Mavic 3 Pro - usage for night-time long exposures

[Ed Hurst]

Bit of an odd query! With my terrestrial cameras, I specialise in night-time long exposures, including things such as star trails. What I'd love to do is use my Mavic 3 Pro to permit this from otherwise inaccessible locations. The idea is something like this:
- Fly the Mavic 3 Pro to the desired vantage point (somewhere I can't reach on foot)
- Land there
- Shoot a series of long exposures from the ground (or wherever the drone has landed)
My questions are:
- Will the drone be sufficiently stable (assuming it's landed on a flat, solid surface) to allow sharp, long exposures?
- Are you aware of any accessories that will act like a tripod - extended feet or similar - which will make sure the drone is quite stable and secure once landed?

Ideally, I'd envisage the drone actually carrying a small tripod, landing, taking the picture(s), then taking off and returning to me. This might even allow a clear view over obstructions like rocks, low fences and the like. But I realise the drone may have to be more or less on the ground and carrying a tripod is likely to be impossible.

Any ideas or suggestions most welcome!

 

[SkyeHigh]

Bit of an odd query! With my terrestrial cameras, I specialise in night-time long exposures, including things such as star trails. What I'd love to do is use my Mavic 3 Pro to permit this from otherwise inaccessible locations. The idea is something like this:
- Fly the Mavic 3 Pro to the desired vantage point (somewhere I can't reach on foot)
- Land there
- Shoot a series of long exposures from the ground (or wherever the drone has landed)
My questions are:
- Will the drone be sufficiently stable (assuming it's landed on a flat, solid surface) to allow sharp, long exposures?
- Are you aware of any accessories that will act like a tripod - extended feet or similar - which will make sure the drone is quite stable and secure once landed?

Ideally, I'd envisage the drone actually carrying a small tripod, landing, taking the picture(s), then taking off and returning to me. This might even allow a clear view over obstructions like rocks, low fences and the like. But I realise the drone may have to be more or less on the ground and carrying a tripod is likely to be impossible.

Any ideas or suggestions most welcome!

Assuming you have an ReOC or RePL (Flying at night in Australia) then it would be risky if you have no clear site of the drone wherever you are intending to land it and after the long exposure will you have sufficient battery to get the drone back to you?

As long as the aircraft is on a stable surface and there is little wind to disturb the gimbal then stability ’should’ be okay. Make sure you focus manually as low light could cause you issues.

You would likely need to stop the motors to reduce vibration further and that may cause you an issue starting them again if the signal is weak or obscured and leaving the aircraft powered-up during a long exposure will allow heat to build-up that may be an issue with the warmer nights we’re now getting.

I got some images in Tasmania but noise in the resultant image made it unusable and the strong wind was enough to nudge the drone a little sitting on top of a caravan. For the record I placed the drone on the caravan aircon unit by hand - not flown.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Bit of an odd query! With my terrestrial cameras, I specialise in night-time long exposures, including things such as star trails. What I'd love to do is use my Mavic 3 Pro to permit this from otherwise inaccessible locations. The idea is something like this:
- Fly the Mavic 3 Pro to the desired vantage point (somewhere I can't reach on foot)
- Land there
- Shoot a series of long exposures from the ground (or wherever the drone has landed)
My questions are:
- Will the drone be sufficiently stable (assuming it's landed on a flat, solid surface) to allow sharp, long exposures?
- Are you aware of any accessories that will act like a tripod - extended feet or similar - which will make sure the drone is quite stable and secure once landed?

Ideally, I'd envisage the drone actually carrying a small tripod, landing, taking the picture(s), then taking off and returning to me. This might even allow a clear view over obstructions like rocks, low fences and the like. But I realise the drone may have to be more or less on the ground and carrying a tripod is likely to be impossible.

Any ideas or suggestions most welcome!

