Yesterday i did some low light shooting to test the latest 01.01.05.20 firmware.

The exposure floating is very strong in my clips and i cannot believe DJI engineers didn't notice that in their tests.
I guess this happens in low light with DLogM (more apparently visible) and HLG. Didn't test Normal or Super Night because i'm not really interested in.

Anyway, as long as i have edited the test video i'll post for reference.


But PLEASE DJI! That exposure floating makes the Action 5 useless.

Agree. I was testing fixed Shutter and ISO values yesterday and this exposure weaving was barely noticeable. But it was a really short run there on the street. I will need to do something longer.
I also think that this solution than limits the use case. Imagine setting these values for normal sunny day and than walking in the forest. The lightning completely changes and you can get underexposed image. I would appreciate certain level of flexibility where this issue does not happen.

I just created a video about the problem.
Normal color is fine, D-LogM / HLG is affected. Which means the problem can be fixed by developers.

https://youtu.be/1nRYP2sQ5yw

Deadcode Posted at 10-21 23:57
I just created a video about the problem.
Normal color is fine, D-LogM / HLG is affected. Which means the problem can be fixed by developers.

Your case is clearly caused by an incorrect correction of the lens vignetting. In my case the weaving was more slow and with normal walking. I'll post my tests asap.

Deadcode Posted at 10-21 23:57
I just created a video about the problem.
Normal color is fine, D-LogM / HLG is affected. Which means the problem can be fixed by developers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pOg0e2_YPk

this is the same problem I am having.
totally unusable for a 'pro' application.
do you have any experience with the action4?  wondering whether that might fair better in this type of scenario?

deonvnzl Posted at 10-22 02:42
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pOg0e2_YPk

this is the same problem I am having.

Osmo pocket 3 for that type of videoing, was it full auto with no stabilization?

deonvnzl Posted at 10-22 02:42
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pOg0e2_YPk

this is the same problem I am having.

Action 4 doesn't suffer of this issue, and this is the reason i'm still preferring it.

Hallmark007 Posted at 10-22 03:34
Osmo pocket 3 for that type of videoing, was it full auto with no stabilization?

Manual Exposure:
D-LOG M
ISO400
1/400
Rocksteady
Standard (Dewarp)

Hence my frustration, I would imagine manual exposure would give me a more consistent appearance from frame to frame but seems to be doing quite the opposite.

deonvnzl Posted at 10-22 03:50
Manual Exposure:
D-LOG M
ISO400

The stability looked really bad for some reason. Auto might help with exposure changes but not sure if there was much change in that clip. But that video is not the normal from what I’m seeing .

Hallmark007 Posted at 10-22 03:56
The stability looked really bad for some reason. Auto might help with exposure changes but not sure if there was much change in that clip. But that video is not the normal from what I’m seeing .

the stabilisation is fair for the amount of movement I'm subjecting the camera too.
what I am confused by is the vignette/lens/exposure artifacts/pulsing.

I believe some of the exposure fluctuations can be avoided by lowering the ISO to let's say 100-800 and similarly locking the shutter speed to a certain value. Then of course comes the question what happens when the lightning situation changes. I think in my case (orienteering run) I will have to live with this fact. Some part of my footage will probably get too dark or overexposed.

I have done a bunch of tests at different shutter speeds from 1/50 to 1/200 and it turns out it is the lens dewarping causing the issue.
when I use gyroflow to stabilize and do lens corrections the footage looks great with none of this behaviour.
I would advise not using Standard (dewarp) for anything with a lot of motion at this stage - I assume they will be able to fix this with firmware.

mpquads Posted at 10-22 07:12
I believe some of the exposure fluctuations can be avoided by lowering the ISO to let's say 100-800 and similarly locking the shutter speed to a certain value. Then of course comes the question what happens when the lightning situation changes. I think in my case (orienteering run) I will have to live with this fact. Some part of my footage will probably get too dark or overexposed.

