A little advice needed..

Cerberus · Feb 28, 2017

on how to take nice night video shoots..

been trying that for three nights and I seem to be having focus problems (even with the AFC on)

Any tips and suggestions will be appreciated..

Thanks...

Cerberus · Feb 28, 2017

Here's my latest night shot from last night..

as you can see along the way, focusing on the slightly brighter buildings are not impressive in my point of view..

Qoncussion · Feb 28, 2017

You'd definitely want to focus manually, set your frame rate to 24, your shutter to 50 (1/50th), and adjust gain (ISO) accordingly, until you get a decent exposure.

Cerberus · Feb 28, 2017

Recorded at 2.7k / 24fps, ISO at 800, Shutter at 1 /50th..

Manual focus huh? hmm... didn't think of it that way..
I'll try tonight,, thankz..

Qoncussion · Feb 28, 2017

You got it. Be sure to post the results

Cerberus · Feb 28, 2017

Qoncussion said:
You got it. Be sure to post the results

Will do..

Cerberus · Mar 2, 2017

Tried again tonight.. Tried to do the focusing manually and was a total failure in trying to focus while moving the drone around

ended up using AFC again..

here's the new footage..

p.s :- It looks great when I ran the video through my android phone in youtube app.. but on computers its not really impressive..maybe I am just picky.. ;p

Robert Granata · Mar 2, 2017

Try this. Hover about 130' above a well lit parking area, store front, or street light and point the camera straight down. Tap to focus or manually focus on the well lit area directly below. Once that is in focus everything from about 60 feet to infinity should be in focus. I think it is called the hyper-focal distance. It works for me day or night.

Cerberus · Mar 2, 2017

Robert Granata said:
Try this. Hover about 130' above a well lit parking area, store front, or street light and point the camera straight down. Tap to focus or manually focus on the well lit area directly below. Once that is in focus everything from about 60 feet to infinity should be in focus. I think it is called the hyper-focal distance. It works for me day or night.

when you post 130' , I assume you mean 130 feet?

This sounds like a great way to try out.. Thankz a lot.. will definitely check this method out..

Cerberus · Mar 2, 2017

BTW, guys, would it be advisable to use a ND8-PL filter lens while doing a night shot?

Robert Granata · Mar 2, 2017

Cerberus said:
when you post 130' , I assume you mean 130 feet?

This sounds like a great way to try out.. Thankz a lot.. will definitely check this method out..

Yes, 130 feet. From what I've read the distance is between 40 and 50 meters, but being American that just confuses me.

Robert Granata · Mar 2, 2017

Cerberus said:
BTW, guys, would it be advisable to use a ND8-PL filter lens while doing a night shot?

I don't think you would want to block any of the small amount of light available. So, probably no filter.

Cerberus · Mar 2, 2017

Robert Granata said:
I don't think you would want to block any of the small amount of light available. So, probably no filter.

May be blocking some light with a filter, but wouldn't bumping up the ISO counter this?

Robert Granata · Mar 2, 2017

Cerberus said:
May be blocking some light with a filter, but wouldn't bumping up the ISO counter this?

The more you bump up the ISO the grainier the video gets. The lower the ISO the better looking the video. It is a dance between changing the shutter speed or the ISO to get the best looking night videos. I think using the lowest ISO you can get while still keeping the shutter speed about double the frame rate will get you the best looking video. The filter will just make you use a higher ISO and it will be grainier than if you didn't.

Cerberus · Mar 2, 2017

Robert Granata said:
The more you bump up the ISO the grainier the video gets. The lower the ISO the better looking the video. It is a dance between changing the shutter speed or the ISO to get the best looking night videos. I think using the lowest ISO you can get while still keeping the shutter speed about double the frame rate will get you the best looking video. The filter will just make you use a higher ISO and it will be grainier than if you didn't.

Ok, I catch what you mean... But being a guy who just wants to test things out, i'll still give it a try and try to do a side by side video difference comparison and stuff.. What can I say , Always wanted to fly and always wanted to try and do nice video shots.. Now with my new Mavic, I can do both.. LOL..

Thanks for your replies, Bro..

Robert Granata · Mar 2, 2017

Cerberus said:
Ok, I catch what you mean... But being a guy who just wants to test things out, i'll still give it a try and try to do a side by side video difference comparison and stuff.. What can I say , Always wanted to fly and always wanted to try and do nice video shots.. Now with my new Mavic, I can do both.. LOL..

Thanks for your replies, Bro..

That's the spirit. Excelsior!!