Best still photo settings

kilomikebravo · May 19, 2019

OTB: I do exactly the same thing but I've never had an issue with the exposure of my shoe. (JK)

Kgitti · May 19, 2019

brettbrandon said:
Things I have found by my personal use and other flyers posts.

I always shoot in Manual mode.

Shoot in Raw + Jpg or in Raw period. Much can be done to the photo in post on a Raw file that can't be done on a Jpg.

Use ISO 100 at all times unless you have so little light that you have no choice.

Running the Aperture setting past 5 starts softening the sharpness of the pic.

I turn on "Overexposed" in the Camera Settings to be able to set the exposure as bright as possible without blowing out whites which will show up as black and white bars on overexposed areas.

I turn on "Focus Peaking", (I think thats what it is called) on High as it puts red dots on what is in focus.

I assign Shutter Speed (EV in manual mode) on the up/down 5Way Switch positions and Aperture on the left/right 5Way Switch positions. That can be setup in the Controller setting and only works on iOS Devices not Android. That way I can adjust Aperture and Exposure right from the controller.

I personally usually have a Circular Polarizer on and set at 12 o'clock position, that is on a Polar Pro. It has a mark on the ring to tell where the polarization is at. It filters some reflected light but also helps saturate the colors slightly. Some folks have argued with me about this but it works for me....

View attachment 72804

Good points. I also have found on my MP2 that I get much sharper images with manual focus rather than auto.

FormerMember07122019_2 · May 19, 2019

I am always amused when folks give photography advice. They assume everyone is as knowledgeable as they are when in reality 90% or more of people don’t know an Fstop from an aperture. They also assume that everybody is trying to get award winning shots. The reality that I have learned is that composition and lighting are the most important aspects of taking a good picture and will completely swamp out the effects from having the right settings or post processing. You can take great pictures in fully auto mode and jpeg format.

Sharky05 · May 19, 2019

I like what you say Camino Ken and I agree with you on that also we all learn from the experience of other people in the field. I always say that you are never to old to learn something new. I do however have a problem with the mavic 2 Pro camera setting and that is that I can't get the histogram to stay on when I select it to, is there someone on the site that can help me with how to get it sorted so it stays on. I would appreciate any help you can give me guys thanks. As for the photos awesome guys but just remember that not everyone has access to software or the knowledge how to use it to edit photos or videos using the software, or can afford to pay the monthly fee using the software. Maybe helpful to give some advice on free software for editing and where to find the best free software on the Internet and how to use it training videos. Cheers hope everyone has a great week ahead.

Not A Speck Of Cereal · May 19, 2019

Meta is right: there's nothing evil about JPG. Telling someone "never shoot JPG", especially if you haven't asked them what they're shooting and who the audience / client will be, is just bad advice.

Another JPG advantage in general photography: it's already baked with the camera's "picture" settings (standard, vivid, etc.). It's pretty rare that an application will do that with a RAW file. Adobe products are famous for not applying those in-camera settings to the RAW files, causing some people to believe that JPGs are actually *better* than RAW files (which to them, look dull, until someone points out that they either need to apply some basic editing, or configure their editing program to have a profile configured for their camera's RAW files).

That whole last para means: the JPG is fine out of camera, the RAW file often / always needs more than that.

Me, I shoot RAW+JPG. I have various reasons. I never shoot just JPGs, but I also never shoot just DNG.

And I usually use the RAW files for most stuff. But the JPGs cab be useful at times and the compression artifacts in the first generation are not going to be noticeable to most without some zoom-in pixel-peeping.

On Topic Other Stuff:

I prefer Aperture priority, but manual is sometimes necessary. I never use full auto.
I turn off Auto ISO in general, but it's a useful tool at times when you're shooting at various points of the compass (changing the camera orientation in respect to the sun) and do not want your aperture / shutter-speed changing. (This is true in the DSLR world as well.)
I agree that — with the last point considered — keeping ISO at 100 is a good guideline.
I have the zebras on (overexposure indicator)
I have the histogram on and know how to read it
I do not use the Style parameters (even though that might produce a more vivid JPG) because I fear that it will adversely affect the histogram. If something needs pumping up, I do it in post.
I don't use the tripod / cinematic modes for still photography
I do not use ND filters for still photography, but sometimes a polarizer filter is useful and I don't have a Mavic 2 Pro polarizer filter that isn't also at least 2 stops of ND filter. That sucks (off to amazon to see aboot fixing that now.)

