Hi all,

I have recently got a Mavic Pro. I have strated to try and take cinematic videos and take great photos, but have noticed that the footage and photos are quite grainy.
Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated as i am new to the DJI Mavic Pro.

Thanks in advance
Harrison Smith

The Mavic Pro camera really needs a lot of light to shine, and higher ISO will result in noisier/grainier footage, so try to keep it at ISO 200.

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-2-7 09:47
The Mavic Pro camera really needs a lot of light to shine, and higher ISO will result in noisier/grainier footage, so try to keep it at ISO 200.

thank you for this, my ISO was around 300 so this should help thanks

do you have nd filters? once you have these then use them. i am interested to hear ex machina talk about ISO 200, i have not tried this but will do so in days to come - however i can only comment on what i use which is ISO 100 and then make my shutter speed double what my frame rate is.

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 12:04
thank you for this, my ISO was around 300 so this should help thanks

My bad, I'm conflating my Mavic's base ISO with my GX7's base ISO, the former is actually ISO 100, and will give you the least noisy output. I wouldn't expect an ISO of 300, though, to be bad. In fact, using DLOG will boost ISO to 500 to being up shadow detail.

Maybe you could post some video for us to look at?

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-2-7 12:19
My bad, I'm conflating my Mavic's base ISO with my GX7's base ISO, the former is actually ISO 100, and will give you the least noisy output. I wouldn't expect an ISO of 300, though, to be bad. In fact, using DLOG will boost ISO to 500 to being up shadow detail.

Maybe you could post some video for us to look at?

posted a few photos.

Bekaru Tree Posted at 2018-2-7 12:05
do you have nd filters? once you have these then use them. i am interested to hear ex machina talk about ISO 200, i have not tried this but will do so in days to come - however i can only comment on what i use which is ISO 100 and then make my shutter speed double what my frame rate is.

I use polar pro filters

I'm really new at this so any helpful tips would also be appreciated!

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 13:07
posted a few photos.

Are these jpg captures or saved out from RAW captures? In general I find DJI's jpg output a bit overcooked for my taste.

BTW, if you are only planning on taking photos during a flight, there's no point in using ND filters unless it's so bright out that you're fighting overexposure.

Yep - try to keep the ISO at its lowest point on the Mavic which is 100 - increasing will add noise to the image - 200 is OK but anything over 400 is pointless and unusable IMO

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 13:08
I use polar pro filters

what iso do you use - and do you put shutter speed at double the frame rate?
also if you can post some visuals it could help.

Bekaru Tree Posted at 2018-2-7 14:31
what iso do you use - and do you put shutter speed at double the frame rate?
also if you can post some visuals it could help.

Visuals?

A CW Posted at 2018-2-7 14:00
Yep - try to keep the ISO at its lowest point on the Mavic which is 100 - increasing will add noise to the image - 200 is OK but anything over 400 is pointless and unusable IMO

Thank you will take this into consideration and stay around 100 ISO

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-2-7 13:29
Are these jpg captures or saved out from RAW captures? In general I find DJI's jpg output a bit overcooked for my taste.

BTW, if you are only planning on taking photos during a flight, there's no point in using ND filters unless it's so bright out that you're fighting overexposure.

They were Jpeg will switch over to RAW and see how that goes and thank you for the help, also what setting within the DJI GO 4 App do you use?

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 15:05
They were Jpeg will switch over to RAW and see how that goes and thank you for the help, also what setting within the DJI GO 4 App do you use?

I got a bit of video if this helps

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 15:07
I got a bit of video if this helps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSqLU5cvPAk

Looks about par for the course to me. Remember that this is essentially a flying cellphone camera, so it's not going to compare favorably with larger sensor cameras, but with the right light can nonetheless look pretty good.

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 15:05
They were Jpeg will switch over to RAW and see how that goes and thank you for the help, also what setting within the DJI GO 4 App do you use?

I just use the default settings for sharpness/saturation and contrast with the True Color profile, and try to keep the ISO as low as possible. For stills I shoot RAW+JPG but most often work with the RAW files. I also enable both Focus Peaking and the Histogram as a reality check for focus and exposure. Depending on how lazy I'm feeling, I'll lock exposure and white balance for video passes.

Someday I'll get ambitious, put on my ND filters and try out the the Cine/DLOG modes, but for right now that just seems like too much work. ;)

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 15:03
Visuals?

like an image or video clip to let us see

Hprs2001 Posted at 2018-2-7 15:07
I got a bit of video if this helps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSqLU5cvPAk

What are your video settings?
Resolution
Sharpness etc.
D-Log?
ISO?

Dear Harrison,
May I know the images and video all from your SD card? If not, could you please provide us with the original files? We will help to check. You can upload the files to DropBox and share the link here or PM.
Thank you in advance.

