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COMPLETE NOOB CAMERA/SOFTWARE QUESTIONS

Xmar0x

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Apr 29, 2020
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Mahopac NY
Hey all. I was hoping to the post my questions here since there are a couple and there are so many opinions out there. I just wanted to start a discussion here with a few questions. I have a M2Z that I just got yesterday. Did a ton of research for best photo videos settings but I have a few questions.

1) When shooting PHOTO what should my settings be? I keep my iso at 100, 4K, AEB on, D-Cenilite, white balance varies. Depending on the sun I’ll use a ND filter. The polarizers are pretty cool too I’m doing some experimenting.

2) When shooting video what should my settings be? I do +1 -2 -2 , 24 fps, 1/50 shutter to try and get a cinematic look but my picture ends up looking so dark even without a ND on. I almost always have to end up changing my shutter speed and breaking the 180 degree rule.. What can I try doing?

3)When shooting photo and setting AEB on does it take 10 pictures if I have it set for save JPEG and RAW? Also when I’m looking on my SD card which is going to be the finally file name? I noticed some are named .DNG and some are JPEG.

4) Finally I’m using my iPad mini for a setup with the RC and saving files on the SD card. I am looking to do some post edit. But I have literally 0 video editing experience. I’ve tried Davinci resolve but it has a steep learning curve for me. I do like Lumafusion it seems much easier to learn. But I’m having difficulty getting large files onto my iPad to edit them. Should I look for a better solution with my computer? Are there similar learn curve programs I can use for my PC? Or could anybody offer any advice on getting me going with my iPad mini and Lumafusion?

I understand these questions are long. I hope to get any feedback on these questions. Thank uou
 
I do not own a M2Z but I can offer suggestions that are transferable from the MP:
  1. A ND filter is not needed for photos, unless you need a polarizing filter to cut reflections.
  2. Experiment with slower shutter speeds to allow more light. The 180 rule is just a starting point.
  3. .DNG files are the RAW photos. If it is set to take both types, you will have two identical file names but with different extensions. One will be xyz.jpg and one will be xyz.dng.
  4. Not an iUser so have no opinion besides whatever you are using needs a lot of RAM and a high end video card. Resolve does most of it's processing on the video card and will not even run on one of my computers.
Hopefully an iUser and a M2Z owner can help with software and setting questions.
 
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I do not own a M2Z but I can offer suggestions that are transferable from the MP:
  1. A ND filter is not needed for photos, unless you need a polarizing filter to cut reflections.
  2. Experiment with slower shutter speeds to allow more light. The 180 rule is just a starting point.
  3. .DNG files are the RAW photos. If it is set to take both types, you will have two identical file names but with different extensions. One will be xyz.jpg and one will be xyz.dng.
  4. Not an iUser so have no opinion besides whatever you are using needs a lot of RAM and a high end video card. Resolve does most of it's processing on the video card and will not even run on one of my computers.
Hopefully an iUser and a M2Z owner can help with software and setting questions.
Oh wow I always was told you need an ND filter for photography too. I still have so much to learn ! Thanks for your feedback
 
Oh wow I always was told you need an ND filter for photography too. I still have so much to learn !
There are many myths out there.
Unless you have a particular reason to want to force a slower shutter speed, there is no reason at all to use and ND filter for drone photography.
It won't do anything to make your images look better but will cut light reaching the sensor, making it harder to get a good picture.

And although you'll hear lots of recommendations for polarising filters, these are more trouble than they are worth on a drone.
To use them you have to align the filter relative to the sun.
That's fine when you fly the drone at that angle to the sun, but if you turn the drone to face another direction, you get blotchy skies and the polariser isn't doing what you wanted.

Don't get to stuck on ND filters for video either.
For most of what you're probably shooting, they won't make much difference.
Try shooting with and without and compare to decide what you like.
 
There are many myths out there.
Unless you have a particular reason to want to force a slower shutter speed, there is no reason at all to use and ND filter for drone photography.
It won't do anything to make your images look better but will cut light reaching the sensor, making it harder to get a good picture.

And although you'll hear lots of recommendations for polarising filters, these are more trouble than they are worth on a drone.
To use them you have to align the filter relative to the sun.
That's fine when you fly the drone at that angle to the sun, but if you turn the drone to face another direction, you get blotchy skies and the polariser isn't doing what you wanted.

Don't get to stuck on ND filters for video either.
For most of what you're probably shooting, they won't make much difference.
Try shooting with and without and compare to decide what you like.

Oh wow. So then a lot of these YouTube videos I’ve been looking up and stuff are probably very gimmicky I would imagine. That’s definitely frustrating to hear as newb trying To get his feet wet. I definitely felt as if the polorizing filters were more trouble then they were worth as well .. do you have recommendations of how I could learn the proper ways of shooting photo and video with a little bit of basic post work with these drones ?
 
 
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