Question on ISO and Shutter Speed.

[Mavic_Pete]

Hello,

I am flying in Arizona and its very sunny here. I have been using auto mode for picture taking with my Mavic and my shots have been coming out very nice, at least I think so lol!! (I'll post a few below for reference). I have been noticing that my ISO is usually around 100 while my shutter speed seems very high (1000-2000 depending on if I am looking down its lower or into the distance its higher). Is this normal for sunny flying conditions (not a cloud in the sky)?? I am assuming that a set of ND Filters would help me lower my shutter speed while still keeping a low ISO?

If I understand correctly the higher the ISO= Brighter, Lower ISO= Darker, Higher Shutter=Darker and Lower Shutter= Brighter. So the best Images come from lowest possible ISO and then adjust the shutter speed accordingly. This makes sense because its so bright here so my ISO is at the lowest helping the image get darker while my shutter speed is high also helping the image get darker. I feel like I read a lot of comments about having a 400 or lower ISO and a 60 or lower Shutter Speed. Is this going to produce the best quality images?

If I am correct about ND Filters helping me lower my shutter speed what ND Filters would you suggest?

I was thinking about these... Not looking to spend a fortune but something under $80 with a few different lenses would be best case. Thanks for the suggestions!!

https://www.amazon.com/XSD-MODEL-PGYTECH-Accessories-Quadcopter/dp/B01N96HWWW

Neutral Density Filter (ND4 ND8 ND16 ND 32 ) Great for portraiture and outdoor scenes in strong sunlight. Reduces the amount of light reaching the film without affecting the color. Applies slow shutter speed under strong sunlight exposure. Allows wider apertures, effectively decreasing depth of field. ND4 reduces the intensity by two degree; ND8 reduces three...... Made of high-quality optical glass.

Pics for reference shot on Auto mode (Low ISO, High Shutter)

 

[Mavic_Pete]

Well I guess I didn't really know what ND Filters were used for and it really wont help with image quality. More so helps lower the shutter speed for video which helps achieve the correct motion blur. Which made things more confusing to me because why would you want your video to have a blur? Don't you want the video nice and crisp. Example of this is at the 2:15 mark in the below video. Doesn't the image of the right look better?? (No ND Filter)

Great video for those who want to learn a little more about ND filters.

 

[MavicCF]

That all sounds right as far as ISO is concerned. With shutter speed, you usually don't want to use anything below 1/60 (although with the Mavic's gimbal you should be able to go lower without a problem as long as it's calm). A slow shutter speed will usually end up making your pictures blurry. Think of it this way, when you shutter opens, it is allowing light to expose the sensor, a high shutter speed will give it a brief flash (say 1/400of a second) of the light from your subject, making it essentially stop that brief second of exposure as a a sharp image. Now picture a long shutter (say 1/30 of a second) now the shutter opens to expose the sensor to the light coming from the subject, but instead of taking a brief flash of e light, the shutter stays open and continues to record light on the sensor, if the camera moves during this time, it will be recording light from other areas around your subject as a blurryor smeary picture. Hope this wasn't to complicated or hard to understand! Nice pictures too by the way! -CF

 

[Mavic_Pete]

That all sounds right as far as ISO is concerned. With shutter speed, you usually don't want to use anything below 1/60 (although with the Mavic's gimbal you should be able to go lower without a problem as long as it's calm). A slow shutter speed will usually end up making your pictures blurry. Think of it this way, when you shutter opens, it is allowing light to expose the sensor, a high shutter speed will give it a brief flash (say 1/400of a second) of the light from your subject, making it essentially stop that brief second of exposure as a a sharp image. Now picture a long shutter (say 1/30 of a second) now the shutter opens to expose the sensor to the light coming from the subject, but instead of taking a brief flash of e light, the shutter stays open and continues to record light on the sensor, if the camera moves during this time, it will be recording light from other areas around your subject as a blurryor smeary picture. Hope this wasn't to complicated or hard to understand! Nice pictures too by the way! -CF

Makes perfect sense! Thank you for the reply! That's kinda where I got confused in the above video I posted because he talks about wanting to have motion blur in your video and how it makes it look more natural to the eye and cinematic. To me the video without the blur looks better which is at 1/800 shutter and no ND Filter. I guess every eye is different

 

[MavicCF]

Glad I could help! Happy flying! -CF

 

[Mr. Salty]

Keep in mind, shooting video and still photos are two different things, so they’re two different discussions.

ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. Yes, lower number is less sensitive. The Mavic’s sensor doesn’t do well at higher settings and gets noisy, so keeping it at 100 is best.

A fast shutter speed is desirable for still photos so the images are as sharp as possible.

The problem with having every frame super sharp in video is that it looks unnatural. Our eyes have an effective shutter speed of 1/30th of a second. When we see moving objects, there is motion blur.

Video where the shutter speed is too high looks artificial and digital. ND filters are used to get the shutter speed down to where it has natural motion blur.

 

[MavicCF]

Keep in mind, shooting video and still photos are two different things, so they’re two different discussions.

ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. Yes, lower number is less sensitive. The Mavic’s sensor doesn’t do well at higher settings and gets noisy, so keeping it at 100 is best.

