Over exposure/White Balance in High Contrast situations
- Thread starter David Harmer-Brown
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Yep, I've had both if those problems. I love the platform but the camera has it's issues. In general, it's one of the better (best maybe?) cameras on a turn-key drone, but a fixed aperture lens on a 1/2"+ sensor runs into limits in certain situations. From high up things stay pretty consistent, but once you get med-close elements in the frame things often go south for me, inconstant Color Balance and Exposure's, . . I also find weird Color Balance performance as your position to the sun changes. It's a bit frustrating as it is not consistent so even avoiding situations that often trigger the behavior don't necessarily guarantee you wont have unusable still elements . . Bummer! That being said, I am getting good results bracketing for HDR and am constantly amazed how stable the shooting platform is, . . I try and avoid the weak performance areas of this camera and get the best out of this rig while I wait for the next generation camera. Dreaming of a 1 inch sensor with aperture control and a 16-50 equivalent zoom . . . come'on DJI hurry up!
Some 5 bracketed HDR shots:
Some 5 bracketed HDR shots:
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I assume you're using auto WB?
Don't it is way too flakey and tracks badly.
Set a decent color temp for daylight - I use 6,000k locked on the Inspire as it is mired anyway, so I tend to set it and forget it.
The lower color temperatures at evening/sunset will render towards red which is more natural and more like our eyes see things.
You can always fix anything else in post.
Thanks for the reply/insights, but nope, not using AWB (one could make that assumption when inconsistencies are mentioned), . . actually, after exhaustive testing, to generate the files I need to work with I've ending up using "cloudy" warmer during Florida daylight, as "daylight" (6K) in the Inspire also often generates (but not always) some nasty stuff in situations when leaves and small branches/twigs are backed by the sky, . . it often "bakes in" undesirable blue/purple into these areas that can't be removed in post, . . and if you send those "blue goo" where leaves meet sky (that's what I call the phenomena) bracketed shots through HDR software they are only emphasized. Also I find "Daylight" CB on this rig causes purple shadows that are also difficult to remove without causing issues with the global blues values that I want. My solution to avoid this is to shoot warmer "cloudy" (no blue/purple goo, or blue/purple shadows generated), run the raws through HDR and then cool it up after the fact with the rest of my post adjustments This is a solvable workaround for that issue, but the other inconsistencies are striking at times, I'm chalking it up to being just the nature of this camera.
FWIW I'm on my second camera (don't ask
) so I can confirm the performance was not a one off related to my first camera. I'm a professional Photographer with much experience shooting and editing an every environment that there is. I jumped on this thread as I see very few posts regarding inconstant CB performance the stills side of the Inspire, . . that would point me to believe I have a unique issue with my rig, but the same performance with 2 different cameras points to the opposite.
You mentioned you shoot 6K, . . are you simply referring to "Daylight" and it's equivalent or is there a way to set a custom CB that I'm missing?
FWIW I'm on my second camera (don't ask
) so I can confirm the performance was not a one off related to my first camera. I'm a professional Photographer with much experience shooting and editing an every environment that there is. I jumped on this thread as I see very few posts regarding inconstant CB performance the stills side of the Inspire, . . that would point me to believe I have a unique issue with my rig, but the same performance with 2 different cameras points to the opposite.You mentioned you shoot 6K, . . are you simply referring to "Daylight" and it's equivalent or is there a way to set a custom CB that I'm missing?
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I appreciate the input gentlemen, I will try getting away from AWB but that would be a shame in so many respects as I would prefer not to have to worry about this when I shoot in rather variable conditions. I have been a DSLR shooter for years and I hae never had to set white balance manually!! I did try some of the color profiles and they were a complete disaster!! Come on DJI, we spent top dollar to be Inspire 1 owners - do us some justice with the optics and don't now over charge us because of your inadequate first attempt?
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Hmmmmm.....interesting.Thanks for the reply/insights, but nope, not using AWB (one could make that assumption when inconsistencies are mentioned), . . actually, after exhaustive testing, to generate the files I need to work with I've ending up using "cloudy" warmer during Florida daylight, as "daylight" (6K) in the Inspire also often generates (but not always) some nasty stuff in situations when leaves and small branches/twigs are backed by the sky, . . it often "bakes in" undesirable blue/purple into these areas that can't be removed in post, . . and if you send those "blue goo" where leaves meet sky (that's what I call the phenomena) bracketed shots through HDR software they are only emphasized. Also I find "Daylight" CB on this rig causes purple shadows that are also difficult to remove without causing issues with the global blues values that I want. My solution to avoid this is to shoot warmer "cloudy" (no blue/purple goo, or blue/purple shadows generated), run the raws through HDR and then cool it up after the fact with the rest of my post adjustments This is a solvable workaround for that issue, but the other inconsistencies are striking at times, I'm chalking it up to being just the nature of this camera.
FWIW I'm on my second camera (don't ask
You mentioned you shoot 6K, . . are you simply referring to "Daylight" and it's equivalent or is there a way to set a custom CB that I'm missing?
When you say 'blue goo' you are not talking about chromatic aberration (CA) are you? (Lateral - only at edges of the frame or longitudinal which can be anywhere in the frame). Both caused by poor quality glass and the inability to focus differing wavelengths of light in the same focal plane?
If it is CA both types can be fixed in post with Light room or PhotoChop. It sounds like it when you mention twigs against a sky etc as this is when CA shows itself in high contrast situations.
If it isn't then I probably need to see an example to better understand the phenomenon.
With regards to color temperature, the Inspire camera is far removed from anything professional, where I am able to set off-sets and tracking speeds for AWB should I desire, along with knee and slope compression settings and color matrix paint configurations at will (oh how I wish
).I tend to just dial in 6,000k manually as a temp and leave it there. Sony sensors tend to bias towards a colder (higher) temp than say the likes of Canon or Panasonic so I tweak slightly warmer which I find more pleasing to the eye than cold but obviously depends on the look/grade you might be going for.
This (for me) has the advantage at the end of the day or earlier in the morning when the temp is lower and redder produces a more natural red tint than the AWB trying to adjust and pull everything back to neutral.
That's just the way I shoot, obviously we all have to make the best of a bad job with the poor camera DJI give us with the Inspire.
Hope that all makes sense.
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