blurred and basically crap, mostly taken with ISO 100 and 200 shutter speeds around 2 or 3 seconds, I set it on tripod mode hoping to add stability but still crap, there must be a rule of thumb regarding shutter speed at night, I know there are going to be variables with ISO, aperture but the main variable must be shutter speed regarding no blur at night for the p4p at night,

Tripod mode won't help. Only a calm night will help shooting long exposure night shots. 2 second exposures are about the max limit for exposure time, and even then you'll have to take 5 or 8 shots to get a good one.

These shots are quite nice when you get one, but it takes patience to get a good one. These shots can be amazing.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Cool pic!
I like it when they have the "poker run" powerboat races in Clear Lake going to Galveston Bay and I ride with a buddy sometimes. I love those go fast boats! I used to have a tunnel hull 19' w/200 HP outboard but sold it about 10+ years ago. Way cheaper to ride along and throw in the gas $$ than to maintain your own!
I love Florida especially the keys! You guys have some great water over there!
Not like the muddy Gulf of Mexico over our way!

Thanks. I have always said anybody can take a picture of a dog, "Psrewwweeet, Fido, look here." click. It takes some skill to get a car or boat in the air, or an airplane, NOT, or an Eagle bringing food to her chicks. Yeah, Flo is hard to beat if you do it right.

 

[mpshev]

Sent from my SM-G928V using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Kirby Johnson]

View attachment 72049

Sent from my SM-G928V using PhantomPilots mobile app

Nice. Astonishing what these little things can do with a little human cooperation. It looks like it was a fairly calm night. Eventhe buildings on the far horizon are pretty clear.

 

[Gnormand]

View attachment 71624 View attachment 71625 View attachment 71626

You can actually get decent pics with several second exposures on these drones. Keep the ISO at 100 and make sure there's no wind... These are all shot at ISO 100 with an 8 second shutter speed on my P4.

please tell me how to take the longer exposure pics? I can't find any instruction manual on the cameras

 

[John Locke]

please tell me how to take the longer exposure pics? I can't find any instruction manual on the cameras

You need to use MANUAL settings in your camera setting. You'll want to set the camera to about 1sec to 2sec exposures, and shoot the photos on a calm night. 3sec exposures are pretty difficult do, but occasionally I'll get one out of 15 that look OK. When you shoot 1 to 2sec exposures, take about 5 or 10 photos, one right after another. Out of those you'll likely find one or two good ones that are clear and not blurred. After one shot, while you're still flying you can review the photo by clicking the play button (triangle, pointing right), which is located near the camera settings link (see below). This lets you review your photos quickly while flying to confirm the light exposure is adequate. Shooting about 30-45min after sunset is a nice effect, looking west, while there is still a hint of light in the skyline. With long exposure the sky will look much brighter, while seeing the brighter lights of buildings or cars below.

 

[aaronrivera]

Use aeb mode . The one option where it takes 3 5 or 7 pics at once.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[Helihover]

Use aeb mode . The one option where it takes 3 5 or 7 pics at once.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

This doesn't work too well for motion blur long exposures.

 

[Sinisalo]

if you take multiple pictures and combine them using median blend in Photoshop you can minimize the noise in the photo and still get a good night shot. This method is also good for removing items that would have otherwise blurred the photo but if you are looking for that blurred lines effect then the best method has already been explained in this thread.

 

[Gnormand]

thank you so much and Happy New Year

 

[DroneOnNDP]

i have just been out taking some photos in the dark, they are quite blurred and basically crap, mostly taken with ISO 100 and 200 shutter speeds around 2 or 3 seconds, I set it on tripod mode hoping to add stability but still crap, there must be a rule of thumb regarding shutter speed at night, I know there are going to be variables with ISO, aperture but the main variable must be shutter speed regarding no blur at night for the p4p at night,

2-3 seconds for a tiny camera floating in the air is doable but really long exposure when you think of it, stuff like that often requires a solid tripod on firm ground. at 2-3 seconds even the slightest 1mm camera movement will blur a shot. you can try shorter exposures or a super no wind day with a solidly hovering bird. take lots of captures (10 or so) so you can sift through them in post and find the one (if you're lucky) that wasn't a dud. keep at it and you'll get one!

 

[hdlou06]

This was shot last week with my P4P at F2.8 @ 400 ISO @ 1/8 sec. Could have closed aperture down a bit and shot at 1/4 or a half a second. But if it's a little windy its better to keep shutter speed as fast as possible. It's all give and take tbo!

love this shot, no matter what lighting conditions..

 

[Dallas Drone Guy]

View attachment 71624 View attachment 71625 View attachment 71626

You can actually get decent pics with several second exposures on these drones. Keep the ISO at 100 and make sure there's no wind... These are all shot at ISO 100 with an 8 second shutter speed on my P4.

ld dead thread, but I see these pics and had to add mine... I am from dallas and randomly have some night pics from Portland showing the same skyline...