A fast shutter speed is desirable for still photos so the images are as sharp as possible.

The problem with having every frame super sharp in video is that it looks unnatural. Our eyes have an effective shutter speed of 1/30th of a second. When we see moving objects, there is motion blur.

Video where the shutter speed is too high looks artificial and digital. ND filters are used to get the shutter speed down to where it has natural motion blur.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm big into stills, but very lacking on video knowledge. -CF

 

[Pathogen]

The whole 'shutter speed should be double the frame rate' is a thing relating to motion picture production. It creates a sort of surreal hypnotic effect, and possibly has no place in recreational Mavic recording, unless you are specifically trying to create that Hollywood look and also using 24fps recording.

It seems to be the ND filter vendors that mostly push the shutter speed thing. Also the Mavic has a fixed aperature. I don't mean to poo poo Mavic users in trying to get the Hollywood look, but the Mavic isn't the best drone for that. A variable aperature camera with a larger sensor and fully 360 gimbal is going to perform better and require less work.

Having said that, almost all I do with my Mavic is try to get the cinematic looking shots, just because its fun to try.

 

[Mavic_Pete]

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm big into stills, but very lacking on video knowledge. -CF

Same here I havnt even recorded a video yet. Really digging the stills right now.

 

[lisadoc]

That's kinda where I got confused in the above video I posted because he talks about wanting to have motion blur in your video and how it makes it look more natural to the eye and cinematic. To me the video without the blur looks better which is at 1/800 shutter and no ND Filter.

Do what you like/prefer the most, as you'll be the one watching the videos more than anyone else. Ask your friends and family too, if you're looking to please them. Don't get too caught up in "this is what you're supposed to do" vs. "what you like". Produce your videos for your audience, not what someone else deems proper. If your audience is not millions of people (or a client) but instead, just you and your family, then stick with what you/they like.

 

[Mavic_Pete]

Thanks for the replies everyone! It all makes sense now. I guess I was just worried seeing my shutter speed so high but it's normal when taking stills in bright settings. Will probably pick up a set of ND Filters down the road because I will be taking video when I go on vacations (Hawaii and Cabo coming up next year!) What ND filters do you guys use? I like that the pgytech comes with ultraviolet filter and circular polarizer filter. Seems like these will help with beach shot stills or videos.

• MCUV (Ultraviolet) Filter Reduce haze and improve contrast to your video and digital images by minimizing the amount of ultraviolet (UV) light.Especially useful in areas of high altitude, snow, or beach, eliminating the undesirable blue cast.Imported optical glass, top level of transmittance.
• CPL (Circular Polarizer) Filter Removes unwanted reflections from non-metallic surfaces such as water or glass and glare from the sun.Increases color saturation, creating deep, rich scenic images.Helps to reduce the amount of light entering the lens.Especially useful in reflective or stray light.

 

[jackdaws]

Hello,

I am flying in Arizona and its very sunny here. I have been using auto mode for picture taking with my Mavic and my shots have been coming out very nice, at least I think so lol!! (I'll post a few below for reference). I have been noticing that my ISO is usually around 100 while my shutter speed seems very high (1000-2000 depending on if I am looking down its lower or into the distance its higher). Is this normal for sunny flying conditions (not a cloud in the sky)?? I am assuming that a set of ND Filters would help me lower my shutter speed while still keeping a low ISO?

If I understand correctly the higher the ISO= Brighter, Lower ISO= Darker, Higher Shutter=Darker and Lower Shutter= Brighter. So the best Images come from lowest possible ISO and then adjust the shutter speed accordingly. This makes sense because its so bright here so my ISO is at the lowest helping the image get darker while my shutter speed is high also helping the image get darker. I feel like I read a lot of comments about having a 400 or lower ISO and a 60 or lower Shutter Speed. Is this going to produce the best quality images?

If I am correct about ND Filters helping me lower my shutter speed what ND Filters would you suggest?

I was thinking about these... Not looking to spend a fortune but something under $80 with a few different lenses would be best case. Thanks for the suggestions!!

https://www.amazon.com/XSD-MODEL-PGYTECH-Accessories-Quadcopter/dp/B01N96HWWW

Neutral Density Filter (ND4 ND8 ND16 ND 32 ) Great for portraiture and outdoor scenes in strong sunlight. Reduces the amount of light reaching the film without affecting the color. Applies slow shutter speed under strong sunlight exposure. Allows wider apertures, effectively decreasing depth of field. ND4 reduces the intensity by two degree; ND8 reduces three...... Made of high-quality optical glass.

Pics for reference shot on Auto mode (Low ISO, High Shutter)

Yes all your theory on everything above is correct. Nd filters are great, more so for video footage in my opinion. When filming I use a ND 32 on a sunny day with a 30fps and a shutter speed of 60. These two settings (including the Nd filter) work in perfect harmony with each other and yes you tend to get (what i think) a much better video look... it also prevents 'stutter' in your footage. You'll notice on some YT videos some footage is smooth as silk and other footage seems to stutter a lot, this is usually because of 2 things, high fps and/or fps and shutter speed out of sync. General rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed set to double your fps, this will result in beautiful smooth footage. Once you test these setting you will totally understand. The reason for the Nd filter is simply because when the fps is set to 60 this lets in a lot of light and without the filter it just looks washed out in unusable.

