So, I have had my mavic for 2 weeks now but havnt had much time to fly it because of the rain and snow we are getting here in Lake Tahoe California.

I have been flying DJI products since the Phantom 1 and own a few Phantom 2's, 2 P4's, Inispire 1 and now the Mavic (going to be used for hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding etc).

Usually when I get a new product I do a bunch of research on the camera which is a Sony IMX377 for the Mavic.  Then I spend quite a bit of time online doing research and watching various videos where people have already found settings they like for the camera.

After seeing some issues arise with whats being coined "Water Color Look" I'm trying to figure out now what starting settings I should try with the Mavic.  Note Im a professional Photographer so I know a few thigns about cameras but again with a new product its always trail and error and until I can get up in teh air I wanted to see what the main consensus is right now for style, and color.

Im seeing various settings for the following:

Style - Custom
-3 , -3 , -3
-2 , -2 , -2
-1, 0 , 0
etc. (im sure many of you reading this know what im talking about depending on what blog or video you watch.)

In the past for Color space I have always used Dlog which allows me to play around bit more with saturation, darks, midtones and highlights.  I have not used D-Cinelike yet but am hearing that people suggest this or the None color space. Anyone have any thoughts, and of course with the style settings above you can get a bit crazy and how much you work you want to do in post to bring back the colors or the look and feel you like.

Lastly I never shoot in auto white balance because depending on what teh camera sensor sees when moving around you can get various looking results (just my thoughts on that).

Anyhow I dont want to start the water color discussion but maybe see if everyone can sort of agree on a good starting point and tweak as needed.

I also would ask what you guys do for focus modes since this is sorta new to me in the drone and I dont want it to refocus all the time when im near other objects or panning around.


                                                  

I'm certainly no expert but I have been using Art and colour grading in Final Cut Pro. I just did a test with the updated D-Log and I was happy with the results. I think I'll use that going forward.

The style I'm using is -1 0 0

I lock in exposure, white balance and ISO so there are no big changes during the video.

Fly1972 Posted at 2017-2-17 18:03
I'm certainly no expert but I have been using Art and colour grading in Final Cut Pro. I just did a test with the updated D-Log and I was happy with the results. I think I'll use that going forward.

The style I'm using is -1 0 0

Thanks for sharing.. the weather has cleared up here so m planning on flying a bit today.

Art -1 0 0 with Premiere pro and what really amazes me is that this thing handles WB really really good. The reason for -1 0 0 is the ongoing discussion about NR which should be a separate thing in the app/Camera so you can choose if you want NR or not regardless of sharpening number in the settings

Anyone want to add more to this.. I'm thinking of switching/testing D-Cinelike now..

I've done a bit of testing this weekend with the following settings all in D-Cinelike, ISO 100 white balance Sunny ( it was sunny). ND8 Filter 4K 160 fps

Test 1:     -1, 0, 0, Washed out areas and unable to successfully recover detail in branches or trees with Premiere Pro.
Test 2:      0, 0, 0, Less washed out but still not able to recover detail in branches or trees with Premiere Pro.
Test 3:      +1, 0, 0 Nice sharp image even in branches and trees although hard edges in places, not successfully as yet manged to 100% correct this with Premiere Pro but best image by a mile so far.

It seems widely mentioned that sharpness in camera should be reduced then sharpened in post, I can't seem to get this to work for me, I would rather have a bit of a hard edge than soft blurry footage.
I found this video on youtube and this guy seems to re-enforce what I've found.
Have any of you guys tried any of the + sharpness settings and what results did you get?

VAS67 Posted at 2017-4-16 12:39
I've done a bit of testing this weekend with the following settings all in D-Cinelike, ISO 100 white balance Sunny ( it was sunny). ND8 Filter 4K 160 fps

Test 1:     -1, 0, 0, Washed out areas and unable to successfully recover detail in branches or trees with Premiere Pro.

I actually saw this video as well and going from -1, to 0 to +1 on sharpening in this situation had a drastic effect and -1 and 0 where washed out looking.  

So watching almost every other video on the net people are suggesting anywhere from -1 to -3 for sharpening.  Its kinda crazy because I have my Inspire and Phantom 4 dialed in with my settings but always messing around with the Mavic..

Im about to look at some tests I did yesterday with I believe the settings at 0, -2 , -2  .. it was a bit gloomy outside but I should be able to see the histogram in premier and see how much dynamic range I can pull out.



Im going to try +1 for sharpening

Gateway Posted at 2017-4-16 13:06
I actually saw this video as well and going from -1, to 0 to +1 on sharpening in this situation had a drastic effect and -1 and 0 where washed out looking.  

So watching almost every other video on the net people are suggesting anywhere from -1 to -3 for sharpening.  Its kinda crazy because I have my Inspire and Phantom 4 dialed in with my settings but always messing around with the Mavic..

Cool, post here and lets us know your results...

Question for you as you have never gone to the + sharpness range, have you been happy with the post sharpening results on previous - settings?

VAS67 Posted at 2017-4-16 13:11
Cool, post here and lets us know your results...

Question for you as you have never gone to the + sharpness range, have you been happy with the post sharpening results on previous - settings?

I'm still playing around, I had to return my mavic due to some issues and just got it back... Its been hard to fly here due to the crazy winter season we are having here in Lake Tahoe, California so its hard to get some tests out..

I think the main thing is to make sure you stuff is in focus each time you shoot, and play with the various d-log, d-cinelike and sharpness/contrast/saturation settings ..

I have done color correction for some time and its just a matter of dialing in your own look and feel.. my big concern with the mavic is still the sharpness.

I personally wont use this for any professional work I do, but where I live its nice to take on hikes, camping, snowboarding etc..

Gateway Posted at 2017-4-16 14:06
I'm still playing around, I had to return my mavic due to some issues and just got it back... Its been hard to fly here due to the crazy winter season we are having here in Lake Tahoe, California so its hard to get some tests out..

I think the main thing is to make sure you stuff is in focus each time you shoot, and play with the various d-log, d-cinelike and sharpness/contrast/saturation settings ..

I'm on my 3rd Mavic the first 2 were very bad with blurred edges.. The one I have now is pretty good for that.

For focus I use this method... First set to manual focus (Turn off AFC) then fly 50 meters away from me and focus on myself, that way I can guarantee the focus distance repeatedly  on every flight. I then don't touch it again during that flight. I don't bother with still photo's as I can't get decent Raw pictures to work with in Lightroom, I get better results from 4k screen shots and then edit those in Lightroom.

VAS67 Posted at 2017-4-16 14:29
I'm on my 3rd Mavic the first 2 were very bad with blurred edges.. The one I have now is pretty good for that.

For focus I use this method... First set to manual focus (Turn off AFC) then fly 50 meters away from me and focus on myself, that way I can guarantee the focus distance repeatedly  on every flight. I then don't touch it again during that flight. I don't bother with still photo's as I can't get decent Raw pictures to work with in Lightroom, I get better results from 4k screen shots and then edit those in Lightroom.

Yea I'm on my 2nd mavic and its not that great either.. I guess Ill just deal with it.. I hope to get some tests done with the various sharpening settings to test.. the focus is a completely different issue.  

On my i1 and p4 I never had to deal with this crap.