Chris

Sharky05 · May 19, 2019

Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
Meta is right: there's nothing evil about JPG. Telling someone "never shoot JPG", especially if you haven't asked them what they're shooting and who the audience / client will be, is just bad advice.

Another JPG advantage in general photography: it's already baked with the camera's "picture" settings (standard, vivid, etc.). It's pretty rare that an application will do that with a RAW file. Adobe products are famous for not applying those in-camera settings to the RAW files, causing some people to believe that JPGs are actually *better* than RAW files (which to them, look dull, until someone points out that they either need to apply some basic editing, or configure their editing program to have a profile configured for their camera's RAW files).

That whole last para means: the JPG is fine out of camera, the RAW file often / always needs more than that.

Me, I shoot RAW+JPG. I have various reasons. I never shoot just JPGs, but I also never shoot just DNG.

And I usually use the RAW files for most stuff. But the JPGs cab be useful at times and the compression artifacts in the first generation are not going to be noticeable to most without some zoom-in pixel-peeping.

On Topic Other Stuff:

I prefer Aperture priority, but manual is sometimes necessary. I never use full auto.

I turn off Auto ISO in general, but it's a useful tool at times when you're shooting at various points of the compass (changing the camera orientation in respect to the sun) and do not want your aperture / shutter-speed changing. (This is true in the DSLR world as well.)

I agree that — with the last point considered — keeping ISO at 100 is a good guideline.

I have the zebras on (overexposure indicator)

I have the histogram on and know how to read it

I do not use the Style parameters (even though that might produce a more vivid JPG) because I fear that it will adversely affect the histogram. If something needs pumping up, I do it in post.

I don't use the tripod / cinematic modes for still photography

I do not use ND filters for still photography, but sometimes a polarizer filter is useful and I don't have a Mavic 2 Pro polarizer filter that isn't also at least 2 stops of ND filter. That sucks (off to amazon to see aboot fixing that now.)

Chris

Thanks for the reply mate I appreciate it

brettbrandon · May 19, 2019

DELETED... Replied to wong post.

brettbrandon · May 19, 2019

Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
I do not use ND filters for still photography, but sometimes a polarizer filter is useful and I don't have a Mavic 2 Pro polarizer filter that isn't also at least 2 stops of ND filter. That sucks (off to amazon to see aboot fixing that now.)

This is the Polarizer I use. It is the second to last in the list...
CPL

What I really like about this one is it has a mark on the ring so you know where the polarization is.

Not A Speck Of Cereal · May 19, 2019

brettbrandon said:
I personally usually have a Circular Polarizer on and set at 12 o'clock position, that is on a Polar Pro. It has a mark on the ring to tell where the polarization is at. It filters some reflected light but also helps saturate the colors slightly. Some folks have argued with me about this but it works for me....

It probably only works for you part of the time.

One thing that is not arguable is the science behind how it works, which usually means that the orientation of the filter needs to be a certain number degrees from the angle of the sun. That's what the mark means on the ring.

So if you take a picture of a building at one angle and just happens to be at the right angle, then you move to take a shot of the same building from the next side, then it will not work the same as it did for the last shot.

Getting the same results from both sides of the house would require you to land the craft and adjust the ring. To be proper, you would have to look to the new direction through the CP (or through the camera) and see it working as you turn the ring until you get to where you want it. The mark on the ring is for your reference to remember that setting (so as you move around from shot to shot, you don't always have to check it manually).

Leaving the ring at 12 o'clock means that it will only be 100% effective if the sun is 90s to the left or right of the camera orientation.

Of course, you will still get partial effectiveness at angles in-between, which may be fine for someone that doesn't want to be bothered with the whole landing and ring-adjustment thing. There's nothing wrong with that, but readers should know how this works.

"Polarized light is light who’s rays have been scattered due to pollution, moisture in the atmosphere and reflection. A circular polarizer filter only allows light rays that are traveling in one direction to enter the lens. "

Chris

Not A Speck Of Cereal · May 19, 2019

brettbrandon said:
What I really like about this one is it has a mark on the ring so you know where the polarization is.

But if you always leave the mark at 12 o'clock, you're not using it for its intended purpose.

Chris

Dragonfly · May 19, 2019

Meta4 said:
Yeah .. just a few simple shots?