I’ve used/use full frame,APSC and also as Micro four thirds ad I think you get amazing photos (in good light) from such a small sensor. I would take the filter off the front for taking pics unless, as Ex-Machina says, you are fighting blown out highlights. What you are doing is adding another piece of glass that can not only cause darkening but can cause blurring and a slow shutter speed. The higher the shutter speed the better, which prevents motion blur. Also make sure you are properly focused...have  taken some pics and realised I haven’t focused afterwards.
I’m not sure if you Said you use JPEGor DNG (raw) but it is better to use DNG  and edit afterwards as Ex-Machina says, the processing in the Mavic is quite harsh with JPEGS.

I’ve used/use full frame,APSC ,APSH and  Micro four thirds and I think you get amazing photos (in good light) from such a small sensor (if you aren’t printing anything more than A4).I would take the filter off the front for taking pics unless, as Ex-Machina says, you are fighting blown out highlights. What you are doing is adding another piece of glass that can not only cause darkening but can cause blurring and a slow shutter speed. The higher the shutter speed the better, which prevents motion blur. Also make sure you are properly focused...have  taken some pics and realised I haven’t focused afterwards.
I’m not sure if you Said you use JPEGor DNG (raw) but it is better to use DNG  and edit afterwards as Ex-Machina says, the processing in the Mavic is quite harsh with JPEGS.

Hi all sorry for the inactivity, i have recently taken more photos with my mavic and found my ISO was very high, i had also taken all your points into consideration and was very pleased that they helped

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-2-7 12:19
My bad, I'm conflating my Mavic's base ISO with my GX7's base ISO, the former is actually ISO 100, and will give you the least noisy output. I wouldn't expect an ISO of 300, though, to be bad. In fact, using DLOG will boost ISO to 500 to being up shadow detail.

Maybe you could post some video for us to look at?

what do you mean by "DLOG will boost ISO to 500 to bring up shadow detail" ? I don't understand, is that a good thing? I thought lower ISO is better (if sufficient light), why set it to 500?

chiplifter Posted at 2018-3-7 03:34
what do you mean by "DLOG will boost ISO to 500 to bring up shadow detail" ? I don't understand, is that a good thing? I thought lower ISO is better (if sufficient light), why set it to 500?

DLOG does some special stuff in order to provide a compressed dynamic range video that can be later "expanded" in post production to show more detail and dynamic range than you'd normally get. To get that extra range and detail, one of the things DLOG mode does is raise ISO so that shadow details are captured that would be lost at base ISO. So the trade-off is better detail/dynamic range at the potential cost of more noise and extra work in post-production.

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-3-7 07:49
DLOG does some special stuff in order to provide a compressed dynamic range video that can be later "expanded" in post production to show more detail and dynamic range than you'd normally get. To get that extra range and detail, one of the things DLOG mode does is raise ISO so that shadow details are captured that would be lost at base ISO. So the trade-off is better detail/dynamic range at the potential cost of more noise and extra work in post-production.

Thanks, very informative. Does it mean I have to raise ISO manual to a higher value or is it done automatically to get the better shadow details?

chiplifter Posted at 2018-3-7 09:44
Thanks, very informative. Does it mean I have to raise ISO manual to a higher value or is it done automatically to get the better shadow details?

My understanding is that DLOG mode always changes to ISO 500 no matter what your base ISO is set at, but I haven't tested that, myself.

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-3-7 10:16
My understanding is that DLOG mode always changes to ISO 500 no matter what your base ISO is set at, but I haven't tested that, myself.

This afternoon I did some filming in DLOG mode with a ISO set 100. During recording a subtitle file was created which tells me an ISO setting of 100:

1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,000
HOME(7.0228,52.6712) 2018.03.07 16:42:53
GPS(7.0217,52.6716,18) BAROMETER:16.9
ISO:100 Shutter:25 EV: Fnum:2.2

2
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:03,000
HOME(7.0228,52.6712) 2018.03.07 16:42:54
GPS(7.0217,52.6716,18) BAROMETER:16.9
ISO:100 Shutter:25 EV: Fnum:2.2

Not sure if this is the real recorded ISO value or just a representation of the set value. Maybe DJI Support can sort it out.
thanks anyway

chiplifter Posted at 2018-3-7 10:36
This afternoon I did some filming in DLOG mode with a ISO set 100. During recording a subtitle file was created which tells me an ISO setting of 100:

1

Yeah, I think that falls under the "DLOG is Special" category, you can find more DLOG/ISO discussion in this thread.

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-3-7 10:47
Yeah, I think that falls under the "DLOG is Special" category, you can find more DLOG/ISO discussion in this thread.

thanks a lot, I'll check that out.

Ex Machina Posted at 2018-2-7 16:13
I just use the default settings for sharpness/saturation and contrast with the True Color profile, and try to keep the ISO as low as possible. For stills I shoot RAW+JPG but most often work with the RAW files. I also enable both Focus Peaking and the Histogram as a reality check for focus and exposure. Depending on how lazy I'm feeling, I'll lock exposure and white balance for video passes.

Someday I'll get ambitious, put on my ND filters and try out the the Cine/DLOG modes, but for right now that just seems like too much work. ;)

So nice to meet someone else that feels the same as I do -- I just want it to look good without a lot of fussing.