Massive flare and ghosting !

[mikroman6]

HI to all P4P users,

I have tested the lens against the sun and found enormous amount of all sorts artifact like flare and ghosting, it looks tragic when I compare to any P3 model, I used to have P3P that works very well against the sun, and now the new P4P lens is very bad designed, they should not release the drone with this serious flaw especially it cost so much money !
I would like to hear what is your opinion on that, maybe you know how to reduce so annoying effect that makes the lens useless to me and I belief to many users that are focus on Landscape photography.

 

[Meta4]

I would like to hear what is your opinion on that, maybe you know how to reduce so annoying effect that makes the lens useless to me and I belief to many users that are focus on Landscape photography.

Yes ... absolutely useless for landscape work.

How to reduce the annoying effect?
That's really simple - turn your Phantom around and shoot with the sun instead of staring into it.
You'll lose all the flare and your pictures will look a lot better.
Why do so many think that staring at the sun makes a picture attractive?
Point any lens at the sun and you'll get flare, it's not unique to the Phantom.

 

[sshephard]

I have tested the lens against the sun and found enormous amount of all sorts artifact like flare and ghosting, it looks tragic when I compare to any P3 model, I used to have P3P that works very well against the sun, and now the new P4P lens is very bad designed, they should not release the drone with this serious flaw especially it cost so much money !
I would like to hear what is your opinion on that, maybe you know how to reduce so annoying effect that makes the lens useless to me and I belief to many users that are focus on Landscape photography.

I have no experience with the P3 model, though I think most any lens would show flaring when you point it directly into the sun. My Canon 5dIII and professional L lenses show flare. My secret in limited lens flare is to avoid pointing the lens into the sun.

That said, I have been pretty impressed with my P4P. And, while the sun was very low when I took this photo a couple of days ago, the flare did not overpower the shot.

And with this photo, the sun is high, somewhat subdued by haze, but very bright. As you can see, there is little lens flare. Frankly, I was impressed.

 

[azgeek]

Yes ... absolutely useless for landscape work.

Super capture. Very nice pano.

 

[azgeek]

I have no experience with the P3 model, though I think most any lens would show flaring when you point it directly into the sun. My Canon 5dIII and professional L lenses show flare. My secret in limited lens flare is to avoid pointing the lens into the sun.

Ditto. Sometimes lens flare adds to an image and, as in the OP, sometimes it really messes with an image.
A couple of really nice images, Scott.

 

[mikroman6]

Yes ... absolutely useless for landscape work.

How to reduce the annoying effect?
That's really simple - turn your Phantom around and shoot with the sun instead of staring into it.
You'll lose all the flare and your pictures will look a lot better.
Why do so many think that staring at the sun makes a picture attractive?
Point any lens at the sun and you'll get flare, it's not unique to the Phantom.

Yes you are right that there is no problem if photo is taken with the sun but I prefer different style and I belief that I have right for it, all I'am saying is that option has been taken away for P4P users when any other model are able take stunning shots into the sun, so why on earth more expensive model has flaw that cheaper models do not have ?

Here I give some shots taken from both P3P and P3A .

 

[lomoch]

Mikroman6,
Absolutely stunning!
Would you mind sharing your settings and maybe post processing techniques for those shots?

 

[Techcop50]

They all look pretty interesting to me. Which ones are "bad"?

 

[sshephard]

Very nice, Mikroman. The flare is nice but significant. Can you post a side by side test of the P3 and the P4P camera? I have found that on my Canon L lenses the coating on filters makes a huge difference and that the number of internal lens elements makes a difference, too. But you probably know that. . But a side by side comparison . . . ?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[mikroman6]

Mikroman6,
Absolutely stunning!
Would you mind sharing your settings and maybe post processing techniques for those shots?

Ok no problem I will share with you all how I do my shots and PP as well, so first of all I take 5 shots with different exposure that are set on ISO 100 that is manual mode, of course they all are set to raw only, then for PP I use latest edition of Photoshop that allow me to use layers where I take what is best from each 5 shots, yes you could use an automatic option but I found them most of the time disappointing that is why I prefer do it manually which takes more time but give you option to get what you want.
Ask if you have more question.

 

[mikroman6]

They all look pretty interesting to me. Which ones are "bad"?

