Where is my "Auto button"?

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Hi; Is there an auto selection for the camera function? In all of my other cameras I have the option of selecting Automatic and it determines the f stop, film speed and shutter speed needed to get a descent shot. This holds true for when I am shooting a video. I can't seem to find that setting with the Phantom's camera.

I have a difficult time believing that they have produced a camera as sophisticated and beautiful as the one on Phantom and have all the different options they offer but not have an auto selection.

The other day I tried flying the phantom from an open field into a wooded area. As we left the direct sun light into the shaded area of course the settings required changing and I was the one needing to make said changes. This took important attention from the flying of the aircraft to head down position as I concentrated on what was happening on my iPad monitor. Not a great idea.

IMHO there was never a greater need for automatic settings than on this setup where attention is required in the flying of the craft rather than looking at the monitor.

Any ideas or help is appreciated
 
Should be in Auto out of the box. You're going to have much better footage and viewing experience if you learn to use the manual settings though IMO.

This should help:

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Thanks for your reply. The video shows the various settings (manual) and while there are auto setting within some of the options he says nothing about putting the camera or video modes as a whole in auto.

Still hoping such a thing exists.
 
If I'm reading your post right, the "auto" function is on by default. To change the focus area of the camera you just touch the screen where you want the camera to focus and it will adjust automatically.

jlo posted a great video of some of the settings but to go into the advanced or "manual" mode you select the box at the bottom with the three sliders and that will allow you to adjust the ISO, exposures etc. yourself.

I'm not by any means an expert photographer and don't pretend to know what the heck I'm doing but I think I'm understanding your question.
 
I may be writing things in a confusing manner and if so I am sorry. Please let me try again ...

On all my other cameras you can either play with the manual settings or I can put the camera into what I call an auto mode. This auto mode then takes care of all the camera settings so I get a "descent" photo. Pros of course always use manual so they get exactly what they want but us "nobs" can just set the auto and it becomes basically a point and shoot camera no mess no fuss.

I have played with the camera settings and if the camera arrived in some sort of auto mode then I have long since mucked that up. All I want is to put it back into auto so I can concentrate on flying the bird and let the camera become a point and shoot.

It is my expectation that if I go from a bright area to a dark area the camera would automatically change the settings to compensate for the difference in lighting.

Does such a thing exist on the phantom 3 and if so how do I turn it on?

I hope this is more clear. Thanks for trying to help me
 
No one seems to be answering his question. I think he wants to know how to put it BACK into auto mode if it isn't already.
 
No one seems to be answering his question. I think he wants to know how to put it BACK into auto mode if it isn't already.
It always defaults to "auto mode" UNLESS you select the box with the 3 sliders. All that needs to be done to focus on a specific spot is touch the screen on the device to "automatically" focus on that area. That's about as close to an "auto" mode that you can get as far as I know....
 
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No one seems to be answering his question. I think he wants to know how to put it BACK into auto mode if it isn't already.
Thanks VoicOfReason that is exactly what I was asking you just said it more clearly and with fewer words.

NOW: I have discovered how this is accomplished. At the bottom of the camera settings on the controller there is a box with three lines and three dots on them. If you tap this box it will turn blue. When this icon is blue you are in manual mode and if you tap it again you are in auto mode.

I knew it had to be simple but it baffled me. I hope my journey down this road helps someone else.

Thanks to all who tried to help.
 
Thanks VoicOfReason that is exactly what I was asking you just said it more clearly and with fewer words.

NOW: I have discovered how this is accomplished. At the bottom of the camera settings on the controller there is a box with three lines and three dots on them. If you tap this box it will turn blue. When this icon is blue you are in manual mode and if you tap it again you are in auto mode.

I knew it had to be simple but it baffled me. I hope my journey down this road helps someone else.

Thanks to all who tried to help.
LOL! Yep, see post #4....:rolleyes:
 
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All that needs to be done to focus on a specific spot is touch the screen on the device to "automatically" focus on that area.
There is no focus on the P3. It is a focus free camera.
Touching the screen to bring up the yellow box is for spot metering where you expose for that part of the image rather than the average of the whole image.
 
Thanks VoicOfReason that is exactly what I was asking you just said it more clearly and with fewer words.

NOW: I have discovered how this is accomplished. At the bottom of the camera settings on the controller there is a box with three lines and three dots on them. If you tap this box it will turn blue. When this icon is blue you are in manual mode and if you tap it again you are in auto mode.

I knew it had to be simple but it baffled me. I hope my journey down this road helps someone else.

Thanks to all who tried to help.

There is only one setting in "Auto" and you do need to pay attention to it - the EV (Exposure Value) which you control with the left roller wheel on the remote. For fully automatic you probably want to set this at 0, but you will frequently get better video and pictures if you give it a slightly negative number (-0.3, -0.7, -1.0) - you are going to have to judge this looking at the screen.

If you have "mucked up your settings" you can also go into the camera options (camera control on the right side of the screen, top, button marked Fn) and go all the way to the bottom and you will find an option to "Reset Camera settings".

One auto function that many feel operates very poorly is AWB (Auto White Balance) - also chosen from the camera functions menu. The best option there is either sunny or cloudy. The problem is if you place it in auto it will change around in the middle of the flight causing awkward color shifts in the middle of your video). Part of my pre-flight checklist is to set this for every flight.
 
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