X5s on Inspire 2 vs P4P for still photography
- Thread starter Xoda
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You might get lucky and get a 2 second exposure if it is completely still with no wind. You are asking quite a bit in my opinion.
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Unless you're deliberatley trying to drag your shutter for light trails, then you shouldn't need 2 second exposures, especially at twilight when there's still plenty of light in the sky.
You can get perfectly acceptible results for both photo & video from the x5s at night in a rural area (ie full black sky with stars, no moon and little backscattered habitation light) ) at ISO 6400 and 1/25s @ f/2.5, and that was with the Oly25mm/1.8 lens. The settings were chosen as a deliberate test for video footage and to see what sort of shake/motion blur I got when stationary and when panning at those settings, but I took a few stills while up there too. The photos showed sharp light points from street lighting, defined edges for buildings and also picked up a few of the brightest stars in the sky. Some of the shots were blurry due to camera & aircraft movement, but you'd get that with any flying camera. Noise at ISO6400 is pretty good - and that's just from the jpeg straight out of camera, with no additional noise reduction. I'd expect the RAW to be even better, and any noise issues to be reduced/removed by Lightroom/Photoshop and jucicious use of noise reduction plugins if needed.
One factor for low light shooting that no-one's really mentioned is that you need to focus the I2 carefully - it's not fixed focus, so you need to have somewhere with some light and contrast to be able to get it to focus properly in the dark. Twilight shouldn't be a problem for you though as you've always got the sunset horizon to use to focus on. Nightscapes would be more of a problem as the horizon looses contrast and just goes to a bluish shade, then black, and doesn't give the internal AF enough contrast to focus, it just hunts instead (wonderful bokeh as it does it though
)
So, for twilight cityscapes, you'd have more light than I had with those shots and you shouldn't have any problems, esp. if you're going to wider angle shots from something like the 12mm.
You can get perfectly acceptible results for both photo & video from the x5s at night in a rural area (ie full black sky with stars, no moon and little backscattered habitation light) ) at ISO 6400 and 1/25s @ f/2.5, and that was with the Oly25mm/1.8 lens. The settings were chosen as a deliberate test for video footage and to see what sort of shake/motion blur I got when stationary and when panning at those settings, but I took a few stills while up there too. The photos showed sharp light points from street lighting, defined edges for buildings and also picked up a few of the brightest stars in the sky. Some of the shots were blurry due to camera & aircraft movement, but you'd get that with any flying camera. Noise at ISO6400 is pretty good - and that's just from the jpeg straight out of camera, with no additional noise reduction. I'd expect the RAW to be even better, and any noise issues to be reduced/removed by Lightroom/Photoshop and jucicious use of noise reduction plugins if needed.
One factor for low light shooting that no-one's really mentioned is that you need to focus the I2 carefully - it's not fixed focus, so you need to have somewhere with some light and contrast to be able to get it to focus properly in the dark. Twilight shouldn't be a problem for you though as you've always got the sunset horizon to use to focus on. Nightscapes would be more of a problem as the horizon looses contrast and just goes to a bluish shade, then black, and doesn't give the internal AF enough contrast to focus, it just hunts instead (wonderful bokeh as it does it though
)So, for twilight cityscapes, you'd have more light than I had with those shots and you shouldn't have any problems, esp. if you're going to wider angle shots from something like the 12mm.
Here is a test photo that illustrates 2 second exposure not required for twilight cityscapes. This is just a test snap not a serious attempt to photograph subjects at night but it illustrates the point. 1/80 sec, f/3.2, ISO 1600.
View media item 824
View media item 824
Unless you're deliberatley trying to drag your shutter for light trails, then you shouldn't need 2 second exposures, especially at twilight when there's still plenty of light in the sky.
You can get perfectly acceptible results for both photo & video from the x5s at night in a rural area (ie full black sky with stars, no moon and little backscattered habitation light) ) at ISO 6400 and 1/25s @ f/2.5, and that was with the Oly25mm/1.8 lens. The settings were chosen as a deliberate test for video footage and to see what sort of shake/motion blur I got when stationary and when panning at those settings, but I took a few stills while up there too. The photos showed sharp light points from street lighting, defined edges for buildings and also picked up a few of the brightest stars in the sky. Some of the shots were blurry due to camera & aircraft movement, but you'd get that with any flying camera. Noise at ISO6400 is pretty good - and that's just from the jpeg straight out of camera, with no additional noise reduction. I'd expect the RAW to be even better, and any noise issues to be reduced/removed by Lightroom/Photoshop and jucicious use of noise reduction plugins if needed.
