Need advices to avoid overexposure on pictures

[blount]

Hi guys,
I got a Mavic 3 and would need some advices to avoid overexposure on my pictures.

Here is a screenshot from a video (in auto mode): there is no overexposure:

Whereas the same scene is overexposed if I take a picture (in auto mode):

To get the exif data, you can download the original file here: DJI_0893.DNG


My questions:
1. why the same scene is great on video but overexposed on picture mode?
2. what should I change to take great pictures as well? Add a ND32 filter? Change something else?

Thanks in advance for your kind help

 

[Meta4]

1. why the same scene is great on video but overexposed on picture mode?

Your drone's exposure setting for video and stills are independent.
What you set for video doesn't automatically carry through for shooting stills.
You may have used auto exposure for video but the exposure setting for stills was on manual and the settings ( ISO 100 1/25th at f11) were just wrong for the scene and lighting.

2. what should I change to take great pictures as well? Add a ND32 filter? Change something else?

Adding an ND filter won't do anything to help with your overexposure issue.
All it would do is to cut 97% of the light getting through to your lens which won't help you shooting stills.
Unless you have a particular reason to force a longer shutter speed, there is no reason at all to use an ND filter when shooting stills.

What you should do is check the settings your camera is using for stills because it won't be the same as you set for video.

 

[Jim Martin]

Welcome!
I looked at the EXIF data and what immediately caught my attention was your exposure was set to 1/25 sec. That is a long exposure. Try setting your exposure to something around 1/250 (just a guess) and/or set exposure to auto and then adjust accordingly.

Without more details about the settings you used for both the video and photo it would be hard to tell why there is a difference (is everything on auto or are you setting the shots manually?).

I would also consider turning on over exposure so you can see zebra strips if you are over exposed.

 

[ryguy80]

Stopping down your aperture would be the first step. Down to F8 or even F11.

 

[Meta4]

Stopping down your aperture would be the first step. Down to F8 or even F11.

His aperture was set to F11 (see post #2).

 

[ryguy80]

His aperture was set to F11 (see post #2).

Thanks! I didn't realize that was the settings, I didn't download the EXIF data.

To the OP - I agree with shutter speed comments. 1/25th for shutter is too slow, you want something much faster...start at 1/250th and go from there. Don't mess with ISO - leave it at base, 100.

 

[Meta4]

Thanks! I didn't realize that was the settings, I didn't download the EXIF data.

To the OP - I agree with shutter speed comments. 1/25th for shutter is too slow, you want something much faster...start at 1/250th and go from there. Don't mess with ISO - leave it at base, 100.

His problem was that he assumed the camera was shooting stills with auto exposure like it was for video.
But the video settings don't carry over to stills settings and each has to be set individually.

The problem wasn't any particular aperture or shutter speed setting.
It was the combination of both.
If he had set the camera to use auto exposure for stills or had used appropriate manual settings, he wouldn't have had an overexposure problem.

 

[Erk1024]

@blount

I can't recommend setting your aperture to f/11. It's a small sensor with small pixels, and that means at these high f-stops, diffraction is going to make the photos blurry. I would go with something in the f/5.6 range. Because of the 2x crop factor of the M4/3rd's sensor, at f/5.6 you will get the depth of field of 5.6 x 2 = f/11.2 on a full frame camera.

I did some tests and came to some conclusions in this post you might want to check out. There are also links to the files if you want to draw your own conclusions. But the f/11 shots were ... not good.

More info about diffraction here.

 

[Meta4]

I can't recommend setting your aperture to f/11.

The OP didn't set the aperture to f/11.
He thought he was using Auto exposure and leaving exposure setting to the camera's auto program.

I did some tests and came to some conclusions in this post you might want to check out. There are also links to the files if you want to draw your own conclusions. But the f/11 shots were ... not good.

Although your pixel peeping test showed a small difference, I doubt the OP wouldn't have been able to notice any difference at any aperture for the shot he was taking.

 

[Marty Markoe]

Tap screen to focus and set exposure for a middle gray. If image is still overexposed, manually decrease aperture opening or increase shutter speed.

 

[GFields]

I suggest a basic course in photography. Your drone is a flying camera. There are many inexpensive courses and even some free ones via YouTube. Just choose one that has positive comments.

 

[hank970]

I own and Air 3 and am not familiar with the Mavic 3, so this comment may be way off the mark. But I'm curious. Does the Mavic 3 not offer an exposure compensation option?

My Air 3 also yielded still photos which appeared overexposed. The Air 3 cameras lack adjustable apertures. To compensate for overexposure, I set my exposure compensation setting to -0.7, almost a full stop darker.

Apologies if that remedy is not available on the Mavic 3.

 

[Meta4]

I own and Air 3 and am not familiar with the Mavic 3, so this comment may be way off the mark. But I'm curious. Does the Mavic 3 not offer an exposure compensation option?

All DJI consumer drones have Exposure Compensation
The Mavic 3 series drones also have an adjustable aperture on the main camera..

The cause of overexposure in this case has been explained earlier in the thread.