Hello everybody!

I've been flying my spark for a couple of months now, and to me the footage seems to have gotten worse.

I've already reset the camera settings to the standard settings but it doesn't make a difference.


Latest footage:


Older footage:



It looks really grainy.
Any ideas?

Are they both from the SD card?  Or, is one the footage that is synced to your phone?

Langner91 Posted at 2018-3-10 06:57
Are they both from the SD card?  Or, is one the footage that is synced to your phone?

As you tube offers 1080, my guess it is video from the SD card

Ahh, good point.  I am not fully awake yet.

It is indeed footage from the SD card, should have pointed that out, my bad.

Did you try to shoot in manual mode changing the iso, aperture, etc. Just a thought.

Make sure you tell us all the details lol

First one looks flat, desaturated, and ready for color grading!

Could it be that the spark's auto settings work better in darker weather? (cloudy)
I just wanted to know if it was just me that thought something was wrong.

I think you lack the contrast in this weather.
What was your ISO?

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-3-10 10:57
I think you lack the contrast in this weather.
What was your ISO?

Well it was on auto mode but I think it was around 1000.
I could be wrong though.

I'm currently teaching my old man to fly with the drone and I noticed a lot of grain in the latest videos.
I'm a complete amature when it comes to photograhy.

So basically what you're saying, is that it most likely has to do with the auto camera settings and that manual changes could solve this problem?

djiuser_H5mhWGmYiu1s Posted at 2018-3-10 11:04
Well it was on auto mode but I think it was around 1000.
I could be wrong though.

If it was 1000 that is way too high.
But I guess it was a typo and you mean 100?

What you can try is:
- Shoot auto BUT lower the exposure copensation (EV) to -0.7 (that is the easy way)
- Shoot manual, set ISO to the lowest value. Look at your histogram to check the exposure.

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-3-10 11:10
If it was 1000 that is way too high.
But I guess it was a typo and you mean 100?

800-1000 was the latest value, but that was indoors in quite a dark room so it probably wasn't that high outdoors. Silly mistake.

I'll try to shoot some stuff tommorow (if the weather allows it) and try those options.

Thanks for the advice!

djiuser_H5mhWGmYiu1s Posted at 2018-3-10 11:45
800-1000 was the latest value, but that was indoors in quite a dark room so it probably wasn't that high outdoors. Silly mistake.

I'll try to shoot some stuff tommorow (if the weather allows it) and try those options.

You're welcome.
Where do you live in NL?

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-3-10 11:50
You're welcome.
Where do you live in NL?

Nieuwegein, should be reasonable weather according to hover.

Nope, there is no degradation . The weather is the issue: the newer one is shot during a foggy day while the older one was shot in a very clear day.
Try to fly on another day and check the video again

First of all I wanted to thank everybody for taking their time to respond.

The advice I gave certainly improved the footage.
Though on some of the clips I get this weird black lines.
Kinda looks like the propellors are getting in the FOV of the camera.



Anyone ever had this?

Another example:

djiuser_H5mhWGmYiu1s Posted at 2018-3-11 07:35
First of all I wanted to thank everybody for taking their time to respond.

The advice I gave certainly improved the footage.

Advice I got*

Yep, that’s the props.  I usually trim them out during editing.

djiuser_H5mhWGmYiu1s Posted at 2018-3-10 14:07
Nieuwegein, should be reasonable weather according to hover.

Yes, today was nice for flying (at least where I live, Heerde)

RobertWSimpson Posted at 2018-3-11 09:33
Yep, that’s the props.  I usually trim them out during editing.

I guess becoming a bit bolder with sport mode comes with it's own problems, haha.

djiuser_H5mhWGmYiu1s Posted at 2018-3-11 13:05
I guess becoming a bit bolder with sport mode comes with it's own problems, haha.

Oh yeah props in the frame is the least of your worries!

one of the major problems I run into is the bad connection between phone and RC/Spark.
I can keep flying, never had any problems with the controls of the RC but the phone gives plenty of bad connection prompts and video feedback not working properly.

Anyone having these issues?

Both the app and drone are up to date since last saturday.