Tips for night/low light shots?

[jkantiques]

What about flying at night and NOT taking pics or videos,
what do you set your iso at?.. and should you use auto or manual settings to have the best visual?..
Kevin

 

[cobra46]

What about flying at night and NOT taking pics or videos,
what do you set your iso at?.. and should you use auto or manual settings to have the best visual?..
Kevin

I've done a lot of flying in this realm. Crank up the ISO and shutter speed and the image will get pretty bright although quite grainy.

 

[c0des1x]

That's awesome.

What were your settings for each shot? Did you have to keep pressing the shutter over and over or could you automate that somehow?

Using ISO 100, 1s shutter, around 2s to 3s interval, you can see interval shot setting in camera settings.

 

[cobra46]

Using ISO 100, 1s shutter, around 2s to 3s interval, you can see interval shot setting in camera settings.

Awesome stuff. Thanks.

I assume it looks best in an area with lots of traffic?

 

[Grey Wolf]

With video - change it to the lowest frame rate, PAL 24fps.
The lower the framerate, the longer the shutter will stay open.
Use Auto, cloud. Don't let ISO exceed 200 as it will be very grainy.

Another method is to record in 4K. Then downsample to 1080p. This will minimise artefacts. Think of this - Have you ever noticed how clear a youtube video is when its running in window mode and when you expand to full screen, you can see how pixelated it is??

No, NEVER use auto. You can use exposure lock if you like instead.

 

[c0des1x]

Awesome stuff. Thanks.

I assume it looks best in an area with lots of traffic?

I think so, at least having a lot of light emission movement.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[F6Rider]

So I assume he got a ticket for being in the park at night and the drone had nothing to do with it?

Hobbyist flyers can fly at night provided their drones meet the AMA guidelines for lights. I'm pretty sure our Mavics would pass muster.

That's probably the case, as the park closes at sundown unless you have a group activity and have arranged for the lights to be on.

 

[dbyantis]

So I assume he got a ticket for being in the park at night and the drone had nothing to do with it?

Hobbyist flyers can fly at night provided their drones meet the AMA guidelines for lights. I'm pretty sure our Mavics would pass muster.

But not in ANY National park in the US, regardless the time of day.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

I'd like to do a winter full moon night ride this spring before the snow melts. Need perfect conditions.

 

[cobra46]

But not in ANY National park in the US, regardless the time of day.

I know what park he's talking about as we live close by. I didn't know what the rules were at this park and had to look them up.

 

[stratos]

The other day a ranger told me that I couldn't fly a drone over [Undisclosed location] and I told him, no probs will land it right now.
Then I asked, look this is not a national park, not a natural reserve, so, can you show me the exact rule/law that forbids me to fly.

• Then he said, well its considered a prohibited activity.
• So I said, fair enough. can you show me the list of prohibited activities
• He said, well, look is prohibited because its prohibited but I cant point you the law or rule that you are breaking if you keep flying. (its was a friendly chat)

I just smiled and said, mate, do you see the irony ?
He just smiled and waved good bye.

 

[cobra46]

The other day a ranger told me that I couldn't fly a drone over [Undisclosed location] and I told him, no probs will land it right now.
Then I asked, look this is not a national park, not a natural reserve, so, can you show me the exact rule/law that forbids me to fly.

• Then he said, well its considered a prohibited activity.
• So I said, fair enough. can you show me the list of prohibited activities
• He said, well, look is prohibited because its prohibited but I cant point you the law or rule that you are breaking if you keep flying. (its was a friendly chat)

I just smiled and said, mate, do you see the irony ?
He just smiled and waved good bye.

I'm expecting to have this conversation at a local park system as well. I have read the statutes and only found a phrase that specifically prohibits model airplanes. We are not flying model airplanes. When confronted, I will bring my drone down but also ask him/her to specifically cite where it states my activity is illegal and mention my study of the statutes. I will also say that this activity is new to most everyone and we (law enforcement and pilots) are part of an evolving legal area.

After this encounter should I be a **** and go relaunch from a public non park roadway? Just kidding, this wouldn't be good for our hobby.

 

[Macariushk]

I can take sharp and crisp low light night image with Mavic Pro, but the video quality is very blurry and noisy when taken under ISO 1600, any suggestion?

That is HK

Hover that up high to take the video ?


What is the frame rate and shutter speed ?



Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[AlanTheBeast]

The other day a ranger told me that I couldn't fly a drone over [Undisclosed location] and I told him, no probs will land it right now.
Then I asked, look this is not a national park, not a natural reserve, so, can you show me the exact rule/law that forbids me to fly.

• Then he said, well its considered a prohibited activity.
• So I said, fair enough. can you show me the list of prohibited activities
• He said, well, look is prohibited because its prohibited but I cant point you the law or rule that you are breaking if you keep flying. (its was a friendly chat)

I just smiled and said, mate, do you see the irony ?
He just smiled and waved good bye.

There are a few YouTube videos out there of cops/sheriffs hassling drone operators w/o the legal right to do so. The most egregious is with the operator of a cattle feedlot watching in earnest: he seems to know all the cops by name and is quite friendly and chatty with them. The drone operators are simply filming the feedlot from public land. Nothing illegal about that - and the cops eventually declare that nothing illegal is going on.

 

[cobra46]

There are a few YouTube videos out there of cops/sheriffs hassling drone operators w/o the legal right to do so. The most egregious is with the operator of a cattle feedlot watching in earnest: he seems to know all the cops by name and is quite friendly and chatty with them. The drone operators are simply filming the feedlot from public land. Nothing illegal about that - and the cops eventually declare that nothing illegal is going on.

I think that was Harris Ranch in central California.

 

[Chopper]

Do you think that to take better better video clips t is best to customise your settings ? sharpness, brightness and contrast? thanks

 

[IceMan04]

Thank you, very helpful!

Thanks very helpful also