Camera perspective

JD1964 · Jun 18, 2023

My house is under the landing approach for BWI runway 33. When crossing over my house the planes look fairly close. I can see details like aircraft type, which carrier they are and if landing gear is up or down, etc…

The other day I popped the drone just above my tree canopy to try and shoot video of passing planes. I caught some footage and brought the drone down to process what I had.

In the footage the planes look tiny compared to what I see from watching planes with my naked eye. No way could I make out details without some serious zooming.

What is the reason they look so small on video compared to what I see with my naked eye?

FLDave · Jun 18, 2023

JD1964 said:
My house is under the landing approach for BWI runway 33. When crossing over my house the planes look fairly close. I can see details like aircraft type, which carrier they are and if landing gear is up or down, etc…

The other day I popped the drone just above my tree canopy to try and shoot video of passing planes. I caught some footage and brought the drone down to process what I had.

In the footage the planes look tiny compared to what I see from watching planes with my naked eye. No way could I make out details without some serious zooming.

What is the reason they look so small on video compared to what I see with my naked eye?

Your camera uses a wide angle lens.

JD1964 · Jun 18, 2023

FLDave said:
Your camera uses a wide angle lens.

I was thinking it had to be a simple explanation

FLDave · Jun 18, 2023

Another reason is that your eyes see a 3D image so you better evaluate perspective of the view. You camera is just a flat image and doesn't represent any depth of view. So, even if you change the camera to telephoto view it will still only be a 2D picture.