Maybe, but don't forget we are talking about an action camera, being forced to think about iso and exposure times to simply get an uniform exposure is nonsense in this case. Taking into account also that Action 4 doesn't suffer at all of this issue.

Hi, there
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Could you please provide the video showing the issue?
We will invesitage it with our engineer team.
Thanks your support.

DJI Wanda Posted at 10-23 04:01
Hi, there
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Could you please provide the video showing the issue?

Here it is an excerpt of a more articulated video. Here are most of the exposure floating issues the video contains (the most visible issues).
Someone in the forum hypotized that this issue is caused by a missing lens vignetting correction in HLG and DLOG modes when horizon balancing is active.
The result is a floating vignetting over the stabilized frame which may lead to this results. I don't know if it's the only cause anyway.

You may notice some floating over all the frame or partially over shadows, depending on the shot. Very puzzling and nearly un-correctable in post indeed.

I’m having the same issue, I loaded a short video just to show DJI support.
Here below you can find the link and you can clearly see the issue on the big tree during slow-mo part.



The video was recorded in d-log, then corrected in Final Cut.

mrossininchi Posted at 10-23 12:15
I’m having the same issue, I loaded a short video just to show DJI support.
Here below you can find the link and you can clearly see the issue on the big tree during slow-mo part.

I cannot see clearly the issue you are mentioning on the tree. Looks like some kind of flare to me, if i'm seeing the same thing.

Umberto Uderzo Posted at 10-24 00:17
I cannot see clearly the issue you are mentioning on the tree. Looks like some kind of flare to me, if i'm seeing the same thing.

Yeah looking at it again that part of the video was probably not the best to show what I’m talking about. I will load another video this evening as I’m pretty sure it’s the same issue you’re showing in your video

Umberto Uderzo Posted at 10-23 07:56
Here it is an excerpt of a more articulated video. Here are most of the exposure floating issues the video contains (the most visible issues).
Someone in the forum hypotized that this issue is caused by a missing lens vignetting correction in HLG and DLOG modes when horizon balancing is active.
The result is a floating vignetting over the stabilized frame which may lead to this results. I don't know if it's the only cause anyway.

Hi, there
Thanks for sharing the information.
We will investigage it with our engineer team.
Kindly appreciate your patience on it.

mrossininchi Posted at 10-24 03:07
Yeah looking at it again that part of the video was probably not the best to show what I’m talking about. I will load another video this evening as I’m pretty sure it’s the same issue you’re showing in your video

Hi, there
We apologize for the inconvenience and thanks for sharing the information.
We will investigage it with our engineer team.
Kindly appreciate your patience on it and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

another video in which I think you can see better the exposure changing without any reason

mrossininchi Posted at 10-24 07:19
another video in which I think you can see better the exposure changing without any reason

https://youtu.be/cZNYv1v2tHU

Yes. I think it's my same issue.

I guess that DJI engineers focused 100% on Normal color profile and forgot something in all other color profiles. Honestly i have the feeling that this Action 5 has potential, but the firmware has been rushed.
For example, why an interpolated zoom when there is a 40 mp sensor? Ace Pro does a sensor crop getting a clean zoom image.
Hope they will fix this, i'm very disappointed and i'm on the fence for a refund.

DJI Wanda Posted at 10-24 04:36
Hi, there
We apologize for the inconvenience and thanks for sharing the information.
We will investigage it with our engineer team.

Here it is https://youtu.be/dNGiPQPxISU?si=oaJmTmT-YQAscfso&t=714

mpquads Posted at 10-24 10:18
Here it is https://youtu.be/dNGiPQPxISU?si=oaJmTmT-YQAscfso&t=714

Hi there, thank you for providing the information.
Kindly appreciate your patience on this matter as we are checking with our relevant team.
Thank you

mrossininchi Posted at 10-23 12:15
I’m having the same issue, I loaded a short video just to show DJI support.
Here below you can find the link and you can clearly see the issue on the big tree during slow-mo part.