Actually non of them, I posted those photos that were taken with P3P and P3A to illustrate that older versions of Phantom are unfortunately better working against the sun than P4P, and why on earth more expensive model has flaw that cheaper models do not have ?

I will post shots taken with P4P later on.

 

[Techcop50]

Here's my best attempt with the P4P+, so far...
My son's Standard is in the shot.

 

[sshephard]

Actually non of them, I posted those photos that were taken with P3P and P3A to illustrate that older versions of Phantom are unfortunately better working against the sun than P4P, and why on earth more expensive model has flaw that cheaper models do not have ?

I will post shots taken with P4P later on.

If you still have your P3P and P3A, it would be nice to photograph the same subject with the same settings with all three of the drone cameras. You wouldn't have to shoot the sun, of course. Put each on a table and shoot into a fairly bright light. Focus, aperture, iso and shutter speeds should be the same if you can do it.

 

[mikroman6]

Very nice, Mikroman. The flare is nice but significant. Can you post a side by side test of the P3 and the P4P camera? I have found that on my Canon L lenses the coating on filters makes a huge difference and that the number of internal lens elements makes a difference, too. But you probably know that. . But a side by side comparison . . . ?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Ok, I will try do that later on when I take more shots with my new P4P,

 

[smokinsound]

This is what I experienced a couple of evenings ago shooting a sunrise. Completely ugly.

P4P Lens Flare 1

• smokinsound
• Jan 20, 2017

Flare 1 / No filters

P4P Lens Flare 2

• smokinsound
• Jan 20, 2017

Flare 2 / No filters

 

[sshephard]

So here's a quick and dirty side by side comparison of my Canon 5DIII and my P4P. There is a 24-105 4.0L on the Canon. The exposures are fairly similar (Canon: 1/4 sec 5.6 100iso and P4P 1/5 sec 5.6 100 iso). Other than white balance, I've done nothing to the photos other than crop. I was hand holding both the drone and the DSLR so any blur is due to that. I was shooting into a very bright 2700 lumen LED shop light. I get about the same amount of flare from the $3300 (US) Canon rig as I do from the P4P. Of course, I'm not shooting into the sun. Sorry for asking but is the lens clean? Does it have some kind of protective film on it?

Canon

P4P

 

[KevMo Photog]

This is what I experienced a couple of evenings ago shooting a sunrise. Completely ugly.

P4P Lens Flare 1

• smokinsound
• Jan 20, 2017

Flare 1 / No filters

P4P Lens Flare 2

• smokinsound
• Jan 20, 2017

Flare 2 / No filters

Yes it is. But your shooting straight dead on into the sun man. Your gonna get and ugly flare with any camera lens period! Change your angle a little and your gold! Its always better to let light come across your shot some instead of dead straight into it. Your never gonna get detail in the foreground at all unless you possibly are using a gradated ND filter of some kind. Camera on this P4P is unreal compared to any previous Phantom imho!

 

[KevMo Photog]

HI to all P4P users,

I have tested the lens against the sun and found enormous amount of all sorts artifact like flare and ghosting, it looks tragic when I compare to any P3 model, I used to have P3P that works very well against the sun, and now the new P4P lens is very bad designed, they should not release the drone with this serious flaw especially it cost so much money !
I would like to hear what is your opinion on that, maybe you know how to reduce so annoying effect that makes the lens useless to me and I belief to many users that are focus on Landscape photography.

So where are your bad shots from your P4P? Did you use ND on your older Phantom 3? Because I'm sure you prob don't have any ND yet for your P4P, right? ND will change the flare some I'm sure. My bird never leave home without and ND filter for this and other reasons. Each lens will have certain diff in flaring too. You can alter your flare just like you like it by simply slightly changing your angle to the sun a bit. Practice at just turning the bird a little so you can get the amount and the right placement of your flare. Not sure why your not appreciating the unreal diff in low light with low noise and sharpness from the new cam on P4P! I Love mine!

 

[smokinsound]

New ND filters arrived from PolarPro. Shooting into the sun is appealing again. Pretty stoked!! Night and day difference over refraction in the stock lens.

 

[mikroman6]

New ND filters arrived from PolarPro. Shooting into the sun is appealing again. Pretty stoked!! Night and day difference over refraction in the stock lens. View attachment 74766

Very good job smokinsound,
Thanks for your reply, this is what I have been looking for , now please give me the link to the filter that has been used for this very shot, so I could get exactly this one please.