Any experienced videographers shooting in Auto mode?

[robinbuzios]

I am shooting in highly dynamic lighting conditions, i.e. ocean, sand, rainforest, often on the same flight (I’m in Bahia, Brazil). I’m trying to reduce my stress load while flying so that I can focus more on composing my shots. I would like to focus less on settings and changing ND filters while in Pro mode, and allocate my battery time to getting the right angle to the sun, rule of thirds, smooth drone movements, ie the artistic side of drone videography. A little bit of increased noise from higher ISO is acceptable for my end use.

I’ve been reading and watching some youtube on experienced photographers using Auto Exposure instead of manual, claiming that the algorithm on the mini 4 pro and air 3s does a good job in auto mode, the only caveat being that that they would use exposure lock, either on the touch screen with rc2 or assigning Exposure lock to one of the rear buttons.

Checklist:

- Set white balance manually in pro mode after take off
- Switch to Auto mode
- Set exposure lock for a scene while in flight to get a decent balance
- Adjust EV for a different shot as necessary while in flight

I'd like to be able to not **** with ND filters unless absolutely needed, ie mid-day sun.

Is this feasible? If so it's a game changer for me, thanks for any input or advice!

p.s. Does anyone follow Ted Nemeth's videos? He's a proponent of Auto mode and stresses the artistic side of shooting over perfect settings.

 

[akdrone]

Most folks use one (pro) or the other (auto) on occasion although some just use Auto . There are times when, as you say, the lighting is dynamic and you are changing from very bright to darker areas and leaving it in Pro would not work at all. When doing a serious film there would simply be cuts between scenes; auto would never be used but for most of us, Auto is a much more reasonable alternative and our smaller audiences could care less. I have a button on my RC Pro that locks auto exposure and I think there are other ways to do it. That way the exposure won't bounce around too much when I'm in a area of exposure that is reasonably the same but when I am then going to pan into a brighter area I can remove that lock and pan to a bright area, get that exposed as I want it and hit Exposure Lock. For me that's the best way to use Auto Exp. The biggest problem with Auto is when you might pan across an area that has a super bright reflection for a moment and the camera shuts it down then opens it up, dramatically shifting the exposure for that short time. Exposure Lock within Auto prevents that but then removing that as you pan across an entirely different area with a different exposure allows the camera to shift exposure as might happen if you pan up from the earth to the horizon with a bright sky. I shoot Pro nearly all the time but not always...Super high contrast video with snow are the worst. You have to choose between exposing for the snow or for something that is not snow covered and that often means blowing out the snow even when shooting DLog. Be sure you are using the Histogram if exposure is important to you .

 

[GadgetGuy]

Most folks use one (pro) or the other (auto) on occasion although some just use Auto . There are times when, as you say, the lighting is dynamic and you are changing from very bright to darker areas and leaving it in Pro would not work at all. When doing a serious film there would simply be cuts between scenes; auto would never be used but for most of us, Auto is a much more reasonable alternative and our smaller audiences could care less. I have a button on my RC Pro that locks auto exposure and I think there are other ways to do it. That way the exposure won't bounce around too much when I'm in a area of exposure that is reasonably the same but when I am then going to pan into a brighter area I can remove that lock and pan to a bright area, get that exposed as I want it and hit Exposure Lock. For me that's the best way to use Auto Exp. The biggest problem with Auto is when you might pan across an area that has a super bright reflection for a moment and the camera shuts it down then opens it up, dramatically shifting the exposure for that short time. Exposure Lock within Auto prevents that but then removing that as you pan across an entirely different area with a different exposure allows the camera to shift exposure as might happen if you pan up from the earth to the horizon with a bright sky. I shoot Pro nearly all the time but not always...Super high contrast video with snow are the worst. You have to choose between exposing for the snow or for something that is not snow covered and that often means blowing out the snow even when shooting DLog. Be sure you are using the Histogram if exposure is important to you .

Or you can just shoot in Auto and make Exposure Compensations, as needed, dynamically. Dedicate a two buttons (one plus and one minus) to exposure compensation, or dedicate a scroll wheel or scroll wheel+button combination to exposure compensation.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

We go up in the Storms an Capture the Iightning Pictures .

A good rule to follow is to always , and I mean Always shoot first in Auto Mode and Compensate the Exposure as noted above, first , That way you have a nice back up.

