I know that there is a lot of contrast in this shot but I'm not sure why the quality is so bad. Link is the Raw DNG. I did have a Polar Pro ND8 on at the time. I have other shots with out the Filter on and the shots still look "mushy" when I pop in to check grain.

ISO: 200
Aperture: 2.8 focused on middle of field
Shutter: 1/50

I was filming 4k 24fps so that is why I had the shutter at 1/50. Anything higher and I would of had to up the ISO more. What am I missing? This quality is not good. First time I've had this issue.



.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p7AOs2J9RbO94q1YielCj37Z8CfACol5/view?usp=sharing

Sometimes the time of day is just too challenging to shoot, and this is such a case. For still shots you do not need, nor should use, an ND filter. They are primarily for shooting video, not stills, but again, because it was just on dusk, you should have removed the filter for shooting video as well.

For some reason all my DNG Raw files are 960x640 vs. the Jpegs that are all full size. What is happening?!

Geebax Posted at 7-20 17:40
Sometimes the time of day is just too challenging to shoot, and this is such a case. For still shots you do not need, nor should use, an ND filter. They are primarily for shooting video, not stills, but again, because it was just on dusk, you should have removed the filter for shooting video as well.

I have shots about 10 mins later that look almost exactly the same, very "mushy" without any filter on at all.

Exposure locked to the sky perhaps? youre point towards the sun by the looks of it so dark stuff will look darker, its quite a noisy image too

SchwartzyPhotos Posted at 7-20 17:47
I have shots about 10 mins later that look almost exactly the same, very "mushy" without any filter on at all.

Very likely, in the example you posted, if I was trying to shoot that scene, I would fly to the opposite side of the stadium, with my back to the setting sun, and shoort from there.

"For some reason all my DNG Raw files are 960x640 vs. the Jpegs that are all full size. What is happening?!"

RAW files contain a small JPEG preview shot, and that is the file size being reported by your computer, don't worry, there is nothing going wrong, it is quite normal and the RAW files are full size.

But, in any event, the DJI cameras are not low light cameras, far from it. They do put in a creditable performance in low light conditions, but they really want lots of light for good shots. These are not $4K DSLR's they are flying, they are consumer grade devices.

Thanks all for the replies. I've done similar shots like this before and it hasn't been this bad. I fully expected the blacks to be black. I am not trying to push any shadows at all. With an ISO of 200 and I metered with the mind set of "split the difference" between the sky and the field I am not happy with the overall "mushiness" of the entire shot.

Bashy Posted at 7-20 19:01
Exposure locked to the sky perhaps? youre point towards the sun by the looks of it so dark stuff will look darker, its quite a noisy image too

I'm in manual. I exposed to for the entire seen. I knew how it would look exposure wise bc of the contrast. My issue is at ISO:200 the image is garbage. I'm wondering if it is the 2.8 aperture and 1/50 shutter and how windy it was.

This is a similar angle with contrast as well and it turned out a lot better quality wise. This is sweetened in post but it is not "mushy" like the other one I posted.

This is one from the other night looking back. I'm not asking for 0 grain, I'm trying to figure out why it looks so mushy.

ISO: 400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/50
No Filter

https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... 1J/view?usp=sharing

SchwartzyPhotos Posted at 7-21 04:39
This is one from the other night looking back. I'm not asking for 0 grain, I'm trying to figure out why it looks so mushy.

ISO: 400

Too much of that scene is just dark with nothing illuminating it.
Stop trying to photograph darkness.
Shoot low light rather than almost no light.