SCoutts
Captain
Flight distance : 1922434 ft
Canada
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IamWedge Posted at 2018-2-22 00:44
FYI I also posed this question you your YouTube channel. Steve, great video! Thanks for the explanation. Ive heard people say set to 100 ISO. When im flying the last thing i think about is trying to control the camera in manual. Yes Id like better quality. How do I set up on the ground? Im shooting 4K @ 30FLS 100 ISO Im also using Polar Pro ND4 or 8 or 16 PL Filters. Ive watched the histogram as I adjust the filter. Should I worry about adjusting the Shutter and Aperture or do I just change the value on the EV (Expose value) or MM in Manual ? This is where im lost. LOL I know, a lot to take in.
Thanks. That's a *BIG* question - haha. I am currently working on my next video, which is going to be talking in more detail about setting exposure, so have a look out for that in the next few days. In the meantime here are a few thoughts.
General rule of thumb: lowest possible ISO is best - less noise. If you're shooting at 30fps, then your optimal shutter speed is 1/60th of a second for the most "natural" motion blur (180 degree shutter rule). To maintain that constant shutter speed of 1/60th, you're left with three variables: ISO, Aperture and an ND filter.
As per my video, the primary reason to stay away from AUTO is to avoid exposure fluctuations. If you use auto exposure (AE), even if you lock auto exposure, you have no control over the ISO/shutter/aperture combination the software chooses. If you want the optimum shutter speed of 1/60th (for 30fps) you will need to use manual exposure.
So how do you set your exposure? You use the camera's metering system and the histogram as your guide. Set your camera to manual, set the shutter speed to 1/60th. Now make sure you're in the light you'll be shooting in and point the drone at a middle toned scene - grey concrete, beige sand beach, even the palm of your hand for caucasian folks - fill the frame. Adjust the aperture, ISO and/or add an ND filter until the camera's meter reads 0.0 and the histogram is lumped in the middle - all mid tones. That's your starting exposure. During flight you may have to tweak depending on changing conditions. The more you practice setting exposure the quicker and more accurate you will become.
Maintaining the 1/60th shutter makes it a pain in the butt and is really what necessitates the need for ND filters. And really, if there is no motion happening, then who cares about 1/60th? You won't see it.
If you're dropping the need to maintain the "optimal" shutter speed, then you can pretty much drop manual exposure. Switch to AE, let the camera pick a starting exposure using the technique described above and lock the exposure - you *MUST* lock it. Use EV (exposure compensation value) to tweak it on the fly. This works even while locked.
Be sure to set manual white balance too. You don't want the colour fluctuating either.
A quick and dirty answer but I hope it was helpful. It's a *BIG* topic.
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