Video / Photos Too Dark - Constantly Adjusting ISO

[MrMavic]

Does anyone else experience this? Seems to be no happy medium here. It just seems the sunny areas are washed out and the shaded areas are too dark. Very frustrating to say the least. The only thing I like about my video now is at least it's focused. I'm using the

ND8 filter
ISO 100
+1 +1 -1
White Balance 6000
Color Normal

 

[tracer bullet]

Have any examples?

Generally speaking if you're out on a bright day it'll be tough to capture sunny and shaded spots at the same time and have both be great. It's simply a ton of range for the camera to try and cover.

Also if it's sunny you probably want closer to an ND16, maybe 32 at least if your'e shooting in the 60 or so fps range.

Do you use your histogram?

From a photography standpoint, I make sure I'm not washing out on the bright side, and let the shadows fall off if I can't fit everything. It's feasible to bring out shadow detail post processing but rather impossible to restore anything washed out.

It's possible you do have an actual problem as well. An example would help.

 

[MrMavic]

Yes, I do use the histogram. Next time I fly I'll save a frame. I've been deleting them all because I really don't have a use for it.

 

[Skippy905]

I agree with Tracer. If it's sunny, you should have a stop down more. If it's bright and sunny, with no clouds, I'm using an ND32.

You could also try two other things that can help a little. Turn down your contrast from +1 to -1. Also, shoot in D-Log.

These will make your image look a bit flat, and will require some post processing, but they can help the camera try to cover the range. With a tiny bit of post processing, the outcome should be better.

 

[MrMavic]

That makes sense to me. I'm going to try that on my next flight. It should light up the dark shadows a little and even things out. I don't have a Post edit software yet, so what I get is what I get unless I do some simple editing in iMovie.

 

[gnirtS]

If the bright bits are too bright and dark bits too dark in the same scene its nothing to do with settings - its the camera. Its got terrible dynamic range. You can try -1 for contrast but ultimately lots of scenes have too much range for the camera to render.

 

[tracer bullet]

I have been using AVIDemux. Has a lot of options for being free. Can change contrast and brightness, shorten videos or add several together, speed it up or slo mo it, change file formats if desired, and more I haven't touched yet.

A little learning curve but I'm a video noob.