Oh well, we've gone from jpg might work if you want a quick, dirty, low res shot to stick on facebook or instagram but thats about it ... to JPGs will work in good conditions.
I guess that's a little progress.
The truth is that you can get very good results shooting jpg, much better than some here will ever admit.

It's funny that all those that say shoot in raw only still process in post and then export to jpeg. Isn't that exactly what the Mavic is doing when you take a Jpeg pic so what's the difference. One does it manually on their Computer the other automatically right there and then. Lol.

brettbrandon · May 19, 2019

Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
But if you always leave the mark at 12 o'clock, you're not using it for its intended purpose.

Chris

Thats for general use like the pic posted earlier in the thread. If I have reflective surfaces, that will change...
I have been using them on my dslr for many years.

Meta4 · May 19, 2019

brettbrandon said:
Thats for general use like the pic posted earlier in the thread. If I have reflective surfaces, that will change...
I have been using them on my dslr for many years.

On your DSLR it's no issue to adjust the alignment of the filter relative to the sun to avoid odd shading in your sky.
On a drone, you are stuck with it unless you bring the drone back and realign.

brettbrandon · May 19, 2019

Dragonfly said:
Isn't that exactly what the Mavic is doing when you take a Jpeg pic so what's the difference.

If you are happy with what comes out as a jpg, thats great.
Otherwise there are two differences.
One, the obvious, you choose how it looks and from personal experience as a photographer I get better quality doing my own post work versus the bird.
Second which nobody talks about is the compression and I mean "how much" not if. After processing, yes it is saved as a jpg but I choose how much compression and don't use near as much as the bird does. It is a larger file and takes more disk space but has much less artifacting.
The OP did ask for suggestions and folks posted them. Why don't you post yours and let the OP decide for themselves. Nobodys way is the "right" way...

brettbrandon · May 19, 2019

Meta4 said:
On your DSLR it's no issue to adjust the alignment of the filter relative to the sun to avoid odd shading in your sky.
On a drone, you are stuck with it unless you bring the drone back and realign.

I know perfectly well how to use a polarizer.

Meta4 · May 19, 2019

brettbrandon said:
One, the obvious, you choose how it looks and from personal experience as a photographer I get better quality doing my own post work versus the bird.

What's to say you can't do a little editing on jpg files?
I've given examples of what can be achieved earlier in this thread.

TheRock · May 19, 2019

A polarizer is pretty much a must as is RAW. If you can remember back, a JPG is like a slide which had to be exposed correctly with very little deviance to be successful. There was little latitude in creating an image. RAW is like print film. In the darkroom, you could get 4 stops latitude plus or minus. It was much more flexible and had a lot more information in the frame. That is why RAW is preferable.

brettbrandon · May 19, 2019

Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
It probably only works for you part of the time.

One thing that is not arguable is the science behind how it works, which usually means that the orientation of the filter needs to be a certain number degrees from the angle of the sun. That's what the mark means on the ring.

So if you take a picture of a building at one angle and just happens to be at the right angle, then you move to take a shot of the same building from the next side, then it will not work the same as it did for the last shot.

Getting the same results from both sides of the house would require you to land the craft and adjust the ring. To be proper, you would have to look to the new direction through the CP (or through the camera) and see it working as you turn the ring until you get to where you want it. The mark on the ring is for your reference to remember that setting (so as you move around from shot to shot, you don't always have to check it manually).

Leaving the ring at 12 o'clock means that it will only be 100% effective if the sun is 90s to the left or right of the camera orientation.

Of course, you will still get partial effectiveness at angles in-between, which may be fine for someone that doesn't want to be bothered with the whole landing and ring-adjustment thing. There's nothing wrong with that, but readers should know how this works.

"Polarized light is light who’s rays have been scattered due to pollution, moisture in the atmosphere and reflection. A circular polarizer filter only allows light rays that are traveling in one direction to enter the lens. "

Chris

Like I said in my earlier post folks tend to disagree with how I use it. As I stated, at 12 oclock it blocks some scattered light and with that bumps the saturation slightly.
Here is a pan around with the polarizer at 12 oclock. You tell me where the problem is.
I will leave it at this as it is not helping the OP.

brettbrandon · May 19, 2019

Meta4 said:
What's to say you can't do a little editing on jpg files?
I've given examples of what can be achieved earlier in this thread.

You can do some editing on jpg files. Personally, I don't want the extra artifacts from heavier compression that you get with them. I save my jpgs with less compression.