Question on ISO and Shutter Speed.

[MrMavic]

Not familiar with drone photography YET,but on land a CPL needs to be rotated to achieve any effect.Light coming from 90 degrees is affecred most.How do you use it on a drone?

You hit the nail on the head. That's why a Circular Polarizer is almost useless on a drone because you have to rotate it every time you change angles. That is a PITA

 

[Mr. Salty]

You hit the nail on the head. That's why a Circular Polarizer is almost useless on a drone because you have to rotate it every time you change angles. That is a PITA

You do need to plan your shots ahead of time if you're going to use a CPL. But if you do, they're quite useful. But they definitely have a specific purpose.

 

[MrMavic]

I used them a lot when I was into SLR cameras, but I just haven't done much with them on the drones. Yes, they have their purpose.

 

[MichaelDSexton]

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.

"noise" in still photography should also be explained here: noise is actually grain in the sensor or in old school film with faster ISO. The higher the ISO the more noise but it does take less light to expose to a "faster" ISO, which is why you would use it in lower light situations. In brighter lighting conditions, your shutter speed will be faster as well. You should also know that the slower ISO will be much less grainy when enlarging in print form. ND filters darken your image by allowing less light to travel through the lens so you can slow down your shutter speed.

 

[Steven Georges]

Keep in mind that you need the ND filters (for video) because the Mavic doesn't have a variable aperture. I believe it is fixed at f2.2.
So, once you hit the wall at ISO 100, your only choice to reduce the shutter speed is an ND filter.

 

[Lake_Flyer]

Trying to put it as simply as possible:
It basically comes down to two things: frame rate and shutter speed. If you need a high shutter speed for sports (eg) you also need a high frame rate. If you don't need a super high shutter speed and want to have things looking naturally you should use a low frame rate, like 24 to 30. With a frame rate of 30 you have 30 frames of 1/30th of a second in every second. Think of it like a filmstrip with 30 separate frames per second. If you would use a shutter speed of say 1/1000, every frame would only be used for a fraction, the rest of each of the frames remains black. That's why you see flicker, because you see 30 large black parts of frame every second in playback. With shutter speeds of roughly up to twice the frame rate you will not see this flickering.

 

[Sampras46]

You seem to be getting fairly decent exposed shots from what I can see, but I would echo what others have said. For video, try and keep your ISO as low as possible (I rarely shoot over 100). As the same with all cameras and shooting images, the higher the ISO the more chance of introducing "noise" to your photo. I would only shoot higher than 100 if I'm shooting something in low light, or fast moving. Most camera will need a high ISO to allow a fast shutter speed and correct exposure.

For video on the Mavic I tend to stick to double to frame rate with ISO 100. So for 30FPS I'll shoot at 1/60th, and for 25FPS I'll shoot at 1/50th. Depending on how my histogram looks I'll add a filter as required to get the correct exposure.

For stills I tend to also stick with ISO 100 but don't worry so much about increasing this slightly, or the shutter speed depending on the subject, time of day etc.

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)

 

[Brojon]

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

Yeah - you fly over scenes with small regular detail like leaves/rocks and it can look like the ground is "crawling".

 

[Brojon]

As far as your comment that this has “no place in recreational Mavic recording” ... That just has no basis in fact.

I think what he meant was he's not interested in becoming a cinematographer. If you're just shooting video furthehelluvit then why add one more level of unwanted complexity? I know I was initially just in it for the stills I couldn't get any other way. Over time the charm of flying has caused me to pay more attention to the video quality.

 

[Mr. Salty]

Trying to put it as simply as possible:
It basically comes down to two things: frame rate and shutter speed. If you need a high shutter speed for sports (eg) you also need a high frame rate. If you don't need a super high shutter speed and want to have things looking naturally you should use a low frame rate, like 24 to 30. With a frame rate of 30 you have 30 frames of 1/30th of a second in every second. Think of it like a filmstrip with 30 separate frames per second. If you would use a shutter speed of say 1/1000, every frame would only be used for a fraction, the rest of each of the frames remains black. That's why you see flicker, because you see 30 large black parts of frame every second in playback. With shutter speeds of roughly up to twice the frame rate you will not see this flickering.

Sorry, no, that just isn't accurate at all. Shutter speed has nothing to do with frame rate, apart from the fact your shutter speed can't be so long that the camera can't shoot a given number of frames per second (for example, you can't have 1/30th of a second shutter speed if you're shooting 60 fps).

If you have a frame rate of 30 fps and a shutter speed of 1/1,000th of a second, there are no "black frames." You just have 30 frames where the image is very sharp because of the high shutter speed.

 

[GAGuy]

My two cents from my "photography" background. (20 years)
Lower the ISO the better the quality of the picture.Basically "more pixels" is the way to look at it kind of.
Shutter speed just simply adjusts for the correct exposure.
I would go with Photoshop, just my preference but the learning curve is not small.
Take RAW pics and heavily use the CAMERA RAW filter to adjust highlights and shadows.
You can recreate all the filters you want... but a GOOD QUALITY pic is the best way to start with no lens filters.
I grabbed on of your pics to demonstrate... I can delete it if you want.
Before...


After...

 

[nismoz]

From what I see, the OP is only interested in shooting stills. Why are others throwing a bunch of complexity to the table to make it more confusing?

In short, for drone stills, you want lower ISO and faster shutter speed to freeze movements. Unless you want to do long exposure, then that is different.
The term "Long Exposure" speaks for itself. Shutter speed = 1+ sec is considered long exposure. Long exposure is normally used to give water a silky and creamy look. People use long exposure for waterfall, wave, and beach shots.

 

[Mavic_Pete]

My two cents from my "photography" background. (20 years)
Lower the ISO the better the quality of the picture.Basically "more pixels" is the way to look at it kind of.
Shutter speed just simply adjusts for the correct exposure.
I would go with Photoshop, just my preference but the learning curve is not small.
Take RAW pics and heavily use the CAMERA RAW filter to adjust highlights and shadows.
You can recreate all the filters you want... but a GOOD QUALITY pic is the best way to start with no lens filters.
I grabbed on of your pics to demonstrate... I can delete it if you want.
Before...
View attachment 23348

After...
View attachment 23310

Thanks for the post and before and after shot. I'm sure it's a quick edit but I love how it brings out the green in the grass. I don't like how it made the sky look brown but like I said I'm sure you just did a quick edit. I achieved the same green grass effect with instagram lol but I'll definitely buy an editing program in the future! Thanks again for everyone's posts. Some helpful info here.

 

[GAGuy]

Yep... about 20 seconds on the edit. Step 1... bring up photo in Photoshop and adjust the highlights and shadows.
Next I use AlienSkin filter gallery. (hence the color toning) Chose from over 300 filters. Apply and done.
The BIGGEST tool I use and is available in light room as well is the camera raw filter to restore highlight blow outs
and bring up shadows. Peace.......