When shooting under certain conditions (sun within 20 degrees or so of direct, high forward speed) I am seeing terrible flickering banding, such that the shot is essentially unusable. The problem seems to have to do with light effects and the combination of sun and the propeller blades, as in if I reduce speed or lower the gimbal (or change direction) the problem goes away completely. One obvious answer is to slow down or lower the gimbal but sometimes this isn't the shot I want. I suppose that this is just an issue of geometry and there's nothing I can do about it? It seems to be related to propeller motion, has anyone tried painting the props flat black to reduce reflection? (if in fact that's what is causing the problem, I'm not sure.)
Banding and sunlight
- Thread starter smiller
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msinger
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I think it's a shadow cast by the props in combination with a high shutter speed. Possibly could be resolved using an ND filter with a slower shutter speed so that the shadows are completely blurred and don't show up.
Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
It's the prop shadowing across the lens. You can help it, with ND filters. They allow you to reduce the shutter speed, ideally to approx double the frame rate and keep a EV of around 0.
You can also reverse your shot - fly backwards away from the subject and reverse the footage - keeps the props higher and less likely to get in the way. As long as you're not filming things that look odd going backwards....
You can also reverse your shot - fly backwards away from the subject and reverse the footage - keeps the props higher and less likely to get in the way. As long as you're not filming things that look odd going backwards....
Ah yes, no doubt shutter speed was very high and could be contributing to the problem, and an ND filter might well be beneficial. Don't know why I didn't think of that. Now I guess iI have to decide between polar Pro and DJI (would rather not hack up my gimbal lock to accommodate the PP), but that's another thread. Thanks for the suggestions.
Just as a follow up, when using an ND filter to allow both a shutter speed of 1/60 (for 30 fps video) and a mid-range aperture the problem seems to have gone away completely. ND filters should come with the Pro. 
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