Just a test to see if I can upload photos from video frames...

That worked. Now I know. They don't show in the text editor so I wasn't sure if it was working.

Looks like it worked.

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2-2 03:04
Looks like it worked.

Thank you. I appreciate your response.

Best wishes, safe & happy flying!

HI there, amazing work of yours! Thanks for sharing.

These are some fabulous shots.

Excellent stills

lol if you flew a little closer to the lightning you will get a free spark

Wow very nice photos! Thanks for sharing and glad your test worked out as well.

Wow Nice one. All I get is rain, so haven't been able to fly in ages.

pretty cool,, well done,,

Cool photos! Where are located? We had some pretty impressive forked lightning in Melbourne a few nights ago, a lot of it travelling sideways.

forbsie Posted at 2-3 03:33
Cool photos! Where are located? We had some pretty impressive forked lightning in Melbourne a few nights ago, a lot of it travelling sideways.

I took a video during the storm the about 4 days ago - from  5 km north of  Kyneton Victoria. Facing south.
Wombat State Forest / Lerderderg State Park is in the horizon.  Melbourne is on the left edge - 80 km away.  Spark was about 120 m above ground level
Half way between sunset & last light. After then it would not be legal to fly at night. The images are slightly grainy. The camera was set to auto. The lightning may have been over exposed had I adjusted the settings manually. I think the Spark camera did a decent job considering.
The 'photos' are frames exported from video via DaVinvi Resolve.

I hope that I have explained everything.
Happy & safe flying to everybody...

Wow looks cool!

How did you do that? I mean you just screenshot during the video?

Nice shots...I got some lightning video, too.  I'm interested to know how many of your frames actually showed lightning???  For my videos, the lightning only lasted 1 or 2 frames.

Sparkz71 Posted at 2-3 05:57
I took a video during the storm the about 4 days ago - from  5 km north of  Kyneton Victoria. Facing south.
Wombat State Forest / Lerderderg State Park is in the horizon.  Melbourne is on the left edge - 80 km away.  Spark was about 120 m above ground level
Half way between sunset & last light. After then it would not be legal to fly at night. The images are slightly grainy. The camera was set to auto. The lightning may have been over exposed had I adjusted the settings manually. I think the Spark camera did a decent job considering.

Thanks for the explanation! It was some of the most impressive lightning I've seen in Victoria! I think you did a great job in capturing it, .. just shows what Spark is capable of. Cheers mate

Awesome shots.

Very nice pictures!

forbsie Posted at 2-3 14:40
Thanks for the explanation! It was some of the most impressive lightning I've seen in Victoria! I think you did a great job in capturing it, .. just shows what Spark is capable of. Cheers mate

Another storm tonight in Victoria. I just tested manual mode for the Spark camera. Different light so I can't compare from the other day (6pm vs 8:30pm).  Tonight I learnt that the video colours/brightness are constant in manual mode (confirming many tutorials on the 'net).  I set the ISO & shutter to about 100 manually as a base line. My 'slow' android device was an issue selecting the camera options but it worked eventually.  
As I learn more about video editing software , I can edit & colour grade the video with the computer - but it's harder if auto is selected & everything changes between frames. Best to have manual control & edit manually.  However, auto mode also works for simplicity.  I hope this helps others, even though  I may be repeating what other tutorials recommend. Manual V's Auto can make a difference, if you have 30 seconds to spare from flight time to adjust settings.

Sparkz71 Posted at 2-6 00:49
Another storm tonight in Victoria. I just tested manual mode for the Spark camera. Different light so I can't compare from the other day (6pm vs 8:30pm).  Tonight I learnt that the video colours/brightness are constant in manual mode (confirming many tutorials on the 'net).  I set the ISO & shutter to about 100 manually as a base line. My 'slow' android device was an issue selecting the camera options but it worked eventually.  
As I learn more about video editing software , I can edit & colour grade the video with the computer - but it's harder if auto is selected & everything changes between frames. Best to have manual control & edit manually.  However, auto mode also works for simplicity.  I hope this helps others, even though  I may be repeating what other tutorials recommend. Manual V's Auto can make a difference, if you have 30 seconds to spare from flight time to adjust settings.
[view_image]

Sky is definitely overexposed. You lost most of details in clouds. Some of them you can rescue by adjusting the level of  highlights, but better underexpose an image then overexpose it.  Keep your EV at around 0.0 by adjusting shutter speed manually.

