Turn off AE Lock in Litchi

[athearnsd45]

On to my next question about Litchi. After upgrading my Android device a few weeks ago with the latest version of Litchi, I noticed I'm getting some strange (generally overexposed) video when using any of the automated exposure modes. On the camera setting display on the main screen, I see AE Lock is selected, but I can't seem to find a way to turn it off. Having AE Lock enabled could certainly be at the heart of my overexposure issues.

Any idea how to turn this setting off? Using the right wheel doesn't seem to work, and I've even set my C2 key to "AE lock/unlock" and that does nothing.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Set camera to "Manual".

 

[Deleted member 62848]

On to my next question about Litchi. After upgrading my Android device a few weeks ago with the latest version of Litchi, I noticed I'm getting some strange (generally overexposed) video when using any of the automated exposure modes. On the camera setting display on the main screen, I see AE Lock is selected, but I can't seem to find a way to turn it off. Having AE Lock enabled could certainly be at the heart of my overexposure issues.

Any idea how to turn this setting off? Using the right wheel doesn't seem to work, and I've even set my C2 key to "AE lock/unlock" and that does nothing.

Sorry yes I read this today,tryed but forget to reply,as above go manual,,you can tap the word auto and it changes to manual straight away and gives you some settings on the right hand side instead of using camera setting logo,,yes I can remember the blue lock,never notice til you metion

 

[athearnsd45]

Thanks for the replies, and especially for the screen shots, ianzone.

These instructions seem to be for getting the camera in and out of automatic vs. manual camera mode. Just to clarify what I'm talking about, AE Lock is a specialized feature of the automatic exposure mode. I know a lot of folks on here frown on using automated exposure, but when shooting a lengthy video with rapidly changing lighting conditions, I find it useful. Trying to fly, avoid obstacles, and smoothly change exposure settings all at once as lighting changes is a handful. I've found the Phantom automatic exposure setting to generally return good results.

With AE Lock enabled, as I understand it, the camera will take an automatic exposure and lock the setting for the duration of the shot - so in video mode, this could be for your entire flight if you don't stop and start the recording. With AE Lock disabled, the camera will constantly monitor the lighting and dynamically change the settings to maintain a decently-exposed view throughout the session. I can find no way to turn off AE Lock in Litchi.

Here's an example of why I don't like AE Lock: my driveway is shady, but I'd like to be able to take off from my driveway and fly around my neighborhood, all in a single video clip. What happens with AE Lock is that when I start the video before takeoff, the camera sets its exposure at an appropriate level for my shady driveway. When I rise above the trees and get a nice sunlit view, the exposure setting remains constant, resulting in massive overexposure. Turning off AE Lock would allow the camera to automatically adjust the exposure to the sunlit conditions.

Again, this setting can be adjusted in DJI Go4, but I can't find any way to turn this on and off in Litchi.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Yeh I had search and not much info around,even litchi help was no help but one idea I find was to turn off auto record when motors start and using right wheel to adjust light with ISO wheel (right side)when going up from dark into light, , only other info I find was yes when auto selected or on auto it finds the best cam settings for the appropriate light it senses,,while playing around I notice too that pressing and holding right ISO wheel it changes from auto to manual which I never knew so that good shortcut,,I would give it a try playing with this contrast ,bit of a Hassel but litchi playing hard to find answer,,it's not even in litchi manual pdf download,this below was another post I find asking same info and reply was what I describe with the right wheel with the contrast,,

 

[athearnsd45]

Thanks again, ianzone.

I played around with my Phantom for a while last night and found a few interesting things. First, earlier I mentioned I'd mapped the C2 controller button to AE Lock on/off and that didn't seem to do anything. With the drone actually powered up, I tested using the C2 button - it appears it is indeed toggling AE Lock, it just doesn't show up on the screen indicator. I held the drone and pointed it toward different light sources, and the exposure didn't change. I then hit C2 and did the same, and the exposure changed to compensate. Not great behavior, as there's no visual cue as to what mode you're in at any given point.

I also own Litchi for iOS, and found that AE Lock control is fully supported under the camera settings menu. I'd prefer to fly with my Android tablet, but lack of ability to easily control AE Lock may cause me to switch to my phone.

One other setting that screwed me up the other day is gimbal tilt. My son noticed during a flight that the horizon was substantially skewed, and we weren't sure what was going on. I fired up Go4 to calibrate the gimbal when we got home, and noticed there is a gimbal tilt control. Sure enough, the gimbal was skewed 0.2 degrees somehow. On Android Litchi, I can't find a specific control for gimbal tilt, but there is a clumsy way of doing it by pressing C2 and using the right wheel. And on iOS Litchi, like the AE Lock setting, there is a nice camera setting item for gimbal tilt.

I sent Litchi a message on these two items and I'll report back if they reply.

 

[athearnsd45]

Update: turns out my issue was to some degree user error. I put the Phantom up for a test flight today to see what happens when I use the C2 key to control AE Lock, and lo and behold, it worked fine. I also noticed that the AE Lock icon on the screen turned blue or gray to denote what mode it's in, something that was not happening when I had it powered up inside. Even better, I found I could tap the AE Lock icon to control the feature.

So what changed? For my initial test, I did not have an SD card inserted. Apparently, you can't control AE Lock without an SD card with Litchi. I don't give myself 100% of the blame here, as I think you should be able to control AE Lock even if you're just flying around and not recording. And, I believe Go4 will allow you to toggle AE Lock without a card inserted. So, maybe 90% of the blame goes to me and I'll give Litchi the remaining 10%.

At least now I know what AE Lock does and how it can affect your images!