All of the DJI drones are capable of this, but it all depends on what you mean by ' long exposure'. Excellent 1-3 second exposures can be achieved (as long as the wind conditions are dead calm) on-the-fly..... or more accurately, on-the-hover. Longer exposures can be achieved, but it will be a crap-shoot. With the drone static, there is nothing inhibiting the 'shutter' being left open for the max (8 seconds, I believe).
Landing the drone on a remote vantage point is where you may run into trouble, if you don't have clear line of sight, or if there are materials which can attenuate or completely block the control signal, you're screwed. Then there's the fact that as soon as you try to take off again: the drone marks that inaccessible spot as your new home point, so if you do lose control connection, it heads right back to that same inaccessible spot and lands.
I suppose you could design and jerry-rig a set of long 'leg' extensions similar to those currently on the market but significantly 'leggier', something anyone with a 3-D printer could expedite. But anything remotely resembling a good, solid tripod? Not as far as I'm aware.

 

[Meta4]

Any ideas or suggestions most welcome!

The logistics would be formidable.
You would need to find and be able to land somewhere you still have a clear, unobstructed line of sight beck to the controller after landing, and gives you a view of a suitable subject.
You would have to make that landing in the dark.
You couldn't easily make small adjustments to the camera (or drone) position.

Flying at night isn't particularly difficult.
But flying close to obstacles in the dark is just asking for trouble.

 

[hansenn]

I,m curious how you solve this...let us know yout progress

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

You're better off just keeping it in the air since the max exposure is only 8 seconds anyway. This is one I took with my old X-Star with an 8 second exposure, and it was fairly windy that night. Unless you're a pixel peeper, you should get a decent photo from the air. Star trails however, there's just not long enough exposure on a drone for that kind of thing.

 

[WanderLost]

I recently took 8 second exposure photos with my Mavic 3 hovering and even in non-windy conditions, the photos were all blurred and I tossed them.
I've been able to get surprisingly sharp photos with the drone landed and focused on something close - often do this when relatives are visiting.
I could see situations where you flew to a smooth rocky outcrop or the top of a building to shoot the sky or a cityscape with long exposures. But, yeah - it would be critical to keep an eye on the battery and flying conditions for safe returns.

 

[DARKSeifer]

If you let it hover, up to 3 seconds is quite usable but, from there to 8 seconds you must take like 10-20 pictures (you can use the timer and set it to take the pics for you instead of pressing the button) and hope for one that is not blurry.

When you leave the drone hovering, gimbal still moves a bit, and at night it can't rely on ont the OA sensors to fix it's location, so a bit of sway here and there will cause long exposure to be blurry.

You technically can land the drone, and then takeoff again, but it would be literally on the ground, not at 1.5 meter height or something more "usable".

On the other hand, 8 seconds is not long enough for the purpose you want, but you could use the drone to scout the location and find a path, and then bring your gear there to take the long exposure pic on location.

This is ISO 100, f9 and 3 seconds exposure on the Mavic 3, plus lightroom "enhance".

View attachment DJI_0583-Mejorado-NR_LOW_RES.jpg

 

[hansenn]

If you let it hover, up to 3 seconds is quite usable but, from there to 8 seconds you must take like 10-20 pictures (you can use the timer and set it to take the pics for you instead of pressing the button) and hope for one that is not blurry.

When you leave the drone hovering, gimbal still moves a bit, and at night it can't rely on ont the OA sensors to fix it's location, so a bit of sway here and there will cause long exposure to be blurry.

You technically can land the drone, and then takeoff again, but it would be literally on the ground, not at 1.5 meter height or something more "usable".

On the other hand, 8 seconds is not long enough for the purpose you want, but you could use the drone to scout the location and find a path, and then bring your gear there to take the long exposure pic on location.

This is ISO 100, f9 and 3 seconds exposure on the Mavic 3, plus lightroom "enhance".

View attachment 169997

wow, nice shot.
What was your altitude there? I mean, what is a safe height to shoot fireworks?

 

[MavicFlyer2]

I've never done nighttime long exposures with my Mavic 2 Pro so can't say. I would think scouting first but at night it's to risky for me.
I might have to try some nighttime long exposure shoots on a calm night. I like the photos !

 

[Ed Hurst]

Thank you everyone for the excellent thoughts and suggestions above. They are extremely helpful.
I wonder if there's any way to stop the drone from marking the point I had landed as the new 'home' point - i.e. to make the initial home point endure despite the landing, shooting and subsequent take-off.

