Been Experimenting with Camera Settings - Found a Winning Combo

[jkoertge]

I've been playing with settings, after spending some time researching cameral settings options on here the last couple days. I'm super happy with my results.

The first shoot I did, a lot of the video was grainy and under exposed. (Linked to here)

Ultimately, per another users suggestion in this thread, I setup the color settings to Log, then put the exposure settings to Auto.

The video looked great and the stills were amazing as well.

I do a lot of bracketed stuff with my real estate photography, and the bracketed option with the Inspire 1 is amazing.

The shots in this post are from an Exposure Fusion blend (from HDRSoft), then touched up a bit in photoshop to add some contrast, even out some of the exposures and add a little sharpness. There is a little grain, but mostly from the Exposure Fusion process.

The video is exported, I'll have to put it on a youtube channel tomorrow to share.

 

[sirnikolas]

Bloody awesome mate!

 

[PetePerrim]

Lovely photos. I'll have to ask you a few questions when I've got a bit of time on my hands.

 

[jkoertge]

My first shoot with the rig went terribly. Results were grainy and just seemed overall poor in quality. For that first shoot I just used auto exposure and set the color to none. I was actually quite surprised at how crappy the final product was with just factory settings out of the box.

But I was stoked to find that putting it on LOG gave me fantastic results. The feed on the screen looked really devoid of character (log takes away all the contrast, sharpness and saturation), but the product on my computer, even before adding any grading, looked pretty awesome.

I touched it up just a smidge with the built in lumitri treatment and I think the footage turned out very clean.

I experimented with adding the unsharp mask effect to sharpen it up a bit but I kept coming back to it just being treated with the Lumetri Tri-map (or Tri-tone, can't remember) and it didn't require me to render.

I read in another post about using LUTs from Neumann films (sp?), but I have yet to try it. I'm apprehensive as I'd prefer to not add treatment that requires rendering. I try and keep my editing time down - I've found you can add hours to your edit if you're not careful.

 

[jkoertge]

Also. Here's the video!

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I have to say, coming from a Phantom 2 / GoPro setup, I really love how this camera doesn't have the fisheye. The gimbal and over all stabilization is fantastic and the craft if easy to fly. The landing gear lifting out of the way makes it super easy to get fast fly-by shots which is huge if you're wanting to do high dolly shots and actually be able to detect some speed.

Really loving this thing so far!

 

[Jezabel]

Also. Here's the video!

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I have to say, coming from a Phantom 2 / GoPro setup, I really love how this camera doesn't have the fisheye. The gimbal and over all stabilization is fantastic and the craft if easy to fly. The landing gear lifting out of the way makes it super easy to get fast fly-by shots which is huge if you're wanting to do high dolly shots and actually be able to detect some speed.

Really loving this thing so far!

 

[Jezabel]

I see that your optimal settings are auto setting with LOG for color. Did you use the ND filter?

 

[flyingclint]

Nice shots! But, do you find running in auto mode though that your exposure changes too much throughout filming a single shot that if you color grade it or change contrast/brightness in post, that it affects the outcome of the shot throughout a single clip??? I would be afraid that if I was panning across a tree for instance and it was detecting the shadows and brightening the shot up to compensate for dark areas, then once I pan off that tree and hit the grass or open space, it is blasted with more light and immediately changes exposure settings to re-compensate and there for changes how my shot looked at the beginning of the clip, because the settings were dialed in for that part of the shot...! Just wondering how this is working for you in post???

I've been playing with settings, after spending some time researching cameral settings options on here the last couple days. I'm super happy with my results.

The first shoot I did, a lot of the video was grainy and under exposed. (Linked to here)

Ultimately, per another users suggestion in this thread, I setup the color settings to Log, then put the exposure settings to Auto.

The video looked great and the stills were amazing as well.

I do a lot of bracketed stuff with my real estate photography, and the bracketed option with the Inspire 1 is amazing.

The shots in this post are from an Exposure Fusion blend (from HDRSoft), then touched up a bit in photoshop to add some contrast, even out some of the exposures and add a little sharpness. There is a little grain, but mostly from the Exposure Fusion process.

The video is exported, I'll have to put it on a youtube channel tomorrow to share.

View attachment 868 View attachment 869 View attachment 870

Also, I was not aware that the I1 Camera could do Bracketing or HDR, how are you doing this? I usually just shoot in raw and then have all the options later in post using Lightroom to adjust and make the shots look good...!

