Author Topic: Drone video: how to expose correctly (Read 7459 times)

Brightontl · « **on:** March 23, 2019, 06:59 »

Drone footage: How to expose correctly and how to avoid difficult light situations
https://youtu.be/i5bV49e3Aio

dragonblade · « **Reply #1 on:** March 23, 2019, 11:16 »

Another informative video and a very interesting topic. Yea it's a pity that with many drones, your exposure options are pretty limited though I expected as much. I guess the DJI Inspire would be pretty versatile in that regard. And I'd imagine the Spark would be extremely limited by comparison. Being able to change the aperture would certainly be a big plus.

For my own filming from quadcopters, Ive used a GoPro Hero 3 Silver strapped to a Syma X8C. Of course the exposure on the GoPro was fully automatic so I had no control at all. And when recording landscapes, regrettably, I wasn't able to do so in the late afternoon when the light is softer (even though I wanted to.) This is because late in the day, there would be large areas of shadow over the landscape and this would fool the GoPro's autoexposure into overexposing everything. So I was forced to do my flying / recording earlier in the day. The light was harsher but it was the only way to get correctly exposed footage with such a camera.

Brightontl · « **Reply #2 on:** March 24, 2019, 06:08 »

Thank you,
I didn't know that the GoPro is auto only.
I agree that shooting in auto causes a lot of problems

dragonblade · « **Reply #3 on:** March 24, 2019, 07:30 »

Yea the GoPro that I was using was quite an old model. I believe that later GoPro models have some degree of control over exposure but I don't know how much.

I do know that many people mount cheap action cameras and GoPro clones to their quadcopters for budget based aerial videography and unfortunately, just about all of those cameras rely on auto exposure.

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #4 on:** March 24, 2019, 13:18 »

Quote from: Brightontl on March 24, 2019, 06:08

Thank you,
I didn't know that the GoPro is auto only.
I agree that shooting in auto causes a lot of problems

Auto exposure and auto white balance has ruined a lot of what otherwise would have been great footage. It doesn't work so it's best to learn manual techniques.

Brightontl · « **Reply #5 on:** March 25, 2019, 03:40 »

Quote from: PeterChigmaroff on March 24, 2019, 13:18

Quote from: Brightontl on March 24, 2019, 06:08
Thank you,
I didn't know that the GoPro is auto only.
I agree that shooting in auto causes a lot of problems
Auto exposure and auto white balance has ruined a lot of what otherwise would have been great footage. It doesn't work so it's best to learn manual techniques.

Yes Peter,
I perfectly agree.
Auto exposure and, even more, auto WB are a recipe for disaster

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #6 on:** March 25, 2019, 04:05 »

Quote from: PeterChigmaroff on March 24, 2019, 13:18

Quote from: Brightontl on March 24, 2019, 06:08
Thank you,
I didn't know that the GoPro is auto only.
I agree that shooting in auto causes a lot of problems
Auto exposure and auto white balance has ruined a lot of what otherwise would have been great footage. It doesn't work so it's best to learn manual techniques.

Then you're not using the GoPro where a GoPro is supposed to be used. Good luck being in manual when you film that POV jumping off a cliff into dark water.

Different type of camera and mode of filming for different situations.

That being said, for drones, manual is generally the best, yes. But not always.

Brightontl · « **Reply #7 on:** March 26, 2019, 06:58 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on March 25, 2019, 04:05

Quote from: PeterChigmaroff on March 24, 2019, 13:18
Quote from: Brightontl on March 24, 2019, 06:08
Thank you,
I didn't know that the GoPro is auto only.
I agree that shooting in auto causes a lot of problems
Auto exposure and auto white balance has ruined a lot of what otherwise would have been great footage. It doesn't work so it's best to learn manual techniques.

Then you're not using the GoPro where a GoPro is supposed to be used. Good luck being in manual when you film that POV jumping off a cliff into dark water.

Different type of camera and mode of filming for different situations.

That being said, for drones, manual is generally the best, yes. But not always.

I suppose you are referring to using auto mode when tilting the camera up from the ground to the sky area to reveal.
In this case I agree that auto exposure can be a good choice.
But auto WB never ever!

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #8 on:** March 26, 2019, 09:36 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on March 25, 2019, 04:05

Quote from: PeterChigmaroff on March 24, 2019, 13:18
Quote from: Brightontl on March 24, 2019, 06:08
Thank you,
I didn't know that the GoPro is auto only.
I agree that shooting in auto causes a lot of problems
Auto exposure and auto white balance has ruined a lot of what otherwise would have been great footage. It doesn't work so it's best to learn manual techniques.

Then you're not using the GoPro where a GoPro is supposed to be used. Good luck being in manual when you film that POV jumping off a cliff into dark water.

Different type of camera and mode of filming for different situations.

That being said, for drones, manual is generally the best, yes. But not always.

The beauty of photography is there is always an exception to the rule. And I concede that there is a place for such a setting. I haven't seen any GoPro footage for quite a while and am not sure what their cameras are capable of these days. However for all general low speed beauty shots I'd go manual.

Brightontl · « **Reply #9 on:** March 27, 2019, 07:40 »

Quote from: dragonblade on March 24, 2019, 07:30

Yea the GoPro that I was using was quite an old model. I believe that later GoPro models have some degree of control over exposure but I don't know how much.

I do know that many people mount cheap action cameras and GoPro clones to their quadcopters for budget based aerial videography and unfortunately, just about all of those cameras rely on auto exposure.

In my opinion the GOPro is a very specialised camera: it does well one thing: action camera.
I was never fond of drone footage shot with a GoPro

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #10 on:** March 27, 2019, 13:00 »

Quote from: Brightontl on March 27, 2019, 07:40

Quote from: dragonblade on March 24, 2019, 07:30
Yea the GoPro that I was using was quite an old model. I believe that later GoPro models have some degree of control over exposure but I don't know how much.

I do know that many people mount cheap action cameras and GoPro clones to their quadcopters for budget based aerial videography and unfortunately, just about all of those cameras rely on auto exposure.
In my opinion the GOPro is a very specialised camera: it does well one thing: action camera.
I was never fond of drone footage shot with a GoPro

There may be better ways to hang a GoPro than there used to be but the jello effect off of them was severe in most cases.

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Author Topic: Drone video: how to expose correctly (Read 7459 times)

Brightontl

dragonblade

Brightontl

dragonblade

PeterChigmaroff

Brightontl

increasingdifficulty

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PeterChigmaroff

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