I have a very nice main street in my town with tons of beautiful lights and night life. Was wondering what's the best settings on the drone for low light filming and any tips for editing it in post (I have Final cut pro and Adobe Premier Pro).

The main Issue I am getting right now is graininess, and having the street light's glare. I tried messing around with the iso and shutter and as well as the exposure. Worked a little bit, but still receiving a lot of grain.




I hope I don't sound too amateur haha.

Example

You need noise reduction to get rid of the grain. I use Neat Video plug-in for the noise reduction. I'm shure there are other options too.

I have done some night time filming, but here in north Finland it doesn't get dark during the summer so I don't know if it counts.

Well, my test would include:
Remove any (ND) filter to reduce reflections and get as many light on your sensor (duh), lower f-stop number (aperture), slower shutter speed.
Set WB to manual.
Also use raw shooting / flat profile (if possible) for higher dynamic range.
And finally expose to the 'left' (dark) of your histogram. (of course)
That is all you can do to decrease the noise.
But the MP's tiny sensor won't be too good in low light. I guess.

For the flare you get from the city lights I have experienced this also while filming with my videocamera (no drone yet) and that is hard to overcome.
The lens and sensor 's limitations are your enemy in the case of very dark surroundings and some (very) bright lights.
But, using a flat profile helps to be able to correct some in post.

PS, the example you've shown is a very very dark situation.
So you will need more light in the frame to get decent results I guess.
(possibly don't include so much sky in the frame).
After all this is not a 35mm DSLR sensor and it's tiny pixels will have a hard time here.

Lay Posted at 2017-8-30 22:14
You need noise reduction to get rid of the grain. I use Neat Video plug-in for the noise reduction. I'm shure there are other options too.

I have done some night time filming, but here in north Finland it doesn't get dark during the summer so I don't know if it counts.

Hahahahaha. Summer night in Finland.
Good memories from those
Noise reduction will give you some improvement, but (usually) also at the cost of reduction of details.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-8-30 23:11
Hahahahaha. Summer night in Finland.
Good memories from those
Noise reduction will give you some improvement, but (usually) also at the cost of reduction of details.

In the winter it's dark 24/7 though.

With MP there is a lot of noise (+1,-1,-1 D-Cinelike) even when not that dark. Then again I'm used to full-frame cameras.

As long as my 5D IV doesn't learn how to fly, I will continue using MP

Lay Posted at 2017-8-31 00:52
In the winter it's dark 24/7 though.

With MP there is a lot of noise (+1,-1,-1 D-Cinelike) even when not that dark. Then again I'm used to full-frame cameras.

I know, lived in Jyväskylä for 6 months (starting early January 2001)

For sure, flying with my DSLR would be the best, by far.
But then again, that won't be a 800gr vehicle with fly more package costing € 1400,-
Maybe an inspire V2 with 3/4 sensor will do the trick also.
Just save some more €....

Lay Posted at 2017-8-30 22:14
You need noise reduction to get rid of the grain. I use Neat Video plug-in for the noise reduction. I'm shure there are other options too.

I have done some night time filming, but here in north Finland it doesn't get dark during the summer so I don't know if it counts.

Thank you for the tips! Lucky you having it not be dark haha. I enjoy the night shots so I want to see if I can get it perfect.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-8-30 22:33
PS, the example you've shown is a very very dark situation.
So you will need more light in the frame to get decent results I guess.
(possibly don't include so much sky in the frame).

That's the hardest thing for me to get used to. Iv'e been using DSLR's for years working on weddings and events, so I know how to balance my camera's but this drone is working me a new one haha.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-8-30 22:30
Well, my test would include:
Remove any (ND) filter to reduce reflections and get as many light on your sensor (duh), lower f-stop number (aperture), slower shutter speed.
Set WB to manual.

Thank you for those tips. I will give it a shot tonight. Going to try my best because I am going to Niagara Falls in a few days and want to get some nice footage in the later hours of the day.

Lay Posted at 2017-8-31 00:52
In the winter it's dark 24/7 though.

With MP there is a lot of noise (+1,-1,-1 D-Cinelike) even when not that dark. Then again I'm used to full-frame cameras.

You better hope it doesn't learn to fly lol, Your Mavic will become a paperweight lol

Mazfilms Posted at 2017-8-31 03:57
That's the hardest thing for me to get used to. Iv'e been using DSLR's for years working on weddings and events, so I know how to balance my camera's but this drone is working me a new one haha.

I think that will also be hard on me.
We do have regulations in NL that forbid flying in darkness, so I won't be having these issues (unfortunately), but even during daylight the difference between 35mm and tiny sensor will force me to shoot carefully.
Almost no room for errors in exposure etc.

So I think all I can say is test with putting the gimbal down more to have more lights in the frame.

For the drone, I suggest that you can try to use low ISO value, increase the shutter speed, adjust the white balance.