As for photos... yes a low ISO is better.. high ISO makes your photos look grainy because ISO is essentially artificial light used for dark situations. High shutter speed is fine to use dont worry too much about it at all.. the lower the shutter speed as mentioned by MavicCF results in a blurry photo.. this is good in low light situations with a tripod, but obviously the mavic isnt something you can put on a tripod. Btw your photos look fine as they are! they also look perfect to bring into Photoshop and make minor adjustments depending on your taste and the look you want. But it seems as though you are doing everything correct... really as you can see in what i write, video is usually more setting dependent than photos!.

 

[Mavic_Pete]

Do what you like/prefer the most, as you'll be the one watching the videos more than anyone else. Ask your friends and family too, if you're looking to please them. Don't get too caught up in "this is what you're supposed to do" vs. "what you like". Produce your videos for your audience, not what someone else deems proper. If your audience is not millions of people (or a client) but instead, just you and your family, then stick with what you/they like.

Great advice thank you!!

 

[Mavic_Pete]

Yes all your theory on everything above is correct. Nd filters are great, more so for video footage in my opinion. When filming I use a ND 32 on a sunny day with a 30fps and a shutter speed of 60. These two settings (including the Nd filter) work in perfect harmony with each other and yes you tend to get (what i think) a much better video look... it also prevents 'stutter' in your footage. You'll notice on some YT videos some footage is smooth as silk and other footage seems to stutter a lot, this is usually because of 2 things, high fps and/or fps and shutter speed out of sync. General rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed set to double your fps, this will result in beautiful smooth footage. Once you test these setting you will totally understand. The reason for the Nd filter is simply because when the fps is set to 60 this lets in a lot of light and without the filter it just looks washed out in unusable.

As for photos... yes a low ISO is better.. high ISO makes your photos look grainy because ISO is essentially artificial light used for dark situations. High shutter speed is fine to use dont worry too much about it at all.. the lower the shutter speed as mentioned by MavicCF results in a blurry photo.. this is good in low light situations with a tripod, but obviously the mavic isnt something you can put on a tripod. Btw your photos look fine as they are! they also look perfect to bring into Photoshop and make minor adjustments depending on your taste and the look you want. But it seems as though you are doing everything correct... really as you can see in what i write, video is usually more setting dependent than photos!.

Great info here! Thank you!! Still looking into a photo shop program to play with my photos/video but that will come with a little more experience. Appreciate you all saying my photos look good. I spent 3 months on this forum learning all the ins and outs before I even turned my mavic on. Also bought a bunch of accessories (ipad mini, mavmoumt, etc). It really helped me learn not only about the mavic but about all the different settings and how to achieve the best footage. I'm pretty happy with my pictures as well. Only took my 3rd flight this morning. 0 issues with anything so far (knock on wood)!!

 

[MavicCF]

Go with Lightroom! Great program and seems to grow with you! -CF

 

[Mavic_Pete]

Go with Lightroom! Great program and seems to grow with you! -CF

What's the cost of it? Can you buy and download online or do I need to buy a hard copy from the store?

 

[MavicCF]

Its created by Adobe and you get it two ways, by paying a monthly fee of $10, with this you get all the bug fixes and the latest updates, or you can also buy a hard copy for $100 to $150, you still get the bug fixes with the hard copy but no updates. Here is a link to their sight. This is probably one of the most popular and well known editing programs out there. -CF

 

[Dragonfly]

An ND4 is pointless really and if you going to get a set of filters you need ND8 to ND32 and a CPL if you can. The ND16 is the one you will use the most and will probably leave on your camera all the time.

 

[Mavic_Pete]

An ND4 is pointless really and if you going to get a set of filters you need ND8 to ND32 and a CPL if you can. The ND16 is the one you will use the most and will probably leave on your camera all the time.

Yeah I kinda figured that. CPL is included with the pgytech set. I might just buy a few separate or just buy the 5 pack. Does pgytech make decent filters for the mavic? I hear pgytech and polar pro a lot.

 

[Varekai]

I'm dealing with this ND filter stuff, night shots and time exposures myself and I have a fairly good grasp on the basics from taking Photography in high school, (1982 grad), LOL... so the lower the ASA, or ISO as it is termed now, the "slower" the film, it produces a sharper picture, but requires the most light... loved shooting ASA 64 slide film. If you were going to shoot something with a lot of action or movement, you wanted a "fast" film, at the time 800 ASA was just coming available I believe... I didn't require as much light but the "grain" was going to kill the sharpness and detail. One of the tricks was to try and use a 100 or 200 ASA and then "PUSH" the film by changing the setting on your camera, but the film would be "starved" for light... as far as shutter speeds, anything under a 60th of a second was an indicator that a tripod should be used to obtain picture that would not be blurry. Sorry for the long post but having all this in my head was not helping me, now that I have here in words I can start to re-learn what I used to know...lol