Propellers in photos

[Lionfish]

Hi
I watched a YouTube video yesterday , with a professional photographer having problems with the props flickering in the top corners of his photos and videos.
Presumably this can be an issue if the mavic is flying low compared to the subject , flying higher than the subject will obviously take away the issue .
So my question , is there any ways to get around this or lessen it ?.
My thinking is it something that you just correct afterwards by cropping the picture , or is there an other way ?.
I’m also guessing that with everything going on while flying that the slight flicker may not be noticed until after , thus wasting a valuable shot possibly away from home and no chance of re -flying for the photo.
With that said I can well imagine the frustration of it happening the more professional pilots out there ..
So I’m just curious and would like to see what you think , or tips to avoid this from happening.
I don’t know which if any other DJI drones have this ability or not .

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Was the photographer in the video flying a Mavic? Because I haven't had this problem yet with my M2P. I had the issue with the old Phantom all of the time.

I wouldn't be concerned until you actually experience it the Mavic. Also, even if it did happen on the Mavic, it would probably be only when the gimbal is tilted above zero degrees (straight ahead), which you aren't likely to do much.

That said, yes, with the right video editor, you can crop the frame.

Chris

 

[dirkclod]

I’ve not had any issues, Got a link to that video @Lionfish

 

[old man mavic]

apart from what Chris said in post#2 sometimes you can get prop shadow if the sun is very bright,and shining through the props even if they are not actually in cameras view

 

[ChipDjipro]

He obviously is no professional.

 

[Meta4]

I watched a YouTube video yesterday , with a professional photographer having problems with the props flickering in the top corners of his photos and videos.

The reason for this is pretty simple.
The drone sits level when hovering in still air but to fly forward, it tilts forward.
To fly faster, it tilts more.
If you are flying hard and have the camera looking forward, it's looking through the props.
Tilt the camera downwards or slow the drone and it's not looking through the props.

 

[Lionfish]

Hi
The name of the video was
Mavic 2 zoom The best still flawed .
By Tony Northrop .

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Hi
The name of the video was
Mavic 2 zoom The best still flawed .
By Tony Northrop .

@ 4:55, yes the props are visible in part of that, the M2Z going forward and yawing.
Was he yawing too fast for cinematic video ? Perhaps.
If he was going slightly slower and more so not yawing so fast, no props would have shown.
Any 3 axis gimbal will have this issue, thought the Parrot Anafi 180 degree gimbal is possibly less prone.

The other flickering either side was prop shadows, most drones will get this to some degree, if flying towards the sun.
Again flying into the sun isn't good cinematic video, but sometimes the artistic side of lens flare etc is desirable . . . just edit out bad prop flare as needed.

As mentioned here, so many variables.
But any drone will have its achilles heel, whether it is a DJI drone model, or other drone brand.

 

[jwt873]

I have a DJI Phantom 3. It always showed props when going full stick forward in sport mode. The tilt put the props into the top area of the camera's field of view..

I've never had that problem with my M2 Zoom. As old man mavic suggests above, it's most likely from shadows cast by the sun.

One thing that can be done to reduce prop flicker is to increase the shutter speed. This can blur the motion to a point where it's not as visible. This did work with my old Phantom 3.

 

[Dave Maine]

All the drones have the problem in varying degrees. It is a function of flight geometry. Going forward rapidly requires tilting the aircraft nose down. Really high speed is a tilt of 18 degrees or so. The gimbal will also be tilted down if it is set at straight ahead. The instinct is to tilt the gimbal up to reposition the image framing. This will pick the props up big time, and why DJI locks the gimbal from tilting up.

Flying slower, and fixing the video speed in post is a workaround that works fine.

 

[KB9Radio]

Hi
The name of the video was
Mavic 2 zoom The best still flawed .
By Tony Northrop .

I trust Tony (love his videos) but have never had it happen with my M2Z at all. I suspect he was trying to make it happen for demo purposes, and I'm sure if you pointed the camera up a bit and went full forward in sport mode, you could probably make it happen. Under normal video and flying circumstances, I have never had it happen.

 

[cuge]

I already experienced this issue (props being showed) when using the active track at FAST mode and making a circle around the subject (sliding the small circle on the screen of cellphone running DJI GO 4 app).

 

[51 Drones]

Hi
The name of the video was
Mavic 2 zoom The best still flawed .
By Tony Northrop .

Northrup has no clue how to fly a drone.

 

[Reelman67]

The reason for this is pretty simple.
The drone sits level when hovering in still air but to fly forward, it tilts forward.
To fly faster, it tilts more.
If you are flying hard and have the camera looking forward, it's looking through the props.
Tilt the camera downwards or slow the drone and it's not looking through the props.

Thanks for the explanation. I had it a lot with my Mavic Pro and really did not understand what was the issue.