Hello all

Im having trouble with my video. If I shoot 1080p 60fps I get super super grainy images. Its not so bad in other settings but I just dont know what I am doing worng. I am flying with ND filters and trying to set up everything correctly (exposeure, shutter speed etc) I come from a stills photography back ground so I have a good understanding of camera I'm just new to video.

Its pretty demoralizing going out and shooting only to come back and have unusable footage.

cheers!

Try shooting in Auto and notice where the settings are. Obviously, some trial and error in Manual are your best options. Depending on your location, and time of day or year, light brightness and shadow are different.
Thankfully we are dealing in a digital format, so it's easy to take plenty of video and delete the stuff unusable, keeping only those rare beautiful scenes that we capture and wish to save and share.

There are also plenty of helpful videos on YouTube that can give you great basic general tutorials, and instruction.

But you need to experiment plenty and find those settings and subjects, of what are attractive to your eyes.
Keep a pocket sized notebook handy. . . And don't be afraid to make notes in your phantom journal.
Particularly of your many camera adjustments/settings, date & time of day, so on & so forth. Rinse and repeat often. . . Ha
Practice makes perfect. The parameters on these tiny 4K cameras is really pretty basic. So not much to fiddle with.
Unlike my Nikon D800 which is jam packed with rich features and variable controls, multi switches and numerous ins and outs.
All of the bells and whistles, and then some... Hahaha
Don't be frustrated, we love this hobby and our glorious phantoms when they are working correctly.
Yeah, but they are only ever tools to and end...

RedHotPoker

Maybe your ISO is set to high.

Just to verify,  you are taking the video off of the SD card in the Phantom,  right?  As opposed to the low res stuff that is cached on your device?

ND filters ..

You will get more grain with higher ISO, your camera is likely picking a high ISO due to the ND filter and light conditions you are shooting in.  With 60fps you will be shooting at twice the ISO as at 30fps, all other things being equal (assuming lowish light levels), since your exposure times will be halved.

Why are you using an ND filter?

The purpose of the filter is to reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor so that we can get the shutter speed down to somewhere near 1 over twice the frame rate, so 1/60 for 30fps and 1/125 for 60fps since this is considered to give the most pleasing look, including smooth motion.

So when flying, you should first deterime whether the light conditions require an ND filter or not and what strength. Put the camera in manual and adjust the iso as low as possible and see what the shutter speed is, if it is already near to 1/twice the frame rate then don't use a filter. An ND4 filter will reduce the shutter speed by 4 stops, so 1/4000 would go down to 1/250, ND8 to 1/125 and ND16 to 1/60

If you are shooting in low light conditions, you won't want any filters on and may have to raise the ISO to get the shutter speed high enough to allow you to shoot at 1/twice frame rate. Remember, if you want a frame rate of 1/125, you must have a shutter speed of at least 1/125.

Hope that helps

Are you checking the video on your computer from the SD Card?

I agree.  Take off the filter, set all the settings to the default, select AUTOMATIC for now, and see where you are.

thanks guys,

I will be more clear. Like I said I come from a DSLR background I have a D600 and have a good understanding of shutter speed, frame rate, aperture and ISO. I am shooting in manual mode with the P3A at ISO 200/100 in D-log. I set my shutter speed to match the frame rate so at 60fps my shutter is 120 and so on. I am using ND filters as I have yet to fly in conditions that would allow me to fly without them and still set the shutter speed correctly. As the aperture is fixed at 2.8 I cant think of a time other than at night where you could get away without using an ND filter.

I have this trouble with 1080 60 even in auto mode. Nice and sharp but super grainy in the shadows. I really wouldn't expect to see so much image noise and such a low ISO (200). I always take the videos off the SD card to my laptop and I am not using the 720 clip saved to my mobile device.

Can you post one of your grainy videos?  My advice is still the same:  Go back to square 1, and then evaluate your subsequent changes individually.  In the reply, you intimate that you're too smart for the advice you've gotten so far, but the only solution is to go to square one to see if the bare bones stock base auto is also so afflicted.

bobasbury Posted at 2016-5-29 19:47
Can you post one of your grainy videos?  My advice is still the same:  Go back to square 1, and then ...

Not what I was trying to imply at all. Just trying to explain that I already understand how ND filters, ISO, shutter speed work etc etc to save people from having explaining those things to me again. I appreciate the advice and if/when the rain stops I will go back to square one and see whats happening.

I was just concerned as like I said I wouldn't expect to see so much grain at low ISO's like 100 or 200 in manual mode. I am new to this camera however and that could just be the way it performs?