 

[gruvpix]

Nice shots! But, do you find running in auto mode though that your exposure changes too much throughout filming a single shot that if you color grade it or change contrast/brightness in post, that it affects the outcome of the shot throughout a single clip??? I would be afraid that if I was panning across a tree for instance and it was detecting the shadows and brightening the shot up to compensate for dark areas, then once I pan off that tree and hit the grass or open space, it is blasted with more light and immediately changes exposure settings to re-compensate and there for changes how my shot looked at the beginning of the clip, because the settings were dialed in for that part of the shot...! Just wondering how this is working for you in post???



Also, I was not aware that the I1 Camera could do Bracketing or HDR, how are you doing this? I usually just shoot in raw and then have all the options later in post using Lightroom to adjust and make the shots look good...!

Re: exposure question, take a look at the shot at 0:50 and see how it changes, only tip to the OP would be to pick your spot, hit the spot meter and then lock it and do the complete move. Very nitpicky, but overall the video is very nice. I'm doing a real estate shoot tomorrow so a timely thread and some good info.

To do HDR in photo mode hold down shutter button, it pops up some options including exposure bracketing. Very handy to have.

 

[flyingclint]

Re: exposure question, take a look at the shot at 0:50 and see how it changes, only tip to the OP would be to pick your spot, hit the spot meter and then lock it and do the complete move. Very nitpicky, but overall the video is very nice. I'm doing a real estate shoot tomorrow so a timely thread and some good info.

To do HDR in photo mode hold down shutter button, it pops up some options including exposure bracketing. Very handy to have.

That is awesome! I had no idea! Very nice to know!

 

[flyingclint]

Re: exposure question, take a look at the shot at 0:50 and see how it changes, only tip to the OP would be to pick your spot, hit the spot meter and then lock it and do the complete move. Very nitpicky, but overall the video is very nice. I'm doing a real estate shoot tomorrow so a timely thread and some good info.

So I am just trying to grasp how this camera fully operates! Put a cinema camera in my hand or a 5d and I am good to go, but this camera is so interesting with it's hidden options or ways of doing things. So if you select an area with the spot meter and lock it down once you have the exposure you want, while doing the shot you are still in "Auto" mode, then what is being adjusted to keep the shot exposing during movement? or is this basically like putting the camera in manual mode, once you lock the shot, but your are just allowing your camera's auto feature to first select the shot, or is there something being adjusted during the movement in auto, but it locks down something else???

Sorry to jack your thread, Jkoertge just trying to make sure I fully understand the capabilities of this camera! thanks!

 

[Tahoejmfc]

I would have to say you are creating some of the best HDR images so far.

 

[gruvpix]

So I am just trying to grasp how this camera fully operates! Put a cinema camera in my hand or a 5d and I am good to go, but this camera is so interesting with it's hidden options or ways of doing things. So if you select an area with the spot meter and lock it down once you have the exposure you want, while doing the shot you are still in "Auto" mode, then what is being adjusted to keep the shot exposing during movement? or is this basically like putting the camera in manual mode, once you lock the shot, but your are just allowing your camera's auto feature to first select the shot, or is there something being adjusted during the movement in auto, but it locks down something else???

Sorry to jack your thread, Jkoertge just trying to make sure I fully understand the capabilities of this camera! thanks!

Well in full-auto mode the exposure acts similarly to a 5D in full auto. Say your subject moves in front of a light shooting with the 5D, it will try and brighten up the image, which is good if you haven't been shooting yet, but if you're in the middle of the shot that clip will be unusable because the camera settings are changing mid-shot. It's the same with the Inspire, although exposure will continue to be automatic until you hit that little AE lock icon at the top right. Once auto exposure is disabled, line up the final point of your shot (i.e. frame the sky and ground equally) and spot meter on something that's not too bright and not too dark, depending on the result you're after. It should hold that exposure value throughout the whole shot. Regarding auto vs. manual, as far as I know you can lock the auto exposure in either but I have been flying only in manual mode so not sure about this.

