Locked Shutters and Filters testing it out

pyrate · Sep 11, 2016

Ok so for many months I heard folks clamoring for manual control of solos shutter and ISO
Once it came out, all you heard about was losing auto turn on.
So last week I played with it on a handheld gimbal on a little dog walk.
Major exposure blow out.

Since then I have been wanting to play with it, and the 8 piece CP ND set that I got from Peau
Going to do some more extensive testing, including in air but for now here is a tidbit

My initial thoughts are. Unless you are flying in a light changing situation. Clouds rolling in and out, or flying in and out of shadows. Its most likely not worth the bother. But if you have one of those situations and need to lock it down, then filters definitely are in order.
Which filter is going to depend a lot on what your are shooting. In this scenario I tested the 1/60 lock on 2.7K 60 footage compared to an auto, using CP ND 4,8,16,32,6. I also Locked ISO at 200 and used Protune Native WB and Flat Color
In this setting I would choose the ND16
I have 1/120 and 1/240 shot. But I put this together on elements. Think I am going to do the other on Premeire Pro

Also one side note, if the exposure is blown out in the day compared to auto. what would that do for night shooting?

Pedals2Paddles · Sep 11, 2016

I've actually found that changing light conditions are what makes all of it not worth it. Passing clouds, moving between shade and sun, dark tree canopies to bright open fields, etc. All of that exactly what necessitates automatic exposure. Otherwise it's fixed and only works for one condition. If you configure the locked exposure, ISO, and filters for a bright sunny beach, it will look absolutely great on that bright sunny beach. But if you then fly over to the houses with green lawns and dark trees, you won't see crap. The other way around applies too. If you use an exposure and filter configuration for a darker shot (maybe an ND8 and double the framerate exposure), then you cruise over to the beach, it will look like a nuclear bomb going off.

Since most of my flying is in changing light conditions, I've put the GoPro back to automatic and just use an ND8 during the day to slow the shutter down a little bit. That said, if I will be doing a shoot with fairly steady lighting conditions, it is nice to know I can set it to match conditions and get a potentially better result.

This goes back to the high level workflow of professional photography. Spend 90% of your time planning the shots, and a few minutes taking pictures.

pyrate · Sep 11, 2016

planning is the key.
I have done a couple of hyperlapses where clouds and auto changes in shutter and such just ruined them. Locking those down would work better once I figure out the selection process

pyrate · Sep 11, 2016

Got my rig set up to do a little night (low light) shortly.
Going to see if locking the shutter makes not shots easier

Pedals2Paddles · Sep 11, 2016

pyrate said:
planning is the key.
I have done a couple of hyperlapses where clouds and auto changes in shutter and such just ruined them. Locking those down would work better once I figure out the selection process

Absolutely. There is a time and a place for every little function and feature. What happens often (I'm guilty) is a new feature is released and everyone says "OMG I need to use this now". I didn't even know what it was, I just knew everyone wanted it so it must be great. I learned a lot about photography the first week after GoPro v4.0 came out....

pyrate · Sep 11, 2016

Capable little buggers
but you have to know all the quirks

Brendon Baddiley · Sep 12, 2016

pyrate said:
Got my rig set up to do a little night (low light) shortly.
Going to see if locking the shutter makes not shots easier

I'm interested in photo settings

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

pyrate · Sep 12, 2016

The 1/120 version

RichWest · Sep 12, 2016

I'd choose ND16CP on the first video and between the 8 & 16 on the second video. I appreciate you having a benchmark video during your comparison. Ever consider mirror flipping one of the videos in your comparison?

I'm still relying on EV Comp while using a straight CP filter, or maybe a ND4CP. Auto with max 400iso. I'm able to tone down the wash-out and not crush the shadows too hard. Further, slowing down the frame rate seems counter-intuitive for aerial video, tends to soften too much. But then I prefer crisp videos to work from for my needs.

Like P2P too much dynamics going on to lock down everything for videos. Photos, it would make a great deal of sense. I applaud your effort to test and appreciate you sharing.

pyrate · Sep 12, 2016

Going to replicate this in the air to see what we can glean

RichWest · Sep 17, 2016

Like P2P, too many aspects of flight limits what a fixed ISO can provide to video. If you're after photos only, then locking ISO would be ideal.

Here's some testing I did today. Strictly an effort to compare EV Comp and angle of the sun. I'm still on the older firmware, so I'm maxed at 400ISO and auto. Just used a SRP CP Filter at 2.7K 60fps. I found the -0.5 worked well heading west and then -1.0 worked better heading east with the sun at the bird's back.

Don't criticize the flying...I had a break in the clouds and was hurrying....

edit: I can't spell....

pyrate · Sep 17, 2016

I am slowly coming to the conclusion that the ability to lock this stuff is better for photos, and just not that useful for video.
but I am still playing with it. Nice steady video.
mine is not that smooth since going back to the stock cable

RichWest · Sep 18, 2016

I'm still flying with the semi-stock cable...

Brendon Baddiley · Sep 18, 2016

RichWest said:
Like P2P, too many aspects of flight limits what a fixed ISO can provide to video. If you're after photos only, then locking ISO would be ideal.

Here's some testing I did today. Strictly an effort to compare EV Comp and angle of the sun. I'm still on the older firmware, so I'm maxed at 400ISO and auto. Just used a SRP CP Filter at 2.7K 60fps. I found the -0.5 worked well heading west and then -1.0 worked better heading east with the sun at the bird's back.

Don't criticize the flying...I had a break in the clouds and was hurrying....

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edit: I can't spell....