Hi, there
Thanks for your patience.
Could you please provide the original footage showing the problem?
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
Our relevant team will check this further for you.

mrossininchi Posted at 10-24 07:19
another video in which I think you can see better the exposure changing without any reason

https://youtu.be/cZNYv1v2tHU

Hi, there
We apologize for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience.
Could you please provide original footage of this video?
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
Our relevant team will check this further for you.

mpquads Posted at 10-24 10:18
Here it is https://youtu.be/dNGiPQPxISU?si=oaJmTmT-YQAscfso&t=714

Hi, there
We apologize for the inconvenience and thanks for the patience.
Could you please provide the original footage of the video?
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
Our relevant team will check this further for you.

DJI Wanda Posted at 10-26 01:37
Hi, there
We apologize for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience.
Could you please provide original footage of this video?

Unfortunately I don't have the original file of this particular video as that was the first one I made with the new camera and I deleted it.
I uploaded some other videos on google drive, you can find them here.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bddPl8sxhOGmO6tALJSgOsCZ9NqLOyPe?usp=share_link

The issue is more noticeable below the trees, I think you can clearly see it.
It's not a flare, pretty sure about that.

Sorry about the shakiness of the videos...
Let me know

thanks!

mrossininchi Posted at 10-27 14:33
Unfortunately I don't have the original file of this particular video as that was the first one I made with the new camera and I deleted it.
I uploaded some other videos on google drive, you can find them here.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bddPl8sxhOGmO6tALJSgOsCZ9NqLOyPe?usp=share_link

Thanks mrossininchi. We will further check it with our engineering team and get you back soon.

mrossininchi Posted at 10-27 14:33
Unfortunately I don't have the original file of this particular video as that was the first one I made with the new camera and I deleted it.
I uploaded some other videos on google drive, you can find them here.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bddPl8sxhOGmO6tALJSgOsCZ9NqLOyPe?usp=share_link

Hi, mrossininchi,
Thanks for your patience. Our engineer team is still working on it.
If there's any update, we will send you by PM.
Have a good day!

Just to update all, I've been contacted by DJI with a PM but it seems there is no issue.
I'm still not sure about this, I will try to make some other videos when possible as the "flashing" in the video doens't seem correct to me and in my opinion it makes the video difficult to watch in certain conditions.
If anybody has the same issue, please post here a video so maybe DJI can take a better look

thanks

mrossininchi Posted at 11-6 01:10
Just to update all, I've been contacted by DJI with a PM but it seems there is no issue.
I'm still not sure about this, I will try to make some other videos when possible as the "flashing" in the video doens't seem correct to me and in my opinion it makes the video difficult to watch in certain conditions.
If anybody has the same issue, please post here a video so maybe DJI can take a better look

There is definitely something related to exposure floating. From my recent shots i noticed that this is more and more evident in low light while in daylight seems to behave better. I had some chit chat with them and i've been said that this is mostly due to the fact that Action 5 is more focusing the exposure on the subject face and that they have to refine the algorithm.
I wonder how this algorithm behaves when there is no face in the framing.

Umberto Uderzo Posted at 11-6 01:15
There is definitely something related to exposure floating. From my recent shots i noticed that this is more and more evident in low light while in daylight seems to behave better. I had some chit that with them and i'v been said that this is mostly due to the fact that Action 5 is more focusing the exposure on the subject face and that they have to refine the algorithm.
I wonder how this algorithm behaves when there is no face in the framing.

That definitely seems to make sense to me. Because the face should appear brighter and if the algorithm misinterprets something then that would cause exactly that effect.
Once again we see that too much AI is not good either

Do you think that there could be two issues combining?

I tried to video a liner and had to use the widest angle. I got really obvious vignetting from the front cover. Then I realised that it wasn’t screwed tightly down, But the amount that I screwed down was tiny, and the vignetting went. If I shook the camera, the vignetting moved slightly.

So I wonder whether there is sometimes a shadow cast across the lens by its own cover depending on the light source angle?