 

[InspiredOne]

Well in full-auto mode the exposure acts similarly to a 5D in full auto. Say your subject moves in front of a light shooting with the 5D, it will try and brighten up the image, which is good if you haven't been shooting yet, but if you're in the middle of the shot that clip will be unusable because the camera settings are changing mid-shot. It's the same with the Inspire, although exposure will continue to be automatic until you hit that little AE lock icon at the top right. Once auto exposure is disabled, line up the final point of your shot (i.e. frame the sky and ground equally) and spot meter on something that's not too bright and not too dark, depending on the result you're after. It should hold that exposure value throughout the whole shot. Regarding auto vs. manual, as far as I know you can lock the auto exposure in either but I have been flying only in manual mode so not sure about this.

Or, just take a 18% gray card, get your exposure reading off that , lock the exposure and take off. Much quicker and much more accurate.

 

[flyingclint]

Well in full-auto mode the exposure acts similarly to a 5D in full auto. Say your subject moves in front of a light shooting with the 5D, it will try and brighten up the image, which is good if you haven't been shooting yet, but if you're in the middle of the shot that clip will be unusable because the camera settings are changing mid-shot. It's the same with the Inspire, although exposure will continue to be automatic until you hit that little AE lock icon at the top right. Once auto exposure is disabled, line up the final point of your shot (i.e. frame the sky and ground equally) and spot meter on something that's not too bright and not too dark, depending on the result you're after. It should hold that exposure value throughout the whole shot. Regarding auto vs. manual, as far as I know you can lock the auto exposure in either but I have been flying only in manual mode so not sure about this.

Okay, thanks for the reply! This is pretty much what I was assuming that everyone was doing, you're basically using the auto mode as a way just to get your shot set up and then locking it in. This way you don't have to go through manually and just make all the setting adjustments. But basically you are using auto mode and then locking it down and then making it just like your in manual mode. Basically it's what I'm doing just using manual mode. I thought you guys were using some kind of special feature in auto mode that I was unaware of and perhaps just locking The shutter speed down and allowing the camera to compensate in other ways for lighting…

 

[gruvpix]

Or, just take a 18% gray card, get your exposure reading off that , lock the exposure and take off. Much quicker and much more accurate.

Word.

 

[InspiredOne]

Word.

 

[jkoertge]

I see that your optimal settings are auto setting with LOG for color. Did you use the ND filter?

If the clear cover that's on the lens from the factory is an ND filter, then yes, I used the ND filter. I didn't see anything on there that would designate that it's indeed a filter, but I would assume so.

 

[jkoertge]

Nice shots! But, do you find running in auto mode though that your exposure changes too much throughout filming a single shot that if you color grade it or change contrast/brightness in post, that it affects the outcome of the shot throughout a single clip??? I would be afraid that if I was panning across a tree for instance and it was detecting the shadows and brightening the shot up to compensate for dark areas, then once I pan off that tree and hit the grass or open space, it is blasted with more light and immediately changes exposure settings to re-compensate and there for changes how my shot looked at the beginning of the clip, because the settings were dialed in for that part of the shot...! Just wondering how this is working for you in post???



Also, I was not aware that the I1 Camera could do Bracketing or HDR, how are you doing this? I usually just shoot in raw and then have all the options later in post using Lightroom to adjust and make the shots look good...!

Ya know, if I was more hard-core about having perfect footage, I'd probably be picky about stuff like this. I'm not doing production work, just stuff for myself, so the lack of perfection I might get from working like this is totally acceptable for me.

As far as working with this stuff in post - I didn't really do much. I was super happy with the LOG output I got, with the added Lumetri effect.

Now with that said, when I get back to the beach and start shooting homes, etc., we'll see how all this turns out in my normal environment.

I own a small property management company and I often shoot videos of our rental properties to help market them.

 

[jkoertge]

Re: exposure question, take a look at the shot at 0:50 and see how it changes, only tip to the OP would be to pick your spot, hit the spot meter and then lock it and do the complete move. Very nitpicky, but overall the video is very nice. I'm doing a real estate shoot tomorrow so a timely thread and some good info.

To do HDR in photo mode hold down shutter button, it pops up some options including exposure bracketing. Very handy to have.

You're totally right. And if I was doing this professionally (for clients) or in production, the auto exposure changes the camera does when moving from dark to light, or vice versa, might not be acceptable.

However, all things considered, I feel like this camera handled that transition quite well. It was a pretty smooth transition. Now, how all that comes into play in post, I'm not sure I have a good answer for that. I'm not super picky, especially on shots that likely won't last for more than 4-6 seconds.