The thing is on manual...if you adjust the shutter speed and adjust the EV to 0.0...the EV tends to remain on auto and cannot be locked.

I have manually set the shutter speed for sunrises/ sunsets and the EV always wants to adjust automatically.

pmshop Posted at 2-15 05:47
The thing is on manual...if you adjust the shutter speed and adjust the EV to 0.0...the EV tends to remain on auto and cannot be locked.

I have manually set the shutter speed for sunrises/ sunsets and the EV always wants to adjust automatically.

There are only two parameters to adjust in Spark manual camera settings: shutter speed and ISO (OK, white balance too, but it's different thing). So, if you keep your ISO at 100 (it's needed to reduce noise, how we know), the only choice is to adjust your shutter speed the way you want to get your exposure. When there is enough light, correct exposure value is 0,0 (when light is not enough you should trust your own eyes not exposure meter).  

Thank you Lysak2003. Maybe I'm better to use auto mode, as in the first post & adjust each image to be brighter as required? I don't know how much detail I can gain & avoid the grainy effect in dull light compared to over-exposing manually. Every time the Spark camera changed direction toward or away from the sun in auto mode, everything changes - so I have no base line for editing.  I was trying manual mode to make the ground brighter & less grainy, hoping I could recover the sky with video editing software.
To be honest, it's hard to fly, keeping VLOS & stop/start video to adjust settings as the app does not allow adjustments in video mode once recording, only photo mode. My point was to keep consistency, manual mode is required. I need to learn & experience more between auto & manual modes.   It's hard to see the contrast on my android device during flight so I set it before flight in the shade & hoped for the best.
I have my laptop monitor & a VGA/DVI external monitor, plus a Digital TV with HDMI to compare - they all show the clouds on the right hand side with different detail. So it may depend on the viewing device & the contrast setting for each to show detail. My cheap android is not the brightest display outdoors & misleads my vision - thus I make errors & learning to compensate based on the result & your kind feedback.
Regardless, the last image with manual settings is over exposed in the skyline. I'll remember your kind advise next time & try to adjust the shutter speed during flight.
My theory was I could remove the grainy pics by making it brighter & adjust it 'down' as required. I guess it depends on what the main subject is within the frame & the background light. The sun was low, 2.5 hours  before sunset, from the right & reflecting back from white clouds in the background.
Thank you again for your kind help - as I learn from trial & error, I appreciate your time to assist myself & others.
Happy & safe flying!

pmshop Posted at 2-15 05:47
The thing is on manual...if you adjust the shutter speed and adjust the EV to 0.0...the EV tends to remain on auto and cannot be locked.

I have manually set the shutter speed for sunrises/ sunsets and the EV always wants to adjust automatically.

I thought I was going crazy. I could only adjust shutter & ISO & kept my fingers crossed. Thanks for confirming the EV is not adjustable...  

Lysak2003 Posted at 2-15 06:30
There are only two parameters to adjust in Spark manual camera settings: shutter speed and ISO (OK, white balance too, but it's different thing). So, if you keep your ISO at 100 (it's needed to reduce noise, how we know), the only choice is to adjust your shutter speed the way you want to get your exposure. When there is enough light, correct exposure value is 0,0 (when light is not enough you should trust your own eyes not exposure meter).

With limited battery time each flight, it takes time to learn. I forgot to enable & monitor the exposure graph. Good idea to keep it balanced near the centre?  I've been too busy enjoying the moment & not learning about the photo settings.

Thanks to everybody for helping with their experience. I appreciate your advise & hope we have helped others to enjoy Spark further.