Manual exposure on mini 4 pro

[jayeldee]

Maybe I haven't searched enough, but I tried...
I am trying to set a manual exposure for my mini 4 pro, eg not AUTo exposure. I have searched for it and cannot find an answer. I want a fixed exposure that will not correct for lowered light levels during totality for the solar eclipse, I want the exposure to go dark.
How can I set that? Is that possible?
Thanks
John

 

[MS Coast]

Maybe I haven't searched enough, but I tried...
I am trying to set a manual exposure for my mini 4 pro, eg not AUTo exposure. I have searched for it and cannot find an answer. I want a fixed exposure that will not correct for lowered light levels during totality for the solar eclipse, I want the exposure to go dark.
How can I set that? Is that possible?
Thanks
John

Tap the Auto icon that looks like a camera in the lower right corner of the screen. You can then set the shutter speed and ISO.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Tap the Auto icon that looks like a camera in the lower right corner of the screen. You can then set the shutter speed and ISO.

Also note that when you switch to PRO (manual) mode, it will still be in full auto, which can be confusing. Both shutter and ISO have an auto setting in PRO mode, enabling shutter or ISO priority.

So don't forget to deliberately set both to a fixed value after switching to PRO mode. Set just one and you're still effectively in AUTO in terms of exposure.

 

[jayeldee]

Thank you!
Couldn't find that anywhere. I had the histogram displayed before I went fooling with the exposure, then histogram was shut off...turned it back on.
In that PRO setting, I see shutter speed and ISO that can be adjusted, WB temp is 5600 which is appropriate for right now in College Station (sunny and high clouds 11:51 am).
There is also "F 1.7" that I assume is the f stop, and a label that looks like Exp compensation but labeled "MM," and it varies , but is about +1.0to +1.7 when the histogram looks good. Does that sound about right? My ss is 1/2500 sec and iso is at 100.
In your post above you suggest that only shutter speed and ISO can be changed, is that correct? IE, can I set the f stop at 8 and the MM at 0.0, or those just passive measures that reflect what the shutter and ISO are doing? I suspect that is what's happening, but would love to be wrong.
Thanks for the insights, MS Coast, wishing you clear, or passable skies wherever you land.
John

 

[jayeldee]

@Droning on and on,
Thanks for the tip. I did not know that, but had changed both, so I was there in Manual mode...in the excitement of totality, I know myself well enough to know I could screw that up, appreciate the insight.
This thing is way cool!

 

[Droning on and on...]

The M4P has a fixed aperture, so the lens passes to the sensor the equivalent light of an f1.7 variable aperture diaphragm. It can not be adjusted.

Color temp / WB can be adjusted.

MM is EV (Exposure Value). EV, SS, and ISO are mathematically related. Given any two, the third can be calculated.

So, in manual mode two of the three can be set, and the third is derived. Whichever two you have fixed, the third will be "read-only", you will not be able to set it.

How to access setting MM/EV? Set one of or both SS and/or ISO to AUTO while in PRO mode.

Let's say you want to capture a water skiier moving fast, but you want a sharp image, and slightly underexposed to catch more data/detail in the clouds, sky, and water. Switch to PRO, set shutter to 1/1000, let ISO float in auto, set MM/EV to -0.7. You also shoot video in D-log to pull detail out of the shadows in post color grading.

 

[MS Coast]

Thank you!
Couldn't find that anywhere. I had the histogram displayed before I went fooling with the exposure, then histogram was shut off...turned it back on.
In that PRO setting, I see shutter speed and ISO that can be adjusted, WB temp is 5600 which is appropriate for right now in College Station (sunny and high clouds 11:51 am).
There is also "F 1.7" that I assume is the f stop, and a label that looks like Exp compensation but labeled "MM," and it varies , but is about +1.0to +1.7 when the histogram looks good. Does that sound about right? My ss is 1/2500 sec and iso is at 100.
In your post above you suggest that only shutter speed and ISO can be changed, is that correct? IE, can I set the f stop at 8 and the MM at 0.0, or those just passive measures that reflect what the shutter and ISO are doing? I suspect that is what's happening, but would love to be wrong.
Thanks for the insights, MS Coast, wishing you clear, or passable skies wherever you land.
John

The Mini 4 Pro has a fixed aperture lens, at f1.7. You have control over only the shutter speed and ISO.

In manual mode, the MM value just tells you how your selected exposure differs from what the camera would choose if set to auto. You cannot adjust it in manual mode.

In auto mode or with either ISO or shutter speed set to auto, MM turns to EV and it's selectable. You can adjust EV to bias the camera's chosen settings. If you want the result to be darker, set EV to a negative number.

If you want to record the darkening during the eclipse, you probably want to use manual mode with ISO at 100. Before the eclipse begins, set the shutter speed to whatever value looks good on the histogram and qualitatively on the screen. The MM value should be near zero. (I like to underexpose slightly and usually use -0.3.)

If you allow either ISO or shutter speed to vary, the camera will increase ISO and/or slow the shutter speed as the eclipse progresses in an attempt to maintain "normal" exposure.

This web page may be helpful.

DJI Mini 3 Pro Exposure Settings Explained | vicvideopic.com

One of the most frequent causes of mediocre results with footage and photos with drones is wrong exposure. The DJI Mini 3 Pro has useful…

vicvideopic.com

 

[jayeldee]

thank y'all very much...clear skies!

 

[jayeldee]

just a bit of followup...the drone did well, but I need to edit a bit to bring up the shadows during totality. I set my exposure during "daylight" according to the histogram. I was outside of Gatesville, TX and we had some clouds. I let the exposure during totality just fall where it would, but it was a dark totality and I want to lighten it a bit. The mini 4pro preformed very well, and the exposure advice was spot on.