1080 vs 4k for low light???

[WildcatDave]

Hi Guys,

I have a project soon that will be shot indoors of an event that will be quite dark. I went and did some test shooting at 4k/60, and the footage was not too noisy, but my big concern was how soft/blurry the video looked. It made me think the Air 3 was doing some heavy noise reduction while saving the file. Would I be better to shoot in 1080 instead? I can't got down to 30fps (which I understand would bump the shutter speed down and increase light to the sensor) as we will have some action and will likely need to slow down in post depending on client desires. I expect to downsize the 4k footage anyway as it will mostly be for social media and web promo.

Does the Air 3 bin 4 pixels in video if you select 1080 instead of 4k, thereby "boosting" light gain? I cannot seem to find any definite answer. If not, seems like it would be best to shoot in 4k and then (hopefully) gain back some sharpness in the downsize to 1080.

Opinions...

 

[Meta4]

Hi Guys,

I have a project soon that will be shot indoors of an event that will be quite dark. I went and did some test shooting at 4k/60, and the footage was not too noisy, but my big concern was how soft/blurry the video looked. It made me think the Air 3 was doing some heavy noise reduction while saving the file. Would I be better to shoot in 1080 instead? I can't got down to 30fps (which I understand would bump the shutter speed down and increase light to the sensor) as we will have some action and will likely need to slow down in post depending on client desires. I expect to downsize the 4k footage anyway as it will mostly be for social media and web promo.

Does the Air 3 bin 4 pixels in video if you select 1080 instead of 4k, thereby "boosting" light gain? I cannot seem to find any definite answer. If not, seems like it would be best to shoot in 4k and then (hopefully) gain back some sharpness in the downsize to 1080.

Opinions...

If you reduce the frame rate you will be able to shoot at a slower shutter speed and get twice as much light through to your sensor.
Shooting in 1080p vs 4k shouldn't make any difference to exposure issues.

 

[WildcatDave]

If you reduce the frame rate you will be able to shoot at a slower shutter speed and get twice as much light through to your sensor.
Shooting in 1080p vs 4k shouldn't make any difference to exposure issues.

Right, I stated that I couldn't go to 30 FPS because of necessity for 60 FPS and that I understood It would allow a lower shutter speed which is more light on the sensor. Thank you for reiterating that but I was clear on that point. My significant question was when you shoot at 1080p does it bin four pixels together (2 in each direction) to create a bigger effective sensor site, or does it just interpolate and take every other pixel versus when it's in 4K.

At this point I will not have another opportunity to test shoot the venue. Otherwise I would go back and shoot it at 1080p to see for myself. So I was wondering if we had anybody here that had experience in this scenario and could give a definite answer.

 

[Meta4]

Right, I stated that I couldn't go to 30 FPS because of necessity for 60 FPS and that I understood It would allow a lower shutter speed which is more light on the sensor. Thank you for reiterating that but I was clear on that point.

I read you, but was pointing out that if low light is the #1 issue, you have to deal with that.

What ISO are you using?

My significant question was when you shoot at 1080p does it bin four pixels together (2 in each direction) to create a bigger effective sensor site, or does it just interpolate and take every other pixel versus when it's in 4K.

If it makes any difference, it won't be enough to make any significant difference to exposure issue.
But it might help reduce graininess slightly.

 

[WildcatDave]

I read you, but was pointing out that if low light is the #1 issue, you have to deal with that.

What ISO are you using?

If it makes any difference, it won't be enough to make any significant difference to exposure issue.
But it might help reduce graininess slightly.

Gotcha. I really don't think 30fps is workable at all. I expect we need to capture at 60fps for this event. There will be "athletic" performances that need to be clear. And they will want to do some slo-mo for effect as well.

Currently using "Auto" settings as I did not seem to get better results when running with manual settings. I also read (from multiple sources) that at 30fps (for some weird reason) the Air 3 applies MORE noise reduction than at higher fps settings.

I did read there are sharpness and noise reduction settings in video settings (style parameters?). I will have to tinker a bit and see if I can get closer to what I expect from this sensor.

Thanks for your input and help!

 

[Meta4]

Gotcha. I really don't think 30fps is workable at all. I expect we need to capture at 60fps for this event. There will be "athletic" performances that need to be clear. And they will want to do some slo-mo for effect as well.

Currently using "Auto" settings as I did not seem to get better results when running with manual settings. I also read (from multiple sources) that at 30fps (for some weird reason) the Air 3 applies MORE noise reduction than at higher fps settings.

If you have srt files corresponding to the video files, and play the video from the same folder as the srt file, you can see the ISO settings that your camera has used
Like this:

ISO is the sensitivity the camera uses and this can affect graininess or noise.
ISO 100 is the lowest setting available for your camera and it gives the least noise.
In low light your camera's auto settings will have to increase the ISO up to a max of 6400.
The higher the ISO, the more noise.

The ISO setting your camera was using will probably explain the noise you've seen.
But if the ISO setting is already high, there won't be much you can do apart from having supplementary lighting.

 

[WildcatDave]

If you have srt files corresponding to the video files, and play the video from the same folder as the srt file, you can see the ISO settings that your camera has used
Like this:

ISO is the sensitivity the camera uses and this can affect graininess or noise.
ISO 100 is the lowest setting available for your camera and it gives the least noise.
In low light your camera's auto settings will have to increase the ISO up to a max of 6400.
The higher the ISO, the more noise.

The ISO setting your camera was using will probably explain the noise you've seen.
But if the ISO setting is already high, there won't be much you can do apart from having supplementary lighting.

Thanks for the info about the SRT file - I have seen those. I am quite familiar with camera settings (ISO, SS. Aperture, etc.). I have been a professional photographer for over 20 years - just new to the drone side of things as relates to video. Been a stills photog, this is my first video project that isn't a simple outdoor shoot.

Not expecting full-frame quality, but would like to get some files that are a bit sharper. Probably should have gotten the Mavic 3 Pro, although the larger sensor is negated somewhat by the smaller max aperture 2.8 vs 1.7 on the Air 3.

I am going to the venue early (it happening this evening) and going to check through the styles page to see if I can lower the NR. I can always clean that up in post in DaVinci.

Appreciate all your help!