 

[Ed Hurst]

Having looked more closely at the Mavic 3 Pro Manual, I can see that it states, "If it is necessary to update the Home Point during a flight... the Home Point can be manually updated in Settings > Safety page in DJI Fly." So it would seem that it would be possible to fly the drone to a desired location, land (with extreme care), stop the motors, shoot the desired image(s), restart the motors, take off, reset the Home Point to where the controller is, then use Return to Home to get the drone to fly back to where the controller is positioned - thus overriding the location where the pictures were taken having become the new Home Point. Of course, all this assumes landing safely in the dark, doing so in a position with the desired view, retaining signal between the controller and aircraft to do the shooting and still having the signal in order to take off and reset the Home Point. But if all of that is the case, then it sounds possible (though ambitious!!!).
I am confident that an 8-second exposure (taken from the ground) would be sufficient for the shots I have in mind (though longer would be good to have).
I would never undertake such a thing without being certain that I retain clear line-of-sight (and thus signal), that the position is safe/legal, and that all other rules/laws are met at all times.

 

[WanderLost]

Thank you everyone for the excellent thoughts and suggestions above. They are extremely helpful.
I wonder if there's any way to stop the drone from marking the point I had landed as the new 'home' point - i.e. to make the initial home point endure despite the landing, shooting and subsequent take-off.

You'd have to test this. If you land the drone at another location - as long as you don't shut it off, would the home point not be updated? I know if I land and shut down and restart, the home point gets updated.

 

[Ed Hurst]

You'd have to test this. If you land the drone at another location - as long as you don't shut it off, would the home point not be updated? I know if I land and shut down and restart, the home point gets updated.

Hi there, thanks for your reply. I do agree with what you say. However, what I'm inferring from the manual is that you can then reset the Home Point manually to the RC controller (using Settings > Safety page in DJI Fly), which would then mean that you once again have the Home Point back where you're standing. Of course, all that assumes that you still have connectivity with the aircraft.

 

[WanderLost]

Hi there, thanks for your reply. I do agree with what you say. However, what I'm inferring from the manual is that you can then reset the Home Point manually to the RC controller (using Settings > Safety page in DJI Fly), which would then mean that you once again have the Home Point back where you're standing. Of course, all that assumes that you still have connectivity with the aircraft.

That's right! And that solves your issue doesn't it? I'm going to test landing and restarting without shutting off and seeing if the home point is updated.

 

[Ed Hurst]

That's right! And that solves your issue doesn't it? I'm going to test landing and restarting without shutting off and seeing if the home point is updated.

It certainly solves a large part of my question, yes. Thanks for your help!
Of course, I will have to be extremely careful to retain an uninterrupted signal, to know how to fly & land safely in the dark, to find a place to land with a clear view of my desired subject matter, to shoot subjects using a max exposure time of 8 seconds, etc. and I'd still like to know if there's any way to get the drone to 'look upwards' a bit more than the usual 35 degrees (for example by fitting extended feet only at the front, which may cause it to be titled upwards slightly on landing)! But I'm beginning to feel that, despite these significant challenges, such a thing may be possible.

 

[Droning on and on...]

As @Meta4 said, logistics is probably the biggest issue here. As such this is a mission that demands a "dry run" and practice in daylight. That way you can expose any issues not anticipated, and try it out in a way that you can recover the drone if things go wrong.

Setting aside for the sake of argument potential rules violations, find a place you can get to to recover the drone if for some reason you can't take off again after landing. Test the mission with this location. Write a set of procedures to follow, including resetting the HP back to your location immediately after taking off again.

Practice the entire mission a few times until you feel comfortable and have it nailed, during the day.

Next, practice landing in the dark using the downward landing light looking straight down. Do this near by, so there's no risk to the drone. Practice this over and over, and vary the landing site in terms of surface texture, flatness, color, etc. Again, develop skill and experience to the point of comfort.

Next, do your daylight practice mission, the one where you could go get the drone if you couldn't take off again for some reason, at night. Do as many runs as you need to to feel comfortable.

Finally, dry-run the actual mission during daylight. If all is well, you're ready for the actual mission!