Blurry night pictures

[MavicCF]

Hi all! I am on a vacation to the east coast and have been trying to take some nighttime pictures of cities. The problem is that all my pictures are coming back blurry and I can't figure out why. My settings are: ISO 100, shutter speed 2, no filter. I thought maybe it was the low shutter speed even though there was next to no wind so I brought ISO up to 400 and shutter up to 1/12 hoping it would help. It did nothing to fix the blur times and only increased the noise in the picture. So now I wondering if there is something I'm missing? I am doing the tap to focus before each shot. Any suggestions would be welcome and I will try to post some of the pictures as soon as I can. Thanks-CF

 

[Hexagon]

same thing here, 8 out of my 10 night shots are blurry, even if i try hard via auto focus and even manual focus. I am also @ Iso100 and 2 sec shutter. As long as I understand, blurry is 99% a focus problem and I am having a hard time fixing it constantly on my LG 5inch monitor.

 

[MavicCF]

From the pictures it certainly looks like a focus issue but like you I am using a very small screen which is not ideal for picking up focus issues. I've never tried manual focus though, where is it found and how do you adjust it?

 

[Hexagon]

yeap, small screen is not helping at all... check this out for the Manual Focus

 

[MavicCF]

Thanks Hexagon! I guess I'll try manual focus next time and see if it improves anything.

 

[Hexagon]

give it a go! hope other members can collaborate too and help us get great night shots..

 

[tradeint]

What number bottle is that in pic? Picture looks very clear to me [emoji23]

 

[Mako79]

All cameras will have a hard time trying to focus in the dark. Some DSLR's and mid range cameras will send a pulse of light to help focusing at night. Unfortunately, the mavic wasnt designed to be flown at night.
However, there is a way around.
Enable Focus Peaking (this ensures the subject is focused by the red highlights).
Set ISO to 800 or higher (till you can see objects on your screen). This will brighten up the screen. Tap to focus and checked what has the red highlights. Now drop the ISO back down to 100 and make sure you DONT change the focus. Take the pic.
And make sure its not a windy night. You want the Mavic to be still as a tripod when opening up the lens for longer periods.

 

[Hexagon]

nice idea! will check it asap

 

[MavicCF]

Well I tried the manual focus last night and it worked perfectly! Much sharper image now! Thanks Hexagon! Here is what I got, I haven't got a chance to really edit it yet so this isn't perfect. Thanks again! -CF

 

[Hexagon]

Wow looks nice! Manual focus helps alot at night but i need to practise it a bit more. Glad i helped!

 

[Hexagon]

Manual focus tests... works like a charm!

 

[MavicCF]

Nice pictures! It's so nice to have sharp pictures!

 

[Edslittleworld]

I wonder why the Mavic has these issues, but my new Spark does not. It focuses just as well at night as day.