Question about lack of variable aperture on Air 2S

[Bussty]

My earlier larger sensor Digital Camera was sharpest at f/8, my current smaller Micro 4/3 Camera is pretty much glued at f/5.6 it kind of follows that for the Air 2S with a smaller sensor again the optimum sharpness would be around f/4-f/2.8?

There is some criticism of the Air 2S not having a variable shutter but if the sharpest aperture is close to it's fixed f/2.8 isn't that where you should be keeping things anyway?

Just a thought....

 

[Meta4]

There is some criticism of the Air 2S not having a variable aperture but if the sharpest aperture is close to it's fixed f/2.8 isn't that where you should be keeping things anyway?

If you read posts here, you could get the idea that there's only one best aperture setting to use with any lens and you'll get dismal results with any other aperture setting.
That's just nonsense, promoted by pixel peepers, and repeated by people with little photographic experience.
If it was true, camera makers wouldn't bother giving you all those other f stops.
Do a little testing with any camera (that does have a controllable aperture), and see if you can discern any difference in sharpness that makes an real difference.

 

[Bussty]

Sorry have to disagree here. When you are blowing up big prints f5.6 on a micro 4/3 is a lot sharper than say f11 f16. Defraction does become an issue. But if just shooting for web you are probably right. I'm always imagining my image 1m high or wide on the wall.

I've tested every lens I have ever owned and found this to be the case. Focus stacking and prime aperture give amazing results IMO.

 

[SkyeHigh]

Sorry have to disagree here. When you are blowing up big prints f5.6 on a micro 4/3 is a lot sharper than say f11 f16. Defraction does become an issue. But if just shooting for web you are probably right. I'm always imagining my image 1m high or wide on the wall.

I've tested every lens I have ever owned and found this to be the case. Focus stacking and prime aperture give amazing results IMO.

That can be the case with digital cameras at ground level but as soon as you’re up in the air you having nothing close to the camera to be able to judge depth of field. Even more so with the wide angle lenses on our UAVs.

Yes there is an optimum aperture on every lens and yes, f8 is the aperture that 35mm lenses were designed around but you’ll see very little difference on UAV photographs.

 

[offtheback]

If you read posts here, you could get the idea that there's only one best aperture setting to use with any lens and you'll get dismal results with any other aperture setting.
That's just nonsense, promoted by pixel peepers, and repeated by people with little photographic experience.
If it was true, camera makers wouldn't bother giving you all those other f stops.
Do a little testing with any camera (that does have a controllable aperture), and see if you can discern any difference in sharpness that makes an real difference.

I believe different lenses are optimized to some degree for ultimate sharpness at a particular range of f stops.I use micro 4/3 and the "pro lenses" seem to be optimized for 1 or 2 stops down from wide open.A strategy so that bokeh can be better achieved and diffraction avoided.With the greater depth of field of the 4/3 sensor vs full frame stopping down as much is not often needed.

 

[AnsibleMedia]

So I'm a photographer that also happens to use drones for my business. While all the basic rules still apply to drone cameras, in practice variable apertures are used different on drones than on DSLR or mirrorless cameras.

Firstly, yes there is some effect on the overall sharpness based on aperture. Usually when shooting wide open the image will be a little softer around the edges, and as you stop down 1-2 stops that will typically go away. Given that most drones are using wide-angle lenses, this can be apparent, though usually not to a great extent.

Another reason a DSLR or mirrorless user will vary their aperture is to control depth of field. However, sensor size, and distance to the subject often have more effect on depth of field than aperture, and in most drone shots, you're using a smaller sensor, and are far away from your subject, so a narrow depth of field usually isn't the objective.