Once you have the Back up than you want to experiment with the F stops and ISO an Shutter Speed, as we have found that the Auto mode with the a little editnig is the best with Drone Shots.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water, Capture the Storm Pictures

 

[robinbuzios]

Thank you all for your excellent points. It's good to know that experienced pilots also use auto mode! I find that shooting in pro mode, i always miss at least one setting which will ruin the entire shoot. Instead of concentrating on the shot, I'm always worrying about a setting that I possible missed!

I also read in some thread that the algorithm in auto mode has improved a lot in auto mode.

for most of us, Auto is a much more reasonable alternative and our smaller audiences could care less.

Exactly what I was thinking. And much less stressful.

 

[akdrone]

Thank you all for your excellent points. It's good to know that experienced pilots also use auto mode! I find that shooting in pro mode, i always miss at least one setting which will ruin the entire shoot. Instead of concentrating on the shot, I'm always worrying about a setting that I possible missed!

I also read in some thread that the algorithm in auto mode has improved a lot in auto mode.

Exactly what I was thinking. And much less stressful.

However....it's important to know when Auto doesn't work well and be able to control the Pro settings which differ from wide to tele lenses on some drones....

 

[dgibbphoto]

I am almost always using manual mode. I get a good exposure after I pop up the drone to my liking and then fly. I think you are asking for trouble if you use auto color balance though when you get into post production.

 

[GadgetGuy]

However....it's important to know when Auto doesn't work well and be able to control the Pro settings which differ from wide to tele lenses on some drones....

Exposure compensation in Auto mode has the exact same effect.

 

[robinbuzios]

I am almost always using manual mode. I get a good exposure after I pop up the drone to my liking and then fly. I think you are asking for trouble if you use auto color balance though when you get into post production.

Understood. But how do you feel about shooting in auto mode and setting the color mode to d-log m? This is how I would like to shoot. Acceptable in your opinion or no?

 

[robinbuzios]

Exposure compensation in Auto mode has the exact same effect.

Does exposure compensation in auto mode adjust ISO or shutter speed or both?

 

[akdrone]

Exposure compensation in Auto mode has the exact same effect.

There are some differences. In Auto mode (I'm most familiar with the Mavic 3 Pro but this is essentially the same across the board with the exception of variable aperture comments) the drone adjusts EV on it's own. The M3Pro manual does not define what changes but since Shutter changes happen in steps, my guess is the changes are to the ISO which can be adjusted incrementally. In Pro mode you can set two of three functions (with the wide angle lens) of Shutter, ISO and Aperture to manual and allow the camera to adjust the third in Auto function. Very handy. With the two tele lenses the aperture is fixed. So in Auto mode it is like (I think) setting the Aperture and Shutter speed to manual and leaving the ISO on Auto. Of course you can always set everything to fixed and leave no auto adjustment in Pro mode. I could be corrected and would like to know if I'm off on this assessment...

 

[akdrone]

Does exposure compensation in auto mode adjust ISO or shutter speed or both?

see my reply on the other question but my guess is it just adjusts ISO. Not sure.

 

[akdrone]

Understood. But how do you feel about shooting in auto mode and setting the color mode to d-log m? This is how I would like to shoot. Acceptable in your opinion or no?

I don't see them as connected. I always shoot DLog M with my Mav 3 Pro because Dlog is not available for the tele lenses and I don't want to have two different color balancing jobs. It's what I want the Mav4 Pro for... I don't shoot Auto a -lot- but I do at times but always shoot Dlog with the Mav3 Pro. With my other drones that do not have tele lenses I shoot Dlog if it's available regardless of shooting Auto or Pro.

 

[akdrone]

This video is illuminating for those unfamiliar with how Auto Exposure works.

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He missed - or it wasn't possible when he did the video - the fact that on some controllers you can set a button for AE Lock which allows you to turn it on and off easily without fiddling with the screen. If your scene has minor changes in exposure...going from shooting at the ground with a large expanse of ground, to entering a canyon that is a bit darker, Auto exposure is perfect and the adjustment will be gradual and hardly noticeable. If, however you are panning across something very bright your scene will momentarily get very dark ( or visa versa). Horrible. Some scenes, such as those with bright snow in a significant portion of the scene simply have too much dynamic range; then you have to choose if you want the snow to be properly exposed or the foreground/non-snow areas to be properly exposed. There too, pro mode is your only reasonably choice (IMHO). Serious film makers avoid this entirely by carefully planning their shots and exposing properly for each one. On occasion I actually get that serious . I'm editing this to add the point that in post you can change the exposure within a clip to light or darken just a portion of a clip using "keyframing" so if you have a portion of a clip that is not exposed properly you can "fix" -it to some degree- with any decent editing program. Not something to rely on but something everyone should be aware of.