One factor for low light shooting that no-one's really mentioned is that you need to focus the I2 carefully - it's not fixed focus, so you need to have somewhere with some light and contrast to be able to get it to focus properly in the dark. Twilight shouldn't be a problem for you though as you've always got the sunset horizon to use to focus on. Nightscapes would be more of a problem as the horizon looses contrast and just goes to a bluish shade, then black, and doesn't give the internal AF enough contrast to focus, it just hunts instead (wonderful bokeh as it does it though
So, for twilight cityscapes, you'd have more light than I had with those shots and you shouldn't have any problems, esp. if you're going to wider angle shots from something like the 12mm.
I'm curious why you didn't just use manual focus and focused to infinity? Were you worried about some things being too close?
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When you first mount the camera and lens on the I2, they're not always focused.... which makes it harder to see what you're doing in the dark. So, I tend to initially focus the camera using the nearby lights, either the ones I'm using for preparing the kit, or nearby streetlights. They're closer than distant lights, and at a different focal point, so once in the air more distant points then tend to be slightly out of focus which shows up as a blurry light point and you need to refocus. If using autofocus, that's when the fun starts as it can take a minute or so to get it to focus on a light point - it tends to get a bit confused by defocused lights at night
Manual focus isn't so easy at night either.... to use the manual focus DJI Go asks you you to calibrate the camera & lens first, so it can get the real infinity focus point (the lenses focus beyond 'infinity'). The calibration needs the system to focus on a point 30-50m away, which is a bit difficult to find and do under low-no light
When you do manage to get everything working and focus manually, the image displayed on the tablet screen can make it look like you're in focus (e.g. Street Lights can look like points of light) when you're not... you're close, but not spot on.
I didn't turn on focus peaking, or focus assist, both might have helped.
It's not always quite as simple and straightforward as it seems The little Phantom 4 is dead easy in comparison, but the images aren't quite the same.
In comparison, twilight shooting is very easy as there's (relatively!) tons of light around
Manual focus isn't so easy at night either.... to use the manual focus DJI Go asks you you to calibrate the camera & lens first, so it can get the real infinity focus point (the lenses focus beyond 'infinity'). The calibration needs the system to focus on a point 30-50m away, which is a bit difficult to find and do under low-no light
When you do manage to get everything working and focus manually, the image displayed on the tablet screen can make it look like you're in focus (e.g. Street Lights can look like points of light) when you're not... you're close, but not spot on.
I didn't turn on focus peaking, or focus assist, both might have helped.
It's not always quite as simple and straightforward as it seems
The little Phantom 4 is dead easy in comparison, but the images aren't quite the same.In comparison, twilight shooting is very easy as there's (relatively!) tons of light around
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I have the X5S on an Inspire 1 Pro. That is probably your in between choice. I have never needed a 1second exposure because of the great ISO ability and low light capture by the micro 4/3rd sensor and superior lenses.
But I will ad thar although you are not interested in video at this time, having the legs up 360 degree camera shoot is spectacular. And ad to that a second remote that allows smooth operation of camera while pilot worries about safety and flying. In Canada you are not legally allowed any autopilot functions or programs. So need a pilot and camera man. The camera man, in free mode, has full gimale control to look anywhere and shoot anything regardless of what the pilot is doing or what direction he changes to
Did I read correctly? You mounted a X5S on an Inspire 1? If so, how is that possible as the mounts are completely different. Can you provide a picture of an X5S mounted on an Inspire 1. Thanks.
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The inspire1 Pro (inspire 1V2) comes factory mounted with the X5S. Pictures on my website www.FlyingPhotos.ca
But here is the inspire 1 Pro with X5S that can be purchased
Visions Electronics - TV & Video, Home Audio, Speaker, Camera, Camcorder, Car Audio Video, Laptop & Tablet, Cell Phones
How does it mount when the connectors are different. The X5S was designed for the I2. The camera on your site looks like a Zenmuse X5R. Still a micro 4/3 camera but not the same. You need to have a peek here: X5s and Inspire 1 Compatibility? . I think you are confusing the two camera systems. The X5S is designed quite differently then the X5R.
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No it it definately not a X5R (RAW). But it may be just X5 camera, i thought it was X5S (for Standard) sorry for my Error.
No worries.
It happens to the best of us all. Complicated stuff, this drone kit.Similar threads