The main reason, in my opinion, that a drone user would want a variable aperture is for controlling exposure. Especially when shooting video, you're typically using a fixed shutter speed, as low an ISO as you can manage, and that only really leaves you two options left for controlling exposure: Aperture and ND filters. Now videographers using their mirrorless or cinema cameras obviously go for ND/VND filters, because they can and do make use of depth of field, but also they can reach up and adjust or swap filters very easily. That is not so easily done with a drone, if you've got an ND16 on to get the perfect exposure and you fly out and start capturing video, and cloud cover rolls in and now your shot is too dark, you have to bring the drone back in, land, swap for an ND8 or adjust your VND, take off again and return to where you were filming, only for the clouds to blow away and exposure to change once more. Obviously you have some flexibility with ISO and such, but in general it is much easier to just adjust aperture mid-flight to adjust for changing lighting conditions.

This doesn't mean you can't do it with a fixed aperture drone, it just makes it less efficient and more time consuming. A "pro" drone pilot will want a variable aperture as to them their time is money, whereas a hobbyist may be perfectly happy to spend twice as much time to get the shot just right. It's all about having options.

 

[offtheback]

So I'm a photographer that also happens to use drones for my business. While all the basic rules still apply to drone cameras, in practice variable apertures are used different on drones than on DSLR or mirrorless cameras.

Firstly, yes there is some effect on the overall sharpness based on aperture. Usually when shooting wide open the image will be a little softer around the edges, and as you stop down 1-2 stops that will typically go away. Given that most drones are using wide-angle lenses, this can be apparent, though usually not to a great extent.

Another reason a DSLR or mirrorless user will vary their aperture is to control depth of field. However, sensor size, and distance to the subject often have more effect on depth of field than aperture, and in most drone shots, you're using a smaller sensor, and are far away from your subject, so a narrow depth of field usually isn't the objective.

The main reason, in my opinion, that a drone user would want a variable aperture is for controlling exposure. Especially when shooting video, you're typically using a fixed shutter speed, as low an ISO as you can manage, and that only really leaves you two options left for controlling exposure: Aperture and ND filters. Now videographers using their mirrorless or cinema cameras obviously go for ND/VND filters, because they can and do make use of depth of field, but also they can reach up and adjust or swap filters very easily. That is not so easily done with a drone, if you've got an ND16 on to get the perfect exposure and you fly out and start capturing video, and cloud cover rolls in and now your shot is too dark, you have to bring the drone back in, land, swap for an ND8 or adjust your VND, take off again and return to where you were filming, only for the clouds to blow away and exposure to change once more. Obviously you have some flexibility with ISO and such, but in general it is much easier to just adjust aperture mid-flight to adjust for changing lighting conditions.

This doesn't mean you can't do it with a fixed aperture drone, it just makes it less efficient and more time consuming. A "pro" drone pilot will want a variable aperture as to them their time is money, whereas a hobbyist may be perfectly happy to spend twice as much time to get the shot just right. It's all about having options.

Well said!

 

[bkushner]

My earlier larger sensor Digital Camera was sharpest at f/8, my current smaller Micro 4/3 Camera is pretty much glued at f/5.6 it kind of follows that for the Air 2S with a smaller sensor again the optimum sharpness would be around f/4-f/2.8?

There is some criticism of the Air 2S not having a variable shutter but if the sharpest aperture is close to it's fixed f/2.8 isn't that where you should be keeping things anyway?

Just a thought....

How would you know if that's the best aperture?

 

[Bobbogee]

if you've got an ND16 on to get the perfect exposure and you fly out and start capturing video, and cloud cover rolls in and now your shot is too dark, you have to bring the drone back in, land, swap for an ND8 or adjust your VND, take off again and return to where you were filming, only for the clouds to blow away and exposure to change once more

You could also just change to auto ISO if that is available to get around the need to fly back in for a filter change ...

 

[Meta4]

How would you know if that's the best aperture?

It's pretty simple to do a little testing to see what kind of results you get at various aperture settings.
If people did that instead of taking the word of some youtube "influencer", they might find that the lens doesn't have just one f stop that's "best", but that a couple of stops either side are also very good.