Noob Problem - Shadowy Flickering Footage

[Wysiwyg]

Hi... this is my first drone and I have less than 6 hours flight time. Also have never shot much video before so I have almost no practical experience with the idiosyncrasies of video shutter speeds/frame rates/etc, other than the reading I've managed to scrounge up so far.

Came back from a trip quite horrified to find this strange video artifact on some of the Mavic shots... a kind of shadowy, flickering that can be seen sometimes to the left, sometimes right, sometimes all over the footage. Seems to happen when the camera is facing the sun at an oblique angle. Because I don't have any filters on the camera, is this what people mean when they talk about high shutter speed flicker? Or is it something more sinister? Curiously the last two locations where I flew didn't result in this effect.

Shot at 2.7K, Art, 60fps, Auto exposure. SD card is the high transfer rate Sandisk Extreme Pro. Compilation (ungraded) below. Appreciate any help/advice!


Mavic Flicker Compilation

 

[OO05REN]

Did you have the dome cover on ?

 

[Wysiwyg]

Nope

Did you have the dome cover on ?

 

[Wysiwyg]

This is the finished edited video (1080p)... obviously I cut most of the flickering out but there's still hints of it here and there...
Tips and pointers appreciated on this too!

Flying around "The View" Villa in Koh Samui

 

[Cyberpower678]

It looks like the dome cover is on and it's capturing the propellors spinning. Since you said it isn't, did you remove the manufacturing protecting plastic on the lens. They put protective plastic on the camera lens to protect it.

 

[Owen Manderfield]

It could just be "prop shadow" where sunlight reaches the camera through one of the propellers. The sun will normally be just out of frame and what you are seeing is the internal flair in the lese going on and off as the prop spins.

Some sort of lens hood would help and also cut out lens flare. I've just bought one - but no sunshine to test it with here in the UK!

TACO-RC Sun Shade Lens Hood Protective Cover for DJI Mavic PRO

Very nice video by the way.

 

[Egika]

Propeller casting shadows on the lens?

 

[Wysiwyg]

Yes for sure the gimbal dome is not on (I never fly with it and think it's quite daft to do so especially with the ventilation intakes behind the gimbal) and for sure the lens protector was discarded on day one. Any other possible theories? I take it then this is not high shutter speed flicker?

It looks like the dome cover is on and it's capturing the propellors spinning. Since you said it isn't, did you remove the manufacturing protecting plastic on the lens. They put protective plastic on the camera lens to protect it.

 

[Wysiwyg]

Thanks Owen! That certainly sounds plausible given the lighting conditions on the shots where this flickering happened! Hmmm... yet another accessory??

It could just be "prop shadow" where sunlight reaches the camera through one of the propellers. The sun will normally be just out of frame and what you are seeing is the internal flair in the lese going on and off as the prop spins.

Some sort of lens hood would help and also cut out lens flare. I've just bought one - but no sunshine to test it with here in the UK!

TACO-RC Sun Shade Lens Hood Protective Cover for DJI Mavic PRO

Very nice video by the way.

 

[Chase R]

Hi... this is my first drone and I have less than 6 hours flight time. Also have never shot much video before so I have almost no practical experience with the idiosyncrasies of video shutter speeds/frame rates/etc, other than the reading I've managed to scrounge up so far.

Came back from a trip quite horrified to find this strange video artifact on some of the Mavic shots... a kind of shadowy, flickering that can be seen sometimes to the left, sometimes right, sometimes all over the footage. Seems to happen when the camera is facing the sun at an oblique angle. Because I don't have any filters on the camera, is this what people mean when they talk about high shutter speed flicker? Or is it something more sinister? Curiously the last two locations where I flew didn't result in this effect.

Shot at 2.7K, Art, 60fps, Auto exposure. SD card is the high transfer rate Sandisk Extreme Pro. Compilation (ungraded) below. Appreciate any help/advice!


Mavic Flicker Compilation

2.7K at 60fps... very impressive.

 

[Wysiwyg]

Why? Should I not be using those settings?

2.7K at 60fps... very impressive.

 

[Chase R]

Why? Should I not be using those settings?

Sorry. Busting your balls. That's not a possible setting. Mavic – Specs, FAQ, Tutorials and Downloads

 

[Wysiwyg]

Oops! Balls busted! Thanks... I deserved that.
It was 30, but you probably already knew that haha!

Sorry. Busting your balls. That's not a possible setting. Mavic – Specs, FAQ, Tutorials and Downloads

 

[Chase R]

Oops! Balls busted! Thanks... I deserved that.
It was 30, but you probably already knew that haha!

Actually I thought you were in 1080 @ 60fps which others have experienced similar issues. At 2.7K my footage is pretty clean. Before you do anything else drastic, buy some filters, disable auto exposure and lock your shutter at 1/60 (if you're using 30fps). It's really a necessity of filming with the Mavic.

 

[Owen Manderfield]

... yet another accessory??

You can never have to many accessories! - Lens hood, remote sun shade, leg extenders, ND filters, landing pads, night LOS strobes, range extenders, battery terminal covers, hard case, soft case, connecting cables, memory cards, tablet holders..............

 

[Wysiwyg]

Got it. Thanks!

Actually I thought you were in 1080 @ 60fps which others have experienced similar issues. At 2.7K my footage is pretty clean. Before you do anything else drastic, buy some filters, disable auto exposure and lock your shutter at 1/60 (if you're using 30fps). It's really a necessity of filming with the Mavic.

 

[Wysiwyg]

So I'm discovering...

You can never have to many accessories! - Lens hood, remote sun shade, leg extenders, ND filters, landing pads, night LOS strobes, range extenders, battery terminal covers, hard case, soft case, connecting cables, memory cards, tablet holders..............

 

[Wysiwyg]

Actually, a practical question... How do you manage with filters and manual exposure when on any typical flight, the camera may be pointed at different subjects from different angles and therefore, lighting? Does everyone really put on a filter, fly some routes with roughly the same direction and gimbal pitch, land, swap the filter, fly and do another set of exposures, land, swap filters, etc? Or am I missing something?

Actually I thought you were in 1080 @ 60fps which others have experienced similar issues. At 2.7K my footage is pretty clean. Before you do anything else drastic, buy some filters, disable auto exposure and lock your shutter at 1/60 (if you're using 30fps). It's really a necessity of filming with the Mavic.

 

[razors]

The video stuttering won't be fixed with filters.

Mine does the same thing and I have run multiple tests to try and find the issue.

Sending mine Back. There are lots of people having this issue unfortunately

 

[razors]

Ps

Besides the artifact that is some great footage.