High Wind Still Photography

[ScottM2Zoom1]

A couple of questions as I begin to develope my photography skills....working on still shots 1st. M2Z pilot....most shots involve moving landscape...80% of air time is in winds 10-15 gusts 20-25(mph)
Setup: I want to take a great pic of hawk sitting in tree. Wind at 20mph like today. Hawk....no problem....tree = 1 big blur.
Q1) single shot (j+r) vs HDR (j)
Does HDR add motion blur due to moving leaves across the timespan it takes to snap the 3 pics?
Q2) Auto vs Manual settings
Once I position for pic I can choose Auto or Manual. I usually have on auto. I can only change 3 settings in manual mode (not counting focal length) ISO, Shutter Speed, EV. If auto reads (like today) ISO 100 Shutter 1/500 ..... What would be the correct equivalent manual ISO-Shutter settings to stop action the blur of the leaves blowing (lol and drone moving a bit in Gusts)
Thanks in advance...sorry for rooky questions.

 

[BigAl07]

Any movement will be apparent in HDR. When I have an image that is blurred after the "HDR combination I will pick the center exposure image and process it through my HDR program alone. The program still "Enhances" the image a lot but with a single image it has minimal blur/movement.

I always shoot in 3 or 5 shot AEB and do the combining of images myself but I "think" if you use HDR mode the aircraft does the combining internally where-by eliminating the ability to pick one of the images to process stand alone.

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

Any movement will be apparent in HDR. When I have an image that is blurred after the "HDR combination I will pick the center exposure image and process it through my HDR program alone. The program still "Enhances" the image a lot but with a single image it has minimal blur/movement.

I always shoot in 3 or 5 shot AEB and do the combining of images myself but I "think" if you use HDR mode the aircraft does the combining internally where-by eliminating the ability to pick one of the images to process stand alone.

On M2Z in HDR I have not found anything but a single pic to choose from already merged if you will. If I manually increase the shutter speed in HDR shot....does that decrease the 3 shot timespan and thus less blur?

 

[DebianDog]

You will want a quick shutter speed and definitely not be in HDR mode. Rule of thumb for birds that may move is around 1/1000 and a low f-stop

 

[BigAl07]

On M2Z in HDR I have not found anything but a single pic to choose from already merged if you will. If I manually increase the shutter speed in HDR shot....does that decrease the 3 shot timespan and thus less blur?

I can't answer that but I'm pretty sure you're still going to have Motion Blur because it's taking individual pics.

Is there an option to use AEB instead of HDR?

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

You will want a quick shutter speed and definitely not be in HDR mode. Rule of thumb for birds that may move is around 1/1000 and a low f-stop

Please excuse my rookiness....I have been studying alot....and have gotten rooky familiar with M2Z camera. I must have missed the manual setting for fstop. I will look now but have never seen the ability to manually adjust fstop.

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

Please excuse my rookiness....I have been studying alot....and have gotten rooky familiar with M2Z camera. I must have missed the manual setting for fstop. I will look now but have never seen the ability to manually adjust fstop.

Ok. So....I'm old school all manual photograpy from 35 years ago still knocking off the rust and merging skills from back then with digital today. Are you calling or saying the ISO setting is the equivalent to setting f-stop?

 

[brett8883]

On M2Z in HDR I have not found anything but a single pic to choose from already merged if you will. If I manually increase the shutter speed in HDR shot....does that decrease the 3 shot timespan and thus less blur?

You are thinking of the built in auto HDR function which actually takes multiple photos but only records a single composite to the SD card because it processes it in camera. What @BigAl07 is referring to is actually the AEB function which is in the same menu options as “HDR” in the photo options menus of the camera settings.

The “auto HDR” setting you are using is kinda like “HDR for dummies(not a put down it’s just easier)” where the camera is making all the decisions for you. In contrast AEB(Auto Exposure Bracketing) will take 3 or 5 photos at different exposure values and save all the photos to the SD card unprocessed. This will allow you to create your own HDR in post where YOU get to make the decisions on how the the HDR is created using a program like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.

When creating your own HDR you will be given the option of “removing ghosts.” Ghosts are parts of an image that do not occur in the other images you are combining to make the HDR. For instance a moving car that appears in one part of the first image moves to another part of the second image and to a third part of the third image. The processing tool you are using will identify this as a ghost and remove this from the image entirely.

If you want the car in the picture but only in the placement that it appears in the first image you can select that image to be the “master image” and therefore the processing software will remove the car from the second and third image but keep it in the first image so in the resulting composite the car will appear where it was located in the first image.

Hopefully that’s not information overload

 

[DebianDog]

no ISO is sensor sensitivity (gain) it should always be 100 unless there is a good reason not to (night time/dark)

Aperture is your F/stop if you are shooting movies you want it 5.6 if you can get away with it.

 

[brett8883]

Ok. So....I'm old school all manual photograpy from 35 years ago still knocking off the rust and merging skills from back then with digital today. Are you calling or saying the ISO setting is the equivalent to setting f-stop?

