Prop glare in the camera guard...

[rchwallace]

Hey folks,

First post... total Mavic Noob but loving it so far. Looking forward to the photography to come...but

Of course the first response to my post will be to remove the camera guard but at times I am flying it in the wilderness and the like and would like to have the camera protection but having said that.

At times I have noticed in the right lighting conditions a prop glare that comes up on the captured images or video. I am considering painting the bottom of the props with a flat black spray paint to see if I can remove that glare.

Has anyone tried something similar?

Addititionally as a pilot before I get accosted with "the destruction of the lift profile in the props by painting them", I understand the aerodynamics, but thanks anyway.

Cheers

 

[Robert Mitchell]

This is just my opinion so act accordingly.

Yes, we have all had the unavoidable "glare and flicker on the dome" problem. It is unavoidable with that thing sticking several inches out there, and being a curved and non-optically correct piece of plastic only makes matters worse.

First, remove the guard. In an actual crash the guard will offer little to no protection and will either be ripped off or shattered on impact. IMO, the probability window of protection would be VERY narrow indeed. The protection it offers is better suited to transport, than the actual forces of a crash.

Second, the prop glare/flickering is likely coming from light passing through the prop rotation, not reflections from the bottom.

As for airfoil disruption with the paint; it would probably be negligible at worst. We are only talking about a few thousandths of a millimeter. That said I still don't think you would see a benefit. Here again just my opinion, and you are welcome to try anything you like. It's your Mavic after all.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Painting will probably unbalance the props but if you do it and experience no issues as a result please report back - I'd quite like to paint mine a bright colour for better visibility at a distance but I haven't because I expect they would cause a lot of vibration and camera jello.

 

[rchwallace]

This is just my opinion so act accordingly.

Yes, we have all had the unavoidable "glare and flicker on the dome" problem. It is unavoidable with that thing sticking several inches out there, and being a curved and non-optically correct piece of plastic only makes matters worse.

First, remove the guard. In an actual crash the guard will offer little to no protection and will either be ripped off or shattered on impact. The protection it offers is better suited to transport, than the actual forces of a crash.

Second, the prop glare/flickering is likely coming from light passing through the prop rotation, not reflections from the bottom.

As for airfoil disruption with the paint; it would probably be negligible at worst. We are only talking about a few thousandths of a millimeter. That said I still don't think you would see a benefit. Here again just my opinion, and you are welcome to try anything you like. It's your Mavic after all.

Good points about it being more likely the light coming through rather than the props. We will see.

 

[Robin]

The colour of the props will make no difference.

The only thing you can do is stop the sun light coming through at such an angle it strikes the lens after passing through the props.

The P3 / P4 are much more prone to this and on the P3 I had a little peaked hood on top the lens to minimise the effect.

 

[rchwallace]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the great points. I have been trying a polarized filter to see if that will work but of course I put it on in Landscape and then switch to portrait and .... nadda.

Anyway, ok so painting the props is likely a nil effect proposition.

I guess this would explain the number of "sun shade" accessories that I see online when looking at the market.

Cheers