A couple of photography questions

[mrfish]

Hi
I am just starting on drone photography. I got a mini pro 3 today and shelled out the wedge for the extra cover from DJI. A couple quick questions please. When I use the panaromic on my Fujifilm XH-1 the file sizes are tiny and the resolution is dire; it is much better to take separate shots and stitch them. How does it work with the MP3, should I stitch or panorama in camera? I will be sticking to 12mp unless someone can convince me otherwise. Is it worth going to 48mp in good light?
Thanks
W

 

[Meta4]

How does it work with the MP3, should I stitch or panorama in camera?

Dedicated stitching software is usually much better than basic in-camera stitching.
This is true for DJI cameras too.

I will be sticking to 12mp unless someone can convince me otherwise. Is it worth going to 48mp in good light?

I'd suggest doing some testing yourself to see what works for you.

 

[WanderLost]

Hi
I am just starting on drone photography. I got a mini pro 3 today and shelled out the wedge for the extra cover from DJI. A couple quick questions please. When I use the panaromic on my Fujifilm XH-1 the file sizes are tiny and the resolution is dire; it is much better to take separate shots and stitch them. How does it work with the MP3, should I stitch or panorama in camera? I will be sticking to 12mp unless someone can convince me otherwise. Is it worth going to 48mp in good light?
Thanks
W

I've done tests with the M3P - in good light, 48 mpx setting provides superior detail compared to the 12 mpx settings. In twilight and at night - the 12 mpx setting has lower noise.

 

[PanoVolo]

Ideally use jpeg+raw or just raw (dng) for you panoramas and stitch on desktop, not in drone.

 

[Filmarik]

I've done tests with the MP3 - in good light, 48 mpx setting provides superior detail compared to the 12 mpx settings. In twilight and at night - the 12 mpx setting has lower noise.

The benefit of 48MP setting can be quickly lost (smeared detail) when shooting under less then ideal lighting conditions while the 12MP will still perform reasonably well there. Under good daytime light though the 48MP will show impressive amount of detail. If the final result is going to be a large print the 48MP is the way to go, bearing in mind the above.

 

[mrfish]

Thank you all very much for your help. My printer only goes up to A3+. The college only charge £5 for an A2. I never print above A2. Hopefully I will get something good on the summer holidays. I am kicking myself for not buying it last year when we were whale watching from the beach at dawn in Puerto Madryn.

 

[Dale D]

Hi
I am just starting on drone photography. I got a mini pro 3 today and shelled out the wedge for the extra cover from DJI. A couple quick questions please. When I use the panaromic on my Fujifilm XH-1 the file sizes are tiny and the resolution is dire; it is much better to take separate shots and stitch them. How does it work with the MP3, should I stitch or panorama in camera? I will be sticking to 12mp unless someone can convince me otherwise. Is it worth going to 48mp in good light?
Thanks
W

I never use the in-camera stitching. I always have the "thirds grid" turned on. I take 3 to 5 shots, overlapping about 30%. I bring these shots into Adobe Camera Raw (in Photoshop) and open all 3 or 5 of them.Select all (Cmd+A) and then I right click on any of these shots to open the dialogue box and choose "merge to Panorama.." The final result can be saved as a JPG or DNG and edited from there. If using Lightroom, a similar work flow can be done. E.g.: select all, right click merge to panorama.

Dale
Miami

 

[rickmurray1989]

Thank you all very much for your help. My printer only goes up to A3+. The college only charge £5 for an A2. I never print above A2. Hopefully I will get something good on the summer holidays. I am kicking myself for not buying it last year when we were whale watching from the beach at dawn in Puerto Madryn.

Regardless of your final print size, it is always wise to create files of sufficient resolution and size to support the largest sizes possible. You can always down-res an image for smaller prints, but trying to up-res a file is hit or miss, and it can introduce unsightly artifacts. I always stitch all of my pano images on my Mac, with the exception of spherical panoramas, which I find work okay from within the drone.

 

[Jug's Life]

For special photos, I will switch the camera to vertical mode, put it into 48 MP RAW and then take a photo, and turn the camera left or right, not the drone, just the camera, take a photo, move it 30%, take another, and then i can stich them in photoshop real easily. Its not quite gigapixel but it can bring out tremendous detail.

Heres two examples of the process output.





