Mavic Air - shooting video at night - best settings

[DinDin]

Hi there,

I've googled a lot, and tried to find answers in existing threads, but no luck so far.

I need to get the best night footage from my Mavic Air, I've tested several settings and assumed the following so far:

- going above ISO 800 makes footage extremely grainy with some flickering and other artefacts.
At the same time, even ISO 800 requires noise reduction in post.

- AIR can film at shutter speed = FPS. For sure, it makes video bit blurry, but that's acceptable for the sake of allowing as much light as possible.
(BTW, when lowering shutter speed below preset FPS it lowers it appropriately without showing that)

The question is - are there any other tips / no goes you'd advise.

Thanks in advance.

 

[e143slime8]

Just a note, I know this isn't your question, however:

Confused about flying at night

My buddy ask me if I can fly my drone at night? I never had in the past so I started to see if I could. I've found a bunch of info and I'm still not sure. Currently.....can a hobbyist fly a drone at night in the US? Thanks

mavicpilots.com

 

[DinDin]

Just a note, I know this isn't your question, however:

Confused about flying at night

My buddy ask me if I can fly my drone at night? I never had in the past so I started to see if I could. I've found a bunch of info and I'm still not sure. Currently.....can a hobbyist fly a drone at night in the US? Thanks

mavicpilots.com

Thanks, but the thing is I"m not in USA, and the other point is that I'm not going to fly really far or high, the key point is to film an outdoor private event.

 

[Harold Morgan]

Yes, a hobbyist can fly a drone at night in the U.S. If you're flying as a 107 you cannot 30 minutes after dusk and if you do fly in twilight, you must have some kind of strobe or some manner of collision lights on your drone.

 

[DinDin]

Yes, a hobbyist can fly a drone at night in the U.S. If you're flying as a 107 you cannot 30 minutes after dusk and if you do fly in twilight, you must have some kind of strobe or some manner of collision lights on your drone.

Oh... thanks, but, again... I was not asking about regulations. I'm not interested in this info at all. As mentioned earlier, I am located OUTSIDE of the US. Not relevant for me.
I believe it's good to read the question before answering

I am looking for an advice on the best possible settings (ISO, fps, shutter speed) to get the best result when filming VIDEO at night.
Let's say you have an outdoor event with some objects well lit and the task is to get the best of it.

Thanks again,
hope you have some relevant experience to share.

 

[disappointed_horsey]

Lots of YouTube videos about drone shooting at night. I suggest you start there. I’m on a mission as well…

 

[Harold Morgan]

Oh... thanks, but, again... I was not asking about regulations. I'm not interested in this info at all. As mentioned earlier, I am located OUTSIDE of the US. Not relevant for me.
I believe it's good to read the question before answering

I am looking for an advice on the best possible settings (ISO, fps, shutter speed) to get the best result when filming VIDEO at night.
Let's say you have an outdoor event with some objects well lit and the task is to get the best of it.

Thanks again,
hope you have some relevant experience to share.

Most pros tell you to pull up your histogram in the DJI or Litchi app (or whatever you're using)

 

[disappointed_horsey]

Get some lumecubes and stick them on your drone. Done

 

[slup]

... I am looking for an advice on the best possible settings (ISO, fps, shutter speed) to get the best result when filming VIDEO at night.
Let's say you have an outdoor event with some objects well lit and the task is to get the best of it.

Thanks again,
hope you have some relevant experience to share.

You will never have something called "the best setting" weather it's day or night filming ...

The only thing that differ between "plenty of light" & "not so much light" is that you will push your camera more into the extremes in the dark.

If filming you can't/shouldn't use a shutter slower then your chosen frame rate ie. fps24 slowest shutter 1/24. If that isn't enough to get the correct exposure or motion blur becomes to disturbing you need to turn to the iso setting. How high you will go there is a question of your preferences ... how grainy is acceptable for you. You can't adjust the aperture on the Air so that parameter isn't available.

Then it's a matter of how skilled you are in post to correct for things like grain & under exposure.

Sorry ... no recipe exist that gives you perfect results every time.