No ISO is equivalent to film speed which also uses the the “ISO” units. It literally means the same thing since a faster film will have a edit: larger grain and therefore more noise. The M2Z has a fixed aperture so you can’t change f-stop within the same zoom level.

 

[brett8883]

no ISO is sensor sensitivity (gain) it should always be 100 unless there is a good reason not to (night time/dark)

Aperture is your F/stop if you are shooting movies you want it 5.6 if you can get away with it.
View attachment 73960

The op has a M2Z so I’m afraid showing him that screen shot of the M2Pros settings will probably be confusing since he can’t change aperture like you can.

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

No ISO is equivalent to film speed which also uses the the “ISO” units. It literally means the same thing since a faster film will have a higher grain and therefore more noise. The M2Z has a fixed aperture so you can’t change f-stop within the same zoom level.

I do not have the aperature setting option on manual settings screen to change f-stops. That row is absent on my Go 4 app which is current.

 

[DebianDog]

OH sorry MY BAD! Did not realize the M2Z had no Aperture ?

 

[BigAl07]

You are thinking of the built in auto HDR function which actually takes multiple photos but only records a single composite to the SD card because it processes it in camera. What @BigAl07 is referring to is actually the AEB function which is in the same menu options as “HDR” in the photo options menus of the camera settings.

The “auto HDR” setting you are using is kinda like “HDR for dummies(not a put down it’s just easier)” where the camera is making all the decisions for you. In contrast AEB(Auto Exposure Bracketing) will take 3 or 5 photos at different exposure values and save all the photos to the SD card unprocessed. This will allow you to create your own HDR in post where YOU get to make the decisions on how the the HDR is created using a program like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.

When creating your own HDR you will be given the option of “removing ghosts.” Ghosts are parts of an image that do not occur in the other images you are combining to make the HDR. For instance a moving car that appears in one part of the first image moves to another part of the second image and to a third part of the third image. The processing tool you are using will identify this as a ghost and remove this from the image entirely.

If you want the car in the picture but only in the placement that it appears in the first image you can select that image to be the “master image” and therefore the processing software will remove the car from the second and third image but keep it in the first image so in the resulting composite the car will appear where it was located in the first image.

Hopefully that’s not information overload

Excellent explanation. Very well done sir.

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

Excellent explanation. Very well done sir.

? Yeah.....I had guessed it (AEB function) and both explanations have provided great clarity on it (clarity ..lol what we talking) . Thank you greatly....sorta....at 57 I have been dreading learning post production software in favor of growing a one gallon wart on my nose. Guess it's time to build a computer and start the bleeding with editors.

 

[brett8883]

I do not have the aperature setting option on manual settings screen to change f-stops. That row is absent on my Go 4 app which is current.

That’s correct. That was a screen shot from the wrong drone. You do not have that option and so you cannot change your f-stop. You’ll have to use only shutter speed and ISO to balance your exposures. You want ISO as low as possible as long as your shutter speed is fast enough to get the shot you want

 

[DebianDog]

Yes Lightroom (and the others) do most of the HDR heavy lifting. It is a tad over saturated but thats on me

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

This may be a silly question....but I don't know the answer so I'll ask and appreciate your knowledge. I purchased the M2Z because I live on one of the family country ranches to scout for ferrel hogs and erradicate them with sniper rifle. The sidebar to that has become filming other wildlife because I can zoom to 96mm from far enough away that they never know eyes in the sky. Q: Photo goes to 48mm zoom....which often brings drone too close to critters and scares them away. Video 1080p 30fps 96mm easily let's me get the shot. In editor....can I pull single frames or multiple frames of video and end up with high quality still?

 

[DebianDog]

you can but

• 1080p = 1920 x 1080 - is usually known as FHD or "Full HD" resolution

I would think shooting a pic every 2 seconds would give you better resolution as you shoot 4000×3000 still pics on the M2Z

For the hog pests you should sell the Drone and go thermal

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[ScottM2Zoom1]

you can but

• 1080p = 1920 x 1080 - is usually known as FHD or "Full HD" resolution

I would think shooting a pic every 2 seconds would give you better resolution as you shoot 4000×3000 still pics on the M2Z

For the hog pests you should sell the Drone and go thermal

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Makes sense on the pics. Will always keep my zoom for day scouting. It covers 4x or more surface area than any other drone on the market that I know of. I can (with 96mm zoom) look/see from about 2500' away....ID pig vs cow vs deer etc and never have to make the 1/2 mile flight to ID. I have considered the additional purchase of thermal drone (which of course also means purchase of $4000 thermal scope for gun)....but all my research has resulted in a minimum entry cost of about $5000-$8000 for one with a good thermal camera and decent range . (The M2E dual is crappy at best. Based on YouTube videos watched....Barely IDs human laying on cold ground at night from 100ft altitude)....if it could only zoom ?