I also got this weird exposure problem, even when barely moving the camera. It seemed to expose for a scene and suddenly change is mind and drop. Really annoying. I’m thinking of returning to my Action 4 (yet again) because of this until the next firmware and see if this is corrected because I also don’t know how it was overlooked. It is a bad look and the 4 doesn’t do it.

Iancraig10 Posted at 11-7 01:06
Do you think that there could be two issues combining?

I tried to video a liner and had to use the widest angle. I got really obvious vignetting from the front cover. Then I realised that it wasn’t screwed tightly down, But the amount that I screwed down was tiny, and the vignetting went. If I shook the camera, the vignetting moved slightly.

It's difficult to say as DJI doesn't unveil much about this issue.
You tried with widest FOV but erratic exposure happens also in dewarp.
The lens may have a strong vignetting for sure, but this happened also on Action 4 for what i can guess. So, there is something missing in the processing pipeline of the Action 5.

The floating exposure is maybe the worst issue with the Action 5 just because it's nearly impossible to fix in post sometimes.

Anyway, besides all the bells and whistles of the new model i find myself getting better results fron the Action 4. I don't know if i still can return mine, the temptation in strong. I'd wait another firmware iteration and then if things are not yet fixed i'll try to return, but i fear it would be too late (maybe it's still late just today).

Umberto Uderzo Posted at 11-7 01:13
It's difficult to say as DJI doesn't unveil much about this issue.
You tried with widest FOV but erratic exposure happens also in dewarp.
The lens may have a strong vignetting for sure, but this happened also on Action 4 for what i can guess. So, there is something missing in the processing pipeline of the Action 5.

It’s too late for me as well, I think. The exposure thing is quite annoying because the camera seems to randomly change its mind! As you say, there no real fix in post. I’m finding it more and more on the footage that I took last week in bright blue sunny conditions as well.

The more I’ve noticed it in that’s few days of editing, the more I feel that I could do without the HDR and return to my 4 as well tbh.

Hopefully the next update might get it.

The vignetting thing with top the front cover was very pronounced even with a minute amount of looseness. It’s very critical and as you move the camera, the vignette moves back and forth.

what I don't really like about this is that for now it seems there is no problem for DJI and the camera works as expected. It seems DJI blames the scene in which the video is taken..
I think it's pretty clear something is not ok with the exposure floating and it has to be fixed.
I will try to make some other video examples so maybe they can check better and find the cause of the issue but as written by others already it's not always happening.

mrossininchi Posted at 11-7 06:16
what I don't really like about this is that for now it seems there is no problem for DJI and the camera works as expected. It seems DJI blames the scene in which the video is taken..
I think it's pretty clear something is not ok with the exposure floating and it has to be fixed.
I will try to make some other video examples so maybe they can check better and find the cause of the issue but as written by others already it's not always happening.

At least Action 1 had a face priority exposure setting, and it was just enough to disable it.
No more on Action 5, we must accept camera choices even when they are wrong.

mrossininchi Posted at 10-27 14:33
Unfortunately I don't have the original file of this particular video as that was the first one I made with the new camera and I deleted it.
I uploaded some other videos on google drive, you can find them here.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bddPl8sxhOGmO6tALJSgOsCZ9NqLOyPe?usp=share_link

You can see that but it was shot in very low light so I wonder if SS has something to do with that. What does it look like in good light ?. I’m not sure this is anything to do with change of focus , but it certainly doesn’t look right.

Hallmark007 Posted at 11-7 06:49
You can see that but it was shot in very low light so I wonder if SS has something to do with that. What does it look like in good light ?. I’m not sure this is anything to do with change of focus , but it certainly doesn’t look right.

Yes the conditions for that video were not that good, light was bad and not enough. It was also the first video I made with the action 5.
In good light there is no issue but I would expect different issues when in bad light conditions, for sure not what it’s clearly happening in the video. The other video I posted has much better light conditions but the issue is still present, even if less noticeable.
I will make some other videos this weekend maybe and see what happens.