BONUS

Put camera back into landscape mode, but instead of moving camera left or right, move the camera gimbal from down 90 to up and you can create IMPOSSIBLE INCEPTION type shots. Let me post some examples.



For the above. I start by having camera look straight down, then gimbal towards the horizon about 30%, take a pic, repeat. Then photomerge in photoshop. After that, flatten the layers, and then tweak using the RAW camera filter.

Heres one more for fun. Again, the effect is you are looking straight down and at the horizon at the same time.

 

[mrfish]

Thanks @JAMBCA Whenever I have figured out how to fly it I will ask you for some advice on how to do the camera moving bit. It was too windy on Saturday and it rained today, so I will have to wait until next weekend and hope for better weather. What works better, using the hyperlapse or multiple photos and putting them together to make a video. As I bought an Amazon return from a 3rd party on ebay I am not sure if all the instructions came for it. I don't even know what the buttons on the remote do!

 

[Meta4]

I am not sure if all the instructions came for it. I don't even know what the buttons on the remote do!

You have to download the manual.
Here it is:

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/DJI_Mini_3_Pro/UM/DJI_Mini_3_Pro_User_Manual_EN.pdf

 

[MS Coast]

For special photos, I will switch the camera to vertical mode, put it into 48 MP RAW and then take a photo, and turn the camera left or right, not the drone, just the camera, take a photo, move it 30%, take another, and then i can stich them in photoshop real easily.

I like your idea of adding a -90-degree photo to panoramas.

Please explain what you mean by "turn the camera left or right, not the drone, just the camera."

 

[Dale D]

I like your idea of adding a -90-degree photo to panoramas.

Please explain what you mean by "turn the camera left or right, not the drone, just the camera."

I think he is talking about the Air 3 which has a camera that can rotate vertically.

 

[Jug's Life]

I like your idea of adding a -90-degree photo to panoramas.

Please explain what you mean by "turn the camera left or right, not the drone, just the camera."

Technically the term would be to Pan the camera.

 

[MS Coast]

Technically the term would be to Pan the camera.

View attachment 173374

So, I'm understanding that you're panning the camera/gimbal by dragging your finger on the screen and shooting three photos - one straight ahead, one panned left 30 degrees and one panned right 30 degrees?

If I'm understanding correctly, what is the advantage of doing that instead of yawing the drone left and right 30 degrees?

(I'm guessing you have a Mini 3 Pro or Mini 4 Pro. They can pan the gimbal +- 30 degrees. Mavic 3 Pro is limited to 23 degrees.)

 

[mrfish]

You have to download the manual.
Here it is:

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/DJI_Mini_3_Pro/UM/DJI_Mini_3_Pro_User_Manual_EN.pdf

Thank you!

 

[Meta4]

I think he is talking about the Air 3 which has a camera that can rotate vertically.

I think you might mean the Mini 4 pro
The camera of the Air 3 cannot do that.

 

[Jug's Life]

So, I'm understanding that you're panning the camera/gimbal by dragging your finger on the screen and shooting three photos - one straight ahead, one panned left 30 degrees and one panned right 30 degrees?

If I'm understanding correctly, what is the advantage of doing that instead of yawing the drone left and right 30 degrees?

(I'm guessing you have a Mini 3 Pro or Mini 4 Pro. They can pan the gimbal +- 30 degrees. Mavic 3 Pro is limited to 23 degrees.)

Yaw and Pan are the same word in this instance. I let the drone hover. Then I take a photo. Yaw it a bit. Take a photo. And repeat until desired.

Ive broken it down further here.

Horizontal Panoramics.
The mini 3 pro can turn its camera vertically. So I take several vertical shots, as broken down by the black lines, and merge them in photoshop. You can get a lot more detail this way versus the dji built in pano's and control the exact panoramic you are trying to achieve. (Black lines are approx for demonstration) Generally works best with horizon around 0, but can be varianced a bit when shooting.




For the impossible or vertical panos, I shoot in normal landscape mode, and merge in photoshop.

 

[mrfish]

@Jug's Life life I will definitely get back to you on this once I get my head round how to fly as I want to know how to do the horizontal pano. It looks like something I would want to print. I get the camera in portrait mode, but I don't know how to pan it.

 

[Meta4]

I don't know how to pan it.

He explained it in post #18
I let the drone hover. Then I take a photo. Yaw it a bit. Take a photo. And repeat until desired.